Fleas are horrible little parasites that attack cats by laying their eggs in the cat's fur; the eggs will hatch into larvae and later will develop into fleas. Depending on the color of the cat's coat, spotting the fleas can be very difficult especially if infestation is light.
Excessive scratching especially behind the ears or around the neck may indicate that fleas are present and causing havoc to the cat's body. Another sign of flea infestation is when the cat obsessively grooms the base of its tail or along the spine. You might also want to take a closer look at the cat's body, if indeed infestation has occurred, highly visible dark flaky specks can be seen particularly along the spine and the base of the tail. In fact, during heavy or severe infestation, you can actually see the fleas roaming all over the cat's body.
Light infestation is not really a cause for concern and you can easily solve this by using a flea comb, this handy little grooming tool can be purchased at most pet stores. Now, heavy infestation on the other hand, requires more than just a mere comb. You need a flea treatment to get rid of all the fleas such as the Frontline, even the most severe infestation can be eradicated within forty-eight hours by using this powerful cat flea treatment.
You can purchase the best flea treatment available in the market but you can never achieve positive long term results, if you do not take the necessary steps to prevent flea infestation from occurring in the first place. After all, prevention is always better than cure. There are three simple things that you can do to prevent fleas from attacking your furry companion. Provide your cat with a healthy, well balanced diet, this will definitely help reduce the chance of flea infestation and at the same time, improve the quality of the cat's coat.
Next, make sure that your cat's surrounding environment such as the litter tray, basket, furniture, condo etc are clean, try cleaning them at least once a week, and also it wouldn't hurt to keep your house clean as well. The cleaner the cat's environment equals less chance of getting fleas. Finally, groom your cat regularly and give it a bath every four or six months. Bathing your cat too often like once a week for instance, is definitely not recommended, not only will it affect your cat's health, it may also leave a psychological scar on your cat. Although you mean well, unfortunately from the cat's perspective, bathing is excruciating so unless your cat is really dirty, stick to bathing two or three times per year max. Try using a waterless bath to clean your cat without the need for water, it cleans and freshens your cat and may also help to keep flea infestation at bay.
Cat flea infestation should not be taken lightly and depending on the severity, it can be life threatening especially to kittens because excessive biting by fleas can actually result in massive blood loss. Further more, your cat might accidentally consume some of the fleas while grooming which may result with infestation by another parasite, the tapeworm.
Remember prevention is always better than cure so ensure your cat's environment is clean, regular grooming and provide a healthy balance diet to minimize the chance of getting fleas.
Haziga Slamil is a long time cat owner and currently owns 12 happy and healthy cats. Check out her website to obtain more tips and advice on topics regarding cat nutrition, behavior, grooming and health care. Visit http://www.bubucats.com
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