Fleas!!!

hey. Don't normaly use forums, but i'm at a loss with outr 2 new kittens.

story goes like this. My fiancee popped down to the vet to give the dogs a checkup and he saw these 2 kittens (about 6-8 weeks old) in a cage out the back. Upon enjquiry he was told they had been dumped a couple of days earlier and were going to be put down if they didn't find a home.
So they came home. black and white girl (Sifl), silver tabby boy (unnamed).
Poor little things were a mess! a good 3 or 4mm deep in fleas and flea dirt on thier backs. matted fur and thin as anything.

Gave them both baths with flea shampoo (water turned dark read with blood from the flea poop). wormed them and gave them some flea stuff on the back of thier necks. They are both adorable. never stop purring and playing.

Only problem is its been a number of days now and they still seem VERY uncomfortable. They scratch constantly and still have alot of fleas. They look to be in so much disscomfort

Any ideas how i can get rid of the remainding fleas fast? And how to ease thier discomfort?

thank you
Jessica

(P.S. any recomendations on a good way to bring them to a good healthy weight? currently feeding dry food for kittens with some tinned kitten food as well. and opinions on raw for youngsters?)

I'm surprised they were in such awful condition at a vets office...
Try not to use anymore flea products on such young kittens, it can make them very sick. Get a flea comb and comb out as much as you can, shake/pick the fleas off into a bowl of soapy water (dish soap works well), dry the comb, repeat.
Then bathe them again, this time use regular dawn dish soap. This is much safer than flea shampoo. Be careful not to get this on their heads or in their eyes.

Are the kittens allowed to roam thoughout the house or are they contained to a room? You'll need to wash the blankets that they sleep in, these could have fleas and flea eggs in them. Get a flea collar and stick that in your vacuum cleaner bag, vacuum anywhere they've had contact with, toss out the bag.

If they're only 6-8weeks I really suggest that you get a kitten formula for them, mix this in with their wet or let them have a little in a saucer. Even if they're a bit older this will help put a little weight on them and rehydrate them.
Did you use OTC worm meds? Those are really not that safe, I'm not even sure if it's safe to use prescription worm medicine on sick 6-8 week olds. Make a vet appointment just incase.

Do you know what exactly you used as an "on the neck" flea product? You should really only use something such as Frontline. Most "on the neck" flea products are not effective if you bathe for 3 days prior to application or after application. If you did that, then you do not want to apply anything else as a flea preventative for at least a month, it can be very harmful if you do.

Vacuum all you can. Get rid of the vacuum bag after every time. When we had a flea infestation we discovered Borax. You cover your carpets with it, brush it in really good with a broom wait 24 hours and then vacuum again. YOu can put pieces of a flea color in the bag to help kill them. Wash EVERYTHING in HOT water. For the cats we use Dawn Dish soap, it is safe on animals and kills fleas on contact plus it does not have any harsh chemicals. I don't like to use any type of chemical on my cat so it was a tough fight because I would not use any type of flea treatment. After a month or so we won the battle but it was World War Flea for a while. That was about 8 miinths ago and so far so good. We will need to do the borax treatment again soon but its not a big deal.
Remember fleas stay on the animal 10 percent if the time. The rest of the time they are in your carpet and everywhere else.

Good luck. PM me if you need any more help.

Bless your heart for saving them! Others here will have better specifics than I can offer, but...

I know there's some "flea stuff" that really works and some that doesn't, and also some that's unsafe. What brand name did you use?

As I understand it, flea treatments always take at least a couple of rounds, because the fleas killed in the first round have left eggs behind, and the newly-hatched fleas have to be killed as well. HOWEVER, I wouldn't do another dose until you check the label and ask your vet, to be safe... those babies are still very young.

You mentioned your dogs -- is it possible the dogs have picked up the fleas from the kittens, so that maybe they're transferring them back and forth? I understand that fleas and their eggs can survive quite awhile inside a vacuum cleaner, too, which means you could be redepositing them when you sweep.

As for making the little ones feel better... I imagine a gentle going-over with a flea comb several times a day would help a lot. Their skin is probably covered with old flea bites that haven't healed yet, and I'm sure that's miserable for them, poor babies. Maybe the vet can tell you if there's some sort of soothing lotion that you could bathe them in to relieve the itching... but you'd want to be very sure they're old enough and strong enough to handle the baths, which are bound to chill them a bit, no matter how careful you are. I'm not sure I'd try that at this point.

As for helping them gain weight, this I do know something about: get them some KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer)! It's a very high-calorie, high-nutrition milk-like formula that can be warmed just a touch in the microwave, and they'll love it. If they aren't certain at first, let them lick it from your fingers, or even soak the corner of a washcloth in it and let them "nurse." You can also mix it into their canned food, to enrich it and make it even more attractive to them.

As for raw... I think it's just too dangerous, especially for kittens.

I'm so glad those little ones found a home with you! I'm sending them some grow-strong vibes...

_________

P.S. -- I posted this and then found all these other folks were thinking pretty much the same thoughts at the same time. Sorry for the overlap! Great minds, y'know...

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Most "on the neck" flea products are not effective if you bathe for 3 days prior to application or after application.

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This was probably what kept the kittens from getting a full dose that could have made them sick

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

When we had a flea infestation we discovered Borax. You cover your carpets with it, brush it in really good with a broom wait 24 hours and then vacuum again.

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I think borax is toxic, so it's a good idea to keep the kittens out of this if you use it.

All the treatments were ones my normal vet recomended (I have to call her...the local vets are hopeless with anything smaller than a pony) But she has left for a holiday so i'm a little lost.
Not sure what the brand names were tho >< I have a terrible memory and didn't think to write them down.

They are currently staying in the spare room (they don't leave it) which is basicly empty with a timber floor, so easy to clean. Damn things won't hold still long enough for me to do much combing, but i'll keep trying for as long as i can keep them distracted lol

As you probarbly guessed i'm pretty new to cats lol. Dogs, chickens, ducks and rats I can handle, but these 2 cute little ratbags i'm a bit clueless lol

Again thanks for the help, keep it comming.

Originally Posted by alvary

All the treatments were ones my normal vet recomended (I have to call her...the local vets are hopeless with anything smaller than a pony) But she has left for a holiday so i'm a little lost.

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Is there another vet you can call? There has to be one that's more familar with cats, it's not like they're an exotic pet.

Since they're still little babies you can hold them gently by their scuff (fur on the back of the neck) and they should go sort of limp, puppies do this too if you're used to handling them more than kittens. Lay a towel on the floor, set the bowel of water to the side (so you won't knock it over), set the kitten on the towel and scuff with your left hand, comb with your right (reverse if you're left handed). If you can get your fiancee to help it could make it much easier, he could sit opposite and scuff them while you comb.
It's a slow process, but as long as you're gentle it's much safer than flea products.

ah...like with rats as well lol

ok, sounds like a plan. will give it a go.

and you'll be suprised about the vets...i live in the country in the middle of no where. the vets either don't know anything about cats or won't give advice over the phone

but yeah, will try that. any ideas on how to relieve the stress till the iching stops?

Ask a vet (a better one!) for some Capstar to give to them. I had a really bad flea problem in the fall with my kittens, and NOTHING worked. Daily baths and combing didn't work, I'd sit for hours and pick fleas off of them and it would be just as bad the next day (I realize it was in the environment as well). I tried frontline and advantage and neither seemed to work. So I went to my vet and he gave me Capstar (a pill) to give to each of them. And he also said to put Advantage on them at the same time. Within an hour, fleas were dropping off of them, and by the next day I couldn't find a single flea on any of them. I rescued my kittens and they were already infested when I got them... the vet said that's why the topical stuff didn't work right away. Now I can just put Advantage on them and I haven't seen a flea since late October.

some great tips already

we use a Acclaim - its a spray that is used for floors, carpets, nooks & crannies. Those flea eggs get everywhere and they lay dormant until movement makes them spring to life and then they jump on the nearest thing for a meal

Heres a link thats explain a bit about it - it kills fleas, larvae & the eggs, so its a double whammy for the little critters oh and it also kills ticks too

Hope your kitties get well soon

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I think borax is toxic, so it's a good idea to keep the kittens out of this if you use it.

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I thought that to untill I did ALOT of researdh. It turns out that for it to be toxic you cat or child for that matter would have to eat pounds of the stuff. Sure like anything you do not want your kitty getting full on into it, anything in large amounts can be toxic.

To be safe though brushing it in with a broom forces the product to the base of the carpet. It is then away from the surface and your cat would have do dig hole in the carpet to get acces to it. Like anything it is personal choice. For me this worked but I went a bit over board with the brushing.

When I used it I put Karma away during the application process and only let her out after I was done. It took about 4 hours to do a thourogh job in the livingroom alone, about 450 square feet of carpet. You have to make it disapear in the carpet when done you won't even know that there is any thing on the carpet. I even got down, layed on it and rolled around a bit. After Idid that I licked my skin and checked my clothing, nothing was there. Sne never had a problem with it at I all I kept a sharp eye on her all the time. After the 24 hours were up and I vacuumed we had no more fleas. The borax suficates them so when they would jump off her they landed in the carpet and died. The product gets worked in so well that not even a vacuum gets it all. Thats why you only have to do it one time a year.

well, have been combing them both (using the scruffing method) and they seem to be getting some relief. The little boy has practicly none now and seems to be acting normaly. Little sifl is still very ichy but not as bad.

We don't have any carpets in the house, all yimber flooring. Any tips for keeping that flea free? As i have said before never seem o have trouble with them, but have never had this bad of an infestation on an animal!

Is there anything else i should be particularly worried about with these guys, while they are weaker from the fleas? ie illnesses etc. Obviously tere are always things to watch for lol, but would like to be able to know what i'm watching for.

Oh, and what age do they get thier first round of vaccines?

thanks again
Jessica

One way to help keep fleas in check is to fill a pie plate (or another shallow dish) about 1/2 full with water and add a little dish soap to it. You plug in a night light as close to floor level as possible and place the dish underneath. At night the light attracts the fleas, they jump toward the light and plunk right into the soapy water. The soap clings to them and so they cannot jump back out and they drown. If you place a few in different places around the house it can be very effective


As far as vaccines go, my vet does the first round at 8 weeks



If you want to add weight to the babies you can give meat baby food as well as the KMR. Most kittens love it.

Originally Posted by alvary

We don't have any carpets in the house, all timber flooring. Any tips for keeping that flea free? thanks again
Jessica

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the eggs & larvae can still get down the cracks etc in your timber flooring, so the spray I mentioned - Acclaim can be used there too.........

I hope everything is goind better with the fleas now.

I am sending prayers and hugs from Mississippi for these sweet little kitties, they deserve a chance to be happy.

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

Vacuum all you can. Get rid of the vacuum bag after every time. When we had a flea infestation we discovered Borax. You cover your carpets with it, brush it in really good with a broom wait 24 hours and then vacuum again. YOu can put pieces of a flea color in the bag to help kill them. Wash EVERYTHING in HOT water. For the cats we use Dawn Dish soap, it is safe on animals and kills fleas on contact plus it does not have any harsh chemicals. I don't like to use any type of chemical on my cat so it was a tough fight because I would not use any type of flea treatment. After a month or so we won the battle but it was World War Flea for a while. That was about 8 miinths ago and so far so good. We will need to do the borax treatment again soon but its not a big deal.
Remember fleas stay on the animal 10 percent if the time. The rest of the time they are in your carpet and everywhere else.

Good luck. PM me if you need any more help.

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I've lived in flea central and agree with everything here. Dawn for dishes is the best for kittens, but leave it on for as long as they handle it up, preferably 5 minutes before rinsing. I'll also emphasize what an exterminator told me once: vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.

When I had a flea problem before, for the bagged vaccum, I was told to put moth ball inside the bag, to kill off the eggs and larvae. I don't know if it will work on a bagless vaccum.

Ask a vet (a better one!) for some Capstar to give to them.

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Ah, is that what that's called? A vet gave that to Mi-ke once. Is it safe in kittens? I don't see anything on the company site about that.

I heard (somewhere) that OTC drops are no good. Frontline, Advantage...that's the good stuff. But definitely, clean up all the flea dirt. I got some carpet spray stuff; I don't know if it made a difference, but what the heck. And feed 'em plenty (the cats, not the fleas), of course.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

I've lived in flea central and agree with everything here. Dawn for dishes is the best for kittens, but leave it on for as long as they handle it up, preferably 5 minutes before rinsing. I'll also emphasize what an exterminator told me once: vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.

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Dawn is great and is ok for kittens. But you don't want to bathe the kittens until all the mats are out. Otherwise, they will get worse. May I also suggest after washing them with Dawn dishwasing liquid, follow up rinsing with 2 tablespoons white vinegar to a couple gallons of warm water. It helps rinse all the dawn out and also I've been told, kills fleas. The vinegar also helps with itching.