Fleas

Hello

I have a nine month old kitten who has fleas. Are there any home natural remedies to get rid of them? Preferably without bathing him? Thank you in advance !

Fleas are a tricky problem. The most aggressive/effective treatment is to bathe them with something like Dawn dish soap and use a flea medicine recommended by your vet. You *never* want to use a cheap alternative topical flea treatment from the pet store. Most are ineffective and some are dangerous. Flea collars can be a choking hazard for cats if they get caught and only treat the area around the flea (think more a wall preventing fleas from going past it but allowing them free range elsewhere). You also have to be extremely careful with cats when it comes to any sort of herbal treatment. Cats livers don't function the same as a humans or even a dogs. Things that you find online that are safe for "pets" may not be actually safe for cats. Things like tea tree oil and citrus oils (including lemon which is one of those natural remedies) can build up quickly in a cats liver and cause death even if they seem to handle it at first it can build up over repeated exposure. Some of the online treatments people recommend with oils might work for someone using a high quality oil but someone doing the same treatment with a lower quality oil could kill their cat (or the high quality could just be killing the cat slowly when the build up in their system reaches critical. We don't know enough about cats bodies and how oils affect them for me to be comfortable purposefully and directly exposing them personally). 

While I am not a fan of using chemicals, for me, when it comes to flea treatment at our home we use Advantage II. We use wool balls in the dryer instead of softener, I use all unscented products, we don't use pesticides in our yard but when it comes to fleas the alternatives just are too questionable and ineffective (and it is because I am extremely sensitive to chemicals which has turned into limiting chemicals in home). Needs outweigh the negative. We do it every 6 weeks instead of every 4 weeks and skip the winters unless we see signs of fleas (partially money and partially limit chemicals.

That said, I have heard others have had success  spraying the cat with a watered down apple cider vinegar and leaving it on their coat (or mixing it in with Dawn for a bath but you are trying to avoid a bath). Also just aggressive flea comb and a glass of soapy water to dip it in. Diatomaceous earth (food grade) is another alternative that people have cited as successful. Those three methods are the only ones I have heard of that I also haven't heard of possible negative affects on our feline friends. 

If you don't want to use anything on him you definitely need a flea comb. Have a bowl of soapy water handly to place the fleas in after you comb. You will have to remove the fleas from the comb with you fingers and place them in the bowl after a few strokes of the comb. Gloves would be good to use. I have had good luck with boric acid on the carpets sprinkle it on and rub it in with a push broom. It's marketed as a laundry additive called mule team you can get it at the grocery store.
As far a maintenance it's a lot easier to use a flea treatment I use revolution. If you don't want to use anything on the cat the flea comb with work as long as you do it daily. If you don't want anything on the carpets I have also used the nightlight and soapy water method as well. At night the fleas are attracted to light if you put a nightlight in a plug on a wall and a dish of soapy water underneath the light they will jump towards the light and land in the soapy water and drown. You will be surprised how many fleas you can get this way. You can also use this to see if you still have a home infestation. Good luck!!

Thank you for the advice !  I just mixed 1/2 cup ACV and 1/2 cup water.  Poured it into a spray bottle and shook it.  I squirted some on a paper towel and rubbed it on him where he was itching the most.  I didn't want to do a whole lot right at first.  Just not a big fan of poison.  My vet gave me some flea stuff that takes care of ticks as well.  Frontline didn't work on him.  Poor guy I feel so bad for him.

Cats Meow said:

Thank you for the advice !  I just mixed 1/2 cup ACV and 1/2 cup water.  Poured it into a spray bottle and shook it.  I squirted some on a paper towel and rubbed it on him where he was itching the most.  I didn't want to do a whole lot right at first.  Just not a big fan of poison.  My vet gave me some flea stuff that takes care of ticks as well.  Frontline didn't work on him.  Poor guy I feel so bad for him.

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Frontline didn't work for us either but the Advantage II knocks them out in a day. We did try some of the home remedies first but while 2 were clear the fleas just loved Link so we just went with it to save him from the constant problem.

Try some of the suggestions here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/homemade-flea-remedies-for-cats

Home treatments may work somewhat but unless you live in a sterile environment with no soft furnishings for fleas to hide in, there's going to be fleas and eggs scattered around your home that you might miss while vaccuuming and cleaning. A flea treatment / preventative is best to give. Ask the vet for a prescription product. If Frontline doesn't work even after following the package directions for a couple months, try another brand. Revolution works well and is a monthly topical.

A groomer can give your kitten a flea bath if you don't want to try it at home.