Kittens, fleas, nursing Mother

Hello  I am new to this forum, referred from another site.  My son took in a stray, the stray had fleas.  That issue was not addressed quickly enough.  The stray had kittens.  Now  he has 4 four week old kittens and an apt infested with fleas.  To date he has tried, vacuuming twice a day, carpet has been shampooed with a commercial machine, bathing kittens in dawn, picking off the dead fleas, advantage drops on the mom cat.  The mom appears clean, the kittens have fleas every morning despite aggressive cleaning.  What can be used on a nursing mom cat and/or 4-5 week old kittens to deter the fleas.  Bombing the apt is not an option at this time due to circumstances.  I am a big fan of the seresto collar, it rescued me when we had an out of control infestation.  The manufacturer has no data on its use on a lactating female cat.  The vet deferred to the manufacturer.  I have to believe someone out there has had this situation and solved the problem.  Suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

F fanwoodguy

It sounds like the infestation is so bad that new fleas are hatching constantly.

I suggest that your son purchase a can of flea carpet spray, and use it aggressively while also using Advantage II again on both mom and kittens. Raid makes a very powerful flea carpet and room spray.

The kittens, at four weeks old, will get a tiny drop of Advantage on the back of the necks, while mom gets a tube. Vacuum again as well.

Then, repeat the spraying and vacuuming again in a week.

All bedding should also be washed in hot water. The infestation should be gone after the second round.

When using the spray, keep the cats out of the room until it has dried.

Be aware that the mom and kittens will need worming, as fleas result in tapeworms.

I hope all this helps.

Diacetomeus earth, DE may also help here, standing on 24h guard.   The disadvangae is it will be dusty in the time.  Just make su its food grade DE. @fanwoodguy

You can get food grade DE at Tractor Supply, and if there are none of those near you, most feed stores carry it.  It kills the fleas by getting between the plates of their exoskeleton and their fluid escapes and they dry out.  It isn't a poison so it doesn't hurt the mom cat or kittens.  You can use it on them like flea powder also.  It has been mentioned in many threads here.  Just go to the search bar just under the brown bar above, type in diotomaceous earth and click search and you should bring up many threads discussing it.

If mom and kittens are treated with a topical flea med, then when new fleas hitch a ride on them, they will come in contact with the med and die.

It is critical these kittens get treated ASAP, I have seen too many come to our shelter so infested and anemic, I was not able to save them.

Kittens don't have much blood volume, and the fleas will suck the life right out of them.

Make sure gums are still pink and not going white.

Advantage is, 0.2 mls, which is about 4 drops, 2 at scruff and 2 further back.

So, the apt was bombed, the kittens were treated with a smaller dose of advantage.  There are few if any fleas at this point.  Probably there will be some for a while but the kittens have weathered the storm.   Vet check for the mom and kittens  is next week.  Once they have transitioned to solid food a Seresto collar is going on the mom cat.  I have found this to be the most effective flea treatment ever.  Essentially the cat becomes a walking flea trap.  Because the cat and kittens reside in Louisana, they do not get the benefit of my northeast winters where the flea population can be knocked down so the battle will be ongoing.  All will be indoor cats anyway but an ounce or prevention goes a long way.  Thanks for the assistance, the other not to be named forum provided no help whatsoever.  The folks who responded here validated my theory of what to do.  

This is good news! I hope the fleas stay gone!