How Do Cats Get Fleas?

chibby33

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I have an indoor cat, never had fleas ever, but am now concerned because he is starting to become an outdoor as well. Can sitting outside on our yard give him fleas?
 

salemwitchchild

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Yes he can. Fleas can be brought in with your dog or even you (I think). If he is going outside you need to make sure he's up to date on all shots and is on heartworm and flea meds.
 

dicknleah

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My dogs will bring in fleas that get to my felines if I don't treat everyone. That's ten doses and real pricey but worth it.
 
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chibby33

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Even if I dont have a dog but my cat's only staying outside?
 

salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by Chibby33

Even if I dont have a dog but my cat's only staying outside?
Yes. The fleas can get directly on the cat. Even if the cat stays outside only you don't want them to have fleas. They can give your cat Lyme disease.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

Yes. The fleas can get directly on the cat. Even if the cat stays outside only you don't want them to have fleas. They can give your cat Lyme disease.
I think this poster means "inside" only and she's right - you don't want fleas. they are not easy to get rid of.

Also, I believe it is ticks that cause the Lyme disease problem. If a cat ingests a flea I think the worst they will probably get is tapeworm.
 

salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I think this poster means "inside" only and she's right - you don't want fleas. they are not easy to get rid of.

Also, I believe it is ticks that cause the Lyme disease problem. If a cat ingests a flea I think the worst they will probably get is tapeworm.
Your right about the lyme. I forgot the other day I was looking up ticks not fleas.

However they can carry diseases.

Fleas attack a wide variety of warm-blooded vertebrates including dogs, humans, chickens, rabbits, squirrels, rats and mice. Fleas are a nuisance to their hosts, causing an itching sensation which in turn may result in the host attempting to remove the pest by biting, pecking, scratching etc the vicinity of the parasite. Fleas are not simply a source of annoyance, however. Some people and animals suffer allergic reactions to flea saliva resulting in rashes. Flea bites generally result in the formation of a slightly-raised swollen itching spot with a single puncture point at the center. The bites often appear in clusters or lines, and can remain itchy and inflamed for up to several weeks afterwards. Fleas can also lead to hair loss as a result of frequent scratching and biting by the animal, and can cause anemia in extreme cases.

Besides the problems posed by the creature itself, fleas can also act as a vector for disease. For example, fleas transmitted the bubonic plague between rodents and humans by carrying Yersinia pestis bacteria. Murine typhus (endemic typhus) fever, and in some cases tapeworms, Hymenolepis, can also be transmitted by fleas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea#Re...ship_with_host
Besides who would want their cat scratching all the time?
 

goldenkitty45

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If there are fleas in the yard, then YES the cat could pick them up just by being outside. Or if you have a dog, they can bring them in.

We are lucky. Keno is treated with BioSpot and we've never had a flea on her or brought into the house


IMO if you don't let them outside, you don't really have to worry about fleas.
 

whosamyhercules

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Last summer we had a horrible fleas and our cats were indoors and we didnt have Bruno so no animals were getting outside. It had turned out that our neighbor who keeps his dog penned outside wasnt giving her flea meds or anything and she got fleas like crazy. They ended up jumping into our house. And we had an infestation in our basement and since the cats get down there they got them. Now we spray around our house and yard with a home kit to help with prevention and we do this once a month and our cats and dog get flea treatments. PLUS I have about 20 cans and bottles of different flea killing chemicals to use in daily cleaning. Carpet sprinkles stuff bedding spray the whole nine yards. I do not want to have to bomb my house again and go through what happend last year.
 

mooficat

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humans can bring flea larvae in on shoes
as the larvae live in soil, dead leaves, moist sand boxes, crawlspace under the house, under shrubs, etc, it is best if footwear is kept away from pets and cleaned regularly.
Flea pupae can lie dormant for months or years. Once stimulated by the right temps they change into adult fleas and need to feed immediately.

An old wives tale used to say " walk through an empty house, the activity will make the fleas emerge, but as there is nothing for the fleas to feed on they will die"
who knows eh


so if you are going on holiday, the pets are in the kennels, this is the time to get someone to walk through your house
or alternatively buy some good household flea spray
 

jen

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YOU can also bring them in the house on your clothing, only takes one little flea to jump on your clothes on the way in. You are lucky your cat never picked them up at all while being indoors, but if you are letting her outside, then yes she can easily get them.
 

goldenkitty45

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From my experience, its possible for a person to bring them in, but unlikely just as a casual thing. I've been around houses that had fleas and never brought them home.

The one time there was a very strong possibility was when we had to go over to a house where the lady had died to take care of her cats. She DID have fleas in the house - we knew this and we sprayed our clothes and especially aroung the pants legs, socks and shoes before we went in.

Because of this, I did not bring any fleas home to my cats. If there are dogs/cats around, the fleas prefer them to humans. If no other choice, then they might jump on you.

But to be paranoid about it is silly. 95% of the time you will not just casually bring them in
 

kumbulu

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I disagree. Many, many inside-only cats get fleas and as a result, worms. I would always recommend treating inside-only cats for fleas and worms, just possibly not quite as often as outdoor or inside-ouside cats. You can bring in flea eggs on your shoes if there happens to be a cat that even just sits in your garden now and again. That cat can be a stray, feral or just a neighbors cat that has fleas. Also, fleas can live outside in dirt and sand. If you walk in or step on that dirt or sand, you can easily pick up fleas or flea eggs.
 

goldenkitty45

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Like I said - its possible, but I've never had to worry about it. And you should NOT be treating your cat for fleas/worms unless they DO have them. The medicine is poison - why give them something if they don't have the problem
 

goldenkitty45

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Yes i can
Have had cats all my life and never have had a problem with fleas. Only had one indoor/outdoor cat - and he was fed brewer's yeast on his food and never had fleas.

I also show cats, believe me I know when a cat has fleas - and I do have a flea comb for grooming.
 

yosemite

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This is a very subjective topic. After having had a really bad infestation of fleas (with an indoor only cat), I prefer to err on the side of caution and treat the cats monthly from May to November. We are always outside working in the garden and we have lots of cats and dogs in the neighbourhood so I'd rather be safe than sorry. And that is just my very subjective opinion.
 

whosamyhercules

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I was not aware of flea drops being poisonous to the animals. Ive been treating Bruno and Herc every month since Aug. after we finally got rid of the fleas. I also continually spray with them with flea killing stuff from Hartz that I can brush into their coat and its waterproof. Im really paraniod about getting them again because they were so bad I couldnt walk around without a bottle of Skin So Soft bug spray and a bottle of flea spray to spray on myself. So far so good this year but it hasnt even hit real summer weather yet here.
 

goldenkitty45

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IMO Hartz is junk - you'd be better off getting something much better - like Frontline, BioSpot, etc. I would NEVER use any of the products from Hartz - you waste your money on it.

We use BioSpot on Keno and she's never had a problem with ticks or fleas. Which reminds me, better start putting it on her
 

whosamyhercules

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Yea Ive found out that Hartz pretty much is crap. But I only use the dog flea killing spray for weekly use just as a preventative. We use the "there aint no bugs on me" stuff I dont remember the name but I remember the commercial..LOL...And we use Frontline for Herc. I dont use anything on Lil Man yet I want to wait till hes older. But I do give him baths with kitten flea/tick shampoo.
 
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