Are fleas harmful to cats, other than just being an annoyance?

Answer 1

yes, fleas can cause anemia in cats if there is enough fleas on the cat

Answer 2

Thumbs up to respondent DukeFenton....he's right, fleas not only carry a wide variety of diseases but they can actually kill your cat. Use a spot on flea killer such as Frontline or Advantage (forget the stuff made by Hartz) and use a flea bomb in your house to kill any fleas and flea larvae that may be lurking in the rugs or other areas. If you use a flea bomb, make sure you and your pets are out of the house for the amount of time listed in the directions.

Answer 3

Fleas can cause anemia if there are a lot of them. This is most dangerous to kittens, but on rare occasions even adults may die of flea anemia.

Fleas can carry tapeworm, Bartonella (cat scratch disease), and in some areas bubonic plague. The latter two are transmissible to humans.

They can also trigger flea allergy dermatitis, a serious inflammatory reaction which will make your cat miserable (and half bald).

So kill the little bastards, early and often.

Answer 4

Yes!!! Fleas are parasites!. They suck blood and deprive the host animal (the cat) of vital nutrients. Fleas also transmit diseases. If your cat has fleas, it is important to treat your yard, your carpets, and anywhere the animal sleeps. Believe it or not, getting rid of fleas is not that difficult. If you have neighbors with animals, especially outside animals, coordinate yard treatments with them. That way you do not cause the fleas to move next door until they treat their yard, and then they move to the next yard. Once you have the problem under control, you should not require much yard, carpet, bedding treatments at all. We have 8 dogs, none of them wear flea collars, we do not use a flea shampoo, and we do not use any of the flea prevention medications: none of the dogs have fleas. I use seven dust in the yard, and pest control products available from most any plant nursery, or farmer's supply. I spray the house once every 24 months. This takes care of fleas, roaches, and most other bugs. When you get the pesticides for inside, tell the worker you have pet birds in the house. Then they will steer you towards products with no odor or dangerous fumes.

By the way, when you treat the house, wash any bed sheets, blankets, etc., in hot water. You can switch it to cold water after the initial wash cycle to save money and to preserve the colors.

If your flea problem is extreme, you may need to get some of the RX treatments from your vet in order to get it under control.

Good luck!

Will D
Enterprise AL

Answer 5

Yes they are. The reason these products last one whole month is because it goes into the dog's bloodstream and repels mosquitos through their whole body. So, its inaccurate to say that a cat would only be harmed if they licked it immediately after application. You should not use anything on your dog containing the ingredient permethrin. This is in the dog versions of Bio Spot and Zodiac Spot On & some others. You're better off treating your dog with something like Program - an oral tablet. The cat version & dog version of these over-the-counter products are very different. Thats why your cat can safely use the cat version.

Answer 6

I have 5 cats who never go outside and occasionally fleas will get carried in from ouside. One of my cats has "flea allergy dermatitis" and she gets sores all around her neck, face and ears. One year, she almost died from a secondary infection and her liver started to shut down because she stopped eating. My vet and I eventually pulled her through although she lost half of her body weight. (You could feel her spine and ribs when you rubbed her back.) I had to force-feed her for almost 6 weeks. But she eventually pulled through. Your cat may not be allergic (my other four aren't), but you never know. I always treat my cats with Frontline about once a year now, even though they're inside cats. (Frontline is the only thing that really works, don't waste your money on anything else.)

Answer 7

Yes, fleas carry diseases to your pet just like mosquito do if they are infected!!! Fleas bite the cat and sucks its blood and lay their eggs to hatch more fleas. If your cat has fleas give it a bath with flea shampoo, use a flea comb, wash all the cats bedding fleas are killed by drowning them!!

Answer 8

Fleas are a terrible annoyence for cats and if she/he bites or scratches to much/hard she/he can lose fur. Also fleas can carry diseases.

Answer 9

My cat is allergic to flea bites and gets an awful red rash all over her skin from them. She is miserable when she gets them--I always apply Advantage or Frontline when I notice her licking/biting a lot. It really helps.

Answer 10

Yes, in the long run they can kill your cat. Check out the rest of these answers, all of them about disease, worms, etc. are true. Get your cat treated and get rid of the fleas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleas