The Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) is one of the most abundant and widespread fleas in the world.
The cat flea's primary host is the domestic cat, but this is also the primary flea infesting dogs in most of the world.
The cat flea can also maintain its life cycle on other carnivores and on the Virginia opossum.
Rabbits, rodents, ruminants and humans can be infested or bitten, but a population of cat fleas cannot be sustained by these aberrant hosts.
Cat fleas can transmit other parasites and infections to dogs and cats and also to humans.
The most prominent of these are Bartonella, the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum, and murine typhus.