Finding the best Maine Coon flea treatment can be very difficult. Although cat fleas are a very common problem, it is still very hard to get rid of them.
Fleas enter the home by attaching to your clothes, shoes or even by using other animals as hosts. If they use your cat as a host, fleas will become a major problem. To rid a Maine Coon from fleas, owners should groom and bathe cat regularly. Cat medication, and cleaning inside and the outside of your house regularly will also help.
Some people get tired and discouraged after several weeks of grooming the cat without any apparent success.
Many people do not realize that the reproductive cycle of cat fleas is what makes them so difficult to exterminate.
By the time your cat is complaining about them, your house is already infested with them. It can take weeks, or even months to get rid of them.
Maine Coon Cat Fleas
Cat fleas are small insects that live as parasites. They live on the skin of warm-blooded animals and bite it to drink its blood.
They are hard to spot because they hide underneath the animal’s fur.
They produce a lot of discomforts when they bite and they can transmit several different diseases.
They are considered a very common type of pest.
Adult cat fleas can live for about 25 days.
They are hard to see because they are almost flat and very small, about 1/8 of an inch in length.
Their color varies from dark brown to black, but they can turn dark red when they are filled with blood.
They do not have wings, but their large hind legs help them jump distances from 7 to 13 inches long.
In order to avoid these pests, it is important to keep the animals like mice, which serve as flea hosts, outside of your house.
The most common practices for this purpose are to:
- Mow your lawn regularly
- Seal all cracks, and crevices in the house
- Screen all the vents and chimneys
It is also important to bathe and groom your cat regularly and take it to the veterinarian.
You can also spray an anti-flea pesticide on the exterior of the house in spring and summer, which is when fleas are more active.
How To Spot Maine Coon Fleas
When your Maine Coon has fleas, there are several symptoms that will reveal the problem.
The first sign that your Maine Coon could have fleas is that it scratches or bites itself constantly.
A very important symptom is the presence of dark specs that look like pepper on your cat’s fur or the fact that it leaves these specs in the places where it rests. These specs are flea feces.
Furthermore, if your Maine Coon becomes more agitated or irritated than usual, it could have fleas.
If you want to check your cat to see if it has fleas, turn it upside down and check all the areas where the fleas could be hiding, especially the armpits and the groin.
It is important to check the ears, too.
If you see redness, blood, dark particles, or white dots attached to the fur, your Maine Coon could have fleas.
Why Is Maine Coon Flea Treatment Necessary?
Cat fleas are terrible for cats because of the discomfort that they cause and the sicknesses that they cause.
- They can cause allergic dermatitis on the cat
- They can transmit of other parasites to the cat
- They can kill a small pet
- They can also attack humans
Fleas leave some of their saliva on the cat’s skin when they bite and cats can become allergic to it. This allergic reaction will make the cats skin very itchy and sensitive.
After scratching very much, the cat can lose a lot of hair and also leave open sores on the skin that can get infected with other bacteria.
Some parasites like the tapeworm live inside the fleas. If a cat with fleas bites or grooms itself, it will eat some of the fleas. If one of the fleas was carrying this parasite, it will develop inside the cat’s intestine into a long worm.
This parasite will have to be treated in order to get rid of it.
Fleas can diminish the blood supply on small pets and kittens to very dangerous levels. They can get sick of anemia and even die if this is not treated quickly.
Fleas can also attack humans and their wastes can produce allergic reactions.
They will rarely use a human as a host, but if they bite a person, it is important not to scratch the bitten area and wash it with soap and water.
Ice can help minimize the swelling.
If the bite causes an allergic reaction, you have to go to the emergency room.
Best Maine Coon Flea Treatment
Flea treatment for Maine Coons is necessary because these insects are very hard to eliminate.
In order to see why it is important to view the reproductive cycle of the cat flea.
The adult female flea starts by drinking blood from its host, the cat. Then it lays from 40 to 50 eggs per day on the host’s skin or hair.
Some of the eggs will fall onto the places where the host visits the house.
After 2 to 14 days, larvae hatch from the eggs and start to eat any organic material they can find.
They tend to avoid light and stay in cracks, crevices, and bedding.
After five to ten days, the larvae will create a cocoon, where they become pupae.
The adult flea will emerge from the cocoon when the conditions are adequate.
The whole cycle can take from a few weeks to six months to complete.
By the time your cat shows symptoms of having fleas, your house is already infested with them. They hide in the carpets, in some of the furniture, etc.
It is also important to consider that the fleas are probably on the exterior of your house, too.
This means that if you just remove the fleas from your cat, more fleas from your house will replace them in very little time.
In some cases, it may take months to get rid of the problem.
The best Maine Coon flea treatment consists of the following procedure:
- First take the Maine Coon to the veterinarian.
- Next, ask the veterinarian how to clean the house.
- Then, clean the interior of the house
- After that, clean the exterior of the house
- Finally, groom, bathe and give the medication to your cat
The first part of the flea treatment for Maine Coons is to take your cat to the veterinarian and get it checked.
Follow the veterinarians indications so that this problem gets solved quickly.
Usually, they tend to choose from the types of treatments found in the market:
- Oral tablets
- Flea collars
- Spot-on applications
- Shampoos
Never use dog flea medication for a cat, or vice versa, because they require different chemicals and will become very sick.
Do not buy a flea collar without first consulting your veterinarian because they usually work only locally for about one or two weeks and they can be toxic for both you and your cat.
While you are with your veterinarian, remember to ask if it is necessary to clean the interior and the exterior of your house and which procedures he or she recommends for this.
There are some common practices that people recommend, but maybe the veterinarian has a special medication for the cat that will solve the entire problem without having to do a lot of extra work.
For example, an oral tablet that makes the female fleas infertile and cannot lay any more eggs.
A lot of people start the Maine Coon flea treatment by cleaning the interior of the house using a vacuum cleaner.
They clean everything, including furniture and the carpets, every day for the next two weeks.
They pay special attention to the places that the Maine Coon visits most of the time and the ones with the least illumination, where the larvae could be.
They also recommend washing everything in the washing machine in order to kill any eggs that happen to be there.
They also recommend spraying everything in the house with an anti-flea spray.
Many people recommend spraying a pesticide for cat fleas in the exterior of the house, including your garden.
All the dark places like cracks and crevices where the larvae could be hiding have to be sprayed too.
Some people recommend brushing your cat’s hair with a flea comb, which has to be wet with a mixture of warm water and dish soap.
After that, they recommend bathing it with dish soap instead of shampoo to kill the fleas. Ask your veterinarian if he or she agrees with this.
How To Care For A Maine Coon With Fleas
After buying the medication that the veterinarian indicated, follow the instructions so that the problem gets fixed quickly.
Groom your cat regularly and bathe it with the shampoo the veterinarian recommended.
Are Outdoor Maine Coons More Likely To Get Fleas?
It is easier for outdoor Maine Coons to get fleas. However, if you have fleas outside of your house, they will find a way to enter at some point.
By having an outdoor Maine Coon, you get fewer probabilities of getting bitten by a flea inside the house because the cat will manifest this problem before the fleas actually enter the house.
Can Indoor Maine Coon Cats Get Fleas?
Fleas can enter your house because it is not completely sealed from the exterior. They could enter by attaching to your clothes, your shoes, or in some types of animals, like mice.
A cat can get fleas, regardless of whether it is indoors or outdoors.
What To Do When Your Maine Coon Kitten Has Fleas
Considering how hard it can be to get rid of cat fleas and how dangerous they can be for your cat, the first part of the Maine Coon flea treatment is to play it safe and go straight to the veterinarian.
After that, you have to clean your house, both inside and outside.
Finally, you have to give your cat its medication, groom it, and bathe it regularly.
Conclusion
Getting rid of cat fleas can be very hard and discouraging.
The best Maine Coon flea treatment is to ask the veterinarian, who is the expert. He or she will have the solution to this very common problem.
However, prevention is always preferred for any type of sickness, including cat fleas.
If you do not have the problem yet, sealing cracks and crevices, mowing the lawn, bathing your cat regularly can greatly diminish the chances of getting fleas.