
Fleas are pests and they really make the life of your feline companion miserable once they get on to it. To get rid of them, there are various flea treatment products available in the market. On this page, we will talk about our recommended 4 best cat flea treatments.
You will gain thorough knowledge about the lifecycle of fleas, which flea treatment products can harm cats, precautions to be taken if your cat has a tender skin, simple flea removing tricks in this article. We will provide you a complete assessment of the product we recommend but first, let us go through the guidelines on this page.
You can skip reading the article and jump to our recommended best product if you are in a real hurry!
If you are sure that your cat is suffering from flea infestation and you need to take quick action regarding it, you can click the links listed below which will directly take you to the products and their details without going through the whole article.
The best 4 cat flea products are:
Fleas are tiny insects and it is quite impossible to trace them in naked eyes. Certain signs indicate that your cat has an infiltration of fleas. The signs include their erratic behavior, excess grooming and rubbing themselves over surfaces. Once you notice these signs the first thing to do is to wipe the cat’s skin with a wet white cloth and look for flea dirt.
Flea dirt is feces of fleas that they excrete after having blood meals from your pets. They are dehydrated particles and black or dark red in color. Once you notice them on the wet white cloth that you used to wipe the skin of your cat, rest assure your cat has a flea problem. You need to consult a veterinarian for guidance and medicine if it is a problem you are facing for the first time and if it is a repeated problem, you are able enough to know which treatment to opt for.
As mentioned earlier, fleas are tiny insects and can be easily ingested by cats particularly while grooming. Fleas have even tinier tapeworms which can cause great harm to cats like skin diseases, blood loss causing anemia to name a few. Kittens are tender animals and the effect becomes fatal to them. Proper and right treatment of fleas is essential fo your cats so that it prevents any flea infiltration.
Watch this video to know how to treat your cat with fleas:
You should be aware of the lifecycle of fleas once you have a cat in your house and you want to prevent flea invasion on it. Understanding a flea lifecycle helps you to take proper prevention for specific stages of fleas. Although 5% of the flea population comprises matured fleas, an adult female flea can lay near about 50 eggs per day. Just imagine the number of eggs a female flea can lay within a few days.
Flea eggs are not sticky and they fall off from the skins of cats, particularly at places where they roam and rest inside your house (beds, carpets, upholstery, etc.). Eggs are so small that they manage to hide in creeks and crevices of wooden furniture and walls too. These are the places where the eggs hatch and the larvae come out.
The limbless larvae dislike any source of light and they hide even in darker areas to weave the cocoon around them. They stay in the cocoons and are called pupae and do not come out till they become matured fleas. This time may vary from 3 days to 1 year. Once a pupa is nearly matured, if it senses a sustainable host nearby it breaks the cocoon and comes out of it. Once you understand the lifecycle of a flea, you can understand where the infestation is coming from.
You should treat the following areas of your house:
Most of the flea treatment products are sold as ‘applicable to cats and dogs’ which include oral tablets, topical medicines, flea removing powders, sprays or collars. You will have to keep in mind that the physical constitutions of cats and doga are not similar. Dogs are physically stronger than cats. So a certain product that works fine for dogs may not work so efficiently for cats and can cause health hazards or even cause death.
Specifically, when you are opting for a cat product, make sure you read the label of the product which assures you that the product is applicable for cats only. Certain users prefer using natural products than products having harmful chemical toxins. But some biological products containing essential oils can harm your cats too as they are allergic to certain natural components. The best choice is to ask the veterinarian doctor before buying any such products.
Also, ask for his or her advice before applying any natural homemade treatment. Specific ingredients like cedar oil, tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint oil or products containing permethrins are harmful to cats. These products can’t be digested easily by them and when they try doing so the products put immense pressure on their livers and kidneys which leads to serious illness.
Two very important factors to consider before buying any flea treatment product for your cat are its age and weight. Cats and tender animals and slender cats and kittens are even more. Always read the label of the product before buying it and even before buying a particular product it is always advisable to consult the veterinarian doctor.
Cats with Sensitive Skins: What should be the Treatment?
Flea removing powders, flea collars and flea tablets for cats are the best solutions for cats with sensitive skin.
Following are the treatment procedures:
When you apply the flea removing powder on the skin of your cat it gets a natural relief (no wet and soggy feeling) and at the same time, these powders don’t have any side effects. Just apply the powder on the furry skin of your pet and then use a flea comb to brush. Along with removing flea dirt and eggs from the skin, the combing helps in taking out the dead dry cells and hair too.
The flea tablets kill fleas quickly. But the only hindrance is making your cat ingesting them orally. You can crush them and mix in their food because making your cat swallowing tablets can be difficult. For complete flea treatment, you will have to apply the process on a regular basis.
Flea collars are a suitable choice than flea tablets as this product releases the flea killing or deterring elements gradually after you tie them on their necks and works over a period of time. For cats who are used to wear collars, the products can be easily applied to them but for new users, it might take some time (for a week at least). A spot-experiment is essential before applying any flea removing product on your cat.
Cats have delicate skins and certain harsh products may cause them pain. For any treatment, apply a small amount on a spot of its skin and wait. Watch carefully after application of the product, whether the cat gets disturbed or not. Watch its skin to see whether it has an adverse or allergic reaction or not. For all the treatments, this practice must be done. You never know which product can cause cats discomfort.
Use a vacuum cleaner. That is the best way to get rid of fleas inside your home. Flea eggs are slippery and fall from the skin f your pet. Flea dirt also falls from the skins of cats and larvae feed on them. Flea eggs and dirt are very tiny particles and are difficult to see in naked eyes. Flea eggs and larvae tend to hide in creeks and crevices of our home and only vacuum cleaning can help to get rid of them. Do intense vacuum cleaning multiple times so that the flea eggs and larvae are sucked into the vacuum bag.
Larvae enter the pupae stage by weaving cocoons around them. These cocoons are gluey in nature. Vacuum cleaning the cocoons thus becomes a difficult task. Take care of your cat by undergoing a complete flea treatment so that you can kill the matured fleas who cause the main problem. Fine toothed flea combs take care of the flea dirt and the fleas sticking on to your pet’s skin. For larger flea invasion both indoor and outdoor of your house, you can use foggers, bombs or sprays.
You can use Diatomaceous Earth (DE) both outdoor and indoor (wear a mask while applying) which is a good flea treatment for cats. Be careful to use food-grade DE (safe for humans and animals) and not Pool Grade DE (harmful for humans and animals) while eliminating fleas. Take proper care to wash and rinse drapes, carpets, curtains, mats, unused clothes and towels thoroughly so that you eliminate any flea population in them. Consider applying the product which kills fleas in all stages of their lifecycle rather than killing only adult fleas.
The following are the top flea treatments available at the market for cats. You can choose which one is suitable for you once you observe the ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ attributes of the product.
Why you should choose this?
A topical solution that is applied on the neck of the cats and that too once a month. It kills all stages of fleas on the skin of the cat. But for fleas, flea eggs and larvae hiding inside or outside your house you need a different treatment (foggers and sprays).
It can be used outside your home but you should take care so that the product dries before you let your cat go outside and accidentally try to taste it.
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Why you should choose this?
Cats groom themselves too much and the application of topical medicines or sprays can be terminal for them if they ingest. Instead, flea collars are much safer products. The Bayer Seresto Flea and Tick Collar is a no-smell, non-greasy collar that even comes with a safety-catch. The safety catch helps if the cat gets tangled with something.
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Why you should choose this?
This is a flea spray and it acts really quickly. It kills adult fleas along with flea eggs and larvae. The product is handy and you can use it as soon as you see your cat or kitten behaving strangely (excess grooming, biting its skin or rubbing itself on surfaces). Spray it over creeks and crevices of your house so that fleas die and don’t spread fast.
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Why you should choose this?
It is an oral tablet that needs to get ingested by your feline friend. A difficult task! The active components of the tablets are the same as other oral flea tablets. These tablets get rid of fleas at their adult stages but you will be needing other accessory products to kill fleas who are in other phases. Cats don’t sallow eatable things easily. For that reason, you may have to add butter and other attractive ingredients along with the tablets.
The vials containing liquid medicines that are used for monthly applications make Advantage II Flea Control Treatment for Cats a better product than the rest of the 3 we have mentioned above. It is easier to apply and the ingredients in it are capable to kill fleas in all stages (eliminating the lifecycle). But if your cat has sensitive skin, we will suggest a spot-test prior to the application of the product.
Do not ignore fleas if you have a cat in your home. Read the article over and over so that you can relate your cat’s problem with any of the issues we have mentioned above and come to a conclusion of a perfect flea control treatment. As always we state, consult a veterinarian for any clarifications.
Flea collars are a great help to get rid of fleas from your cat. Click to know all about flea collars for cats.
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