Fleas on 7 week old kittens

I have 5, 7-week old kittens (and mama cat) and I've noticed flea dirt on a couple of the kittens. I have read about using dawn dish soap to bathe them, flea combing them, using Apple cider vinegar, etc etc etc. I'm just wondering if there are any flea products I can use on 7 week old kittens. I have some revolution and some frontline. The pamphlet for the revolution said it was tested on kittens as young as 6 weeks with no side effects. Do you think I could use the revolution, maybe just use 1/2 dose?

NO.  But there is a Revolution formula designed for kittens over four pounds - ask your vet.  The adult solution may be too strong for kittens, so even half would burn them.  Some cats react badly to Revolution anyway (loss of hair at the application site, drooling, lethargy).

Even if you get and use a topical, bathing them in regular (blue) Dawn will help, too.  It will help get rid of the flea dirt and stop the flea cycle sooner.

Good luck!

Actually there is if the kittens are 2 lbs or more (and at least 4 weeks old). Capstar. It doesn't kill eggs, so may need to be used for several days and in cycles, while you work to remove fleas and eggs from bedding, furniture, carpeting, wall edges, etc.


http://www.drugs.com/vet/capstar.html

It is a lifesaver for rescue groups and those managing TNR colonies.

Oh - capstar is a pill. It needs to be ingested. If they can be counted on to finish a small amount of wet food, KMR or cat milk, you can sprinkle it on. Otherwise it has to be pilled.

But washing with dawn and using a flea comb after treatment is a good idea. The first use typically kills about 90% of the fleas (and FAST).

Hmm, I've never heard of capstar, sounds interesting. What about once they are 8 weeks? They're all around 2 pounds now. Both the frontline and Revolution say for 8 weeks and up, but are they too small?

I've never heard of the revolution causing drooling our lethargy? Is this common? I've heard that it can cause hair loss at the application site, but none of the doctors where I work seemed too concerned about it. I used it on Missy (the mama cat) with no problems.

I just noticed they have to be 5 lbs for the revolution, but the frontline doesn't have any guidelines for weight...

The kitten dosage for Revolution is UP TO 5 pounds, if I am correct.

When I got my kitten at 9 weeks old, he was just about 2 pounds and infested with fleas and mites. The vet gave him both Capstar and Revolution - which did the trick. Before getting him to the vet (so the first day I got him) I bathed him in Dawn and used a flea comb to get as many adult fleas out as possible.

The kitten Revolution is the same potency, just a smaller dose. My vet will split doses for kittens, so halving an adult dose sounds about right. . .let me look it up. . .OK, the up-to-5-pounds tube has 15 mg in it and the 5-to-15-pounds tube has 45 mg in it. So you'd use 1/3 of the regular tube. Both have the potency of 60 mg per ml. But it says not to use Revolution in kittens under 8 weeks so I'd wait a bit.

And, yeah, I LOVE Capstar! Great stuff. I always give it if I see fleas, even before applying a spot-on. If the kittens are small you could give them half a pill. . .but the cat-size pills are so small they're hard to cut in half! :lol3: So you could powder it and sprinkle half on each kitten's food. But it's safe to give them to whole pill if they're over 2 pounds; it's just cheaper to split them.

Oh I was looking at the regular revolution, not the kitten version. Good to know the kitten revolution and regular revolution are the same potency. I looked at the capstar and it's pretty expensive considering it only lasts 24 hours :-( I guess I will just bathe and flea comb them for now, and treat the mama cat with some frontline. I haven't actually seen any live fleas, but where there's flea dirt there must be fleas.

I read somewhere that you can use diluted apple cider vinegar on the kittens and it will repel fleas, does anyone have any experience with this?