Flea treatments for young kittens?

[jenny1978]

Monty has fleas (not surprising giving that we don't know where he came from and the large amount of stray cats in our neighborhood).

I have NO clue on how to get rid of them since he is way to young for flea treatments. Maggie has them now as well (I just gave her a treatment)

HELP!

Any ideas? Can I bath him in baby shampoo? I read using dawn but I would think it be a tad drying to his skin and natural oils he needs

 

[Willowy]

How old is he? I think Revolution can be used as early as 7 weeks. Maybe Advantage, too (or that could be 8 weeks). Of course, the old standby that's safe for everybody is using a flea comb. Just comb those nasties out and shake them off into a cup of soapy hot water.

 

[my4llma]

Our vet gave Midnight Revolution Kitten when he was 3 weeks old. At the time we were told he was 6 weeks old. Midnight's been on Revolution since with no problems, and no flea out breaks.

You should really talk to your vet. The 1st night I got Luna, we gave her a bath in Dawn. It helped kill many, but not all the fleas.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Jenny1978

Monty has fleas (not surprising giving that we don't know where he came from and the large amount of stray cats in our neighborhood).

I have NO clue on how to get rid of them since he is way to young for flea treatments. Maggie has them now as well (I just gave her a treatment)

HELP!

Any ideas? Can I bath him in baby shampoo? I read using dawn but I would think it be a tad drying to his skin and natural oils he needs

I would recommend getting flea treatment from a vet - NO over-the-counter flea meds please.

You can certainly bathe him in Dawn. It won't hurt him or dry out his skin.

If you can get to a garden centre or farm supply place, pick up some food/human grade Diatomaceous Earth and sprinkle that into your carpeting and furniture. Leave it a few days before vacuuming it up. DE is a fine powder made of diatoms (a miniscule crustacean) that is like a soft fine powder to us but shards of glass to insects. It's a safe and effective way to treat your surroundings for fleas.

 

[niki_d]

Hi

I recently took in a litter of 3 kittens who were abandoned at about 3 weeks of age. They were all extremely infested with fleas. What I would do is bathe them with dawn (as recommended by my vet). I filled the bathroom sink with warm water, just slightly warmer than body temp. I would have a couple towels next to me so I could wrap them up as soon as I was done bathing them. I would start by applying a ring of Dawn around their neck so when I submerged their body the fleas wouldn't just migrate to the head. I never submerged them completely, just used a baby washcloth for their face and head. I would submerged their body in the sink, then lather them up. I let them sit for a couple minutes in The water to try to drown as many fleas as possible. I would then rinse them with fresh warm water. I imediately wrapped them up in a towel and keep them warm until they were dry. I would use the flea comb several times a day and dunk those nasty fleas in a cup of soapy water. It took about 2 weeks bathing them every other day to completely get rid of the fleas in all 3 kittens but it did work. They had their own room that they stayed in and I sprayed flea spray around the door so the fleas wouldn't migrate to the rest of the house but the kittens weren't ever in contact with it. Hope that helps

Also, I changed/washed their bedding after each bath to kill the flea eggs.

 

[stephanietx]

You can give him Capstar (a tablet) and also use a flea comb dipped in Dawn water.

 

[jenny1978]

Well the vet is setting out a flea medicine for young kittens for me. He said to spray a towel and then wrap the kitten in the towel and hold him so the meds can suffocate them