Diatomaceous Earth

I have a 6 week old kitten. The vet gave me mousse to rub on her and comb through (which didn't go well) and I'm not seeing results. He told me not to worry, but I just want them gone. It's gross. It's been over 24 hours and there's still live adults jumping off of her. Anyone have luck with food grade diatomaceous earth?

DE works well, although there will still be fleas jumping off the cat.  Use it on her bedding and sprinkle it on the carpet, then vacuum.  Don't do this more than once, though.  DE is very fine and will ruin a vacuum if you use it too often.  ALWAYS use food grade - the stuff you buy at pool supply places has chemicals in it that may be bad for the cat.

There are a couple of other things you can use along with it.

You can try bathing her in regular Dawn dishwashing liquid.  The fleas will drown.  You may not get them all, so you can also try Revolution (applied to the cat's neck).  There is also a product called "Capstar" that will stop the breeding cycle.

You will need to keep vacuuming as the fleas will jump into the rugs and wait for another host (most likely you!)

Good luck.  Fleas are gross!

Another tip that may help is to put a flea collar in the vacuum bag to kill the fleas. Flea collars are very dangerous to put on cats but they are fine for the vacuum. 

There's rug she loves. Should I put DE on the rug and then sit there and rub the DE on her? I think she'll stay on the rug and not run anywhere. If they were to jump off, I'd rather they jumped there; or will it just be a disaster and it won't matter where I apply the DE because the fleas will jump everywhere? Also, any tips on bathing a skittish kitten? I don't think my wrists can take any more abuse. Lol.

I don't know how I feel about using DE on a cat.  If you do, be careful because it's powder and can get in your (and the kittens) lungs.  I was putting some down once because I heard it was a good way to get rid of bugs, didn't use a face mask, and thought I had killed myself with it in my lungs. I wouldn't use it on a kitten personally.

It seems most people use DM on their carpets and not actually on the cat, but I have heard some people actually eat the food grade stuff and give it to their animals. For me I probably would be too fearful to put it on my kitten because as stated above it is really dusty. 

I would buy a flea comb and start using that. For the bath a good technique to bathe a not so docile cat is to get two pails, buckets or clean wastebaskets and fill one up with the soapy water and another with clean water for rinsing. You can also wear kitchen or gardening gloves to prevent scratches. My two cats now are super docile and let me give them a bath if I need to but growing up my sister had a large orange tabby who was vicious when bathed (he could be so vicious that he had to have a muzzle on him at the vet). For some reason I was always the one who had to give him a bath when he got dirty and I used the bucket method paired with the gloves and I was pretty much unharmed. You will want to try to use the flea comb on her when she is in the dawn bath. And remember only use the original dawn. 

I also think revolution makes a spot on treatment for kittens who are 6 weeks and it works on both fleas and parasites so it would be a good idea to ask your vet about it. The regular revolution can be given at 8 weeks and you can get it online (http://www.1800petmeds.com/Revolution-prod10265.html). 

On the dusting the kitten, you have to be extremely careful not to breath in the dust, or let the kitten breath it in either.  I would think that would be a 2 person operation, with one person holding the kitten's head forward and distracting them somehow and the other person (with something covering their mouth and nose) quicky putting some on their hands and rubbing it into the back half of the kitty.  Not sure really how that would quite get accomplished

As far as ingesting, it's AOK for kitten to ingest it, and it's a GREAT way to deworm them against tapeworms from those fleas. 

Dosing for Dogs and Cats

Because food-grade DE is not a toxic agent, it is very safe to use in the recommend dosage for worming pets, even very young puppies and kittens. The following can be given once or twice daily:

• Kittens: .5 to 1 teaspoon
• Cats: 2 teaspoons

Read more: Using Diatomaceous Earth to Worm Pets

I've done the "shake and bake" with barn cats that otherwise got no care, as others have said make sure it is food grade. Maybe hold a washcloth around the kitten's head and massage the DE into the coat, then remove the cloth and work it toward the head some.

I didn't have good results with it as a wormer,but it doesn't hurt to try!

Doesn't DE lose effectiveness when wet?

I don't think so.  From what I understand, it works because the microscopic shells are razor sharp and shred the fleas and larvae.  I would think that getting it wet would not affect that.

I have heard 2 explanations,  the one about it being sharp particles and the other is that it works because it dehydrates the bugs.    and I have read that you should not get it wet.   http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

but I definitely am not a DE expert. 

See I've also read that it loses effectiveness when wet so I wonder how it could cause lung damage when the lungs are wet? I think I'll just continue her medication and put DE on the surfaces. It's not like she has a sever flea infestation like the kittens on YouTube.

Capstar doesn't stop the breeding cycle of fleas. It kills adult fleas on the cat in a 24 hour window after dosing, the kitten must be at least two pounds. The dead fleas will just fall off the cat, in a shower even, for 24 hours, it's very dramatic.

I just used DE in my car, after being in a flea infested household and having the owner of that house in my car. I found many dead fleas (and hopefully dead eggs and larvae which I did not see) when I vacuumed it out, but even after vacuuming (I used the heavy duty vacuum at the car wash) there is still dust in my car and it is definitely affecting my breathing and skin.

It works but the dust is insidious. I wouldn't want to use it in the house or on pets.

I'd rather take the risk and use (in your case) kitten dose revolution, if she is big enough.

No. She's just a baby whose mom either abandoned her or died out in the streets. She was "rescued" when she was a week old, and I rescued her from the jerks who had her. I have to mousse her again Saturday so I think Friday night when she's good and sleepy, I'll bathe her in dawn then medicate her Saturday. What do you guys think?

That sounds like a good plan, Toddypu.  Bathing her once will get most of the adults.  You can use a flea comb too; that will get rid of more.

Vacuum frequently, no matter what.  I read that the suction of the vacuum itself will kills adults.  The trick of using the flea collar in the vacuum is a good one, too.

Bless you for helping her ...

toddypu said:

No. She's just a baby whose mom either abandoned her or died out in the streets. She was "rescued" when she was a week old, and I rescued her from the jerks who had her. I have to mousse her again Saturday so I think Friday night when she's good and sleepy, I'll bathe her in dawn then medicate her Saturday. What do you guys think?

Click to expand...

I don't understand what this "mousse" is. Can you give us the name of it? I'd like to look it up, for my own knowledge.

How is her appetite? Congratulations on the rescue, so glad she is in your hands.

for the little baby :heart3:

What's her name?.

Originally her name was Nia Joy, but she responds only to Meow Meow so I guess that's it lol. The mousse is called synerkyl from Dvm pharmaceuticals.

Before you use the synerkyl mousse again, please read the information in these articles.
Cat Flea Control Products Warning lists synerkyl as one of the products containing the active ingredient permethrin, which has been known to cause neurological symptoms in cats.
PAN pesticide database indicates that the two active ingredients in synerkyl are both carginogens.

I would stick with bathing your kitten with Dawn dish detergent followed by a flea comb, at least until you can ask your vet if there is a product with fewer side effects.

I researched pyrethrins. According to my research toxicity occurs with levels over 1%. Synerkyl has 0.082% Additionally, it's used only once per week and pyrethrins are easily broken down by a kittens stomache acids so its not toxic if the kitten licks itself after application. Additionally, dawn only kills live adults. The Pyrethrins kill the eggs. I feel comfortable using it once a week and I'm careful to follow instructions.

I wouldn't let something with permethrins or pyrethrins near my healthy adult cats, let along a fragile kitten, and this product contains both!

Why won't your vet give you kitten revolution or a small dose of frontline plus? Those are both safe for young kittens and do not contain permethrins or pyrethrins.

Yikes, I'd be looking for another vet for Meow Meow. At the clinic I use there are posters in every consultation room warning against using permethrins on cats.

More for Meow Meow!

PS she is a very clever little girl to have already let you know what her Real Name is! :heart3: