Kittens with fleas, need advice

[wendyr]

Talk to your vet and see what advice they have to give.

Where we live, fleas are not too much of a problem. Our vet recommends only giving treatment as and when necessary, as one of our kittens, Conor, experienced side effects with the medication (nothing serious - but enough to scare us and her) and Steve (who is a nervous cat to begin with) got really, really stressed out by the application. I have a friend with three cats who only applies treatment before they go into boarding (required) because one of her cats experiences quite serious side effects (very scary - I was there the last time she had to apply). Since we have treated, we haven't had to re-treat. Our vet thinks our (former feral) kittens got the fleas from when they lived on the street and since they are indoor cats, he told us to monitor the situation before we went about treating them all the time. I don't know - all situations are obviously different, but in all my years as a pet owner (mainly dogs), I have never had to do consistent treatment, and neither has my husband (mainly cats). Talk to your vet - they will know what your environment is like and can advise you!

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Cocoa Cream

We went to the vet today for booster shots, and I asked him about out options in flea treatment. At this point the most affordable and effective option for us is to use Frontline Spray, because they are still so small that it will last for a few months. The vet also had some aerosol spray for the carpet called "Knock Out." That is supposed to kill whatever I've got in my house already and stop the cycle. So, hopefully, we will be flea free in the very near future!

Thanks for all your great advice and comments. It is encouraging to hear from other people who have truly "been there and done that."

I've heard of the Spray for young kittens - excellent. I just wanted to add that if your infestation is particularly heavy, the Knock Out may not do the trick. We had a serious infestation some years ago and tried all the products from the vet which were stronger than those available in retail stores and nothing helped until we got a professional exterminator.

Also one poster mentioned flea collars only working on the area around the neck - please DO NOT EVER use a flea collar at all. They are very dangerous to the health of your cat. The only good use for a flea collar is to cut it up and put pieces in the vacuum.

I also wanted to mention that diatomaceous earth is extremely lightweight - imagine a very fine powder and the weight. I can't imagine it would be terribly expensive to ship from an online order. I have a large container and it probably doesn't weight 400 grams.

 

[shanynne]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I was going to let others reply here to help you out but I have to make a couple comments.

Do NOT use over-the-counter flea products on any cat or kitten! They are dangerous and can cause death. You need to get any medications from your vet, especially for kittens this young.

Chances are the fleas are in your carpeting/rugs. You will need to kill them because even after bathing your kitties, when they walk over the rug/carpet, the fleas jump on for a meal.

One of the safest ways to kill the fleas in your rug is with Diatomaceous Earth (food grade as suggested). It is not a CHEMICAL. It is chemical-free. It is made up of miniscule crustaceans that are ground into fine powder. When ground, the particles are like little slivers of glass to insects but totally harmless to mammals. In fact if your kitties should eat (ingest) any, the worst it would do is get rid of any parasites your kitty has which is a good thing. You should cover your mouth and nose when dusting so as not to inhale the powder - it won't hurt you but it can be uncomfortable. I found my container at our local garden centre but had to ask some questions before I was assured it was human/food grade. I put it around an ant hole near my baseboards and within 1 hour I had no more ants coming in my kitchen.

You may find lots of information on the internet, but please don't believe everything you read. Talk to your vet at least even if you don't go see him/her. Flea collars cut up and put in the vacuum is a good idea, but you DO have to empty the bag/canister outside after each vacuuming.

The original Dawn is a safe product to use on your cat/kittens - in fact IMO it is safer than the flea shampoos that you would get over-the-counter.

Hi! and thanks for your post! Thanks for the info. about Dawn, I will definitely use that to bathe my kitties (glad I waited).

About the Diatomaceous Earth, it sounds fantastic but how *exactly* does it kill the fleas? Also will it kill the eggs and larvae too? And how do you use it? How long do you have to wait before vacuuming and how often do you have to reapply!

Thanks so much for your help!
Shanynne
Extreme Kitty Lover

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Shanynne

Hi! and thanks for your post! Thanks for the info. about Dawn, I will definitely use that to bathe my kitties (glad I waited).

About the Diatomaceous Earth, it sounds fantastic but how *exactly* does it kill the fleas? Also will it kill the eggs and larvae too? And how do you use it? How long do you have to wait before vacuuming and how often do you have to reapply!

Thanks so much for your help!
Shanynne
Extreme Kitty Lover

Diatomaceous Earth is made up of crushed diatoms which are a miniscule crustacean. When ground, the pieces are to insects like shards of glass would be to a human. As the insects walk or crawl through it, the "pieces" cut the exoskeleton of the insect and they die (I believe by suffocation). It can be sprinkled into carpeting or furniture - just sweep it down into the fibres of the carpeting and it will kill any hatching fleas as well. I also sprinkle a bit around the baseboards near the exterior doors. I honestly don't know how long it will take but I did sprinkle some in a hole where I had ants coming in and they were gone within an hour. I imagine it will take longer than that with the fleas and the hatching larvae in the carpeting. I would let it sit a couple days at least before vacuuming and even then you'll probably still have some of the powder down into the carpeting if your vacuum isn't a huge suck-monster. You can use it as often as you wish. It is perfectly harmless to mammals and if ingested (human/food grade only), the worst it would do is get rid of any internal parasites the mammal may have.

It MUST be the human/food grade - do not use the industrial grade DE.

 

[shanynne]

Hi Yosemite

I've been looking into the DE and was all set to pick some up but now my husband is worried it might hurt the vacuum cleaner

I feel really silly asking but I promised my husband I would, so has it harmed your vacuum in any way? I don't know like maybe, clogged it or anything? I have a Dyson so it is a bagless. I don't know if that would make a difference or not.

Also, how thick do you have to spread the powder for it to be efficient? And how often have you had to reapply?

Thanks for your help and patience!

Shanynne
Extreme Kitty Lover