My 13 year old cat has gotten fleas for the first time I treated him a few weeks back he got them again and now I’m going to treat him again. Besides that to the point I know cats can get worms from fleas. What is the possibility of a cat getting worms from fleas? He grooms himself constantly even without fleas… I think he’ll be traumatized if he does get worms and has to go to the vet. And he hasn’t really been scratching since the flea treatment but he has little black, curly almost, specs all over what are they, and how do I get them off him?
There’s no known probability that fleas will be carrying tapeworms. Lots of pets get fleas and no-one ever finds tapeworms. Lots of pets get diagnosed with tapeworms first, and THEN the fleas are found afterwards. Lots of pets get fleas, and are later diagnosed with tapeworms. Just watch and wait. if he gets tapes, then eventually you’ll see them on his rear end or in the litter box as little rice-like segments.
But if your cat needs to go to the vet, he won’t be traumatized. In fact, he NEEDS regular checkups to stay healthy. Perhaps you could find a place that specializes in cat care and will do everything possible to minimize stress.
The black specks sound like flea dirt. (Flea dirt is another name for flea poop.) They will wash off or be groomed off easily once the fleas are gone. You don’t need to worry too much about them. If they bother you, give your cat a good bath, then apply a spot-on flea treatment 24 to 48 hours later. (If you apply it too soon after a bath, it doesn’t work well.)
There are a few possible reasons for the return of the fleas. One is that if you used a pet store brand, and not a veterinary product like Frontline Plus, Advantage, or Revolution, they don’t work very well at killing fleas. Another is that if you have any untreated pets in your house, they are letting the fleas live off them until your cat is available again.
But the third and most important reason is that only 5-10% of your flea problem is the adult fleas on your cat. The rest is the immature stages all around your house (and outside, too, if your cat goes outdoors). It takes about 2 months or longer for fleas to go from egg to adult, and the pupa stage can’t be killed by any method known to man. So if you treated for one month only, you just killed all the adults. You left the immature stages alone to mature. Now they’ve hatched and re-infested your cat.
It takes a good solid 3-4 months of continuous treatment before all the fleas mature, get killed by the spot-on product, and die without leaving any more eggs in your house. And if you use Frontline Plus or Revolution, these products make sure any eggs the fleas do manage to lay are sterile. It gets the problem controlled much faster.
De-worming involves giving your cat a tablet. I usually crush it and mix it with some salmon or tuna for my current cat, he eats it no problem. You will need to treat him for the fleas though, it’s worth investing in regular de-fleaing and de-worming. There are treatments available that last up to 6 months. It’s peace of mind for you, and saves your cat from the discomfort.
The curly black specks are flea dirt.
The probabilities are high.
We have three cats who got fleas from our dog going outdoors, anyway, 2 of those 3 cats got worms from the fleas the other one didn’t, we treated all 3 anyway.
We bought pills to treat for worms, (our cats had Tapeworms) . Have you seen any white rice like things (they look like they are pulsating) around your home? or on your cats butt?.
Get a wet tissue and rub it over those black specs you see, if they turn red that is the flea feces , made up of digested blood.
It only takes one flea to cause tapeworm infestation. Unknown if your cat will end up with tapeworms or not. Your cat should be going to the vet yearly or bi-yearly for wellness checks, so why not set one up with your vet to discuss your concerns.
the chances af cat getting worms because it got fleas are high