# Small black bugs on cats ears- sticktight fleas!



## Kirsty3cats3dogs9chickens (Nov 18, 2016)

Hi all

Kinda just putting this out there as last night I spent what felt like a lifetime googling to find out what these little critters are without much luck until I chanced upon a comment that led me to spend another lifetime googling sticktights
I had never even heard of these fleas before but have dealt with them by applying broadline treatment to the affected area even though my cats were treated two weeks ago with advocate
My vet said it would be ok as they have different ingredients

Anyhoo, my questions are 
a) has anyone else experienced these fleas?
B) Is there another flea treatment that works better? Broadline i have found does not work at all for fleas usually for us but topically it did the trick
Advocate has always worked so perhaps these particular ones are a hardier


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

No, but maybe the 9chickens may well explain where they came from. Have you checked them, and is there a suitable treatment for chickens with them?


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## Kirsty3cats3dogs9chickens (Nov 18, 2016)

OrientalSlave said:


> No, but maybe the 9chickens may well explain where they came from. Have you checked them, and is there a suitable treatment for chickens with them?


Hi
Thanks for replying! Yes that was my first thought too but the hens seem clear. I am not ruling out that the house or run may have them though so will blitz that this weekend to be safe.
Out of the three cats this is the only one affected and he is the most prolific hunter. It seems most likely he has picked them up from a bird


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Sticktight fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi) in the UK are found on wild rabbits and are rarely caught by cats but a cat who hunts a lot may catch them. They are eradicated with use of a suitable insectide on the ears, as you have done. Not all flea treatment products are effective, as you have found. 

No need to treat the home environment as the sticktights only reproduce on their specific host, the rabbit.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

There seem to be two quite distinct species going by the common name of 'sticktight fleas'!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

You're right OS! There is one called Echidnophaga gallinacea which infests poultry. They seem to be common in parts of the USA, but maybe they are not so common in the UK?


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

chillminx said:


> You're right OS! There is one called Echidnophaga gallinacea which infests poultry. They seem to be common in parts of the USA, but maybe they are not so common in the UK?


I know I'm right.  I was thinking that was what the problem is hence mentioning their chickens.


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## Kirsty3cats3dogs9chickens (Nov 18, 2016)

chillminx said:


> Sticktight fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi) in the UK are found on wild rabbits and are rarely caught by cats but a cat who hunts a lot may catch them. They are eradicated with use of a suitable insectide on the ears, as you have done. Not all flea treatment products are effective, as you have found.
> 
> No need to treat the home environment as the sticktights only reproduce on their specific host, the rabbit.


Thank you that is really great information and very reassuring! Maybe I can sleep without imagining being covered in blood sucking beasties tonight now lol


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## Greydrift (Oct 13, 2015)

Round our way (rural) these are known as 'rabbit fleas' and are the usual fleas the cats get. They migrate up to the ears, which makes it easy to pick them off and despatch - which was the manual technique taught to us as children, and went roughly as follows:

a) do not squash a flea while latched onto the cat, since flea innards don't belong under the cat's skin.

b) use fingers or tweezers to gently remove a flea, and then squash. Tweezers work better with the fleas which have already swollen from feeding, but the skinny ones should be cracked between your thumbnails, otherwise they may emerge unharmed from your tweezer-squashing efforts.

c) flea corpses go onto dampened toilet paper, so any latent squirmers can be trapped between a fold of wet tissue, and can't go hopping off.

d) in time, the cat will learn, and appreciate your efforts.

e) wash your hands.

All remarkably effective, and you can clear several dozen fleas from a cat - that had, no doubt, recently golloped down most of a rabbit - within a few minutes, often accompanied by a purring soundtrack. 

Some cats can't cope with chemical flea treatments, and the manual de-flea remains swift and efficient. So swift, that I usually remove rabbit fleas from flea-treated cats, by hand, as soon as spotted... given the level of scratching the cats tend to do once flea-ridden, it's probably not that much fun waiting for the wee sucking bleeders to get poisoned, and then fall off. 

So it's out with the tweezers (again).


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## Kirsty3cats3dogs9chickens (Nov 18, 2016)

Thanks

We back onto farmland here so its bunny central out there!
First time I have seen these fleas but this cat is a white one who we have only had a couple of years so looks like this is another pastime to add to my list


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