Many people mistakenly believe that their indoor cats don’t need flea treatment, but indoor cat flea control is important if you’re looking to prevent health problems in cats.

Why?

Believe it or not, fleas can invade any home, so protection and prevention are important to avoid the disease risks fleas pose to pets.

The risks fleas pose to cats can lead to the need for veterinary treatment for issues like flea-bite dermatitis, flea-bite anemia, tapeworms, and more.

Even one flea can cause suffering to an animal sensitive or allergic to fleas.

So how can indoor cats become exposed to or infested with fleas?

Flea infestations can occur in surprising ways.

For example, feral cats harbor fleas and spread these pests to other environments as they roam a neighborhood.

Also, other roaming animals (dogs, rats, wild animals) can bring fleas into a yard and garden or into unsecured crawl spaces in your home.

Pet owners or human visitors can also bring fleas into the house on their clothes or shoes.

Finally, if you provide a safe outdoor area for your cat, access to the yard, or have other pets that can go outside, your cat could also get fleas.

How to know if your indoor cat has fleas?

There are a few ways to identify a flea infestation.

First, you may see a flea crawling on your pet.

If your cat begins excessive grooming or biting and chewing, these could be indicators of a flea infestation

Another way to identify the threat of an infestation is to set up a flea trap at night (or use a nightlight with a shallow bowl of soapy water under it).

Either device will attract and drain any adult fleas in the environment, but adult fleas only make up 5% of an infestation!

Finally, every pet care arsenal should include a flea comb. Using this tool will reveal if a pet has fleas.

So how do you stop this flea infestation threat?

In the past, people associated with commercial flea control products, but recently there has been a lot of concern about the use of flea control products on pets.

If you don’t know about this issue, please read the 2009 EPA Flea and Tick Product Advisory Important Information.

The advisory was made after 44,000 animals were negatively affected after flea control products were applied, resulting in the deaths of 1,600 pets.

Today, people are looking for safer, less toxic options for flea treatments, but they don’t realize that natural doesn’t always mean less toxic, and many herbs and essential oils are toxic to cats.

The secret of how to eliminate fleas from indoor cats lies in the three pillars that form the Triangle of Successful Flea Control:

Treat the outside environment

This means keeping the garden tidy and free of debris. Trim the lawn and consider the use of parasitic nematodes that feed on fleas at different stages of their development.

Treat the Indoor Environment

Dusting, sweeping, vacuuming and mopping are some non-toxic alternatives. Pet bedding and favorite resting areas should also be cleaned. Additional strategies may include the use of a product like FleaBustersRX.

treat the animal

Daily flea combing, a water bath, or a weekly bath with oatmeal shampoo will help get rid of fleas. Believe it or not, no chemical shampoos or baths are needed. Select a repellent such as NaturVet Flea Spray for Cats to avoid repelling fleas.

Once you select your methods to tackle the problem, you should apply everything at the same time and then repeat every three to six weeks to ensure you stop the cycle of flea infestation.