Cats are amazing animals. They can comfort you when you are sad, they are always happy when you come home! Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages that stick to a cat. For example, a cat can have cat fleas, and how do you get rid of them?
What are fleas?
Fleas are small parasites in the furs of our cat. They feed on the blood of their host and cause itching on humans and animals. Repeated infections with fleas pose an increased risk of developing a flea allergy, which is very bad for your cat health.
How do you know if your cat has fleas?
When your cat scratches al the time, it is wise to inspect the coat from close range. If you push the coat aside, you can see if the coat is free of fluff. Take care that you do not see fleas and or see black spots. These are often flea poops and also indicate a flea infestation. With a special flea comb, fleas and flea poo can be traced easily. It is a misunderstanding that a flea infestation would have something to do with hygiene, that is not true. Every cat can get fleas!
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Most people think that fleas skip from one animal to another. Research has shown that this hardly happens. Mostly cats get fleas from the environment they are in. This is how it goes as follows:
An adult flea on one of your cats is fed by a blood meal from the host.
After this blood meal, the adult flea can lay several hundred to thousands of eggs on your cat.
These eggs fall outside or inside on the ground.
Larvae emerge from these eggs that creep away to dark spots (cracks/seams/leaves, you name it)
These larvae feed on flea poop and molt several times before they
However, if you follow these simple pet grooming hacks, you can get your cat to love getting brushed. The best thing about these tips is that they can be also be used on a reticent dog.
Small birds and mammals because they forage for seeds. A tiny amount of the parasite needs to be ingest to begin causing problems and it can be found in raccoon feces.
It is when the fleas jump to human hosts that the disease is spread. The strain of bacteria was not officially known until 1894 when it was identified as Yersinia Pestis. ?? -2 Yersinia pestis attacks and disables human’s immune systems and then starts multiplying within the body. Yersinia pestis is a very irregular bacteria that acquired its genetic makeup from other bacteria and viruses.
Fleas are external parasites that survive on the blood that they suck from their hosts. They are agile, wingless insects that are usually measure less than 3 mm in length. Although many people associate fleas with dogs and cats, they are quite willing to feed on
First, sand fleas, also known as chiggers, made their way from the New World to the Old World during the Columbian Exchange. According to the “Consequences of the Columbian Exchange” reading, sand fleas are insects that penetrate human
The lifecycle of a heartworms begins when a female mosquito ingest blood containing microfilariae from a heartworm infected animal. Inside the body of the mosquito, the microfilariae develops into first stage larvae (L1) and then undergoes two more process to develop into third stage larvae (L3) of which is the infective stage. Depending on the temperature, this development process can take between eight and thirty days. At this point, when the infected mosquito attaches to a cat and feeds on its blood, the third-stage larva is transferred into the mosquito bite wound. Within three days of entering the cat, the L3 molt to the L4 stage in the tissues and muscles that lay just below the skin of the cat. After about two months of migrating through the muscles and tissues, the L4 undergoes a final development into immature adult heartworms. Seventy to ninety days post infection, the immature adult heartworms then enter a peripheral vein and are carried by the cat’s blood circulation system to the caudal pulmonary arteries. This is where the majority of heartworms are cleared from the cat due to a mass immune response, but a few may continue development into adults. Once the heartworm develop into adults, they invade the heart first and then spread to other organs in the body and cause
by Yersinia pestis. Several species of rodents host this bacterium, usually contracted from flea bites. There
Since the feline species are the only recognized host of T. gondii, the parasite must pass through the feline digestive system in order to complete its life cycle and reproduce (NOAA, 2013). The parasite multiplies within the feline digestive tract, releasing the parasitic eggs through the cat’s feces (NOAA, 2013). The parasitic eggs infect other non-feline species, including mice and birds, which is a common source of transmission to uninfected cats (NOAA, 2013). Rainfall can wash the cat feces into the ocean where the parasitic eggs remain viable for up to two years (NOAA,
This nasty deadly bacteria is called Yersinia Pestis. The fleas carry this Yersinia Pestis bacteria and transmits the bacteria its host by biting it. Since the main host for the black rat flea is black rats the rats had to develop a resistance to the bacteria to prevent the mass death of the black rat population. The black rats developed this resistance for awhile everything was okay and the Yersinia Pestis bacteria didn't affect the human population. That all changed with a climate change in Asia and the immune defense the black rats had was weakened and the fleas had to find a new host now that the rats were dying. The fleas found humans and the plague outbreak started. Now you are probably asking if this happened in Asia how did Europe get involve. During this time the Mongols were in control of a large part of Asia. The European trades were very interested in the Asian markets. The Mongols decide that the trading would be a good idea. The Europeans were granted access to Asian markets and used a trade route called the Silk road. This trade route connecting Asia to Europe with trade caravans. The caravans carried goods from Europe to Asia and goods from the Asian markets to the European markets. But on these caravans and trade ships back to Europe there was an unknown passenger, the black rat. On these black rats were Yersinia Pestis infected fleas. These stowaways carried the Yersinia Pestis bacteria from Asia to Europe. Even though when crews of the
The another reason is Rats and fleas. The first example of the Rats and fleas being the main cause of everything is that they used to go into people's house’s and getting them sick. The Fleas have been getting it from the rats because they drink their
In the early stages of heartworm, little to no symptoms will occur. Symptoms in most animals that will be noticed could be a mild persistent cough. The animal will have a decreased appetite. They could have a bulging chest due to excess fluid. They will experience weight loss and have difficulty breathing. They will have a reluctance to exercise and be fatigue. They could have an allergic reaction to the offspring of the worms. The worm(s) can cause blockage in the blood flow of the heart and cause the animal to collapse, this is mostly common to be the first sign to appear in cats. It is difficult to diagnose a cat for heartworm because they will experience the same symptoms that are used to diagnose other diseases in felines. This could include weight loss, fatigue, and difficulty breathing. Also, they could experience gagging and vomiting. Other signs that have been documented in heartworm are nose bleeds, secondary pneumonia, increased blood pressure, and excessive sleeping. It is rare that the worm(s) could get lost and end up in the brain or eyes and cause seizures, blindness, and lameness. Given the symptoms and clinical signs, we can move on to how heartworm is
The disease is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It is mainly found in small rodents like rats and it can be spread to human through flea bites or via close contact with infected rodents or human.
But how did this small illness become one of the worst nightmares of Europe? It all started with what we thought was a harmless, tiny insect, the flea, but it was carrying one of the worst things that has hit Europe, the
pestis infections (Gage, et. al., 2000). During 1924–2006, a total of 13 human cases of primary pneumonic plague were documented in the United States, and greater than five were associated with cats (felids). Twelve cases of plague transmission from nondomestic carnivores to humans have been documented, including a fatal case of human pneumonic plague in 2007 that resulted from direct contact with an infected puma (Puma concolor). The lesions of the orally infected cats were consistent with those previously described for naturally occurring Y. pestis infections in cats and corroborate the contention that cats most commonly contract plague by eating Y. pestis-infected rodents and not via flea bite. The histopathology of Y. pestis disease in these cats is comparable to that described for human plague (Eisen, et. a, 2008). Although there are historic suggestions of cats being susceptible to plague, it was not until the latter part of the 1900s that plague was recognized as a significant disease. It was then recognized that infected cats could serve as a threat to human health. Cats are considered rare among carnivores in that they are unusually susceptible to disease after Y. pestis exposure. In 1999, a total of 42 plague cases in cats (Felis cattus) were confirmed from the three states where plague is most common: California (7), Colorado (9), and New Mexico (26) (Watson, et. al, 2001). Despite the known association of felids with human plague, the prevalence of Y. pestis infection in non-domestic cats remains relatively
Cats are carnivores, meaning they eat meat, and they use sharp, retractable claws to get their food. They can hunt at anytime of the day. First, when they locate their prey, they creep up onto it, putting as little possible. Then, they pounce onto them, swatting with their paws to get