Fleas on baby kittens . . .?

Question

I treat my cat and dog both with topical flea cream, my cat just had her kittens(less than a week ago). For some reason she got infested again a couple weeks before giving birth. I do take good care of my animals it was our choice to let her have 1 litter before being spayed. However I could not treat her being pregnant and the kittens now how fleas. I live in PA and right now it is very humid and they are saying that fleas are rampid this year - likely explaining why the cat got them(she is indoor outdoor and she isnt going back out until spayed). How can I treat the babies and momma? I have heard of lemon juice, anyone know how this works or if is dangerous? I dont want anyone to reply with snide comments, only people who wanna be helpful! Thanks!!!!

Answer 1

well I foster kittens this time of year, I foster all ages from 1 day old to 6 weeeks old! fleas are a huge factor in the health of your little ones! if they are really infested they could become anemic and become very ill! There is a product on the market that I am sure you have heard of Called ADVANTAGE.....not advantix ......not any look alikes .....ONLY ADVANTAGE!!! AGAIN NO CHEAP STORE BRAND PRODUCTS and deffinatly not HERTZ ...ONLY ADVANTAGE.... it is not labled for use in kittens under 6 weeks ..but My vet assuredd me it was okay to use on litter of 3 day old kittens that were infested..so I did , and I have used it on evey litter since then! I have never had a problome and I have never had a flea...If you dont belive me call the company and tell them you ACcidently applied some to your kitten...they will tell you it is harmless!!

Answer 2

With kittens that small you should only be using a flea comb. The Mom should be keeping them free from fleas; unless the fleas are exceptionally bad in your area.

In one of the answers to your question, one of the posters recommends using ADVANTAGE topical flea treatment. I have been using it for kittens over 3 weeks for a long time. Most of these kittens are motherless and/or abandoned and therefore have no Momma to keep them flea free. BUT.... the AMOUNT that you should use on a kitten is VERY VERY SMALL. Never upend the tube onto the kittens neck. You can not regulate how much comes out of the tube this way. I tip the tube onto the end of my finger until I get a very SMALL drop to form and then dab that onto the back of the neck. Sometimes that's even enough for two kittens. If the kittens are infested then they will also be covered in flea 'dirt' (poop). Kittens need to be CLEAN! The only way to get this off of them is to bathe them. You can tell how infested they are by the how red the water turns when you get them wet. This is because the flea dirt is the result of flea poop and what have the fleas been eating? The poor kittens blood. Tiny kittens don't have that much blood to spare. They will become anemic and can die in a matter of hours. We use diluted Dawn dish soap because almost all of the cat shampoos are not for use on young kittens. Keep the water out of their ears and make sure to get all the soap off them and dry them thoroughly. Don't let them get chilled. (and don't feed a chilled kitten until they are warm) If you use a blow dryer use it on the lowest setting and never hold it close to the kittens body. Keep your fingers between the dryer and kitten and keep the dryer moving. Do not point the dryer into the kittens face.
They can be burned very very very easily. Do not whatsoever trust a child to bathe or dry a kitten either.

Good luck, keep them warm, spay that Mom and get those kittens spayed and neutered before you give them away!!!


On another note: What's done is done. But to all who read these answers..........................

9,589 kittens and cats and dogs and puppies were killed TODAY in the USA because there were not enough homes for them. Your litter of kittens will surely live but the same amount of kittens that you let your cat have, just this once, will be killed at an animal 'shelter'. Why???? Because the people who might have come in to save them by adopting them, instead took one of your kittens into their home.

How freeking sad is that?

Answer 3

Momma can be treated with Frontline, but NOT grocery store flea stuff. Frontline is the ONLY thing out there labeled safe to use on pregnant and nursing animals. The kittens, unfortunately, can't be treated with anything until they're at least 2 pounds. Comb and bathe the babies regularly to keep the fleas to a minimum. Get a fine toothed flea comb and do that at least once a day. Bathe them every 2 days or so, dry them with a hair dryer afterward and keep them warm! Keep an eye on their gums, make sure they stay nice and pink. If they look pale, get to a vet ASAP. Fleas can kill tiny kittens by taking too much blood. Good luck, you'll probably need it.

Answer 4

Lemon juice - hmmmm I've never heard of that one. Fleas are pretty tough; I strongly doubt it does more than annoy them.

Advantage (not Advantix) is probably quite safe to apply to the mother cat (and from there it will work on her kittens - don't apply anything at all directly to week old kittens), as is Frontline. These products are not labeled for such usage because they're not tested for it, but ill effects are not known for healthy litters. As another answerer said - NO HARTZ. Those are not the same product.

If you're reluctant to put any insecticide at all for some reason, the old "flea comb and bowl of soapy water" method does work (comb fleas off and drown them in soapy water) and is pretty much risk-free.

Answer 5

If the kittens are very young do not do anything. Momma will take of the fleas, but be sure you worm her when the kittens are weaned.

When they are a little older, there is flea and worm medicine for kittens. I personally will check with your vet for his recomendation as to what kind. That would be safer than just buying any old product off the shelves.

Answer 6

I used to be a cat groomer by trade and we always told parents of kittens to not treat the mother cat until the kittens are done weaning. The babies can be washed free of fleas by a professional that knows what they are doing. The flea shampoos are very toxic and can kill the kittens. I do know that Dawn dishwashing liquid kills fleas also, but then again you don't want to wash a kitten until they are five months old. My advice is to let a professional do it. They might ask you to wait until the kittens are older also.

Answer 7

Pat yourself on the back for taking good care of your animals, but remember that fleas "ride" in on humans and that is most likely how your cat and the kittens got so overridden with the fleas. You can wash the kittens in dawn dish soap and put the flea powder on your cat when she is in the house. Before she goes out you would want to get a flea collar or keep dusting her with the powder before she gets to the babies. Kittens are hard to get the fleas off of, so after they are dried from the bath put some powder on them. Put it in your hand and then rub over their back and on up. This way they won't inhale the dust from the powder and it won't get in their eyes.

Answer 8

I'm not sure what home remedies could help, but I've heard that fleas can be very dangerous for young kittens. You may want to call the vet and get some recommendations from them.

Answer 9

you are best to use a flea comb on the mom and on the kittens it is easier to use tweezers, than put the fleas into soapy water.. also keep the mom and your other cats inside so that they dont give fleas to the baby's. the baby's are still very young and if they have a lot of fleas on them they can become anemic. its best to get them off soon.

Answer 10

Get a flea and tick spray and spray it on a hand towel lightly, and then wrap each kitten fairly loosely like a burrito in the towel (head exposed of course) for 2-3 minutes twice a day until the fleas are gone.