What is flea dermatitis in cats, symptoms and treatment methods for allergies

Animals, like humans, are susceptible to various diseases, regardless of species, breed or size. Illnesses can affect not only wild fauna, but also pets living in an apartment.

The most common nuisance among animals is fleas, which are most often found in long-haired pets, such as cats. This, in turn, can cause inflammation - an allergy to the saliva of parasites. Moreover, for its development, just one flea bite is enough, because the saliva of these parasites contains many types of allergens to which cats are very sensitive.

Important: the disease can occur not only in long-haired breeds, but also in animals with short hair and even hairless ones.

Why does flea dermatitis develop in cats?

Individuals older than 1 year are more often susceptible to this disease than kittens under 12 months. But in the second case, the invasion almost always ends in death. The reason is weak immunity, which often cannot cope with the disease.

This kind of skin inflammation in cats doesn’t just happen. The most common causes of the disease are:

• warm season;
• dirt from the street;
• unsanitary conditions;
• contact with other animals;
• decreased immunity;
• self-walking

The peak of diseases occurs in the summer season, when the air temperature reaches its maximum, which provokes an increase in the activity of parasites. This usually happens in July-August. At this time of year, it is extremely undesirable to let your pets outside. Especially when it comes to southern cities. For a disease such as flea allergy in cats, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Anapa and other settlements in the southern regions are an ideal place for spread.

Fleas that cause the disease can enter the house, for example, with dirt on the soles or on outer clothing.

Outdoor animals, which are almost always infested with fleas, are especially dangerous for cats living in apartments. Therefore, walking pets on the street should only be done under close attention and on a harness. It is for this reason that self-walking cats should be reduced in time as much as possible, especially in the summer.

But not all pets, even if they have fleas, can become infected with this disease. Usually it is dangerous only for those cats that have a decrease in immunity. Most often this happens after an illness, as a result of which the protective functions of the animal’s body are significantly reduced.

Where do fleas come from in an apartment?

Before you understand how to get rid of fleas in an apartment, you need to know where they come from.

Fleas live on many continents, they are very unpretentious and have adapted to survive in any, even the most difficult conditions. How do they get into the apartment?

The first and most likely reason for the appearance of these blood-sucking insects near people is that they get on the body of pets that are walked outdoors. The most likely habitats for them are basements of houses, grass on lawns and other animals. A flea, once on the fur of a pet, does not reveal itself for some time and begins to lay eggs, which can then fall onto the floor or carpet, from where numerous individuals subsequently hatch.

These harmful bloodsuckers, despite their tiny size, are capable of jumping high, so they can sometimes be found in woolen clothes, on windowsills in flowers and in other places. But most often these pests live closer to the floor, they hide behind baseboards, in carpets, furniture, and love to live in the bedding of pets. Therefore, you will need to start breeding them from your own furry animal and its habitat.

However, if you do not have pets, but fleas still appear, then there are other ways for them to enter. In this case, they enter the apartment directly from the entrance of your house, from the attic, from the balcony, they can sneak in from neighbors, traveling through the ventilation pipe, and they can also be carried by all kinds of rodents if they have access to the underground of the apartment.

Symptoms: descriptions and photos

All diseases have distinctive signs. Dermatitis in cats is no exception.

Home diagnostics

In most cases, you can identify the presence of fleas in a cat yourself. To do this, you just need to watch your pet for a while.

If you want to make sure that your cat is allergic to fleas, it is recommended to pay attention to the following:

• severe itching, especially in the head and tail area;
• redness;
• blisters;
• swelling at the site of the wound;
• anxiety, mainly at night;
• a cat scratching certain areas until they bleed;
• regular biting (the animal can bite itself).

Fleas are also easy to spot if you carefully examine the fur and skin. The presence of parasites can also be indicated by small black dots - excrement that look like beads.

To find out that this is not just dirt, but flea waste, you just need to dip one of them in a glass of water. If it has dissolved and the liquid has turned a slightly light brown color, you can be sure that the cat is infected.

In cats, a flea allergy has the following symptoms:

• the presence of ulcers or dense nodules;
• excessive dryness of the skin;
• partial swelling in certain places;
• severe scratching (sometimes to the point of bleeding);
• high temperature of certain areas of the skin;
• presence of problems with digestion and appetite;
• excessive fearfulness;
• frequent meowing.

Important: the above signs may be signs of other diseases, so to make an accurate diagnosis and choose the right treatment, you should first consult a veterinarian.

Symptoms of flea bites

A flea bite on a child can be confused with the consequences of an attack by other blood-sucking insects, but according to some features and symptoms they can be accurately identified:

• flea bites cause severe itching and are painful for young children;
• due to the baby’s delicate skin, lumps and bumps may form in the bitten area, inside which subcutaneous hemorrhage is possible;
• flea bites look like tracks of several wounds;
• a large number of bite marks occur on those parts of the body where there is no clothing: legs, ankles, lower back, because fleas are not able to crawl under the fabric;
• In addition to spots, a rash similar to hives often appears on the body, which is a symptom of an allergic reaction.

Knowing exactly what flea bites look like in children, parents should as soon as possible discover the source of their settlement and take measures to destroy the parasites.

Forms of allergies to parasites

Divided into three types:

• acute;
• subacute;
• chronic.

They all have their own characteristics and characteristics, thanks to which the stage can be determined. In the acute form, the disease passes quickly and is accompanied by severe itching, which gives the cat a lot of discomfort. Due to regular combing, the hair may fall off in clumps, and in its place bald areas, often covered with a crust, may appear. With this form of the disease, the cat has parasites in its fur.

If treatment is not started on time, the acute form quickly becomes chronic, which is an intermediate stage between the first and third stages. There may no longer be fleas.

The chronic form is characterized by the presence of signs of both stages. This period of the disease may be accompanied by itching, redness, and then its sudden disappearance. Usually this process is recurrent in nature, because periodically there is an improvement or deterioration in the animal’s condition. The chronic stage is already difficult to respond to medications, so its treatment must be approached comprehensively and only under the supervision of a doctor.

Diagnosis at the veterinarian

If it is difficult to identify the problem yourself, it is advisable to visit a clinic where they will make a diagnosis and determine the stage.

When visiting a doctor, be prepared to provide information about the course of the disease, its main signs and the cat’s behavior. If the inflammation has already started, it will be useful to show the specialist a photo of the initial stage so that he can make an accurate diagnosis. This will allow the doctor to prescribe the correct treatment depending on the animal’s health condition.

A veterinarian can determine the disease in the following ways:

1. Technique for combing wool onto white paper . To do this, the doctor uses a comb to remove a scrap from a small area of ​​the cat’s body onto white paper slightly moistened with water. The presence of parasites is indicated by small dark dots around which a spot forms.
2. Blood analysis . When this disease is detected in an animal, cells (eosinophils) are found that are involved in hypersensitivity reactions. In this case, their concentration is noticeably increased.
3. By visual inspection . As a result, allergies, baldness in certain areas, dried crusts with blood, ear mites, fungal diseases and others may appear.

How dangerous are fleas for cats and humans?

It has been known since ancient times that cat fleas can be carriers of a number of diseases that are most dangerous to humans. The greatest threat to life and health is posed by individuals that parasitize rats. It is they who are capable of infecting a person with such terrible diseases as typhus and plague, which was observed in the Middle Ages.

A cat infected with fleas suffers from sharply deteriorated mental and physical well-being. Quite often, parasite bites provoke allergic reactions and dermatitis. In addition, these insects carry worms. Ectoparasites are carriers of a dangerous disease for cats - hemobartonellosis. This disease leads to a sharp decrease in the content of red blood cells in the blood, which provokes the development of anemia. Fleas are the source of a number of fungal and viral diseases that affect internal organs and cause fever.

With a particularly complex clinical picture of infection, the animal suffers mentally and can almost completely and irrevocably lose its fur.

Treatment of dermatitis in cats

If your veterinarian has diagnosed flea dermatitis in cats, treatment should begin immediately to prevent it from progressing to a serious stage.

You need to start acting by eliminating the root cause - parasites. To remove fleas, you can use various methods - both folk remedies and products sold in pharmacies.

Antihistamines

They are aimed at eliminating signs of allergies - itching, swelling, redness. Typically, the duration of taking such medications does not exceed one to three weeks. Only a veterinarian can calculate the duration.

For convenience, they are usually mixed with food or water. Some anti-allergy drops and tablets suitable for humans can also be given to animals. These, for example, include Zodak, Suprastin or Zyrtec. In particularly severe cases, the doctor may prescribe injections.

Important: antihistamines are effective only with complex treatment. They do not eliminate the cause, but only help remove the symptoms.

Hormonal

They are usually prescribed for severe cases of the disease and are first given in large quantities to dull the manifestations of the disease, gradually reducing the dose.

Hormonal medications have a lot of side effects, so they are given only when other treatments are useless. Such troubles include:

• decreased immune function of the body;
• metabolic disease;
• problems with the digestive tract.

Because medications in the form of tablets or drops are difficult to administer to cats, creams and gels that are used externally, such as Stop Itching, are sometimes prescribed as an alternative.

Diet

To restore strength after an illness, an animal needs special cat food that will help it support its immune system. Food high in Omega-3 should be given as an additional nutrition to the main one. It is also necessary to completely exclude chicken, beef, lamb and food made from these products for a while - due to strong allergenicity.

Drops

They are usually used to eliminate the cause of dermatitis in cats - fleas. They are applied externally - to the withers, so that the animal does not remove the medicine when licking the fur. In addition, it is unacceptable for it to enter the animal’s body.

The drops are convenient because a small dose is required to remove all types of skin parasites; they allow you to get rid of them as quickly as possible, literally within 1-2 days from the moment of application. Such drops include, for example, “Beafar”, “Frontline” or “Advantage”.

Powder

It is used to heal sores caused by scratches on the body of an animal. When using it, the crusts heal faster, and clean and healthy skin appears in their place. In addition, the composition of the powder is aimed at reducing itching, which also has a beneficial effect on wound healing.

Collar

It is the most common type of treatment for parasites in cats. True, such a flea trap is more used for prevention, because it does not allow them to settle on the cat’s skin, repelling them with their specific smell.

And the composition with which the material is impregnated can also cause allergies, but the risk of its occurrence is much lower than flea infestation. The most common are “Bars” and “Clandestine”.

Shampoo

During the treatment process, most veterinarians, along with other methods, prescribe the use of special shampoos. Their composition is more aggressive than regular ones, because it is aimed at destroying parasites. It is recommended to use them only for pets older than six months. Cats younger than this age should be treated with different techniques. The most popular brands among such shampoos are “Clandestine”, “Lugovoy” and “Mskiss”.

Spray

To get rid of fleas and the consequences of their life on the animal's body, sprays are often prescribed (Bolfo, Bars, Frontline). The advantage of using this drug is that it covers a large area of ​​the affected area and penetrates into its deepest layers. In addition, the spray is usually sold in large quantities, which allows it to be used for more than one month.

Effect of flea bites

The consequences of flea bites in children can be quite unpleasant:

• the layer of the baby’s epidermis is very thin and delicate, as a result of which flea bites in a child are very painful, they itch very much and do not heal for a long time, and children often scratch them;
• in a child who has a tendency to allergies due to an imperfect immune system, negative manifestations can be strong;
• in rare cases, children develop subcutaneous hemorrhages, which result in the disease “pulicosis”; it is treated by a dermatologist;
• fleas are carriers of infections, including worm eggs, which they can transmit through a bite;
• Children bitten by parasites may experience severe fear and nervous shock, which will require treatment from a psychologist.

Traditional methods of treating allergies to flea bites

In case of mild disease, traditional methods can be used to eliminate ectoparasites.

1. Use of needles for bedding . Fleas are repelled by this smell, so it is advisable to replace your pet’s sleeping place with a mattress stuffed with pine needles.
2. Salt . Pour half a pack of salt into a bowl of warm water and bathe the animal in this solution. As a rule, several such procedures are necessary to achieve maximum results. It is important to ensure that water does not get into your cat's eyes. Such procedures cannot be performed if there are open wounds on the animal’s body.
3. Garlic . The smell of this vegetable is known to repel many types of parasites, including fleas. To prepare the mixture, you need to pass 2-3 slices through a special press, add half a glass of warm water and let it brew for 6-10 hours. Gently rub the resulting solution into your pet’s skin and allow to dry.
4. Essential oils with the scent of lavender and cedar . To do this, make a medicinal solution: add 3 drops of lavender and cedar oil to 0.5 liters of warm water. Then shake well and spray over the cat's fur using a spray bottle. This procedure should be carried out 2-3 times a day until all parasites disappear.

Medicines

Fighting fleas is not always easy. In some cases, animals only need to be treated with almost any drug, and everything goes away, but there are also difficult cases. They occur if fleas have settled directly in the apartment, or if they are regularly brought into the house.

In such cases, complex treatments are necessary. They are also used if the infestation is severe, that is, fleas on the cat are easily visible. Comprehensive measures are also needed if the cat has severe flea dermatitis.

There are many animal treatments available on the market. They are available in drops, sprays, collars and even tablets.

There are two types of anti-flea products: those with a killing effect and those with a repellent effect (repellents). Unfortunately, there are no combination drugs on the market yet that combine a long-lasting killing effect with a good repellent, so for optimal protection it is necessary to combine agents. In addition, the drugs need to be changed periodically, since fleas can get used to the same product.

Prevention

To minimize the risk of the disease, special attention should be paid to its prevention.

In order to prevent the occurrence of dermatitis in cats, the following measures must be taken:

1. Keep the house clean. To do this, every time you come home from the street, you need to wash your shoes and clean your outerwear. After these manipulations, you should put things in a closed space, for example, a closet.
2. The cat should wear a neck strap regularly. It is an excellent remedy for repelling skin parasites, because its composition is aimed specifically at destroying them. In addition, such a device is the most inexpensive method to protect your pet from fleas.
3. Avoid self-walking of the animal, especially in the warm season.
4. Periodically carry out a preventive examination of the cat's skin for the presence of parasites.
5. Visit your veterinarian regularly.
6. Do not violate the flea treatment schedule (2 times a year).

When a disease such as flea allergic dermatitis is detected in cats, timely treatment plays a huge role, since its health condition depends on the speed of reaction of the animal’s owners.

Destruction of fleas with the help of specialists

This method is the simplest, most reliable and convenient. Specialists will quickly treat your home from annoying fleas and provide a guarantee for the treatment. In addition, the poisons used by pest control services are safe for people and animals. The products used undergo mandatory certification, for which there are the necessary documents. But this method cannot be called cheap. The services of disinfectants will cost you a pretty penny, but will save you from lengthy and possibly futile attempts to remove fleas yourself. The equipment used by professionals is designed specifically for the destruction of parasites, and its high cost is justified by the same effectiveness.

It doesn't matter which method you use to get fleas out of your home. It is important to prevent their reappearance. Seal all cracks in the floor, check the animals periodically and carry out wet cleaning as often as possible. It would be useful to additionally treat the basement against rodents. Perhaps they became the primary cause of fleas in the house.