Preventing Fleas on Cats

a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20392182"Bradbury CA, Lappin MR: Evaluation of topical application of 10% imidacloprid–1% moxidectin to prevent Bartonella henselae transmission from cat fleas, J Am Vet Med Assoc 236:869, 2010./abr / br / iBartonella henselae/i is the gram-negative aerobic bacilli associated with the syndrome of cat scratch disease in immunocompetent humans. iCtenocephalides felis/i, the cat flea, is the vector for iB. henselae/i. Infection is common in naturally exposed cats and their fleas, and 30% of cats with fleas are bacteremic. The objective of this study was to determine if monthly topical administration of a combination of 10% imidacloprid and 1 % moxidectin would lessen flea transmission of iB. henselae/i among cats. Eighteen cats were housed in 3 groups of 6 cats. Each of the groups were placed in enclosures separated by mesh to allow fleas to pass among groups yet prevent cat-to-cat contact. The middle group of cats was inoculated with iB. henselae/i and infection was confirmed. This group was flanked on one side by a group treated topically with 10% imidacloprid-1% moxidectin monthly for 3 months, and on the other side by an untreated group. Fleas were placed on the iB. henselae/i infected group at periodic intervals. Blood samples were collected from all the cats weekly to detect iBartonella/i spp via PCR assay, bacterial culture, and serologic assay. iB. henselae/i infection was confirmed in all untreated cats after flea exposure following the confirmed infection in the inoculated group. None of the cats treated with imidacloprid-moxidectin combination became infected. The results showed that a monthly topical administration of 10% imidacloprid-1% moxidectin reduces the flea load and thus prevented flea transmission of iB. henselae/i to treated cats. Therefore, the likelihood of humans acquiring iB. henselae/i infection may be lessened through monthly use of this flea control product in cats. [VT]br / br / bRelated articles:/bbr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2568045/"Kamrani A, Parreira VR, Greenwood J et al: The prevalence of Bartonella, hemoplasma, and Rickettsia felis infections in domestic cats and in cat fleas in Ontario, Can J Vet Res 72:411, 2008.br / /abr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18295347"Breitschwerdt EB: Feline bartonellosis and cat scratch disease, Vet Immunol Immunopathol 123:167, 2008./abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Library/abr / a href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-1895753031560001984?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=1eqRnlM-GdE:dd6bsCfAhAA:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/1eqRnlM-GdE" height="1" width="1"/

Cat Scratch Disease: A Review

Breitschwerdt, E. B. (2008). "Feline bartonellosis and cat scratch disease." Vet Immunol Immunopathol 123(1-2): 167-71.

Cat scratch disease (bartonellosis) is caused by various species of Bartonella, intracellular bacteria that favour red blood cells. Cats can be infected with five Bartonella species, including B. henselae and B. clarridgeae. Humans and many domestic animals, such as cattle and dogs, can also serve as chronically infected reservoir hosts for Bartonella. Many arthropod vectors, such as biting flies, fleas and ticks have been implicated in transmission of Bartonella to animals and humans. Bartonella infection can cause various problems in humans, including endocarditis, granulomatous inflammation of lymph nodes, and central nervous system dysfunction. Bartonellosis can be diagnosed in cats with serology, PCR, and culture. However, the issue is clouded by the high rate of sub-clinical infections in cats, making it very difficult to confirm bartonellosis as the cause of illness in cats. Fleas are involved in transmission from cat to cat, so the use of flea control products is critically important to decrease the risk of transmission of Bartonella among cats and to humans.
>> PubMed abstract

Related articles:
Chomel, B. B., H. J. Boulouis, et al. (2006). "Bartonella spp. in pets and effect on human health." Emerg Infect Dis 12(3): 389-94.
>> Free full text article

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation Library