# Are these flea eggs or dandruff?!



## Rosie89 (Nov 2, 2015)

so I have two indoor cats and somehow have had flea infestations on and off for years now the most recent being a few months back which I got under control and had no fleas for weeks, have just done a quick comb of the cats and found an adult flea on one cat and after combing there is just loads of white dandruff looking stuff, are these eggs or dead skin from the combing? Please help!








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## Newton Bear (Aug 29, 2014)

Flea eggs are slightly oval shaped; if you go onto Google, you'll be able to find some photos.


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## Rosie89 (Nov 2, 2015)

Newton Bear said:


> Flea eggs are slightly oval shaped; if you go onto Google, you'll be able to find some photos.


I've already googled and just really not sure now


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

I think that's an awful case of dandruff. Flea eggs drop off the cat, and those white specks look all different sizes in the photos. To double-check comb the cats over white paper, and moisten any black specks. If they are flea dirt they will stain pink. Of course I guess your cats could have both dandruff & fleas!

Suggest you treat with Advantage for fleas. Have you treated your house? If not do it with something like RIP Fleas, Acclaim or Indorex. Then their diet needs attention - if that's dandruff it's the worst case I've ever seen.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I agree with @OrientalSlave, it looks like a very bad case of dandruff, and possibly also flea eggs too.

Dandruff can be caused by very dry skin, and poor diet. I would feed them a high protein wet food, no dry food at all.

Add an Omega-3 supplement to their wet food every day. It will make a big difference in improving their skin and the condition of their coat. It needs to be either Salmon Oil or Krill Oil. My cats prefer Krill Oil. Buy capsules sold for humans, from amazon. Use one capsule a day per cat, snip the end off the capsule, squeeze the oil onto food and mix well.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001M4B3FE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00


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## Lulus mum (Feb 14, 2011)

OrientalSlave said:


> I think that's an awful case of dandruff. Flea eggs drop off the cat, and those white specks look all different sizes in the photos. To double-check comb the cats over white paper, and moisten any black specks. If they are flea dirt they will stain pink. Of course I guess your cats could have both dandruff & fleas!
> 
> Suggest you treat with Advantage for fleas. Have you treated your house? If not do it with something like RIP Fleas, Acclaim or Indorex. Then their diet needs attention - if that's dandruff it's the worst case I've ever seen.


Great advice.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

How old are your cats and have they seen a vet recently? Just wondered because one of my previous cats had kidney disease and her coat and skin condition was really affected by this. Might be worth a check up x


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## Honeys mum (Jan 11, 2013)

Just a thought, does it look anything like this.walking dandruff in cats - Yahoo Search Results


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## Rosie89 (Nov 2, 2015)

OrientalSlave said:


> I think that's an awful case of dandruff. Flea eggs drop off the cat, and those white specks look all different sizes in the photos. To double-check comb the cats over white paper, and moisten any black specks. If they are flea dirt they will stain pink. Of course I guess your cats could have both dandruff & fleas!
> 
> Suggest you treat with Advantage for fleas. Have you treated your house? If not do it with something like RIP Fleas, Acclaim or Indorex. Then their diet needs attention - if that's dandruff it's the worst case I've ever seen.


Thank you for your advice both cats have broadline treatment on and carpets etc have all been treated recently too, I think it might be a mix of both dandruff and eggs like you said, he doesn't normally suffer with dandruff so could it be from all the combing I've been doing looking for fleas?


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## Rosie89 (Nov 2, 2015)

moggie14 said:


> How old are your cats and have they seen a vet recently? Just wondered because one of my previous cats had kidney disease and her coat and skin condition was really affected by this. Might be worth a check up x


They're both 4 years old now and both saw vet only two months ago for check ups and all ok so hopefully nothing too serious but thank you for your advice x


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## Rosie89 (Nov 2, 2015)

chillminx said:


> I agree with @OrientalSlave, it looks like a very bad case of dandruff, and possibly also flea eggs too.
> 
> Dandruff can be caused by very dry skin, and poor diet. I would feed them a high protein wet food, no dry food at all.
> 
> ...


Hi thank you for your reply they are currently having wet food and I get a high protein indoor cat dry food for them too, should I give the extra supplements too?


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## lostbear (May 29, 2013)

Honeys mum said:


> Just a thought, does it look anything like this*.**walking dandruff in cats* - Yahoo Search Results


Jesus wept! That's AWFUL!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Rosie89 said:


> Hi thank you for your reply they are currently having wet food and I get a high protein indoor cat dry food for them too, should I give the extra supplements too?


If your cats have Cheyletiellosis (a mite infestation) treating topically with selamectin insecticide should get rid of it. Stronghold contains selamectin.
You need to get it from your vet, if he agrees it could be a mite infestation..

I doubt that combing would in itself create a lot of dandruff. The skin would have to be very dry and flaky in the first place. Which is why you need the omega-3 supplement.

I would stop giving them any dry food for the moment, until their skin is better.


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## Honeys mum (Jan 11, 2013)

IMO I would get the vet to have a look at them, to confirm just in case.
One of my dogs had it years ago definately needs treating if it is that.


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## Ali71 (Apr 27, 2014)

OP sorry for hijacking this thread but I was just wondering @chillminx what would cause dry skin in the first place? Is it a deficiency of some sort? Suki has been having some scratching issues for a little while and we thought it could be diet related, but whilst I was combing them through with a flea comb last week trying to rule that out I noticed some "scurfy" kind of dandruff, on Milo too. I had a look under OH's microscope and they weren't eggs. They are both on good quality wet, (Granatapet, Animonda Von Feimstein, Feringa). Would all cats benefit from an Omega 3 supplement?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@Ali71 - dry skin can be caused by being indoor a lot in centrally heated homes and for this reason tends to be more of a problem in our cats in the winter. CH is very drying to the atmosphere and many people don't have humidifiers. When I was a child (a long time ago ) almost no-one had CH - we had coal fires, Aga stoves, etc and our cats never had a problem with dry skin because the atmosphere in the home was not dry

Too much omega-3 is as bad for the cat as too little so it is best to check the ingredients of the foods you're feeding to make sure it doesn't contain omega-3 before you add a supplement.

EDIT : Having said that some of the foods I feed my cat do contain some omega-3 but his problem is feline dermatitis and related dry skin. It is only when he has regular Krill Oil (omega 3) supplement that his skin condition stays good.


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## Ali71 (Apr 27, 2014)

chillminx said:


> @Ali71 - dry skin can be caused by being indoor a lot in centrally heated homes and for this reason tends to be more of a problem in our cats in the winter. CH is very drying to the atmosphere and many people don't have humidifiers. When I was a child (a long time ago ) almost no-one had CH - we had coal fires, Aga stoves, etc and our cats never had a problem with dry skin because the atmosphere in the home was not dry
> 
> Too much omega-3 is as bad for the cat as too little so it is best to check the ingredients of the foods you're feeding to make sure it doesn't contain omega-3 before you add a supplement. .


Thank you @chilinminx very helpful as always


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

I do think that most cats can benefit from added omega 3 in the diet . Funnily enough I think that the much maligned dry diets can actually pack more oil and omega 3 than many wet foods.
Also, many of the 'premium' and shredded style wet foods are terribly low in fat


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