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How to stop cat shedding and treat fleas? How often to bathe?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

My cat sheds a lot of fur and has fleas... what should i do? And how often should i give him a bath...the weather is around 17° celsius as its winter.

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

Licensed Veterinary Technician

Published on November 18th, 2016

Frequent brushing may decrease the amount of shedding. Fleas can be treated with a topical preventative such as Frontline or Revolution. You can purchase these from your veterinarian. Use a topical or oral flea preventative for at least 3 consecutive months, preferably year round. An oral medication such as Capstar can quickly kill any adult fleas on your cat. Again, purchase this from your vet. You will also need to treat the environment. This includes vacuuming everywhere your cat goes and washing all bedding. Follow up with an area treatment (flea bomb) to prevent reinfestation.
Cays usually keep themselves very clean and don't require bathing more than once every 6-8 weeks if not longer. If your cat is not grooming regularly, have him examined by your vet to diagnose illness or injury as either can commonly cause a change in behavior or grooming habits.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS
Veterinarian
You should never give your cat a bath! here is the list of the best flea products on the market.

Spot ons:
Revoulution (stronghold in the UK)
Advantage
Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK)
Frontline (ticks as well)
Bravecto (ticks as well)

Tablets: comfortis
Collar: Seresto ( (ticks as well)

House spary: Indoorex
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Published on January 14th, 2018
To break the flea lifecycle, you need to treat with topical or oral preventatives for at least three consecutive months. Year round treatment is recommended. Use caution when combining flea treatments to prevent toxicities. Any topical medication should be applied 2-3 days before or after a bath for maximum effect.
The environment should also be treated. This includes vacuuming everywhere then disposing of the bag or emptying the canister outdoors afterwards. Wash all bedding in the hottest water allowable by fabric. Use a cat safe area treatment to prevent reinfestation.
An essential fatty acid supplement can added to the diet to promote healthy skin and coat. This is usually in the form of a fish oil product such as DermCaps, EicosaCaps or Welactin. Find them at your local veterinary clinic or in the local Petco.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on April 24th, 2018
Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your cat when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae).
Flea treatment:
1) Get some flea medication such as a Flea spray or a spot on from a pet shop or your veterinarian and apply monthly 2) get flea powder, put some in your vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum your house and furniture and also non-carpeted areas frequently to remove flea larvae and eggs which live off house dust., Dispose of the bag in the trash outside. Hot-wash all the pet's bedding,
If you do this diligently for a few months you will get rid of the fleas.
Flea products:
Spot-ons:
Advantage,
Advantage Multi
Frontline (ticks as well)
Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats
Revolution
Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once)

Collar: Seresto (ticks as well)

They all work well. Just make sure that you get the package that specifies "for cats"
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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Related Questions

Food & Nutrition

My cat has fleas, should I bathe her? And what about wet vs. dry food?

There are no hard an fast rules about any of this. If your cat has fleas, a quality topical or oral flea treatment from your vet is most effective. Treating your house and yard will also help reduce the flea population. If you decide to bathe your cat, I recommend about once a week with any pet shampoo, it doesn't have to be a flea shampoo. Trim your cat's nails and apply a drop of plain mineral oil or a small strip of plain, non-medicated ophthalmic ointment to both eyes. Use very warm water to get your cat's coat completely wet, then apply a small amount of shampoo and lather it into the coat well, from tail tip to toes to the end of her nose. The eye ointment will prevent the shampoo from stinging her eyes. Lather her well and let the shampoo sit on for about ten minutes to kill any fleas that are on her. Rinse her well, making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies like her armpits and under her belly, otherwise any shampoo left on can irritate her skin. Towel her off thoroughly and, if she'll allow it, you can use a blow dryer on her on warm, not hot, and keep the dryer moving at all time so you don't make one area too hot and burn her. As far as food is concerned, wet, dry or some combination is between you, your vet and your cat. Some people with fat cats feed exclusively wet food because it contains no grains and therefore has fewer carbohydrates than dry foods. Other cats do perfectly fine on only dry food. My cats are mainly dry food eaters, but I do give them wet food sometimes as a treat.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Health & Wellness

My cats still have fleas after treatment. What should I do next?

If you used a topical preventative and applied it soon after bathing, it won't have been as effective as it should be. These produce use the oils in the skin to spread. When you bathe a pet, these oils are stripped and you have to wait for them to build up again. Typically, it recommended to apply a topical 3 days before or 3 days after a bath or getting wet. It should then be used monthly for at least 3 consecutive months, preferably year round. You should also treat the environment, since most fleas live off of the pet and only hop on for feeding. Vacuum everywhere the cats have been. Discard of the bag or empty the canister outdoors immediately after. Wash all bedding in the hottest water allowable by fabric and dry in the dryer. Use a cat safe area treatment to prevent reinfestation. An oral preventative, such as CapStar, can be given to quickly kill any adult fleas on the cats. Get it from your vet or from the local Petco.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Health & Wellness

What to do when your cat has fleas: litter box, Capstar, bathing?

1. You don't need to do anything about the litter box 2. You can give them a Capstar and then the next day you can apply a topical flea medication like Advantage II. 3. You need to treat all animals in the house with a flea medication 4. You need to treat the house. I recommend Knockout Spray ES (see below) 5. You do not need to bathe the cats. It is actually better if you don't. 6. If you have a yard, I would treat the yard with Advantage Yard Spray (see below) 7. Monitor the cats for tapeworms. Cats get tapeworms by ingesting infected fleas. It may be a few weeks before you see them, if you are going to see them. ( https://www.allivet.com/p-1389-knockout-es-area-treatment.aspx ) ( https://www.allivet.com/p-8109-advantage-yard-and-premise-spray-32-oz.aspx?SearchTerm=yard%20spray+Auto ) ( https://www.hillspet.com/cat-care/healthcare/dealing-with-tapeworms-in-cats )

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How do I get rid of severe cat fleas infesting my cat and home?

See your veterinarian for an exam. Sky may need antibiotics to prevent or treat infection of the sores. A short course of steroids followed by antihistamines may provide relief from the itching. Your vet can also dispense Capstar to kill any adult fleas on Sky. Follow up with a topical preventative such as Revolution or Frontline. Either should be applied monthly for at least 3 consecutive months, preferably year round. Vacuum your home/apartment. Clean everywhere Sky has been. Dispose of the bag outdoors. Wash all bedding in the hottest temperature allowed by the fabric. To prevent reinfestation, use an environmental treatment such as Knockout ES.

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How to effectively treat cat fleas and prevent them from returning?

That's not good at all. Fleas can make Catty very sick, and cause anemia. She has to be treated for it. First, I would give her Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30. minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. This is a treatment that has to be used once a month. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash her bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home.

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My outdoor cat has flea allergy hair loss. What's the best treatment?

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My long-haired cat has fleas. How do I get rid of them safely?

They make several topicals such Frontline and Advantage that last for 1 month and do not require a prescription and can be purchased from a vet or a pet store. They make a topical called Bravecto that will last for 3 months or a tablet called comfortis that will last for 1 month but do require a prescription. Typically a flea problem is more of a problem in the environment than the pet so you may want to look in to treating the environment also

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

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