hartz flea meds on a kitten?

Hello everyone. I have a stray kitten staying the night at my house tonight (I take care of a bunch of strays including his mom and siblings... this is his second time staying the night..he's obsessed with me and demanded on staying inside tonight. hah) Anyway, I'm worried he's going to give fleas to my other animals. Can I treat him for fleas with hartz flea medication? It says don't use on cats under 3 mos. I think he's ALMOST 3 mos. I can't really tell. I'm guessing about 2.5 mos? I don't know.

I would not use that at all. My friends pets died from that stuff. It poisoned them.

Originally Posted by mews2much

I would not use that at all. My friends pets died from that stuff. It poisoned them.

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Yeah, I've heard about peoples cats dying from it. I read about it online. But I've been using it on numerous cats for years and they're all fine.

PLEASE do NOT use this on a young animal

Okay, what do you guys think I should use? How about giving him a bath with dawn dish soap? I don't think that will work though..i did it with one of my stray kittens before..it didn't kill the fleas or knock them off..they just ran up to his head..and i had to pick them off with tweezers..he was white.. but this cat is black so I won't see the fleas. What should I do?

divineintervert- I know what you're going through, as I rescued kittens last summer Fun, but LOADS of work...

I used the dawn on them, BUT, to make it work (and prevent the flea to head migration that you experienced, what I would do Is:
1. Wet kitten thuroughtly
2. Apply dawn directly behind the head, on the neck...cover the whole neck all the way around and make sure you work it well into the hair/skin.
3. Add dawn, moving slowly away from the neck (working your way towards the tail).
4. Let sit on kitten for ~ 45 - 60 seconds.
5. Start rinsing off, begin on the tail and move slowly towards the head.
6. After kitten is completely rinsed off, rinse with a solution of a small amount of vinegar in water (will remove all soap residue)
7. Rinse kitten again.
8. Use tweezers to pick off any immobile or slow moving fleas left on the kitten (you can use a flea comb as well).

I did this about 1-2 times a week until the kittens were big enough for advantage, as well as flea-combing every day.

HTH,
Art