Cat Flea Control
Prevent Fleas On Cats And In Your Home
Cat flea control is important all year round but the pet owner needs to be particularly vigilant during the warmer months of the year. This is because the flea eggs are activated by warmth and so the warmer the weather the more likely it is the dormant eggs will hatch. The eggs can be laid anywhere by the adult flea but carpets and soft furnishing are a favourite place and so need to be thoroughly treated if there are pets in the home regularly.
One of the questions I am often asked is “why bother treating cats for fleas? They will only pick up more.”
Cat flea control is very important for several reasons:
- A flea ridden cat will easy spread them to other cats in the neighbourhood. This is because the fleas can often fall off a cat and lay in wait for another passing animal to jump onto.
- The cat flea carries the larva of the tapeworm. This then gets ingested by your cat and causes the cat to become ill.
- Fleas feed on blood and so a cat with a severe flea infestation can become anaemic. This is why fleas on kittens are particularly dangerous as kittens can quickly die from anaemia.
- Some cats can become allergic to the flea bite which causes the cat lots of pain and discomfort.
- Fleas can easy infest your home and although the fleas won’t live on humans will still bite and cause itching.
It is a simple process to keep your cat flea free and is fairly inexpensive compared with the treatment required for both your home and your cat once an infestation takes over.
There are many products now available for cat flea control and the choice of which top use should be based on your own personal preference for ease of use and also which is more effective for your cat.
Cat flea collars have been around for many years and many owners like to use these as they enable an id tag to also be attached to the collar. However not all cats can wear them as they can cause an allergic reaction. If you notice hair loss around your cats neck after use then remove the collar and use a different method.
Spot on treatments are the next most favoured flea treatment. They are easy to use, cause no distress to the cat and only need to be applied once a month. There are several brands available although the most effective are the brands available from your vet.
Some owners prefer to take their cat to the vet to receive a flea injection. This is of course the most expensive option but some owners prefer this method.
There are also a range of products that can be used as a backup source of flea control and can be used in between flea treatments if for some reason the cat does pick up a few more fleas than normal. Flea sprays, shampoos and powders come under this heading and can be safely used in conjunction with regular flea treatments.
So don’t let your feline friend suffer in silence and make sure that you regularly protect your pet from fleas. Believe me you don’t want your home to become infested; it can be a long difficult and costly problem to resolve.
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