Cat had kittens yesterday Q about fleas/insects..

Hi,

My cat had 4 kittens yesterday evening. I have weighed them all and they are between 90 and 110g. We have 2 ginger (males) a tortie (female) and black and white (female I think).

The thing is I just picked them up to weigh them and a couple of the kittens had a few of these black insects crawling down their bodies. They don't look like fleas at all - I have seen fleas and these things that are on the kittens are bigger than fleas and don't jump at all - and as far as I know don't bite - fleas are the first to bite me and I haven't been bitten.

Has anyone any ideas on what these insects are and how I get them off? Are they bad for the kittens for them to stay on them? I tried catching a couple but they run very fast. Never seen them on any of our cats before and they are all frontline deflead and also dewormed as well as the house itself.

I'd be grateful of your advice and pics to follow soon.

They are probably fleas, and they likely got them from mom. Others may have some more ideas on the subject.

You can't use a flea treatment on mom or the kittens until they are 8 weeks old, but you can bathe them and then get the last of the fleas off with a flea comb. Don't put their heads under water. Someone else will have to tell you how soon you can bathe them.

A few questions can help this
A. is mum an out door cat?
B.where are the kittens kept
C. any signs of dirt in the babies fur?
im also in the UK and thunder bugs home in for my hair!

Flea..
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/flea-1.jpg

Thunder fly


P.s where in UK r u?

You need to get them off the Kitten fast. If they are some kind of fleas they can drain them of blood. My Brothers Russian blue lost her kittens to fleas before and my Meeko amost died before I got her from flea anemia.

Hi Thanks for your replies. Mum is an outdoor cat although the past couple of weeks before the kittens were born she has been in a lot although our other cats are outdoors a lot too. The kittens do have dirt on their fur but I haven't seen any, what now seems to be fleas on them since yesterday, but will obviously keep checking, i've also changed the bedding and haven't seen any since I did this. They are kept in a box in the living room. Mum and all our other cats have been trated for fleas, I frontline them regularly and spray the house, I'm not sure what else I can do to control them. I have heard of a plug in that is supposed to repel them and other insects but not sure if these work. I would be a bit reluctant to bathe the kittens as they may lose too much heat.

Originally Posted by nicochick

Hi Thanks for your replies. Mum is an outdoor cat although the past couple of weeks before the kittens were born she has been in a lot although our other cats are outdoors a lot too. The kittens do have dirt on their fur but I haven't seen any, what now seems to be fleas on them since yesterday, but will obviously keep checking, i've also changed the bedding and haven't seen any since I did this. They are kept in a box in the living room. Mum and all our other cats have been trated for fleas, I frontline them regularly and spray the house, I'm not sure what else I can do to control them. I have heard of a plug in that is supposed to repel them and other insects but not sure if these work. I would be a bit reluctant to bathe the kittens as they may lose too much heat.

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If you bathe them in warm water and use a gentle dish detergent you will be ok. As long as you wrap them up in warm towels and set them nest to a source of warmth they would be ok. A source of warmth would be socks with rice in them warmed(double the sock, fill with rice, tie off end and warm) in the microwave or one of those discs you pop in the micro that have a fleece cover. Some even blow dry on low heat as long as the blow drier is not too close to the kitten.