Preventative Care - Fleas

Fleas are the most common parasite on the surface of your cat.  All cats can get fleas, even cats who do not go outside.  You go outside, your children go outside, and if you have a dog - it goes outside.  Humans are “low-grade hamburger” to the flea while your cat is “filet mignon”.  The flea would much rather dine on your cat or dog and it can sense them from a long distance; jumping from you to your cat.  

You won’t notice that one hitchhiker flea on your sock.  But that one flea lays many thousands of eggs a day; which in 1-2 months turns into a much, much larger population.  The fact is that the adults are usually only 5% of the total population.  The rest is made up of eggs, larvae, and pupae.  The adults, eggs, and larvae can be killed.  Unfortunately, there is no treatment available that will kill the pupa.  This is why your veterinarian tells you to use flea treatments at least 2-3 months to treat a flea infestation.  Talk to your veterinarian to get the whole treatment regimen, because treating the pet is only one part of the plan.

The best bet is to prevent the infestation before it happens.  A monthly preventative like Frontline Plus, Advantage II, Revolution, Advantage Multi, Promeris, or Vectra is usually best.  Be sure you pick up the cat versions of these preventatives; the dog version is toxic to cats.  The flea preventative is generally recommended to start in March and continue through October/November in the Chicago area.  It is also best to treat every pet in the household - dogs, cats, rabbits and ferrets.  Talk to you veterinarian about what is the best treatment for your pets.

Dr. Pam Cuevas

La Grange Park Cat Clinic

3075 S. Wolf Road

Westchester, IL 60154

P: 708-562-2287

cat.doc@lgpcatvet.com