Cats and fleas....
By ctryhnny
@ctryhnny (3460)
United States
December 13, 2012 4:22pm CST
I have 2 cats that never go out and have always been housecats. They keep themselves very clean and they clean each other sometimes. Seeing that they never go out I"m wondering if they can get fleas from somewhere. If someone I know has a cat with fleas would it be possible for them to bring them to my apartment? Did you ever know someone whose housecat got fleas?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@Arieles (2473)
• United States
14 Dec 12
I don't think you have anything to worry about with your cats getting fleas, unless..you go to someone's house, their animals have fleas and then you get fleas on your clothes and then you go back home, that's always a possibility. My kids brought fleas home with them this past summer. We didn't have any animals at the time, but when they came home...they brought some fleas with them.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
13 Dec 12
You can carry fleas in on your clothes, so the person with a cat with fleas can do so as well.
Our cats have fleas, but so do the dogs and the yard.
AND
As long as we have 5 feral cats in the house, 3 of whom we can't touch, there is no way to really get rid of them.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
13 Dec 12
Anyone can walk into your house with a flea attached to it, especially if they come from a house that has a dog or cat that has fleas. If you go to the park or walk around any fields, etc., you'd be surprised what you can bring home unintentionally. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a flea can live up to one year on a leaf without nourishment..blood.
So, yes, anyone can bring in fleas which starts the process. And it's no fun trying to get rid of them.
@ctryhnny (3460)
• United States
14 Dec 12
When I lived in CA years ago we got two cats from a pet store. They were just babies and they came with fleas! Every night I used to sit with them and a flea comb taking off as many fleas as I could get. Then we had to bomb the apt because they were everywhere. Thankfully the bombing took care of the problem.
@randomarts09 (1405)
• Indonesia
15 Dec 12
A flea comes in on your pant leg, sock, or shoe after your have been gardening, mowing, etc. It immediately jumps off of you and on to your pet. So it's possible for housecat to got fleas. The biggest problem for indoor only cats is that they can't get away from the fleas. They are trapped and, groom though they might, can't get rid of the little buggers. Once bitten, some cats display Flea Allergy (or Flea Allergy Dermatitis) symptoms such as excessive scratching, licking, and biting. This excessive grooming causes hair loss, sores, and inflamed skin that not only makes the cat completely miserable it can lead to infection as well.
