Will fleas kill a baby kitten?

Question

My cat is a year old and she just had her first litter. She had 4 kittens. They have all died they were only 4 weeks old. They had fleas really bad. I had flea dipped the momma cat 3 days before she had the kittens but they ended up with them anyway. My question is did the fleas kill the kittens or did the mother just not take care of them? Another question is there any thing I can do for the momma cat to dry up her milk so she is not sore?

Yes I did spay my home very well. I called the vet and he said that it was fine to Front Line my cat while she was even though she was due to have kittens. And yes I plan to have her spayed.

Also is there away to bath the mother cat without getting the crap scratched out of me. My cat freaks at the site of water. It is my understanding that all cats do. There has to be an better way. Do they make waterless flea shampoo?

Answer 1

A severe flea infestation can most certainly cause the death of young kittens because the fleas weaken their immune systems after inducing anemia. I don't think you dipping momma cat three days prior to the kittens' births had anything to do with their deaths three weeks later. I am very sorry for your loss.

As far as the soreness goes, I have never had a problem concerning the reduction in lactation with a female cat. If you think she is in pain, you could always call your vet and ask if you might stop by and pick up a small dose of oral pain medication.

Answer 2

I think a vet would know right off the bat what you could use. Many vet offices will give out free advice on the phone, if money is an issue (and when isn't it, lol). If you have treated the mom, perhaps you can simply pick all the fleas off the kitten? They are hard to catch, but it can be done. There are flea combs, but I'm not sure they are safe to use on a little kitten either. I would also be careful about treating the mom, if you are using a spray or powder, because the baby will be snuggled against the fur and get the chemicals. I don't think the baby oil would do any harm in small doses, and might slow the fleas down to enable you to catch them easier. I've heard people say they used hand lotion on kittens to slow down the flea movement too. I would think you would need a very mild lotion, perhaps baby lotion. The site I have put down below as my source says to use a flea comb and that if the kitten absolutely has to be bathed, to bathe in Lemon Joy dish soap. The citrus will kill the fleas. Dry the kitten off, then put on a heating pad. Do NOT use a hair dryer. Good luck!

Answer 3

Theoretically, fleas can kill a kitten. The reasoning is two-fold:

a) A newborn animal has less immune resistance (has a less-developed immune system) than an older animal. Fleas are vectors of many diseases (tapeworms, plague, etc), and it's very possible that they could have transmitted a pathogen to the kittens that would have killed them.

b) The other possibility is that, if the flea bites were so severe, the kittens could have lost a lot of blood from them. Also, open wounds from flea bites would have left them more vulnerable to infection.

So yes, the fleas probably did contribute to the kitten mortality rate. Unless you're a breeder, you should probably spay your adult cat anyway.

Answer 4

The mother will not know how to take care of her kittens like that if she was either taken out early herself from the litter, or if she is of some specific breed that doesnt know how to care for her kittens in the first place. The reasons your kittens got fleas is because your momma cat still had them or their bed had them. You should bomb your house, keep the momma in from then on, and wash the cat a couple/few times if she is an outside cat. That should fix the problem. If she is an inside cat, have your house cleaned thouroughly, and then bug bomb it. Remember to remove the animals from areas of the poison for a couple days.
Oh, and another thing you can do for the mom is to get her out of 'momma mode' and she will stop producing milk. Remove her den box and wash her pillow to get rid of the kitten odors she has, and she should stop producing milk very soon.

Answer 5

Fleas can kill the kittens. Fleas usually breed in carpets, blankets and other pet areas, not on cats, they jump from cat to cat. The mother may not have looked after them well either, but if they had excessive fleas there is a good chance it could have contributed to their death. With the mum, massage each of her teets until you feel a little pressure being releaved, the milk will pass but if you dont massage her they can clog and she can get an infection. If you cant help her pass the milk and she starts to look droopy then take her to a vet.

Answer 6

If the flea infestation was at all, bad.......it was the fleas that killed the kittens. They can make a kitten anemic, very quickly, and from there, leads to death.
As for the mother, it will all happen naturally, just let it happen.

P.S. A flea dip on a pregnant animal wasn't very smart, in the first place. The chemicals could do more harm than good to both the unborn babies AND the mother.

Answer 7

Yes. Several years ago I lost kittens to fleas before I figured out what was happening. It's a horrible way for them to die.

To get rid of the infestation I took the surviving kitten with me and set off a flea bomb where they were, to kill not only the fleas but their eggs also.

The kitten grew up to be a healthy cat which I had for many years.

Answer 8

YES, they will. This happened to some kittens I was raising a few years back. The vet told me that the kittens died because they were anemic due to blood loss. You can tell when they are getting sick because their meow gets raspy and the inside of their mouth turns a whitish color.
The mother likely tried to take care of the kittens as best she could, but it wasn't her that killed them. The fleas did. In the future, eradicate the mother and the house of fleas before she has the kittens. This is important if they are going to survive.

Answer 9

Fleas will do it . The vet has meds. to dry her up. I feel for you I've killed kittens due to fleas & it broke my heart. My cats are now spayed & neutered. I just could not go through loosing anymore. I sat up through her labors a many a times. I really am sorry for your loss.

Answer 10

yes flea's can very well kill kittens they get hundreds of them .. sorry to hear about your losses .. i dont know if the fleas were the caus eof the death .. but either way sorry to hear about the poor kitties.