Kitten has fleas!

Teejay89 said:

Hello everyone! We just got our new baby Iris a week ago. She is doing very well eating, and using the litter box the 2nd day we had her! The only issue we have (like a lot of people I'm sure) is she has fleas. The litter we got her from were all outside cats, living under a house. I was able to get a flea comb and got about 10 big ones off of her. The next day (yesterday) we washed her in a warm Dawn dish soap bath but I only noticed that 2 came off in the bathwater and I had to comb out a few alive ones after we dried her off that were around her head. This morning I was hopeful that the bath did some good, but I was able to get 8 big ones off of her again that were alive. I believe she is around 6 weeks old, the lady I got her from what not totally sure when they were born. So I know I cant sure Advantage or anything yet. I vacuumed the house today, and we may try to give her another bath tonight if we can but how often can you give a kitten a bath? I just don't want to over due it and hurt her in some way. We should be able to bring her to a vet in November to get looked at, she is eating like a horse but doesn't seem to be gaining a lot of weight. 

Besides bathing, and just combing her and vacuuming is there anything else we can try? I absolutely hate fleas, I had them in my dads house with his cats and it was awful!

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Welcome, @Teejay89  ! Iris is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl 

1. Try to comb Iris while she is still wet with soap. 
2. Wash every fabric, pillow, bed, blanket, ANYTHING that Iris has used or sat on, with hot water. Clean every spot, vacuum and bleech where possible. If you have carpets, I'd suggest you wash them, just to be sure. Fleas can literally sworm a whole house. Adding baking soda and white vinegar in your cleaning solution will help you a lot. Also, sprinkling baking soda on your sofa, chairs (wherever there is fabric - even the bed matress) over night and then vacuum, helps a lot too.
3. Try cleaning the house thoroughly for the next upcoming days, so to narrow down the possibility of any remaining eggs to hatch inside. Make sure you empty the container of your vacuum cleaner and throw the garbage outside of your house. 

Not only bathing Iris does the trick. Cleaning the whole environment is also crucial so that surviving fleas don't get to her again. Check her coat literally every day and try to bathe her multiple times until you are sure that the "flea party" is over 

Anne said:

 
Welcome to the site! Thank you for sharing this awesome picture with us 

 It's just been featured as our picture of the week:

 [article="32985"]Precious Calico Kitten Picture Of The Week 1543​[/article]  

As for the fleas, here's a guide about this very topic - 

 [article="31635"]How To Treat Fleas In Young Kittens​[/article]  

Good luck and let us know how she's doing!

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GrizzlySapien said:

 
Welcome, @Teejay89  ! Iris is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl 

I don't know if you have done these, so here's some advice:

1. Try to comb Iris while she is still wet with soap. 
2. Wash every fabric, pillow, bed, blanket, ANYTHING that Iris has used or sat on, with hot water. Clean every spot, vacuum and bleech where possible. If you have carpets, I'd suggest you wash them, just to be sure. Fleas can literally sworm a whole house. Adding baking soda and white vinegar in your cleaning solution will help you a lot. Also, sprinkling baking soda on your sofa, chairs (wherever there is fabric - even the bed matress) over night and then vacuum, helps a lot too.
3. Try cleaning the house thoroughly for the next upcoming days, so to narrow down the possibility of any remaining eggs to hatch inside. Make sure you empty the container of your vacuum cleaner and throw the garbage outside of your house. 

Not only bathing Iris does the trick. Cleaning the whole environment is also crucial so that surviving fleas don't get to her again. Check her coat literally every day and try to bathe her multiple times until you are sure that the "flea party" is over 

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Gonger said:

 
Sorry to hijack, there is a capstar available for kittens over 4 weeks in Australia. An animal rescue group suggested I give Pumpkin (6 weeks) one since she was  absolutely riddled. The woman also suggested a spot on but it freaked the poor thing out so I've been trying to wash it off. Other than that there hasn't been any negative side affects... so far. 

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Teejay89 said:

 

Anne said:

 
Welcome to the site! Thank you for sharing this awesome picture with us 

 It's just been featured as our picture of the week:

 [article="32985"]Precious Calico Kitten Picture Of The Week 1543​[/article]  

As for the fleas, here's a guide about this very topic - 

 [article="31635"]How To Treat Fleas In Young Kittens​[/article]  

Good luck and let us know how she's doing!

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Thank you so much!! Iris is so happy! 

GrizzlySapien said:

 
Welcome, @Teejay89  ! Iris is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl 

I don't know if you have done these, so here's some advice:

1. Try to comb Iris while she is still wet with soap. 
2. Wash every fabric, pillow, bed, blanket, ANYTHING that Iris has used or sat on, with hot water. Clean every spot, vacuum and bleech where possible. If you have carpets, I'd suggest you wash them, just to be sure. Fleas can literally sworm a whole house. Adding baking soda and white vinegar in your cleaning solution will help you a lot. Also, sprinkling baking soda on your sofa, chairs (wherever there is fabric - even the bed matress) over night and then vacuum, helps a lot too.
3. Try cleaning the house thoroughly for the next upcoming days, so to narrow down the possibility of any remaining eggs to hatch inside. Make sure you empty the container of your vacuum cleaner and throw the garbage outside of your house. 

Not only bathing Iris does the trick. Cleaning the whole environment is also crucial so that surviving fleas don't get to her again. Check her coat literally every day and try to bathe her multiple times until you are sure that the "flea party" is over 

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Thank you for your advice also!

 So far we have only washed her once, I am vaccumming the house like a mad woman! How often would you recommend washing things like pillows on the couch, and putting baking soda on the couch? Would that also be a daily thing?

Every day I comb her once or twice, and every time the number of fleas I get off of her gets smaller and smaller, and I'm finding less of that "flea dirt" on her. So I'm hopeful everything is working!

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You're welcome @Teejay89  

I hope this helps you 

 It's a good sign you're finding fewer and fewer fleas every day. Give her another bath and make sure you comb her while she's wet with soap. I would add some white vinegar in the soap+water mix you use to bathe her (just a little, like half a spoon or so). Pests hate vinegar. And it doesn't mess with her pH levels (she's still a baby 

). 

Let us know how it goes! 

 

GrizzlySapien said:

 
You're welcome @Teejay89  

I would wash everything pretty good in hot water once, after Iris has used them and I would keep her in a room confined for a few days, until this is over, so that the fleas don't "migrate" again on everything I've washed. You can apply baking soda on the couch, bed, chairs (whatever), once and maybe do it again after 3 days or so, just to be on the safe side.

But the general way of thinking on this, is that everything you wash (pillows, covers, sheets, carpets etc), don't come in touch with Iris, until this is over. If you wash them, dry them and then Iris uses them again to sit, lie, roll over or whatever, you'll have to wash them all over again, so that she doesn't get contaminated by the surviving fleas that will have migrated on the fabrics. I hope I make sense, cause English is not my mother language.

So, if you wash them and she uses them again, without being cured completely, it's like an endless cycle, where fleas will migrate, survive and contaminate her again the next time. If you don't confine her in a separate room, you'll have to wash and clean so often and there's no point. But, if you keep her in a separate room, you will narrow your cleaning and washing down to one single room, instead of every fabric in the house.

I hope this helps you 

 It's a good sign you're finding fewer and fewer fleas every day. Give her another bath and make sure you comb her while she's wet with soap. I would add some white vinegar in the soap+water mix you use to bathe her (just a little, like half a spoon or so). Pests hate vinegar. And it doesn't mess with her pH levels (she's still a baby 

). 

Then drawn the surviving fleas in a cup of hot soap water, like the article @Anne  suggested you. Also, the trick with petroleum jelly does work!

Let us know how it goes! 

 

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Teejay89 said:

 So far I havent seen any sign of them in the house, other than on her so I hope I'm doing good! I just want her to be happy and itch free 

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Almost all kittens and cats resist to water and being bathed 

It's a "cat thing" LOL

Try to make the water warm - not too cold or too hot. Like a baby formula - test it on your wrist first. Try to calm her down by sweet talking to her.. Petting her.. Kissing her.. Just to make her feel comfortable and safe, as you act when you don't bathe her.. I did that with Grizzly and he was used to being bathed from the 1st time.. Now he's all grown up and doesn't put up with "nonsense" heheh! But it was crucial to bathe him at 1st, cause I also got him from the street, so I needed to take precaution measures. Luckily, he was "squicky clean"! He had nothing on him. 

But most of my rescues, that I have fostered from time to time, came with a world of pests on them! I don't have an extra room in my appartment, so I kept them for about 4 days in the bathroom or in a crate in the balcony if it was during summertime. In a few words, I kept them somewhere that had no fabrics, pillows, carpets, matresses etc and could easily be cleaned.. But I thoroughly cleaned the whole appartment after their cure, just to be safe. 

I use baking soda once a month on my regular cleaning schedule, cause it keeps the carpets, the mattresses and the pillows free of mites. I also use soda with white vinegar (or apple sider vinegar) for when Grizzly "transfers" poo or pee from his litter box.. You know.. They sometimes stick to the paws, or the kitty is in a rush to go and do his thing 

 They are both very effective, not costly and not dangerous in opposition to bleech or other commercial cleaning solutions 

GrizzlySapien said:

 
Almost all kittens and cats resist to water and being bathed 

It's a "cat thing" LOL

Try to make the water warm - not too cold or too hot. Like a baby formula - test it on your wrist first. Try to calm her down by sweet talking to her.. Petting her.. Kissing her.. Just to make her feel comfortable and safe, as you act when you don't bathe her.. I did that with Grizzly and he was used to being bathed from the 1st time.. Now he's all grown up and doesn't put up with "nonsense" heheh! But it was crucial to bathe him at 1st, cause I also got him from the street, so I needed to take precaution measures. Luckily, he was "squicky clean"! He had nothing on him. 

But most of my rescues, that I have fostered from time to time, came with a world of pests on them! I don't have an extra room in my appartment, so I kept them for about 4 days in the bathroom or in a crate in the balcony if it was during summertime. In a few words, I kept them somewhere that had no fabrics, pillows, carpets, matresses etc and could easily be cleaned.. But I thoroughly cleaned the whole appartment after their cure, just to be safe. 

I use baking soda once a month on my regular cleaning schedule, cause it keeps the carpets, the mattresses and the pillows free of mites. I also use soda with white vinegar (or apple sider vinegar) for when Grizzly "transfers" poo or pee from his litter box.. You know.. They sometimes stick to the paws, or the kitty is in a rush to go and do his thing 

 They are both very effective, not costly and not dangerous in opposition to bleech or other commercial cleaning solutions 

 

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Teejay89 said:

Awesome! I never knew baking soda was that amazing haha! I will need to get a big tub of it soon. Do you just sprinkle on the mattress and vacuum off?

When we tried to bathe her before, we talked to her and made the water warm but not too hot, but she just wasn't feeling it 

 I don't know of any kitties that like it! We did try to put her in a big tubberware tub inside the sink, and she kept grabbing the side of the tub so I think next time we will just use the sink itself and see if that makes it easier on us. Thats amazing that you got your kitty from the street and he was totally clean! 

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It was pure luck, honestly! I doublechecked with the vet and he said that the kitty was just fine. 

Regarding the sink, yes. Use only the sink and remove any objects from around or on the sink. She will try to grab from them, so she can escape.. the little bugger! LOL 

 But don't worry, really. If she doesn't like it, it's not your fault. Most of the kitties don't like being washed. 

But be extra careful, because she's a baby and she cannot regulate her body temperature. So, she will feel cold very easily and quickly. Dry her off as soon as possible and try to blow dry her. Grizzly used to calm down with the blow drier, maybe because it made him warm again. Keep it to a low scale while blow drying - you don't want to shock her! 

 And hold the drier at least 20 cm away from her - you don't want to burn her skin!

If you do this methodically and be quick with your moves, you'll finish quickly and she will have the chance unwind. You can handle her.. she's about the size of a thumb, as I can see from the pic 

GrizzlySapien said:

 
In the cases I've treated, yes.. It takes some time for the drug to activate and the fleas fall off.. But you still need to do a good clean up, cause some of the live fleas may have laid eggs on her toys, your carpets, your furniture and so on. 

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