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.Originally Posted by Chibby33
Even if I dont have a dog but my cat's only staying outside?
I think this poster means "inside" only and she's right - you don't want fleas. they are not easy to get rid of.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.
Your right about the lyme. I forgot the other day I was looking up ticks not fleas.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.
Besides who would want their cat scratching all the time?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