We just had kittens but now they have fleas when can I treat them?

Question

The kittens are now 5 days old. Also do you know when they will open their eyes?

Answer 1

Most flea products, for pups or kittens, recommend not using them until the animal is six weeks old. That's for liability purposes. They don't want to get sued if the little guys get toxic. However, if the poor little things have fleas, they're getting them from their mom, and their heads are probably getting the worst of it. THis is not a reflection of your housekeeping, as someone else stated, so let's deal with answers, not insults.

Get the Mama de-flead first. Advantage for cats is mild but effective. The packaging will also tell you not to use it on nursing cats, but the kittens could be dead from anemia if you wait five more weeks to treat them for fleas. You don't have a lot of choices here. We never use Revolution because of its extreme toxicity and for some reason, Bio Spot doesn't faze our Florida fleas.

At our shelter, we frequently rescue babies from the woods, with mom and kittens both infested, and simply have to risk putting a TINY dab of Advantage on the babies. We put it on our finger first, then lightly rub the baby. We have not lost a kitten or pup yet from this. Fleas can suck the blood out of pups and kittens, and make them very ill and weak.

There are some herbal wipes available at the pet stores, but we don't find them effective at all.

If you do decide to dab them, PLEASE be careful not to pull too hard on their heads. If you accidentally force their eyes to open, they could be blinded. Unfortunately, most fleas love that lid crevice and around the ears, so please be very gentle.

I hope this helps, and sure wish someone would develop a less toxic product that will kill fleas without threatening the victim. Good luck to you and the kits.

Answer 2

I had this problem with my kittens. Contrary to what some people think, it is NOT from having a dirty place; it is from the mother cat bringing in fleas into the home and all of her fleas, and all of those in the home, are going to the babies. They MUST be watched closely because the fleas WILL kill the babies in no time. I had 2 babies die from the fleas! They will suck all of the blood out of them until they are anemic, and that will kill them.

What I had to do, which I imagine some people will tell you NOT to touch them until they are older but you MUST do something NOW, is give them a bath in Head & Shoulders shampoo. I had to do it almost daily. The only problem with this is that the mother may ignore the babies bec they won't smell like her or her babies anymore. Someone had suggested to me to wipe the babies down in a washcloth first so it has their scent on the cloth, then after they are bathed, wipe them with the cloth again so they get that scent back. DO try to keep them as warm and dry as you can as they can easily catch colds. These guys are NOT old enough to use anything on for a few weeks time, not flea soap, not powder, nothing. I got lucky and got a vet that had me put a small amount of Advantage on my last kitten when he was 3 weeks old and he has been flea free since.

You also MUST treat the mother with Frontline Plus. It is approved for use on pregnant and nursing mothers. And, you MUST get rid of the fleas in the home. They can be very, very tough to get rid of, tho. I tried bug boms and they still didn't go away, but it did help some. Flea sprays can also help.

Oh, and once the babies are about 2 weeks old, you can use flea spray on them that is approved for kittens. You MUST put it on a wash cloth, but don't drown the cloth, then wrap the baby in the cloth EXCEPT for the head so it doesn't get into the eyes or mouth. Once they have been in the cloth for a few minutes, remove them. Once again, the mother won't recognize their smell.

Once they are about 3 weeks old, I would tak to the vet about putting them on Advantage, a small amount of the under 9 pounds kind. Then keep them on it every month.

As for them opening their eyes, they open them between 2 and 3 weeks old. Every kitten is different as to exactly when they open their eyes.

Please take care of these babies! IF the mother decided not to take care of them because of all you must do with them for the fleas, then you will have to feed them. Kitten milk is sold at pet stores, along with feeders for them. Be very careful with these precious guys. Oh, and their bedding will also have to be washed. But remember that the more you have to mess around with the babies before they are a month old, the more the mother will move them. I believe it is best to keep them locked in one room until they are about a month or so old so she has a limited amount of room to move them.

Good luck! I know how hard it is to do all of this!

Answer 3

You can bathe them using 2 or 3 drops of Dawn dish soap. Dry them well and keep them wrapped up until mostly dry. Make sure that you have them in a warm room in your house. You may have to bathe them a couple of days in a row.

DO NOT use flea products until they are at least 12 weeks old. You will kill them!

Kittens open their eyes at about 2 weeks.

Answer 4

First of all, Katie? Omg, don't drop out of school!!!!
Cats are NOT born with fleas! Good gravy woman!!!
Born with worms? Some are...but FLEAS?!

Picking myself off the floor and moving on...

If your kittens have fleas at such a young age, you have them in your house. Call your vet to find out what would be safe to use. There are some products that can be used, but at a seriously low dosage.

And since you have your vet on the phone...make an appointment to get your cat spayed.

Answer 5

Treat the mother w/Frontline or another anti flea treatment from the vet. Do NOT use the OTC stuff as it can be very toxic. The fleas will naturally move from the kittens to the mama, be exposed & die. Make sure to vacuum every day & wash & dry their bedding frequently.

Answer 6

Eyes open 7-9 days old.
You can bath the mom & kittens in AJAX DISH WASHING LIQUID.
I found a litter of 4 kittens shortly after birth. Mom, had left them. They had fleas then. I bottle fed them every 3 hours & had them under a 15watt heat lamp. At 5 days old I bathed them w/ADWL. I towel dried them.
This will not kill them. But, be sure to rinse out their coats til no soap. Treat the area they are sleeping in. Wash what ever they are sleeping on n washing machine-dry-replace.

Answer 7

you can use dawn dish washing detergent half and half it will kill the fleas dead The dish detergent has a greese cuter in it and the flea can servive under water it forms a waxie bubble of air and the soap destroys that and they drown. so you can ask a vet about that too that does work! table salt in the place where the kitten lay or sleep will kill the fleas there but not sure what the salt will do on the cat or kittens

Answer 8

We have a holistic vet and she cleared our kittens for one type of flea powder at 3 months. It's called "Buck Mountain Herbal Gold parasite dust for animals". They are about 8 months old now and still need some about once a week, because they go out a bit. It's organic and made from neem, yarrow and diatoms. They can even clean it from their fur and don't get sick. I also found a neem shampoo somewhere and will try that too some time.

Answer 9

you can treat the fleas in 6 weeks and the eyes open 2-3 weeks

Answer 10

This may sound really off the wall, but if you have carpet, take two or three boxes of regular table salt and sprinkle all over your carpet. Leave it on for at least 24 hours and then vaccuum up all the salt and dead fleas. The salt dehydrates the fleas and kills them and it will not harm your pets.