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- Feb 24, 2015
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Don't forget the kitten environment. Vacuum really well after bathing. Fleas spend a lot of time off the pet, too...jumping on to feed.
I run a cat rescue group and have tons of experience with fleas, this recent kitten season I have pulled 60+ newborns and young kittens from our Humane Society, and believe me they ALL are loaded with fleas. Most were born outdoors.
Depending on the age, here's what I do with perfect success-
Moms with nursing babies, treat the mom first with Advantage! Make sure it is under her fur on her neck and pat it down so as to not allow it to run down and come in contact with the babies.
Within 2 days the fleas that were seen on the babies should be gone as well, the fleas prefer the moms fur over babies.
If they are still seen on the babies I put the baby under warm water, very warm but of course net hot!
The great thing about fleas is they can not swim, although it takes up to 15 minutes to drown, holding the baby in water for at least 10 minutes, the fleas will let go and then drown, going down the drain.
The ring of soap thing is this-you put a 4 week old or older kitten or an adult cat in a bath and the fleas will all come up to their face, ears and eyes, mouth, etc. to hide.
So before putting them in a bath, I take a wet washcloth with plenty of dishsoap and starting at the underside of the neck, start creating a soapy ring, all the way around the neck and up to just under the ears.
This means the fleas don't get a chance to move up, then proceed with the bath, without disturbing the soap ring until later in the bath, soaping them up well, especially underside, as they will hide like mad, deep in their fur in the armpits and lower tummy. Rinse, rinse rinse, which also aids in fleas drowning.
Be sure to towel dry well and keep warm, although I will use a blow dryer I hate to advise this since it's tricky to not burn them, I filter the warm air with my hand, fluffing the fur with my hand and blowdrying the back of my hand so I can feel if it's getting hot, constantly moving the dryer.
BTW, I treat kittens at least 4 weeks old with 0.15 ml of Advantage. Thats about 4 small drops. I've treated literally hundreds of kittens this way, for Advantage it's supposed to be 0.4 ml's at age 8 weeks.
Hope this helped.