Can you catch fleas from cats

Can People Get Fleas from Cats? Do Home Flea Treatments Work? Flea Diseases. Fleas in Carpets and Rugs. How to Detect Signs of a Flea Infestation. Connect with Us Our customer care team is available for you 24 hours a day. Find a Branch Our local technicians are the pest experts in your area. Get a Personalized Quote We will help you find the right treatment plan for your home. Everything you need to know about cats and fleas. Why flea bites can be dangerous for cats Flea bites are painful and itchy for your cat, and they can cause a range of additional problems, including: Flea allergic dermatitis FAD FAD is an allergy to flea saliva that can set off a severe reaction and intense itching from just a few flea bites.

If your cat has FAD, their skin may look sore and crusty. They can also lose fur from over-grooming, bringing a higher risk of skin infection. Anaemia Kittens and elderly cats can become anaemic from blood loss if bitten too many times. Tapeworm If your cat swallows fleas infected with tapeworm eggs while grooming, your cat can end up with a tapeworm infection. How to spot a flea infestation It can be quite hard to spot fleas on cats, and the first symptom you may notice is scratching.

How to get rid of fleas on your cat and in your home The first step in dealing with a flea infestation is to give your cat a flea treatment, such as a spot-on, tablet, collar or spray. Read our comprehensive guide for more information and helpful tips 1. Mehlhorn et al. Parasitol Res Unfortunately, cats are pets that are not only loved by their human companions, cat fleas love them too, for them they are tasty, warm and welcoming breeding grounds.

The cat flea Ctenocephalides felis is a very small external wingless insect parasite, one of approximately species worldwide that affect both birds and mammals and require blood meals from their host [1].

At first glance they look like small shiny black dots, they multiply very quickly and in large numbers a female flea can lay 20 to 30 eggs a day [2]. If we live with cats, we will always have to include anti-parasite care and include either flea repellents or treatments for them from time to time, especially if they have permission to go outside your house, if they have a garden where they spend a lot of time, or if we take them out regularly.

We also should not forget that fleas can also hitch a hike on our clothes, and end up in your house and on your pet. Along with all the irritation they cause our pets, can they also affect us? Sadly yes, these disagreeable pests can also harm us. The cat flea Ctenocephalides felis. These parasites are very small, less than 4 millimeters when they reach the adult stage. Their bodies include two very long and strong hind legs that they use to jump times their length [6] and four frontal ones that are somewhat shorter, they have a very small head with a mouth designed to pierce skin and suck blood [1], and a big abdomen where they store the blood they suck.

Eggs are laid by the female on various animals that serve as a host: dogs and cats especially, but also rodents, rabbits, ruminants and humans, although in the latter they do not usually complete their life cycle. The Cat flea Ctenocephalides felis is one of the most common flea species after dog fleas. These fleas can bite humans, just as they bite cats. However, unlike cats, these fleas do not stay to live on our bodies, that is, they can bite us, attempt to feed on our blood and leave [4], they do not live and breed on us [3].

They are adapted to live on furry hosts, not hairless ones like humans, they have a hard time attaching to humans and are often seen and killed before feeding [5]. The truth is that the symptoms are the same for both cats and humans and they include the following:. So it makes perfect sense to help your pet and yourself prevent these infestations and to get rid of them as soon as you detect them.

As mentioned before, fleas are insects and have a specific life cycle that repeats with small variations in all species within this, the largest arthropod phylum 6 to 10 million insect species [7].

Egg, larva, pupae, adult and the cycle repeats. They start reproducing within 24 hours. Eggs hatch in one to 12 days depending on the temperature [9], warmer temperatures, faster hatching [8]. White worm-like flea larvae come out of the eggs and within 7 to 14 days it will spin a tiny cocoon and pupates. After a week, more or less, an adult emerges from the pupae and starts its search for food and the cycle repeats [9]. Generally, people who care for cats or have cats at home, also suffer flea bites, so basic prevention includes keeping your pet and the place where it lives clean.

Comb and shampoo the cat frequently to remove adult fleas before they irritate the pet or lay eggs [9]. In our specific case, we were able to control the flea infestation with Frontline pipettes, whereas other options never really got rid of them, so personally I can recommend them.

In general, there are two treatment options, for best results you need to follow both. The most effective method to effectively control fleas is on-animal. The cat is treated with a product that attracts the fleas while it moves around the infested parts of the home.