Tips For How To Bath A Cat With Fleas

Detecting if your cat has fleas requires that you pay attention to them and observe their behavior on a daily basis. These are the main symptoms of fleas in cats see if yours shows them to act as soon as possible.

• Scratching the body excessively and almost constantly.
• Increased irritability and sudden changes in behavior due to the discomfort caused by fleas.
• Hair problems, such as hair loss or progressive loss of shine.
• skin lesions
• Allergic reactions, especially pronounced on the tail and back. You will have these irritated and reddened areas and even with some small wound, feeling very itchy.
• It is very possible that other animals and people living in the same house also have flea bites.
• You can see how the fleas jump on the cat’s body, especially if it is light-colored fur and if there are many of these parasites.
• You will have to check your hair daily and see if you have excrement from these parasites, that is, black dots all over your body.

Learn more about the symptoms of fleas in cats with this other OneHOWTO post about How to know if my cat has fleas.

Bathing a cat to remove fleas It is not an easy task, since the difficulty of bathing it and the discomfort of the feline when it is wet with soap and water is added to the mission of eliminating fleas from its body. To make this moment more relaxed for both you and your pet, at aHOWTO we give you the following tips:

• Put a towel in the bathtub so the cat can scratch it. In this way, he will be able to channel the accumulated tension without hurting you.
• Use two containers or basins: one to wet the cat and the other to throw out the fleas that you remove.
• Cats’ nails are one of their main defenses. Cutting or filing them so that they don’t have a sharp point will prevent them from injuring you during the bath. In the following days, surely, the feline itself will be sharpening them on the scratching posts to recover its shape while it grows.
• Before the bath, try to brush him for several minutes so that the dead hair falls out and makes your job easier. If you can do it with a fine comb, like the one used to remove lice, it will be much better, so you can already remove some fleas and fallen hair.
• Play with your feline for a while before bathing him, so he will get used to you touching his paws and ears, getting familiar with your contact and he will not feel more stressed when you pick him up during the bath. This is especially important to remove fleas in small cats: if it is their first bath and their first flea treatment, they will need attention and affection in the previous moments to reduce their nervousness. Here we explain how to eliminate fleas in newborn or very small cats.

After completing the preliminary work, it is time to explain in detail how to bathe a cat with fleas step by step. Follow these steps to make it an enjoyable time, or at least as relaxed as possible:

1. Put your cat in the bathtub and close the bathroom door to prevent her from running away. Maintain a loving tone at all times when speaking to him to reassure him.
2. You can put two cotton balls in his ears so that water does not enter him during the bath.
3. Put water in the bathtub or in the basin, which is a little warm, and put the feline making sure that the water only covers its legs, without reaching its belly.
4. Once he is adapted to the sensation of having wet paws, wet the other areas of the body with your hand. As you progress, use the small container to make sure you get all parts moist. It can be, for example, a plastic cup or something similar. You will have to have the other container that we have commented on in the tips section ready with hot water and leave it by your side.
5. Apply the flea shampoo for cats over his body. First apply a little water and shampoo around the neck, like a collar, so that the fleas do not escape to the head so easily.
6. Massage all areas of your cat’s body with the shampoo, especially the head (being careful not to touch the eyes), the tail and the neck. Take special care of the nose, eyes and ears. If the shampoo gets into your eyes or nose, wash them off with water as soon as possible to avoid skin irritation. If the shampoo enters the ears, it is better to use cotton to remove it.
7. You will notice that the fleas move a lot to escape but it will cost them a lot. When you see them, take them with your hand or remove them with the help of a comb and put them in the second small container, which you will have previously filled with hot water so that you make sure that they die and you can have them collected and get rid of them.
8. Use a fine comb taking advantage of the foam generated by the shampoo to remove the fleas and throw them in the hot water container.
9. Rinse the cat’s entire body with water to remove any traces of the shampoo.

You can learn more about tips related to bathing your feline in this other post on How to bathe my cat at home.

Flea shampoo for cats is one of the products that you can use to eliminate these parasites from the feline’s body, but there are also natural remedies with which you can achieve this. First of all, you need to know some tips on the application of the specific products to remove fleas and prevent them:

• To prevent the appearance of fleas, you can opt for the antiparasitic pipettes: you will have to apply them once a month (this can vary depending on the product, so you have to read the packaging), lifting the fur so that the product contacts the skin.
• The use of flea collars specific for cats, with an approximate effectiveness of 3 months.
• The application of antiparasitic shampoos that protect cats from fleas and other external parasites for 15 days.

How to get rid of fleas on cats with home remedies?

The best natural remedies to remove fleas from your cat and that you can easily do at home are the following:

• Mixture of essential oils with a repellent effect, such as citronella and lavender, with the flea shampoo to enhance the elimination of parasites. To avoid skin problems, this is not a valid option to remove fleas in small cats (less than one year old) and only a few drops should always be used, a total of 5 will suffice.
• Lemon juice or other citrus fruits mixed with a little water can be helpful in repelling some parasites.
• You can also remove fleas on cats with vinegar. It is another repellent for insects: by mixing shampoo and vinegar in similar proportions, you will obtain a natural product to bathe the feline.
• The extracts of chamomile tea, applied to the pet’s body with a cloth, are also effective in repelling fleas.
• You can also use petroleum jelly to apply to your cat’s fur and skin while brushing. This product will cause fleas to stick and suffocate. In addition, since they are stuck in the Vaseline, you can remove them much more easily with a fine comb.

These remedies can be useful when the problem is detected early and there are few parasites, when you really do not have access to a veterinary treatment or to combine it with it, as it will reduce the volume of fleas and allow the treatment to act more easily later. .

If you want to discover more Home remedies to eliminate fleas in cats, we recommend you enter this link to our article about it. In addition, we advise you to read this other post on How to eliminate fleas from the house.

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