Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was hoping someone could help me. My cat (skitz) is about 2 years old and has recently started avoiding standing, laying, walking, jumping on the living room carpet. ~A bit of a background~ Earlier this week we found a few fleas on the cat and we gave him a bath, it wasnt until after we gave it to him that someone told us not to do that, they said to get the cat the monthly flea stuff for the back of the neck and spray the house with the spray that kills the fleas and the eggs. Well ever since the bath and all of that he refuses to walk on the carpet, mostly the livingroom carpet but it happens basically everywhere. Should we take the cat to the vet because hes behaving strangely or should we just let it run its course and assume its a temporary quirk

Hi,

I am hoping that the flea product you put on your cat is from a vet, not over-the-counter. OTC flea products can be deadly to cats. I wouldn't even spray carpets with something unless it came from a vet.

Finding a few fleas on your cat means there are a ton of them in the house. They would spend most of their time in the carpet, which is why your cat is avoiding walking on it. This has been a very bad years for fleas all over the country. I had to treat my own cats not long ago.

If your baby seems to be doing fine other than avoiding the carpet, he is probably fine. But if the carpet is still flea infested, you may have to have the house treated professionally.

Regards,
PHKitkat

I agree with Kitkat about the possibility of fleas in the carpet - I've had this happen a few times, and cats do learn quickly to avoid places where those little guys hang out. You will have to call an exterminator to see about ridding your house of these pests once and for all.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

I have a cat that avoids the carpet, but he'll jump on it if he needs to get somewhere that he can't climb or jump to. He's always done that. I always just thought he was playing a cat version of hot-potato.