If you want to know for sure that it IS fleas, (if you haven't seen any), pet his back, and head vigorously for about 15 seconds or so, then pet his sides. After doing this, flip him over on his back quickly and part the hair on his stomach (where it's usually thinner and lighter in color). You should see lots of little brown bugs crawling around.
You will definitely have to get dewormer (Cestode or the like) from the vet clinic as tapeworms cannot be killed by any over the counter flea treatment/dewormer such as revolution, interceptor, etc. The reason that any mammal (including human's, disgusting as it is) gets tapeworms is through ingestion (not being bitten by) of a flea that has bitten another infested animal. The tapeworm has to pass through the flea in order to complete its lifecycle and infest the next animal. (two other species uses rabbits or rats and mice as an intermediate host) Therefore if you can keep your kitty from eating a rabbit, mouse, or rat AND from eating any fleas from an infected animal then you are safe.
If you have an outdoor kitty, this is nearly impossible because they are hunters and rabbits, mice, and rats are unfortunately their favorite and most common prey. You will most likely have to continually deal with this problem.
Revolution, as timskitties stated, is probably the best (albeit a little expensive) comprehensive flea treatment for cats. I use it on all of my animals. It is safe and takes care of hookworms, roundworms, heartworms, and whipworms. It also kills fleas, and most ticks. It is most definitely worth its price considering how much it takes care of.
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12-08-2005, 05:17 PM
