Help with new kitten

Hey there first time here.
My wife and I returned from our honeymoon on Sunday to find my younger sister had brought home a 7 week old kitten. I've never raised a kitten before so this is all fairly new. Well yesturday morning we discovered that she(Chiqueta, "Little Girl") has fleas. The only thing I could think of at the moment was to bathe her, but it only removed a few of them. We took her to the vet and they suggested a spray to use for the first week until we could use the Frontline products on her. However since she does have fleas and there is another cat in the house, I didn't have much choice but to keep her in the laungry room, its the only place in the house without carpet. She didn't mind it for a day but today she has not stopped crying. About ever few hours I go in and play with her, but Im afraid of doing much because I wouldn't want to catch fleas myself.
So I guess my question is, is it alright to keep her in the laungry room for a few more days, despite the crying? I just don't want it to scar her personality. I guess I think of it like a child, leave it locked in a room and it won't turn out right. I might put the frontline on her tonight even though it is a few days to early of 8 weeks, because then 1 more day and we can let her out.
Again any advice is welcome, this is a first time experience for me and I was throw headfirst into it.
Steve

Aww, poor baby

I would call your vet and ask if it's ok to put the Frontline on a day or two shy of 8 weeks--I'm not really sure if it would be a big deal, I'm suspecting it wouldnt.

Try putting a stuffed animal in there with her, and an old towel or something nice and soft for her to lay on--and then throw them away in a few days to keep the fleas from infesting your house

yes, the flea infestation is another big concern. I only live here for the summer, but I'm sure my parents would love a nice flea problem when they return from vacation.

Ill try the stuffed animal and some towels
Thanks

Also, if you do decide to use the spot-on flea treatment, don't use the entire vial. Just put enough on the very hardest-to-reach place on the back of the neck between the shoulders to make a line about an inch long, no longer. And watch her carefully after you apply it. Give that about a week to 10 days and if you are still seeing live fleas, repeat the treatment using the same small amount from the vial.

~gf~

I'd personally use a flea comb and be dilligent about getting every last flea combed off and squished. I don't like the poison in flea products but that's just IMO

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I'd personally use a flea comb and be dilligent about getting every last flea combed off and squished. I don't like the poison in flea products but that's just IMO

Click to expand...

Neither do I but I can also completely understand the original poster not wanting to take any chances with the other resident cats picking up fleas ... it can be very, very difficult to comb out and pick off fleas especially if we are talking about a dark colored cat.

I would recommend treating the other cat with Frontline, too. Then even if somehow one flea gets to her, it will not be a problem.

Congrats on the wedding, and the new baby (cat)!

yea i already treated the other cat with frontline, so I feel he is safe.
My main two concerns right now are
1) Getting fleas in the house(The whole house has mostly been vacumed, I might put some of that powder down in the carpet)
2) Kitten getting psychologically "hurt" from being stuck in that room for a couple days. For example I don't want her to become mean or something like that. Although I'm probibly just being paranoid.

I tried using a comb, but its rather hard with her squirming, and the claws don't help either.

I suppose we(us and the kitten) should just wait it out, but the crying gets to me sometimes.

Keeping her isolated in the laundry room for a few days will not hurt. Especially if you give her lots of toys and TLC while she is in there. My clinic is treating a little kitten for a multitude of things (including ringworm) and he has been in isolation for 2 months! Not ideal, but i think he's still going to be a really cool cat. I would actually keep your new addition isolated for 10-14 days and have her tested for feleuk and FIV and vaccinated before you introdice her to the new cat. If she comes down with a kitty cold, it is much easier to treat one cat than two!

They make Advantage and Revolution in kitten-sized doses. This is very safe. And treat your other cat too, since he will inevitably get the fleas that jump off of the new one.

i just applied the frontline, well most of it at least. she is a squirmy devil. Ill try and put the rest on when i get back form work. Does anyone know how long it will take for it to work?
yea the vet said something about felime leukemia, but i dont think they can test for it untill its 8 weeks old. If the test is negative or something they don't need the shots if i recall, correct me if im wrong.

this has turned out to be much more stressful then i thought. Her cries and attemps to get into the other parts of the house are heart wrenching. I have a thing for little creatures, one of my only soft spots.

Never knew fleas were such a problem until now.
Thanks for all your guys help. Little sister isn't proving to be very helpful.

Just an update, I have treated most of the house with a flea spray designed for carpets and fabrics. The frontline seems to be working on the kitten, I ran a flea comb through her and all the fleas were dead. Im debating about letting her out for the night. The other cat will stay in the bedroom anyway, since he likes to sleep all day. Or does anyone think I should wait?

You might want to give it another twenty four to forty eight hours to give the flea treatment you applied time to kill the hatching fleas ... just to be completely safe.

alright ill go ahead and wait, she doesn't seem to cry as much anymore. Either she was crying from the fleas and it stopped, or she has gotten use to the laundry room.

From the looks of it I don't think I'll have to end up calling an exterminator. I'll keep applying this spray around the house for a while, and vacuming constantly. And hope for the best.

Thanks for the help.

EDIT: Aggg I just realized that the bottle says it only kills, adult, and pre-adult fleas, so I guess I'll still have eggs. Someone suggested Borax to be, will that kill the eggs?