Can Cats Carry Bed Bugs?

The good news is that your cat is a highly improbable cause of bed bug infestation in your home. These creatures are different from fleas, ticks, and mites that often affect cats and dogs.

Bed bugs are creative in finding ways to sneak into human homes, but they rarely use animals as means of transportation.

Still, your cat can become a victim of bed bugs, so you should know how to keep these nasty creatures off your pet and how to get rid of them in your home.

Understanding How Bed Bugs Appear

Have you noticed a mahogany parasite with a flat, oval body and antennae in your house? The likelihood that you’re dealing with bed bugs is high. But where do bed bugs come from, and can bed bugs come from cats?

Unlike fleas or ticks that reside outdoors, bed bugs prefer places where humans congregate and spend much time, such as libraries, public transportation, hotel rooms, and cinema chairs.

According to National Pest Management Association, bed bugs can be found just about anywhere.

They reside in single-family homes, apartments, motels, nursing homes, schools, college dorms, hospitals, office buildings, and daycare centers.

Bed bugs can travel into your home on clothes, in a suitcase, or with second-hand furniture.

They can also travel between rooms in multi-unit buildings, so if you haven’t traveled or visited public places but live in an apartment, they can come from neighbors.

Many people wonder – “I have a clean house; why do I have bed bugs?”. We’re used to thinking that insects only appear due to a lack of hygiene.

Contrary to a popular misconception, bed bugs don’t appear in dirty homes. They are attracted to human blood, not dirt, so no home is perfectly safe. Even if you clean your house daily, you are still at risk of contracting bed bugs.

How Bed Bugs Feed

To determine whether cats can carry bed bugs, we should first understand how these parasites feed. Bed bugs feed off the host’s blood, primarily at night. However, bed bugs don’t have a predictable feeding schedule and eat whenever a host is nearby.

Bed bugs are more active at night because most humans are sleeping, not because bed bugs are nocturnal creatures. If you work night shifts and sleep during the day, you will be a victim regardless.

Unlike many parasites that live on the host’s fur, such as fleas and ticks, bed bugs return to their hidden harborage after sucking the host’s blood.

Bed bugs don’t care about the host’s species. Although they feed primarily off humans, they can also attack animals. Bed bugs detect their targets by identifying carbon dioxide released when a host exhales.

Once the host is identified, bedbugs get closer and use their infrared sensors to find the best spot for sucking blood. We don’t usually feel the bite because when bed bugs bite, they release an anesthetic.

As the name suggests, bed bugs hide in mattresses, bed frames, and bed linen, but also in other furniture, carpets, and bedroom clutter. Because bed bugs hide skillfully, they are commonly transported with luggage to spread anywhere humans settle.

Bed bugs have five life stages and need to feed to molt from one stage to another. Without blood, female bed bugs cannot produce eggs, and one bed bug can lay about 120 eggs in her lifetime.

The worst thing about bed bugs is that they can go without food for 20 to 400 days, depending on the humidity, air temperature, and other factors. The cooler the climate, the longer they can live without feeding.

Each adult bed bug feeds only about once a week, so these creatures don’t need to live on the host. Throughout the week, they digest the blood meal without looking for another one.

So, Do Pets Carry Bed Bugs?

Now, to the main question – do cats carry bed bugs? Because bed bugs reside in bedding, furniture, carpets, and various clutter rather than on pet fur like many other parasites, cats do not carry bed bugs around the house.

However, a cat, like a human, can become a bed bug feeding target. Bed bugs quickly bite a cat and move on; they don’t use cats as transportation means.

In rare cases, bed bugs may accidentally get stuck in cat fur and travel into your home this way, but the likelihood is insignificant because it’s not natural for bed bugs.

Interestingly, although bed bugs can feed off animals, they prefer to feed off humans. Even if a human is farther away than a cat, bed bugs will be attracted to their carbon dioxide signature and migrate towards the human first.

So, your cat is also susceptible to bed bug bites, but it isn’t as attractive to parasites as you are. Bed bugs will only bite it when there is no human host nearby.

Another point to note is that bed bugs can sometimes choose pet beds, crates, toys, and other pet items as their harborage. Because bed bugs usually feed within 10 feet of the harborage, the pet may be more affected than the owner.

How To Keep Bed Bugs Away From Your Cat

If bed bugs have chosen your cat’s bedding or another favorite spot as their harborage or you often aren’t home, your cat may become the primary attack target for bugs.

In this case, you may be wondering how to keep bed bugs from biting your cat. First, you should ensure that you’re dealing with bed bugs and not other parasites. Bed bugs are brown to reddish-brown, not black.

They crawl and don’t fly or jump like fleas or ticks. Bed bugs leave light brown molted skin where they reside and don’t stay on cat fur for longer than several minutes.

You can also identify that your cat was bitten by a bed bug by the look of the bite. Bed bug bites are red, itchy, usually darker in the middle, and gather in a particular area, typically arranged in a line.

To keep bed bugs off your cat, you should first identify where they live and not let your cat come close to the infested spot. For example, if bed bugs live in your cat’s bedding, throw it away and get a new one.

Or, if bed bugs live in your bed, don’t let your cat sleep in your bed during the day. However, remember that your cat doesn’t attract bed bugs as much as you do.

You should deal with the bed bug problem in your home in general rather than try to ward them off your cat in particular.

Don’t use tea tree oil on your cat’s skin to ward off bed bugs because felines are allergic to tea tree oil. Don’t use pyrethrins and pyrethroids either because these pesticides are toxic to cats and dogs.

Some owners wonder – do flea collars work for bed bugs? No, flea treatments have no effect on bed bugs.

Frankly, there’s no sense in using any treatment on your cat apart from a soothing cream to relieve bite itchiness because bed bugs don’t live in your pet’s fur. There’s no need to bathe your cat or apply chemical sprays on its coat.

However, you can occasionally brush your cat with a flea comb to trap bed bugs that could be stuck in the fur if your pet is extra fluffy.

How To Deal With Bed Bugs

The best answer for how to get rid of bed bugs is to call the professionals. However, before you waste a lot of money on exterminators, you can try home strategies for dealing with bed bugs.

Start by picking up any clutter because beg bugs can quickly change location if you start treating their harborage. Vacuum the floors, carpets, and furniture regularly to get rid of bed bugs in floor cracks and furniture seams.

Wash and dry your clothes, bedding, your cat’s bed, toys, and anything else where you find bed bug matter at high temperatures above 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Alternatively, freeze your clothes, bedding, and your cat’s items. Leave them in the freezer for a few days, or leave them outdoors in winter if the temperature falls below freezing.

Scrub the seams of furniture upholstery and your mattress with a stiff brush to scrape away eggs. Fix or seal any cracks in your floors and walls.

If you’re struggling to locate bed bugs or your efforts show no result, call a pro who will know where to search and can use chemicals unavailable for unlicensed use to kill the parasites.

If you live in an apartment complex, you may have to work with the property owner to address the infestation of the entire complex. If bed bugs keep coming from the neighbors, an extermination will only have a temporary effect.

To prevent a bed bug problem in the future, brush your cat’s fur whenever it comes home to remove any parasites that could be stuck in it.

Always check the bedding and furniture in hotel rooms for signs of bed bugs, and keep your belongings off the floors.

Sources