Stray kitten in home with healthy resident cats

piakay

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Hi everyone,

My husband found a stray kitten on a freeway on ramp yesterday. The kitten was obviously sick (one of its eyes was crusted shut and the other had a lot of discharge) and there didn't appear to be any mother in sight so he took it with him. We brought it to our nearest shelter and they told us given his or her age and condition, the kitten would most definitely be euthanized. We couldn't let that happen so decided to try to nurse him back to health so we could either turn him back over to the shelter, a shelter foster, or someone from our friend network (we are hoping to do this in the next couple of days as I'm also over 40 weeks pregnant and due to give birth at any time now).

We took the kitten to the animal hospital and s/he was diagnosed with a pretty bad URI and fleas (the kitten received capstar at the hospital to kill any live fleas). We are currently treating him/her for both and my husband took him to our vet right now to get more flea preventive meds and to figure out the age and sex. So a couple of questions -

1) We have two healthy one year old cats who are both indoor. My biggest concern right now is that they don't get sick as this is the first time we've brought a stray in to our home and with me about to deliver we really can't handle that right now. The kitten is confined in our guest bathroom in a cardboard box. We removed all towels and the rug from the bathroom just in case there are still live fleas on his body. We also put a board in front of the door so that our cats can't peek under the door frame. Right now my husband is the only one going in and out of the guest bathroom to minimize any chance of cross contamination with our other cats, he's also wiping his hands with antibacterial gel every time he goes in there. Is this enough? Is there anything else we could or should do? Both our cats have the FVCRP vaccines. 

2) Is there a high likelihood that our cats can still end up with fleas despite the precautions we are taking? What about a flea infestation in our home? We've never had animals with fleas so not sure how far they can jump or how high the likelihood that one will end up on our clothing and then elsewhere in the house. Should we put our cats on a flea preventive med just in case?

3) After we turn the kitten over to another foster or friend would it be sufficient to clean the bathroom he was in with bleach or are there any other recommendations to make sure there are no lingering bacteria/flea eggs in there?

Thanks all! This may all be overkill but I just really don't want to risk bringing a new born in to a home with sick animals! The kitten will definitely be out as soon as i go in to labor (my brother and his wife have agreed to take him in that case if we haven't found another solution yet) but I'm still a bit worried about our other two kitties.
 

StefanZ

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You have right taking precautions.  The protected is guarded by God, as the proverb says, no?

Your hubby may have a oversize shirt on him, preferably forward backwards, alike some sort of laboratory coat.  This way he doesnt need to change clothes.  Although he should change shoes (and take of this shirt/coat.

You can probably have something soft inside - fleece blanket perhaps - it feels nice for the kitten.  Be prepared to discard this blanket.

Also, get rid of the litter and litter box when he leaves.

Its probably to overdo the precautions somewhat, but better too much than too little...

If flea problem should be persistent, a non chemical way is to use DE-earth, diacetomeus earth.  Make sure its food grade / human grade...

Revolution spot on (there are also other brandnames) is effective against fleast, although young kittens arent supposed to get it.  So this will be useful for your residents, but not sure for your protegé...

Please continue to report.

Tx for caring!
 

ondine

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Once the bathroom is empty, vacuum it thoroughly.  The cyclonic action of the vacuum actually kills fleas.  Then you can use any anti-flea treatment you choose - including Stefan's suggestion of DE.  If you use food grade DE, the cats can eat it without harm.

If you use any sprays, keep your cats away until you are sure the fleas are gone and the spray has been cleaned away or dissipated.  The sprays are sometimes worse for the cats than the fleas.

Thank you for going above and beyond for this kitten!
 
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