What to do about fleas and 4 day old kittens

Hi

My cat had 3 kittens Tuesday.. This evening we noticed fleas on the babies.. The daddys cat came in yesterday and my husband treated them with the stuff you put by the shoulder blades. (this is his job to do so I dont know what the stug is called) he didnt treat the mama because she is nursing and doesnt want to poison the cat..

What can we do to treat the kittens? Is there a herbal remedy that wont hurt the mama when she cleans them and wont hurt them when they nurse or lay up on her?

Originally Posted by cimrmore

Hi

My cat had 3 kittens Tuesday.. This evening we noticed fleas on the babies.. The daddys cat came in yesterday and my husband treated them with the stuff you put by the shoulder blades. (this is his job to do so I dont know what the stug is called) he didnt treat the mama because she is nursing and doesnt want to poison the cat..

What can we do to treat the kittens? Is there a herbal remedy that wont hurt the mama when she cleans them and wont hurt them when they nurse or lay up on her?

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From what I have read:

You must bathe the kittens regularly and use a flea comb. Do not use flea shampoo.

Katie

What you need to do is get the fleas off of momcat. I have done this with Advantage after first speaking to my vet about the cat and the babies. Your vet should have kitten safe advantage and you can use that on small ones with your vet's consent! Be sure to talk to the vet. I put the advantage on with a q-tip, and spread it from neck to tail on wee kitties. I do not use all of it, only a little bit depending on the age of the kittens- that is why it is imperative to talk to your vet FIRST. Fleas are responsible for a lot of kitten deaths- anemia is a real problem with parasites as is dehydration-

pick as many off as you can with tweezers in the mean time and dunk the fleas (not the kittens! lol) in soapy water to kill them.

my vet wont flea treat kittens with chemicals until they are 10 days old because the formula causes them to lose body heat through making them wet (this is what she told me when i asked her the same thing.)

treat your house and ring your vet for advice.

My vet just told me to use tweezers and pick them off of the kittens until they had enough fur to use a flea comb. She also said to change their bedding often.

My vet treats the mother cat and says it should help kill the life cycle of the fleas on the kittens. She uses the advantage that is safe while nursing.

I would treat the mom with advantage with your vets consent. Advantage is safe for nursing mothers and the close proximity of the kittens to the mother will offer them some protection as well. Your husband has already used something on the male? Was it purchased from a pet store or vet clinic? The products from the pet store are NOT safe IMO for any cat and definately should not be used around kittens.