MOSTLY I like human children. The gentle ones fuss over me, stroke me and compliment my eyes, my fur and my tail. Don’t I just love that! But some of them can be real horrors if they are noisy, stomping and jumping around me.

It makes me nervous and the minute I can escape, I do my great disappearing act. I know some great hiding places in this house. The narrow space behind my human’s bed where my glorious fat form can fit, much to my human’s surprise, but she doesn’t know yet. Then there is the linen closet and another hide-away is right on top of highest book shelf.

But today I’m not in the mood for the sweetest child. I feel itchy and I think my human has forgotten my flea spray appointment with the vet. Little does she know that I feel like biting people because I am so irritable and my flea spray is long overdue. Those nasty little quick creatures are crawling all over me! Hiding in my fur and biting me, feasting my blood. I think I should sit in front of my human and go on a wild scratching spree so she remembers. Because if they grow anymore, there will be fleas in the carpet, the couch and everything – oh what a frightening thought that is!

Let me tell you about cat flea control. The most common flea feeds off cats, dog, and humans. Using a flea comb on your cat will show you the tiny black dots that emerge on the comb. Commonly known as flea dirt, it can turn red if you smash it with a paper towel. These are the remains from your cat’s blood and a warning sign which indicates that fleas are getting out of hand … or paw!

Too many fleas in a cat can lead to blood loss and anaemia. If your cat has pale gums, watch out for a more serious condition coming up. When a cat grooms and licks itself, the eggs reach the intestine where they hatch into tapeworms which then eat all the food that your cat eats. The nutrition goes to the tape worms instead of the cat so sooner or later you will have a very sick cat to deal with.

The vet says that a flea spray every month protects your cat from all the unnecessary itching and scratching as well as all the dangerous infections that will follow later.

Cats should be combed regularly all over the body. This takes care of fleas and surplus falling fur that causes allergic reactions in humans due to cat dander.

Cats with furry coats like Persians should be brushed and combed everyday. Cats should be bathed too but this is a task to be done at the vets’ unless you have a docile, calm cat like me. Remember to be careful that water must not get into our ears because it damages our sense of balance. So water anywhere near our heads and faces makes us very nervous and jumpy. Waterless shampoos available in the market are a much better and simpler option. In no time your cat will be cleaned and sweet smelling. It is important to use only cat products on cats so that it does not damage what vets call the PH balance of the skin.

The best bet is flea spray once a month done at the vets. It smells vile, makes me terrible and I give the vet’s assistant a hard time when he is trying to rub the spray deep into my fur. I pretend to be a vicious little animal that can bite and scratch, I sulk and do loud meows and when I am brought home, run away and hide. The spray dries very soon, in about 10 minutes, and it is not harmful even when I try to lick it off.

In no time, I emerge happy and restored to my lovely old self. The itching has gone and I feel at peace knowing that those awful creatures have stopped sucking on my blood and that I will not be getting horrible infections anymore. So until the next spray appointment, it is party time for me.