Cat Fleas also live on dogs and humans, sometimes causing skin reactions and transmitting diseases
The Cat Flea Ctenocephalides felis has cats and dogs as its primary host. This means that populations of fleas can live with them. Cat Fleas will bite humans, but they will not survive long unless there are either pet cats or dogs around.
Cat Flea eggs and larvae.
The Cat Flea lays her eggs on the dog or cat, but they soon drop off into the animal’s bed. When the eggs hatch out the larvae hide in the bed and feed off old blood dropped there by the adult fleas who are still living on the cat or dog. This ‘flea-dirt’ accumulates in the pet’s bed and sustains the larvae until they pupate. These pupae remain in the bed until they are ready to hatch and jump onto their host.
Cat Flea pupae.
Cat Flea larvae spin a cocoon when they are ready to pupate, and once cosily wrapped up in the pet’s bed they wait for the clues that will tell them a cat or dog is nearby. They need about two weeks to get ready to hatch, but once they reach this stage they are prepared to spend a very long time waiting, even through the winter. The adult emerges when the pupa detects the heat, movement or carbon dioxide of a new victim, sometimes the original pet, but kittens or puppies are preferred! Maybe they are more ‘juicy’!
Adult Cat Fleas.
The adult Cat Flea is famous for its jumping ability; it can jump 200 times its own body-length. Once the flea has landed successfully on the pet it would like to spend the rest of its life there, but will gleefully jump onto a new host if the opportunity arises. Getting close to a flea-infested cat or dog is one way to catch their fleas, but lying in their bed is more effective. And if they share your bed – well!
Cat Flea bites.
Fleas are not very smart because their bite is easily felt by the host animal. Ticks are much more subtle than this and produce local anaesthetics in their saliva to avoid detection, and this probably explains why fleas jump around while ticks hang on. Flea-bites are noticed immediately and lead to the familiar scratching, but the bite can also cause long-term irritation called flea allergy dermatitis which affects both cats and dogs.
Tapeworm and Cat Scratch Fever.
The Cucumber Tapeworm Dipylidium caninum can be passed through this cat-dog-human connection, with the most likely victims being kittens, puppies and children.
Cat-scratch fever is also passed on to children, usually by kittens. The bacterium responsible lives in the kitten’s blood and is passed on by flea bites or scratches from young claws. The disease appears a couple of weeks after being bitten or scratched, and while not pleasant is not usually very serious.
If you don’t itch after reading this article, then try this one about Morgellons Syndrome! Or read about blood-suckers.
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