When a cat starts scratching, it is cause for concern, constant scratching can mean fleas. Fleas are more than a mere discomfort for you pet, they are a serious issue that needs to be dealt with before they cause health issues for your cat as well as issues for you and your family.
Because fleas can cause a condition in cats known as “pruritus” or an allergic reaction, keeping them at bay is an important step to keeping your pet healthy. For most cats, fleas are a nuisance; for cats that suffer from flea allergies, they can be life threatening. Knowing a little about fleas will help you to control them and to protect your pet better.
If your cat happens to be one of the more unfortunate felines who develops a flea allergy, quick elimination of these parasites is essential. A flea allergy can cause the cat to loose fur and weight and if the fleas are left unchecked they can eventually kill the cat. Additional medical treatment may also be required even after the fleas are gone.
Flea control is important to cat disease prevention even if your cat is not allergic to them. Fleas can cause health issues for cats too including anemia from the loss of blood, tapeworms (fleas eat the eggs and transmit them to other animals) and skin infections from the bites caused by fleas. Any one of these flea related health issues can have dire consequences for your pet.
So then, cat flea control is very important. The question now is how to go about it. There are multiple methods open to a cat owner. Powders and dips can be effective, but their inconvenience often means that they are not used properly or often enough to adequately control fleas.
When choosing to use the dips, powders and sprays it is often a good idea to combine them with the use of a flea collar. Be aware however, that flea collars can also cause an allergic reaction for your cat, especially if they already have an allergic reaction to the fleas. Perhaps the best defense against fleas is a spot flea treatment. This type of preventative is placed on the cats neck and protects against fleas, ticks and tapeworms.
When it comes to the environment, there are also several options for flea control. Flea bombs can kill fleas in carpets and bedding, though careful washing and vacuuming will help greatly in this endeavor also. For outside use, yard sprays can be quite effective.
Whatever you use for flea control, be sure to be consistent and follow the directions. Flea control products only work if they are applied often enough. Misapplication can lead to fleas slipping through the cracks, and neither you nor kitty wants that.
