I have a cat

Just adopted a 5 yo cat. Before he was living in a family of 5 peeps. When they brought him the first time he was scared to death all he is doing is hiding I also noticed some black dots coming out from him, his hand was injured I didn’t understand at first, he was infested with flea and he was irritated all the time.
Now he is still hiding he only gets out to eat or to go to the bathroom and only when I am not around.
I don’t know what should I do really I feel bad for him, one thing I am sure about he was not well treated in the former family he was living with.

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4meAndyou · F

If he is infested with fleas, he also has tapeworms. I had such a cat. You have to take him to the vet and get a professional flea treatment for him, and get him checked for tapeworm. You also have to have your home sprayed or treated for the fleas, or else they will eventually start biting YOU.

SW-User

@4meAndyou Those two things are not connected but I do agree it's likely that the previous owners never treated him for other things, since they didn't treat the fleas, and it's always best to take a new pet to the vet right away to give them an all-around health check regardless. 🐈

itsok · 31-35, F

@SW-User cats get intestinal worms from swallowing fleas while they groom themselves, so they are connected

4meAndyou · F

@itsok AND the vet told me that when a flea bites a cat, they transfer the tapeworm larvae.

SW-User

@itsok @4meAndyou I never knew this. I initially didn't reply because I feel skeptical since during some summer months, it's basically impossible to keep my dog flea-free here (pun unintended), and he then transfer the fleas to my cat, but my cat never got worms. My cat only had worms one time, which was when we adopted him after finding him in our building's basement, so maybe it depends on the type of fleas?

4meAndyou · F

@SW-User Don't know. I do know that there were feral cats all around the house from which I rescued my adoptive cat, and he didn't have them when his previous owner first rescued him from the house next door to her. It was a sandy, beachy area, up on a cliff.