Cats Cat Health & Wellness Cat Parasites

Cat Fleas: Treatment and Prevention

Cat scratching itself

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Cat fleas are tiny parasites that feed on the blood, causing itching and irritation. Heavy flea infestations and allergic reactions to fleas can lead to hair loss and open wounds. Worse yet, cat fleas can transmit diseases that are dangerous to cats and humans. Here's what you need to know about fleas and your cat, including detection, treatment, and prevention.

What Are Fleas?

Fleas are tiny parasitic insects that eat the blood of mammals and birds. While there are over 2,200 species of fleas, the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis, is the species that most commonly affects cats and dogs. Their flat bodies and strong legs make it easy for fleas to jump on a host and crawl through the fur, feeding on the blood of the host along the way.

Flea Life Cycle

An adult female flea can lay 20 or more eggs per day. When eggs hatch, the larvae feed on flea excrement on the cat and in the environment for several days. They then form a protective cocoon and enter the pupal stage, where they'll mature until they are ready to emerge as adults. Flea pupae are hardy and can resist insecticides; they can remain dormant in the environment for days, weeks, or even months until a suitable host is available.

Fleas Can Transmit Disease

Fleas are known to carry several pathogens, some of which can affect both cats or humans:

  • Tapeworms are intestinal parasites that cats can get from ingesting fleas, but they rarely affect people.
  • Cat scratch disease is an infection caused by the bacteria Bartonella henselae. Cats don't typically get sick from this, but they can transmit the bacteria to humans through a scratch or bite.
  • Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, carried by rodent fleas. Cats are not ideal hosts for these fleas, but it's still possible for them to transmit plague to you or your cat.
  • Flea-borne (murine) typhus is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia spp., which can be found in cat fleas. Little is known about its effect on cats, but it can cause illness in humans.

Symptoms of Fleas in Cats

Fleas don't always cause obvious signs in cats, but itching and irritation will occur when a cat is allergic or sensitive to the flea's saliva. Common signs of fleas on cats include:

  • Itching
  • Red bites or scabs
  • Hair loss
  • Flea dirt (excrement that looks like black specks) on the skin, fur, or bedding
  • Skin infection

If you observe your cat scratching and aren't sure if fleas are the cause, you can use your fingers or a flea comb to look for scurrying fleas or flea dirt in the cat's fur, especially around the head, neck, and base of the tail.

If you do not see fleas or flea dirt, it does not necessarily mean your cat is flea-free. Some cats will ingest fleas and flea dirt while grooming, making it difficult to spot the signs of a flea infestation.

In addition to the flea irritation, cats can contract flea-borne illnesses or suffer anemia from blood loss. Flea anemia is most common in kittens with large numbers of fleas.

What Causes Fleas on Cats?

Outdoor cats encounter fleas in the natural environment, and because they are natural hosts for these parasites, they collect them without even knowing it. Indoor cats can attract fleas that have hitched a ride into the home on dogs or people. Certain factors may increase the odds of a cat attracting fleas, including:

  • Moist, wooded surroundings
  • Long grass
  • Indoor flea infestation (carpets, bedding)
  • Neighboring flea problems (especially in apartment complexes)
  • Moving to a new home that previously had fleas (pupae may suddenly emerge and infest)

How Do Vets Diagnose Flea Infestations?

Fleas are easy to diagnose on sight. If a cat has a very low number of fleas, a persistent owner or veterinarian will still be able to track down traces of their existence somewhere on the cat's body.

How to Treat Cats with Fleas

First, try to eliminate as many fleas as you can from your cat by combing through the fur with a flea comb. Deposit the fleas in soapy water or a diluted bleach solution so they don't escape back into the environment. Bathing can also help, but it's not a critical step, so don't force it if your cat refuses.

Once most of the fleas are gone, consult your veterinarian to determine the best and safest flea control product for your cat. Several oral and topical flea control products are on the market and new products come out regularly.

Warning

Never use a dog flea product on a cat. Many dog flea control products are toxic to cats and can cause severe illness in cats, including seizures and even death.

A flea infestation can be a challenge to manage because complete eradication requires a multifaceted approach:

  1. All household pets need to be treated with an effective flea control product.
  2. The home environment must also be treated for fleas.

It can take several months of treatment (both on the cat and in the home) to get rid of a flea infestation. Stopping treatments too soon will likely cause fleas to rapidly reemerge.

How to Treat Fleas on Cats

Spruce Pets / Theresa Chiechi

Home Treatment

As part of the flea treatment process, you must remove fleas and their eggs from your home to prevent reinfestation. To do this effectively, you will need to:

  • Wash all bedding thoroughly in hot water if possible. While the bedding is free of coverings, vacuum the mattress, particularly in crevices where eggs can settle.
  • Vacuum carpeting daily and dispose of used vacuum bags.
  • Steam-clean carpeting to kill any remaining eggs.
  • Most of the time, you do not need to do a chemical flea treatment in the home, but your vet can recommend the best products if you wish to use them.

Prognosis for Cats with Fleas

Once your flea problem is in check, cats will generally recover well as their itchiness subsides, wounds heal, and hair regrows.

If a cat has suffered a longstanding or particularly severe case of fleas, they may be anemic or carry a flea-borne disease that also requires treatment to achieve full recovery.

How to Prevent Cat Fleas

To keep fleas away, your cat should be treated with a vet-approved flea control product all year long. Most flea preventatives are labeled for once-monthly use. Although some pet parents have success only treating with flea control products in the warmer months, most vets recommend year-round prevention, especially if your cat has had fleas once before. The concern for diseases may warrant year-round prevention as well.

If you have multiple dogs or cats in your home, they must be all on prevention. Due to the life cycle and longevity of fleas, you'll never be able to get rid of your flea problem in your home if you leave one of your pets unprotected.

Midsection Of Veterinarian Examining Cat At Hospital
Eduardo Gonzalez Diaz / Getty Images

Are Fleas Contagious to Other Animals?

Fleas will happily leap from one animal to another, infesting all of the warm-blooded creatures in a household. While they aren't able to reside on humans as easily as furry pets, they will bite people and cause itching. Many flea-borne diseases can be transmitted from fleas to cats, dogs, humans, and other pets in a household, such as ferrets or birds.

If you suspect your pet is sick, call your vet immediately. For health-related questions, always consult your veterinarian, as they have examined your pet, know the pet's health history, and can make the best recommendations for your pet.
The Spruce Pets uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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  2. CDC. How fleas spread disease | CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  3. Feline fleas and flea-borne disease (Proceedings). DVM 360.

  4. Cat Fleas. PennState Extension.

  5. Fleas: A Source Of Torment For Your CatCornell University College Of Veterinary Medicine.