Community Blog page- Katy Texas
If Your Cat Bites You, Here's What It Really Means + Other Cat Behaviors
By Nadine Blanco of Factable
Cats have their own kingdom of fans all across the globe and on the Internet. But surprisingly, not very many people have them as pets. Of the 74 million cats in the United States, less than half are actually owned as pets! As it turns out, people don't know much about cats as they think they do, despite how popular they are as animals. These cat facts will make you look at your cat differently next time you see them.
© Unsplash/Alberto BigoniFlea Allergy Dermatitis In Cats
Nobody likes the idea of bugs crawling in their hair, and many of us can still remember the maddening sensation of having lice as kids. So, when we hear that our cat has fleas, we can imagine the discomfort they feel from having the creepy crawlies in their fur. For some of our feline friends, cat flea bites lead to an extremely uncomfortable condition called flea allergy dermatitis.
Overall, flea allergy dermatitis is the most common skin disease of dogs and cats in most countries of the world. In areas known to have fleas, flea allergy dermatitis is the first thing your veterinarian wants to rule out when you bring in your itchy cat. This can be very frustrating for you as the pet parent, who may not even know your pet has fleas. It can take just one flea bite to cause flea allergy dermatitis.
What Is Flea Allergy Dermatitis in Cats?Flea allergy dermatitis is more than the simple itchiness that your cat experiences from having fleas crawling around and biting them. Some cats are actually allergic to the flea's saliva.
Not all cats are allergic to flea bites. In fact, most cats will experience only mild skin irritation as a response to fleas biting. Your typical cat may still have redness and hair loss from overgrooming, but it won't be as severe as you'd see with flea allergy dermatitis. On the other hand, cats who are allergic to flea saliva can have a full-blown allergic response to just one flea bite! Around 2 percent of cats are allergic to flea saliva, with no specific breed predispositions known at this time.
Causes of Flea Allergies in Cats
© Provided by Great Pet Care Cat is itchy from fleas Flea allergies in cats only happen from flea bites. The mere presence of a flea won't cause a reaction, but it would be very rare for a flea to land on your cat and NOT try to take a bite. The warm environment of a cat's fur is perfect for a flea to find their next meal. Fleas bite your cat to feed on blood, which is how your cat gets exposed to the flea's saliva.
When a flea bites them, the cat's body has an overreaction to specific proteins in the flea's saliva, and this exaggerated response manifests as flea allergy dermatitis. Repeated exposure to flea saliva causes the cat to develop a hypersensitivity reaction. In most cases, this hypersensitivity reaction manifests as flea allergy dermatitis.
Like how allergies can worsen in people with repeated exposure, your cat's signs may worsen with each reinfestation.
Symptoms of Flea Allergy Dermatitis in CatsMost signs of flea allergies in cats are related to the condition of your cat's skin. Some pet parents may refer to this as a flea rash. The typical signs of flea allergy dermatitis in cats include:
While live fleas and flea dirt can certainly be present with a flea allergy in cats, keep in mind that cats are fastidious groomers. It's common for cat parents not to even know that their flea-allergic cat has fleas!
In some cases, a condition known as eosinophilic granuloma complex (ECG) may also occur. With ECG, your cat may develop lip ulcers, raised plaques on the skin, or granulomas of the skin.
Diagnosing a Flea Allergy in Cats
© Provided by Great Pet Care Vet looks for fleas on cat In most cases, your veterinarian will be able to diagnose flea allergy dermatitis in your cat with a physical exam. If your pet has the characteristic skin allergy signs and the veterinarian finds a flea or flea dirt, a flea allergy will be their presumptive diagnosis.
The veterinarian may use a flea comb to check for fleas or dirt. Flea dirt is the excrement of fleas, which turns red or a rusty color when wetted because it's digested blood. If the veterinarian finds brown or black specks on your cat, they may wet the specks with a paper towel to see if they turn this characteristic rusty red color.
Typically, the veterinarian won't need to run blood work. However, if your cat is very young or has a very high number of fleas on them, the fleas can actually feed on your cat enough to cause anemia. If the veterinarian suspects anemia based on their physical examination, the veterinarian may at least recommend checking to ensure your cat isn't anemic from blood loss. Signs of anemia would include pale gums, weakness, and lethargy.
In most cases, the veterinarian will recommend treating your pet intensively for flea allergy dermatitis for at least six weeks. If the fleas are gone after this time but the itchiness and red skin continues, then your veterinarian may recommend food elimination diets or skin testing for allergies. While flea allergies are the top cause of itchy skin conditions in areas with fleas, environmental allergies and food allergies can also cause skin inflammation in cats.
Treating Flea Allergy Dermatitis in Cats
© Provided by Great Pet Care Pet owner using a flea comb on their cat Luckily, there's a solution to flea allergy dermatitis in cats—keep the fleas off your pet! The hard part about a flea infestation is that the environment must also be treated. While 5 percent of the fleas in an infestation are adult fleas which can jump onto your pet and bite them, the remaining 95 percent are still in earlier life stages within the environment—eggs, larvae, and pupae. You must disrupt the life cycle to halt the infestation. Most insecticides will kill fleas but preventing reinfestation is the ongoing challenge.
To treat the active infestation, your veterinarian may recommend an oral medication (nitenpyram) that can rapidly kill adult fleas on your pet within 6 hours. This medication does not have residual activity, so reinfestation is not prevented. This is why the veterinarian will also recommend a routine flea and tick preventative, such as imidacloprid, fipronil, fluralaner, or selamectin. These spot-on treatments have good efficacy, safety, and residual activity. Other prevention options can include chewable tablets, flea collars, and flea sprays. As a note, spot-on treatments must be applied directly to the skin, so make sure you're parting the fur when you put the spot-on on your pet.
Permethrin is in many flea treatments for dogs, but this medication is very dangerous for cats. This ingredient can cause vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, seizures, and death in cats. Ensure the product you use is labeled for cats! Do not use any product that lists permethrin as an ingredient on your cat.
All that skin irritation and scratching can result in a secondary skin infection. If this is the case for your cat, your veterinarian will prescribe antibiotics to help treat the infection. If your pet's skin allergy is moderate to severe, the veterinarian may also give a steroid injection or prescribe short-term steroids like prednisolone to give your pet more immediate relief. Steroids help reduce inflammation and can slow the immune system's overreaction to the flea's saliva.
Most cats continue treatment at home. Hospitalization is not typically necessary, but very young, sick, or anemic animals may need to stay in the hospital for monitoring or, rarely, a blood transfusion.
When it comes to managing the fleas in the environment, there are several steps you can take:
If you can't get in soon to see your veterinarian, it's a good idea to bathe your cat if they'll tolerate it. You can use a cat-friendly shampoo, but regular dish soap such as Dawn is safe in a pinch. Whether your cat allows the bath or not, you can use a flea comb to help remove more fleas. Some flea and tick preventatives are available without a prescription and can help you start getting the infestation under control.
How to Prevent Flea Allergy Dermatitis in Cats
© Provided by Great Pet Care Pet owner applies spot-on treatment to cat Remember that it can only take one flea bite to keep your flea-allergic cat itchy! While the task may seem daunting, prevention is key to keeping your pet healthy and happy.
Keep your cat and any in-contact pets on monthly flea control year-round. Fleas can continue to live indoors during the winter months. While the warmer months of the year have typically been considered flea season (year-round in some southern and coastal areas, spring to fall in northern areas), flea season has been expanding to involve more months of the year. Year-round prevention is the best way to keep your pet from experiencing an allergic reaction.
Wild animals, community cats, stray animals, and pets you share a fence-line with can all be flea reservoirs. Keeping your cat indoors reduces their potential exposure to new flea infestations.
Remember that a large part of a flea infestation occurs in the environment. Regular vacuuming can help catch fleas who may have hitched a ride on your dog during their afternoon walk.
If you are struggling to control a flea infestation, consider speaking with your veterinarian or a pest specialist. Once you get rid of a flea infestation, prevention of future infestations becomes easier. With patience, you can help your flea-allergic cat get back to their usual frisky self.
The post Flea Allergy Dermatitis in Cats appeared first on Great Pet Care.
What Bit Me? How To Identify And Treat Bug Bites
Several of the most common types of bug bites include the following.
Mosquito BitesMosquito bites cause itchy bumps after the insect pierces your skin. Since female mosquitoes need blood to produce eggs, they are the main perpetrators, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While mosquito bites usually leave a reddish bump, small blister or dark, bruise-like spots may occur as well. They are typically harmless.
When it comes to mosquito bites, many people may worry about contracting germs which cause viruses, such as West Nile virus and Zika virus, which are more likely to occur in people over 50 and pregnant women. Prevention for this type of bug bite includes using insect repellants, covering up, installing screens, and emptying standing water from flower pots, birdbaths and other places regularly.
Flea BitesBoth male and female fleas suck human blood, and in most cases, aim for the legs and ankles. After a bite, small red spots with light-colored centers typically appear in the area where the flea's mouth touched the skin. Although swelling is abnormal, bleeding is a possibility, especially if you scratch, according to data from the University of Missouri's Division of Plant Sciences.
Diseases caused by flea bites can include plague, fleaborne (murine) typhus and cat scratch disease. Symptoms to watch for are fever and chills, body aches and muscle pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain. Bites from fleas can be prevented by using insect repellants, covering skin with clothing and wearing gloves when handling sick or dead animals.
Bed Bug BitesBed bug bites are often mistaken for mosquito, flea and spider bites. If you notice a musty odor in the room you sleep in or specks of blood on your mattress, bedding or furniture, you may have bed bugs. Bed bug bites are itchy welts on your skin in a zigzag pattern.
However, common compounds in the skin called triglycerides or lipids, might prevent bed bugs from staying on your skin for too long, suggests research conducted at the University of Kentucky . Fortunately, bed bugs are not known to spread disease.
Tick BitesIn most cases, ticks are tiny and look like freckles or specks of dirt on your skin. They tend to feed in dark, warm and secluded areas of the body like your scalp, underarms, the backs of your knees, belly button and between your fingers and toes. If you find a tick, remove it right away—don't squeeze it, use a hot match or rub petroleum jelly on it. Tick bites can result in diseases like lyme disease, which can lead to neurological symptoms and damage the heart.
Prevention for tick bites includes wearing long-sleeved shirts and light-colored clothing, using insect repellants, showering following outdoor activities and checking pets and children for ticks.
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