Found a tiny kitten tonite

While on his lunch break, my BF found a tiny kitten in walmart's parking lot. He called me and asked if I could come get the kitty.

Ive got her confined to the bathroom.. with litter, food and water. She has easy access to her litter and food that way.. and she's safe there. (I have a foster dachshund here who thinks she'd make a good snack!)

She couldnt be more than 6-8 weeks old.. abandoned in a parking lot to get smashed by a car!

She has some fleas.. any ideas on how to treat those on such a young kitten until she can see a vet? I know how to take a large tube of advantage or frontline for a dog and use it to treat adult pets. Was thinking maybe bathe with dawn dish soap, then treat adult pets for the fleas. Open to other suggestions.

Flea comb. You could bathe but she's tiny and might catch a chill. Depending on her weight and health she should be able to be dosed with one or two drops of Revolution, but you have to let the vet check her out first and ok it.

I found this looking on the web?hope it helps hon.


The shampoo method--whether with Dawn or Polmolive or with the organic shampoo you mention--is much touted but *does not work.* At the very least, you will have to repeat shampooing 4 or 5 times, and even that is unlikely to work. Remember that initially you may think you got all the fleas, but you can easily miss a flea and a single flea is all it takes to create an infestation. As most shelters or vet hospitals willing to disclose the truth will admit, Frontline SPRAY (vs. the Frontline Top Spot or Frontline Plus, which are entirely different formulations, processed differently by the pet's body) is safe for kittens 2 DAYS old and older. In contrast, Frontline Top Spot and Frontline Plus are safe only for kittens you are SURE are 8 weeks old and older. So FRONTLINE SPRAY is the clear choice for any kitten you are unsure has reached 8 weeks. However, Frontline spray must be used WITH GREAT CARE--half a spray is typically enough for an adult cat, so the barest hint of a spray must be used and applied to the kitten's fur. The rub is that it seems Frontline SPRAY is typically only available to be purchased at a Vet's. Your best bet is to find a shelter that uses the spray and get them to apply it to your pet--it takes 10 seconds to do. Use of Frontline spray on kittens 2 days old and older is a very widespread practice at shelters and hospitals, for the simple reason that the anemia caused by fleas is extremely dangerous to young kittens. Personnel I talked to at such places indicated that, in 13+ years of using Frontline spray WITH GREAT CAUTION on kittens, they saw not a single ill effect. The reason neither the substance nor the information is made widely available to the public is that, as you can imagine, the potential for abuse (which WOULD harm the kitten) is great among the general public. Online formularies for Frontline spray (easily googlable) confirm the 2-days-and-older rule. A closing recommendation: keep your kitten confined to a small area, preferably a bathroom, until the flea problem is solved. Change and wash your clothes after each time you sit with the kitten. Eliminate the fleas ASAP to avoid infestation of your home and dangerous anemia for your kitten.

I know that the dishsoap doesnt 100% eliminate.. my impression was that it did something to the exoskeleton of the fleas and made them more vulnerable.

I figured bathing everyone and then treating the adults was probably the safest route to go... at least until I could consult with a vet on how to treat the kitten.

Perhaps I should get the spay and use a spritz on her bedding?

Dawn just makes the cat's fur slippery and makes it where the fleas can't keep a "skin" of air around them - they get wet and drown.

You have to go to the vet to get the spray, why not just take the kitten in? Better to ask the vet before using any pesticide on one so young.

I have plans to take the kitten in.. just wondering what would be safe to use in the meantime. Im planning on calling the vet tomm to get an appt.

She's such a sweet cuddly little kitten.. I dont know how someone could abandon such a tiny little baby in a parking lot!

need to come up with a name for her.. but not something generic like kitty or fluffy.

pictures?

no idea on names --

re fleas, this might be of interest: http://www.livingwithbugs.com/methoprene_igr.html

How about Lottie since you found her in a parking lot?

She may very well have "hitched a ride" underneath someone's car and then found herself at Wal Mart. In any case, she's far safer with you.

I'd vote for just a simple bath right now, leaving the suds on her for a few minutes before rinsing to "drown" the fleas. My neighbor begins bathing her showcats at 3 weeks of age, to get them used to it. It's safe as long as you keep them very warm during and after.

Good luck and bless your SO for caring enough to save the baby!

Originally Posted by nekkiddoglady

I know how to take a large tube of advantage or frontline for a dog and use it to treat adult pets. Was thinking maybe bathe with dawn dish soap, then treat adult pets for the fleas. Open to other suggestions.

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Don't use the dog formulation on the cat, unless your vet approves it. We HAVE had some horror stories in here.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Don't use the dog formulation on the cat, unless your vet approves it. We HAVE had some horror stories in here.

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Just curious. Where are the stories of appropriately dosed per weight Advantage or Frontline causing problems at? There are several on this forum that do this because they have over a dozen cats - the worst I've seen was white cat lover talking about Advantage melting through a plastic cup and into her counter top.
And is there any proof that the cats who reacted wouldn't have reacted the same way to the exact same pesticides even if they were in a tube that said cat?


But yes, no dosing a kitten because it may be too anemic or too heavily loaded with parasites and malnourished to handle it.

It was also likely the mother cat who left the kitten. Young kittens aren't always feral yet and some people leave their pets to birth outside.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Just curious. Where are the stories of appropriately dosed per weight Advantage or Frontline causing problems at?

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I stand corrected, it was another formula that I read about. In doing a quick check on the internet, I found many people doing the dog Advantage on cats, with careful measurements.

Unless you know what you are doing, you must never dose a small kitten with any type of flea treatment without a vet's okay. To much can happen and it isn't all good. No, DAWN does not kill the fleas, it does stun them and then you take tweezers and squeeze them to death. Follow that up with a flea comb and you will have removed most of the fleas. But kittens with fleas need to see a vet- because of the danger of anemia, tapeworms and other health issues. Over the counter flea treatments are never a good idea- ALWAYS consult with your vet no matter what Internet site tells you to the contrary-

^Always. Any new cat in the home should go to the vet ASAP anyways. Tomorrow is Friday so it would just be best to get it done and over with. Hopefully your vet charges less for kitten exams, too. (mine charges around $14)

Originally Posted by mrblanche

I stand corrected, it was another formula that I read about. In doing a quick check on the internet, I found many people doing the dog Advantage on cats, with careful measurements.

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You do have to be careful and watch your formulas. I treated the cats earlier today with Advantage but only had 9lb+ cat doses in the house. My vet no longer sells it so I split it down to the proper .4ml for the lighter cats.
I was just curious where, or if, anyone had bad stories from doing such on this very forum since I don't recall seeing any since I started lurking in late '05.

Her Vet appt is Weds.. but they said that I could safely use capstar on her.. Im running to the vet this afternoon to get a capstar pill. They said the capstar only works for about a week, but I could give her a capstar pill weekly until we are sure that she's old enough for a topical.

this site explains the dosages for frontline/advantage. I myself did check the % of active ingredients on cat and dog frontlines to verify that this site was correct when I first discovered it 2 years ago.
http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/advantage.html

Indeed, they are the same, with the exception of dog frontline plus contains LESS of the ingredient than the cat does.. so you can use dog on a cat, but not cat formula on a dog.

K9 Advantix, and the multi for dogs is not safe for use on cats, and I dont reccommend using it on your dog if you even have cats in the home.

Most topicals you can buy in a store I wouldnt reccommend to use period.

We named her Chloe.

She saw the vet today.. they said she is about 5 weeks! She didnt get shots today because she's too young, but did get checked for FIV, Leukemia, and heartworm all negative. Also got some wormer for her.

The adult cats are starting to get used to her.. her and Gozer attack each other LOL

Would love a photo of Chloe.

Chloe is a perfect name for a perfect cat!!! Don't get me started on the things people can do to cats.......I found my Little Man Take in downtown Indianapolis, on a bitter winter morning--left wandering through a parking lot!!! He was about 8-10 weeks old! I carried him home inside my coat pocket. Can we see pics of Chloe soon?

I'll have to try to get some pics of her later. We've been having issues with the camera battery not holding its charge.. you pretty much have to charge it every time you want to get some pics!