Last week, we saw a cat with a condition that I have fortunately only seen once before in my 21 years at the clinic and was hoping to never see again. We were presented with a 4 year old cat that was comatose on arrival. His gums were white indicating a severe anemia. He was covered in fleas and flea dirt. There were so many fleas that they were competing for spaces on him. Every time we touched him, we had to pick fleas off of our hands and arms. The fleas had basically drained the cat of most of his blood. The prognosis was grave and the owner elected euthanasia. Every death of a pet is difficult for me but to see a cat die from a condition that is totally and easily preventable is truly disturbing. It was all I could do to hold back from ranting and raving at him and smacking him upside the head. The over the counter product which he could not name was obviously started too late and had questionable effectiveness. I am so grateful for our pet owners who act proactively to prevent health problems in their pets. Sadly, I now have another horrific example to offer clients of how a flea infestation can have devastating consequences.
Jan Hueben, RVT
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