Fleas in winter

[vince]

How come my cats (which are strictly indoor cats) always seem to come down with fleas this time of the year? Does it really take the cold temperature to get the fleas to come inside? Never have problems with them in the summer, and I thought they'd die by now if they were outside.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Fleas can survive during cold winter months - outside - as long as they are on warm-blooded hosts. Perhaps there are cats that are outdoors in the warmer months that are brought inside during the colder months and spread their fleas/flea eggs throughout the building, assuming you are in an apartment/condo/etc. If you are in a house and have crawl spaces, there might be wildlife taking refuge in those spaces, enabling the fleas to get to other parts of the house - also probably true of attics as well. Just a guess...

And, a lot of people are under the misguided impression that they don't need to treat their pets in the winter - enabling fleas to have a place to survive.

 

[RangersMom]

Fleas can come inside on shoes or the clothes of other people who may have them. Also, eggs can be inside in cracks of floors or carpets and not hatch til they are disturbed (someone walks by or they sense warmth.) Fleas are the worst! So annoying and hard to control. Make sure you brush the kitties with a fine-tooth comb. This is the only guaranteed way to get them off. Fleas meds dont work great. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum and wash all bedding and blankets where the cats go.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Unfortunately the above advice is right it doesn't matter about the weather fleas are a nightmare even with indoor cat's.

 

[basscat]

It's cold out, everything is looking for a warm place. Fleas and Flies are at the top of that list.