Purebreds Plus Cat Rescue

Flea Infestation

Here is the tale of Miss Cleo and Mr. Woo. For those who don't know about fleas, that is a very unhealthy situation. Flea dirt on a cat means there have been fleas biting them. The bites leave little spots of blood, which then dry into little black dots on their skin. Fleas can carry many diseases, and they can also bite the cats so much that they become anemic from blood loss.

In the case of Miss Cleo and Mr. Woo, the cats had more flea dirt on them than any cat we've ever seen. Under all that beautiful coat, the skin was solid black spots, sometimes layer on top of layer of it. When we bathed them, the rinse water ran blood red. That was from the dried blood rehydrating as we bathed them. It took two rounds of bathing for them to stop having "blood" running off of their coats. That is just disgusting and there is NO excuse for having any animals carrying that kind of flea load.

When a cat has fleas, they bite at the fleas to kill them. Fleas are a vector for tape worm. Once they ingest the fleas, the life cycle of the tape worm begins. So, any cat that has fleas, most likely has tape worm. We automatically wormed Mr. Woo and Miss Cleo. When a flea bites a cat, they are like little vampires, sucking away the blood. The more the fleas bite them, the more they lose their red blood cells. This can cause anemia in the cats. In some cases, especially with kittens, flea anemia can be so severe that it will kill the animal. Miss Cleo and Mr. Woo don't appear to be too anemic, but we will be giving them iron supplements for the "flea anemia", at least for the first few weeks we've got them.

Thankfully, despite them being so parasitized, they are in apparent good general health, clear eyes, no respiratory problems, etc. As a cat gets clear of parasites, their coats will soften and shine even more. These kitties will be even more beautiful in a few short months. They have a wonderful foster mother who dotes on them, so they will be well socialized, in addition to being healthy. Please don't let this little lesson put you off from adopting this darling pair. Just let it be a lesson on why we are so insistent upon Indoor Only cats, and regular flea preventives.