Kitten with fleas?

freyaandzelda

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Hey guys! My Zelda has fleas really bad, and I'm not sure what to do about it. She's nine weeks old this week, and I don't really feel comfortable with the chemical options. I tried giving her a bath, and let me just say that she may be small, but it was disastrous. My arms still have scratches. I've tried a flea comb, and I'm not sure if I'm somehow using it incorrectly or what. I can run it over a place where I know for a fact there are several fleas with little to no result, even when it's firmly against her skin. I'm at a loss. Her ears and neck are covered in bites and it's driving both me and her crazy.
 

denice

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You could try food grade diatomaceous earth http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp.  You need the food grade, there is another type sold for pools you do not want that one.  It may be a little hard to find.  Amazon probably has it, they seem to have everything.  You could try garden centers though they are probably pretty slow right now and maybe natural health food type stores.  You can put it on your carpet and upholstered furniture let it sit for awhile and then vacuum.  It is like a talc so you will have to keep an eye on the filters, I burned up a Dyson once using scented baking soda type freshner on the carpet.  It's such a fine dust that it clogs the filter and if you let it go too long then it can burn up your vacuum cleaner.

Since it's okay to eat you can also put it on your kitten.  I have even heard of people using it as a dewormer so it is okay if your kitten swallows some of it when cleaning herself.
 

misterwhiskers

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For your kittens sake you must get the fleas under control, and treat your house as well.

AdvantageII is safe for kittens 8 weeks and older. It doesn't require a prescription where I live. It comes in "kitten size"--ie it goes by weights.

I personally would use the Advantage before the diamataceous earth due to the risk of lung problems. Used properly it will kill fleas much faster than the de.

You also need to treat your kitten for tapeworm. It's actually pretty much a given that if your cat has fleas, they will get tapeworms from eating the fleas as well.

As for the house, Precor 2000 is ok. You can buy that kind of stuff at any big box hardware or pet store, maybe even at your vets. Even Amazon. Note you'd have to keep kitten from treated areas until it dries.

Some people use de to treat the house, carpeting etc, but I have used it, and let me tell you it wrecks both lungs, and vacuum cleaners. And you just can't toss it down, you have to buy a puffer and put in down in a fine dust, you don't shake like talcum powder.

I've heard you can use baking soda too. But why go to all that trouble when you can simply buy a couple cans of flea killer and spray once every two weeks (with an insect growth regulator--you MUST use this) followed by daily vacuuming for two weeks in conjunction with Advantage? Otherwise you'll be seeing fleas for months.
 
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freyaandzelda

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I think I'll try what you suggested, misterwhiskers. I'll have to wait until my paycheck next week though to buy the Advantage, we had a couple of unexpected expenses this week. Until then I will give her another bath and use the vinegar spray mentioned by LTS3 to keep them at bay until then. Thanks guys!
 

sparks17

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Fleas are terrible! It took me two months to get rid of all of them when I moved to a new apartment.  When I tried to bathe my month-old kitten at the time, like you, I ended up with a bunch of scratches and one unhappy kitty.  The best option I could work out was to kind of "sponge" bathe her.  I distracted my kitten by giving her a treat (I used the Fancy Feast Broths, since it would keep her occupied for a little bit), and used my hands to slowly scoop a little bit of water over her to dampen her fur. (You could also dip the flea comb in water and comb your kitten to get its fur wet.) Then, I got a cup of warm soapy dishwater and dipped the flea comb in it and combed her very thoroughly. Since her fur was damp, it was a bit easier to catch the fleas and then drown them in the soapy water.  While it's not as effective as a full flea bath, it was a little less traumatic for my kitten. 

The other advice I can give you is to vacuum your floors every day. It really helps to cut back on any fleas that might be hiding in there.

As soon as my kitten weighed enough, I started her on a topical flea medicine, and that helped tremendously.  I would definitely recommend Advantage when you're able to afford it.   Good luck!
 

happybird

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We were told by our vet that treating the house is unecessary when using Advantage or Frontline, and this has worked well for us. These products sterilize the fleas before it kills them, so they cannot lay any more eggs. Of course, there are already tons of eggs everywhere, but they are so tiny, and laid in such deep cracks and crevices around the house, nothing can effectively reach them to kill them. If you treat your pets the first month, then treat them again 30 days later (to deal with the inevitable hatch-out from the existing eggs), that should end the problem.

This method has worked for us several times when we have moved into flea-infested rentals. In one apartment that was really, really infested, I had to treat the cats and dogs for three months, but after that, we never saw another flea or bit of flea dirt. My dear, departed Kitty Bob was horribly allergic to fleas and would chew bald, bloody spots into her skin when bitten, so we took flea control very seriously.

Unfortunately, fleas are so nasty and tenacious, I've never heard of any natural remedy that gets rid of them completely. Frontline no longer works well in our area, so we use Advantage.
 
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newmamaof3

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Capstar and Revolution are both very effective. Our vet prescribes both for kittens 8 weeks and older. As far as the house goes it is true that many of them will die if they try to feed on your kitten after your kitten is treated. However you must vacuum daily and dump the bag or canister outside each time. This is to remove eggs from your carpets baseboards and flooring. Also vacuum curtains and launder bedding. You should continue to treat kitty on a monthly basis. Eventually the fleas will all be gone. Humans are not a suitable long term host.
 

misterwhiskers

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Some flea meds kill via dander but there's no guarantee it will get them all or that the fleas won't simply feed on you. My vet ordered me to treat my house, and it worked for me last year. This year my neighbor downstairs has a dog who picked up fleas from a very infested yard. I no longer have Precor but I might puff Cimexa extremely lightly on my carpeting as a precaution. Easier on my vacuum than de but requires cat to be out of room a few hours. And yes, my cat is on Revolution too. Great stuff, but it requires a vet RX.
 
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