Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
I have a question about my 18-month-old Siamese: a couple weeks ago I began noticing tiny blood spots in the bathroom sink. At first I thought maybe I was brushing my teeth too hard or something, but I finally figured out that they were coming from my cat’s feet (or foot?).
I’ve checked her over numerous times, including between each of her toes and her rear. I can never find any blood spotting in her fur, on her pads, or in any place that she regularly naps (and just all around “hangs out”). The only place I find the spots, in fact, are in the bathroom sink (and then, only when it’s been wet). She also doesn’t seem to be in any discomfort or duress, hasn’t been chewing her paws, and hasn’t been vocalizing any more than usual.
Any ideas? Thanks for your help!
~G
Siouxsie: Well, G, we suspect that your cat has fleas. And here’s why.
Thomas: Tiny blood spots in wet places are a key indicator of the presence of fleas. These nasty little parasites feed off your cat’s blood, and when they poop, they poop out that dried blood.
Dahlia: Flea dirt looks like little black specks when it’s dry, but when it’s wet it turns a rusty-red or blood color.
Siouxsie: Fleas are not always obvious. They’re really good at hiding under your cat’s fur, so you won’t necessarily see them crawling around on your cat unless the poor thing is really infested.
Thomas: Don’t be embarrassed if your cat has fleas. It doesn’t mean you’re a slob or a bad pet parent.
Dahlia: Your cat can get fleas any number of ways. If he goes outside, there are always fleas around, and if he catches rodents and eats them, fleas can easily migrate from the rodent to your cat.
Siouxsie: You could bring flea eggs in on your clothes or backpack if you visited a house where there were animals with fleas. If you rent, it’s possible that the previous tenants had animals with fleas and didn’t clean properly; then when the eggs hatched out, they got on your cat.
Thomas: You can tell if your cat’s blood spots are coming from flea dirt by doing a very simple test.
Dahlia: Get a fine-toothed metal flea comb from your local pet store. Run the comb through your cat’s fur, and then put the fur and whatever grit comes out onto a damp paper towel. If the grit you pick up turns into red spots, you’re dealing with fleas. If your cat has fleas, you may even pick up one or two on the comb itself.
Siouxsie: It’s very hard to kill fleas when you find them because they have a hard outer shell, so you need to crush them with your thumbnail or drown them in water.
Thomas: The good news is that it’s really easy to get rid of fleas. There are a number of “spot on” flea treatments that are very effective not only at killing fleas but keeping the eggs from hatching in the first place. We recommend that you use a product like Frontline Plus or Advantage. We’ve had great success with both of them, and they’re well worth the money.
Dahlia: Your vet will be able to recommend a product that will be most effective in your area. Certain treatments tend to work better in certain climates, and some products are more resistant to water than others.
Siouxsie: It’s very important that you don’t get cheap spot-applied flea treatments that you see in supermarkets. Some of these products can be toxic not only to the fleas but to your cat as well. They also tend to be less effective than the more costly brands.
Thomas: Also, don’t buy “super-discounted” versions of Advantage, Frontline, or other vet-quality flea treatments. These often tend to be either expired lots (which will mean they don’t work well) or counterfeit products (which in addition to not working well may have other, more toxic ingredients).
Dahlia: Ironically, you’ll probably pay less for these high-quality flea treatments if you get them at your vet’s office than you will if you buy them at pet stores. At least, that’s been Mama’s experience.
Siouxsie: We recommend against using flea collars because they tend to be ineffective and can even choke or trap your cat because they don’t have safety releases like regular cat collars. Flea powderstend to be ineffective–because they only get on the surface of your cat’s fur rather than under the fur where the fleas live–and toxic to your cat as well because he’ll lick the product off as he cleans himself.
Thomas: Using spot-on flea treatments is an effective way to get rid of fleas. And it causes minimal stress to your cat, unlike bathing or powdering.
Dahlia: If you have chemical sensitivities or you just don’t want to use chemical products on your cat, there is a natural way to eliminate fleas.
Siouxsie: When we were kittens, Sinéad and I got fleas. Because we were still really small, Mama didn’t want to use nasty chemicals on us. So here’s how she took care of our flea problem.
Thomas: In order to get the fleas out of your house, you have to kill the eggs and get rid of new batches of fleas as they hatch. It takes a lot of effort to do this the pesticide-free way, but if you do this properly, it works very well.
Dahlia: First, Mama made a powder, a mixture of half table salt and half baking soda. She sprinkled it on all the carpets, under and on all the furniture, and let it sit for an hour or so. Then she vacuumed everywhere and disposed of the bag outdoors immediately. She did this once a week for three weeks.
Siouxsie: Mama laundered all her bedding and all of our bedding, pillow covers, throw blankets–pretty much anything that moved and that we sat or slept on–in hot water.You may have to do this once a week for a few weeks, too.
Thomas: At the same time she was vacuuming and washing our bedding, she bathed Sinéad and Siouxsie weekly with Flea-B-Gone, an herbal flea shampoo from Avena Bontanicals in Rockport, Maine. Once she rinsed them off and toweled them dry, she picked or combed out any half-dead fleas and drowned them in a jar of water with a couple of drops of dish detergent (water with a drop or two of ammonia also works well). She kept this “drowning jar” with her wherever she sat, and if she was watching TV or reading a book and a cat crawled onto her lap, she’d pet her and casually search for fleas. The ones she found, she picked off and plunged into the solution.
Dahlia: This process is obviously very labor-intensive, but it works. The flea siege was gone after three weeks, and nothing Mama did was toxic to Sinéad and Siouxsie.
Siouxsie: If your cat does have fleas, G, you’ll want to watch out for tapeworms. Fleas are the main vector for tapeworm infestations in cats. Either an adult louse or a flea larva ingests the eggs. The egg develops into an immature form in the insect. When your cat eats an infected flea, which he would do in the course of his daily grooming, the immature form develops into an adult in your cat’s intestines, and the life cycle is completed.
Thomas: Signs of tapeworms in cats include seeing things that look like little rice grains in your cat’s bedding or around his anus. These are the segments of the tapeworm. And sometimes you’ll even see them wriggling around when they first come out. Gross!
Dahlia: If your cat does have tapeworms, your vet will be able to give you a very effective medication to kill them. Some of these medications, such as Cestex, are given in two doses, two weeks apart. Others require only one dose. Again, use tapeworm medicines from your vet rather than from your pet store because your vet’s medicines are much more effective.
Siouxsie: Good luck, G. We’re sure you and your cat will be much happier once his fleas are gone.
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
My cat has this also, and it’s not fleas, it’s the eye gunk that she gets (she’s a persian) and she leaves little brown spots the same color as the gunk she gets around her eyes. Just a thought to check as well.
sweetheart—your cat has fleas—NOT eye gunk…trust me we have been through this repeatedly with our six outdoor/indoor cats…took the first cat to vet…got FRONTLINE…problem solved…treated all the other cats the same….
Luna, sweetheart, your cat has eye gunk, trust me. Clearly someone doesn’t understand different breeds have different issues. Unless you are a medically trained professional, don’t dispense advice about things you don’t know, Jenna.
i norm use frontline and i comb my cat reg and the seem to reduce cat fleas
u know cat get fleas nank and so do house and it normal happens to us all nank to go red about hun its the same if ur kids get nits ur whole family gets them i put my hands up happens to me few times i spray my house and use powder and kills then hun
W H A T T T ? This seems beyond typos and autocorrect mistakes. If you do not speak English too good, a proper thing to do is say “please (optional) forgive/excuse my poor/bad English”. If you care enough to comment, care enough to do it well. Take care
Your comment was beyond unnecessary. Obviously you can see that you need to excuse their bad English.
THANK YALL i have been looking for an answer. i kept checking my cat all over and final figure it was her mouth but i kept watching when she would drink from the faucet and nothing so GLAD to find out that it is fleas and nothing more serious
thanks for this post as I have a new cat at home this would be helpful.
I also have been wondering about the spots, it’s hard to believe it’s fleas though, this happens also on my washing machine that is white… took me awhile to figure out it was coming from my cat.. I’ll do the flea check though :) Thanks , glad not to be alone in this :)
This happens to me too! I take care of a stray and the washing machine is on an exterior enclosed patio — and I thought she must have been scraping her feet or something. Was it fleas in the end??
thank you! i had a feelin it was this x
Thanks so much! I thought it might have to do with the fleas, but thought, “How are the fleas biting her, make her bleed, but not getting blood spots on her fur?” Life savers! Do you happen to know if Advantage or Frontline are safe to use when the owner is pregnant?
Thanks!
My cat does not have fleas and I have noticed this blood letting for years. Now, I know flea poop (black and grainy) and this is bonafide RED blood on my bathroom wall, kitchen sink, bathroom floor, etc. Where is this coming from; their rectum…their feet? I have looked these cats over a hundred times, but recently noticed fresh speckles of blood (yes, red…about 7 spots) on the bathroom wall and am completely stumped!!!
My Dear… yes, it is fleas. Go to ask a vet—the free on line services—or better yet…call your vet.
Again, it is not. There is a very specific type of blood let off by fleas. This could be a number of things, including respiratory issues, digestive issues, menstrual issues… do not use free online services, do contact your vet .. and DO NOT listen to Jenna.
And by the way, it’s YUCK and my house is immaculate….so imagine my dismay when finding this. Help!!!!
Thanks for your help, i was just about to take my cat to the vets when reading this, I checked her for fleas and done the flea test it came back positive, will be sorting her out again tomorrow. she is an indoor cat so i don’t understand why she gets them! :(
☆MUCH IMPORTANT INFORMATION 》》》
Fleas are more common than people realize. People think because they have treated their pet, and or they do not go out that they could not possibly have fleas. They travel through walls and Outlets. They hop on your pants and shoes as you walk through the yard before entering the house. Can pick those little suckers up just about anywhere.
Even though your pet is treated they’re going to have to hop on them and they will snack before they die thus leaving the dirt that can transfer on surfaces that can transfer onto us and even blow around. Will go unnoticed on most surfaces. Bathrooms tend to be mostly non-porous light colored and the humidity will moisten the specs allowing us to see the mysterious red marks. And it does not always reacts to peroxide as my many scientific experiments have proven as I researched frantically on what it could be at first.
Anyway the BEST treatment is simply FRONTLINE P L U S! There are reputable discount sites in Australia where you can get a three-pack for under 20.
Also my Non money-grubbing vet pointed out other valuable information. First; Pets do not need to be treated your round. It is actually not too good for them. Only when you first notice fleas. During flea season, fall, whenever. Then the repeat treatment does not need to be done after 30 days but more like 45 to 60 and sometimes 90 depending on how severe of an infestation. Again monitor everything.
As far as bathing and killing them. DAWN dish soap is the safest and most effective. I dilute some in a cup and suds pets up good & allow then to sit for a few minutes before a thorough rinsing. A little diluted conditioner as a final rinse to help soothe their skin is nice.
I also keep a little puddle of Dawn off to the side of the tub for any loose ones I find. immobilizes & KILLS them much better than said water, which they can survive.
Unfortunately have lost many kittens do to fleas. It only takes three bites to kill a newborn we learned sadly. Even though our pets were indoors the neighborhood Critters would bring them into the yard and the battle would ensue.
Elsewhere in the home I do not like any other products except Diatomaceous Earth, food grade! Also kills so much more and is pet/human safe and much cheaper than all the ineffective junk I have used.
Our last straw was after we tried almost every over the counter medication, spray, treatment, powder etc for the pets and house and even Advantage but the infestation kept worsening to an all-year-round problems.
We were going away for a few weeks so cleaned pets well before taking them to the In-laws. Covered the house with everything we could then set off over triple the amount of mixed bombs and left that sealed home for 3 weeks.
We returned before bringing the pets in luckily so we could still air it out and wipe everything down. Free always enter through the back kitchen door. And seconds after entering we each had hundreds of fleas on I likes. Mine were the worst and every second they kept increasing and coming further up my leg. I was freaking out running outside to hose myself off.
My husband then changed in the backyard into his pants so he could return and start vacuuming.
The next day I went and spent the $70 for a three pack on the front line plus as I had been advised to get. Has to be plus our vet said. Every flea in the home will come in contact with a pet and die ending the cycle. I feel kind of bad cause you’re kind of turning them into little killing machines. But 2 Days Later did not notice any fleas.
The next year even during the season we did not get any. Those little hidden eggs that usually hatched we’re dead so we got nothing. Following year we got a bit and only had to use one treatment pack and we were fine. became and every other year 1 tube each treatment ritual.
Then one year I got a free sample yard service to kill and repeal mosquitoes. They were extremely bad and I am highly receptive insensitive to them. Also the field behind our house happened to be West Nile virus capital of the world. Highest percentage in all testing. Yippee, LOL.
So Was happy to try it. Happier to learn it was all natural (garlic, mainly, mint & other good stuff) and took care of fleas and other bothersome invaders. Especially on a would-be flea year. Spider, ant & all pest problems gone. YAY!
Once again lasted Way Beyond the 30 days. Sprayed our 50×100 lot and even our neighbors benefited 2 homes over. In fact the whole season. Not one bite! Decreased following year too! MUST IF NEEDED. Just opt for single treatment/sample inatead of a contract. Sooo worth it.
Oh we also learned from our vet that same as most of our RX, much expired pet medication is just as effective. After 10 years there is like a .01% decrease in strength. And Frontline was tested to be the same trend.
And the formula for Frontline Plus is the same for cats and dogs. It’s just pre-measured dosage Packs. Many rescue centers use the large dog packsexpired medications and carefully measure the appropriate dosage into droppers to save on there are limited funds.
Note. Do not attempt without research and precision.
Vet told us so much pet medication is the same as human medication just lighter dosage. I learned that when I could not afford my cat’s heart medication that mine was the same. Varied names & smaller dosages.
Companies rename stuff, short date things etc so we throw much away and buy more more more. *And COSTCO has the absolute be$t price$ on both human & pet medications without any discount plan thingies even. And you DON’T need a membership to buy anything from the pharmacy there.
So I hope I have helped some? I have been through a lot over my years. I only hope that others can learn from my misfortunes and then all I have been through is not in vain :-) Best to all that have suffered readed through my rant. Take care~
Thank you so much for that long and well thought-out comment, J. There’s definitely some great information there! Unfortunately, there are places where fleas are a year-round problem–we’re thinking primarily of the southern and southwestern U.S., where it’s warm all year so fleas aren’t forced to go dormant in the cold. That said, Mama hasn’t flea gooped us for years because she hasn’t seen a sign of fleas (because there haven’t been any fleas!), but when she has she uses a product called Cheristin. It’s designed specifically for cats to kill only fleas, and her vet sells it at the clinic. You can get it online, too. The cost (as of September 2019) is $65.99 on that online behemoth retailer, who shall not be named, that sells everything under the sun. That said, all these topical remedies are only safe for kittens 8 weeks of age and older. For kittens younger than that, we recommend bathing. We’ve got tips for safely flea-bathing a kitten in this post if you want to read more.
I love the seresto 8 month flea collar. They work great and last the whole 8 months.
Do cats get bedbugs and do they also leave blood spots?
Can I just say a massive Thank-you for this website and this page. We couldn’t figure out why our cat was only leaving these red spots in the bathroom but no where else. I did the test and yes there were fleas. Now been treated and have a happy home again :)
I have these in my bathroom & 1 of my 4 cats like to sleep in there.
I looked & yep, they ALL have fleas, 1 of them pretty bad so thanks for the tips.
The hard part will begin tomorrow when I begin the task of trying to get rid of the darn things :[
Charlieh, you are beautiful AND a cat lover. Lets correspond. I’ll tell you about the 5 day old tabby I rescued and you can take it from there.
Cheers,
Mark
Thank you so much!! We have been seeing little red spots of blood on our bathroom sink and figured our cat was teething. However, after reading this I did the test and sure enough, found little black stuff in her fur that turned red when it got wet (exactly like on our sink!). Guess we will be picking up some Frontline on the way home tonight. Hope the infestation isn’t too bad. Our neighbor in the duplex has 4 cats, 2 outdoor/indoor so could be tough to get rid of this problem.
Thanks.
Thanks for this post… I was trying to convince my husband that this was the issue but he did not believe me. You helped me convince him so that now we can get on to the process of dealing with the fleas. Very grateful to you!
Soooooo glad I found you! My oldest male cat has been camped out in the bathroom lately.I couldnt fig this out.Then I saw the blood spots.Goin to get all 3 cats treated & WORMED you must stress this……It needs to be done after defleaing!!!!!! Thank u!
My poor 7 month kitten has got them so I noticed, he not himself at all get some frontline tomorrow I have just cringed to find loads of black bits everywhere on side really turned my stomach guna b fun getting rid of this lot cxxx
Thank you so much for this answer. Wow. My three kittens still sleep in the bathroom at night, and the little red dots are all over the sink and toilet… then i was seeing the tiny black flea poop, (i realize now that’s what it was) and smudges of what i thought was blood everywhere as well…didn’t know WHAT was going on! I didn’t think googling ‘little red dots cats’ would help, but this page came up! I love the internet! So many people with knowledge to share! Thank you Paws and Effect, thank you so much, on the way to the vet tomorrow!
So glad I found this! I noticed all these red spots and became very worried about my poor Lyra! Pickup.g up flea medicine tomorrow!
@ Philip. I have what looks like blood spots on my white bed sheets after i wash them. This just started when I got my kitten. But my boys do not have them on their sheets but the cat sleeps in our room right beside the bed. Do you have this problem also? It’s not bed bugs because the spots are only in my bedroom and the family bathroom and I have never seen any bites on my body or my boys nor seen any bed bugs. I have blood spots on the counter and toilet. When I shake out my black rugs in my bathtub I see a ton of little red specks. I don’t understand how there are so many I shake the bathroom rugs out two times a day vacuum every day and I still see the flea and there poop. I’m getting hopeless. More than anything I’m wondering why there would be blood stains on my sheets and not come out in the wash ?
Hi there, thanks very much for this information, I too had noticed this ocasionally in the past week or two on top of the freezer in the laundry where the cat sleeps sometimes, it can be damp in there from the clothes dryer. I had wondered if it was fleas bting her and somehow blood from the bites discharging onto the freezer… but couldn’t see any other obvious signs of them. My cat is nearly 13 years old and we have never had any flea problems with her, but treated her occasionally to be sure. Therefore I decided to treat her for fleas and worms yesterday anyway. Good to know I was on the right track even if I didn’t really know what thje spots were really about. Just thought I’d google spots of blood from cat and see what I got…and there ya go! Will do a thorough cleaning also when I get home tonight…. ugh!!! :-)
Thank you so much! I have noticed this problem with my Bombay and American Short-hair, but didn’t know what to do. Salem Alexander and Morticia Lynn (SA is Bombay, ML is Short-hair) both would scratch and I would just put the flea medicine on them. It would work, but those little black/red specks still showed up in the sink, I guess it was left over from when they died off. I’m so glad to know what I need to do now. Thanks again!
I’m 11 in September and Ive never been out of the house since I was born. I had fleas when I first came to my Mom, but I’ve never had them since. I suffer with allergies of some kind and I’ve been on some kind of steroid every other day, which usually helps a treat. For the past few weeks, I’ve been licking myself a lot, pretty much in the same couple of areas. My Mum thought it was my allergy cos before I took steroids, I would lick incessantly…especially when Mum stroked me. I scratch a little bit, but more usually I lick. I have really long claws at the morning, so when I do scratch, I may well be causing the skin to break. My mum has also checked for fleas, having found a couple of black spots which turn red when damp. The thing is…there really are only a couple. My mum can’t find anything when she looks really hard, and despite combing and brushing, again there are only ever a couple of black spots which turn to blood. Could this be due to scratching? Dried blood due to my allergy? Any help?
We found three cute baby kittens in a box in a grocery store parkinglot. They were only 6 wks old and scared to death. We took them in and have been feeding them and trying to rid their flea infestation… so far I am doing my best.. Cleaning the floors and vacuming. giving them baths in a light dawn/warm water solution, cleaning up after them and their bedding. The fleas have dwindled, but I’ve noticed those tiny blood spots.. about as small as the tip of a pin areound water or when they dring their milk out of proceline bowls… I was so scared it was something serious! This was SO helpful.. even if its pretty gross, but I know now I can handle it.. Just gonna bust my but to help these babies get clean and healthy and then adopt them out for a happy life.
Thanks for this was helpful!!! I HATE THOSE DAMN FLEAS TO PEICES!!!
Im so happy i read this, i have three cats and only one hangs out in the bathroom, i got worried becausr i couldnt find where these little spots where coming from and the first thing i tought of was virus or infection, and i have two little girls and as much as they love their little kitty i thought i might havr to get tid of her to sumone who could afford vet bills to make her better, now i know tomorrow im going to comb all my cats and treat them all, thank you so so so much, me and my girls are so happy she can stay.
I loooove those who gross-out about fleas forgetting where the animal’s paws have been (think about what goes on in the litter-box).
I know, a healthy cat is typically pretty clean, but c’mon people! I’ve never seen my cat exit the box and instantly start licking the poo/pee-litter of his paws…
And then he goes to his favorite spot on the counter. Or, the table…
Don’t be so highfalutin… “The human body carries about 100 trillion microorganisms in its intestines, a number ten times greater than the total number of human cells in the body.”
Cat’s have fleas.
Exactly. Its not the end of the world. Its just flea poop. Lol
IMG_0566.JPG don’t know if you can open that photo but that’s what my red spots look like. They aren’t little dots that fall off anything. My snowshoe leaves them on my bedding, the washer and bathtub. She never scratches herself. The other cat and our dog never scratch themselves and my husband and I have never been bitten and we never see a flea. Could this be anything else? We asked the vet and she didn’t seem concerned. Or I should say, my husband asked the vet and maybe he didn’t describe well enough.
Did u ever get an answer to this…
How do you get of bugs
Vinegar has been known to be a bug repellent, and it is safe for the pet.
Get petarmor plus from Walmart. Its the exact ingredients as front line plus but about half the price. And you can actually see the fleas dropping off dead. If your house is infested it may take a second dose after 30 days to kill the ones inside your home
The absolute best flea shampoo for cats and even kittens is Dawn dishwashing soap! Run the bath first, making sure to do this while your cat is preoccupied in another room, and on bigger cats you may have to clip their nails beforehand.
Bring a plastic cup large enough to rinse you cat or kitten, something that’s flexible enough so it won’t hurt you pet if he gets bonked.
Once you’ve gotten the towels set up in the bathroom, bring your unsuspecting cat or kitten to the bath and lower them in slowly. You never want to do this fast or use any excitable tone, as too much stress can cause a heart-attack.
Especially with overweight or older cats, don’t stress them out! So calmness is key. They pick up on your que’s, so use calming tones.
Shampoo your cat, again reassuring them throughout the process. Using the Dawn liberally to suffocate the fleas. Once you’ve worked up a lather, making certain not to get it into their eyes, go ahead and begin rinsing the soapy pet using the bathwater.
Once you’ve rinsed as thoroughly as possible, you may have to drain the soapy water and pour another bath. I find that using 3 or 4 inches at a time is best, and won’t make your cat feel as though you’re trying to drown them.
By the time your second rinse is done, your pet friend will be pretty well rinsed, and soap free, and flea free too!
You should see in the soapy rinse water plenty of dead fleas. That’s because Dawn acts as a suficant to fleas, making the water cling to their bodies, thus drowning them.
Fleas and most insects have a coating that repels water, thus allowing them to survive during rain. The Dawn breaks down that barrier, and forces the water to cling to them instead of repelling water.
You don’t think Dawn is safe? They use it on all the wildlife that gets covered in oil-sludge whenever theres a tanker spill!
Its one of the safest products to use, and non-toxic too!
Thank you, Steve Tapia. Great advice. Not sure I can do this with my cat’s claws clipped or not – she takes off like a rocket with just splashes of water. However, I may try this anyway since I’m struggling with Frontline Plus…
Seriously, is it necessary to be a condescending jerk? Obviously, she is speaking from another country…
So recently, my three month old kitten has been leaving blood/ brown stains on clothes or wherever she chooses. Does she have an infection or is it something normal?