Forgive me for this off subject question: My wife and I just adopted a kitten?

Question

It is about 8 weeks old, and it has fleas. What should we do or not do? (R/S is my home, and I would rather you answer my question.)

Answer 1

I found this on a website for you.. it's a direct cut and paste:

"Advantage is a very safe treatment, even for young kittens. It is not yet labeled for use in the U.S. in kittens under 8 weeks old. However, it IS labeled in many countries for kittens 4 weeks old and up, and most vets here do feel it is safe to treat kittens 2 weeks old and up. I have done this with ALL my litters (we're talking more than 20 litters!), and there has never been a negative reaction.

In kittens under 8 weeks old, you use a half-dose of the tube for cats 9 lbs and under. The full dose is .4 ml, so you will be giving .2 ml. In order to treat the whole litter and the mother, you might find it useful to buy one tube of Advantage for dogs and divide it up into proper dosages. Advantage for dogs is EXACTLY THE SAME as Advantage for cats, except it comes in bigger doses and saves you money.

PLEASE, DO NOT use any other flea product made for dogs. THESE ARE DEADLY TO CATS! Advantage is the only dog flea product safe for cats.

There is also a prescription product called Revolution. It enters the cat's bloodstream and is passed from mother to kittens through her milk, and this provides all the flea protection they need. It is safe and labeled for use in pregnant cat and mothers nursing kittens. However, it is by prescription only and it requires a vet visit to administer."

Now, my personal advice is to contact your vet on this one. Let him/her give you the proper treatment for your animal.
Good luck and congrats on your new addition.

Answer 2

I understand you asking this quesiton in the R&S Section...I too value the regulars opinions here on subjects other that religion and spirituality.

Now let me get to answering your question. I also got a kitten at 8 weeks old and she got fleas not too soon after. (This is very common). The first thing you need to do is take a visit to a Vet and get either Frontline or Advantage. You do not necessarily have to bring the kitten in to the Vet (if you are concerned with costs) because you can purchase the treatment direcetly from any Vet's office. (The cost is less than $50.00 I believe). If you do want to go ahead and bring the kitten in to get checked out, the Vet can administer the treatment for you. I strongly recommend either Frontline or Advantage. Make sure you tell the Vet that the kitten is only 8 weeks old incase they have a treatment specifically for kittens. I tried the over the counter stuff from Petsmart and it simply wasn't effective.

The next thing you will need to do is treat your house (if the kitten has been inside, which I'm sure it has). You can visit Petsmart or Petco for a treatment for the house and find one that is safe for the kitten incase she is exposed to it, if possible. You will need a treatment that kills all 4 stages of fleas (including flea eggs) to make sure the problem does not persist. If you take a visit to the Vet to purchase the flea treatment, I would ask them about the best way to treat your house as well.

Answer 3

I would ask a vet about it, seeing the kitten is so young. Some of the stronger flea collars might make it very sick or kill it. There are lots of products out there to get rid of flea's, just check instructions as to weight and age first. After you treat the kitten, change or get rid of the bedding where it sleeps - fleas can live a long time off cat.

Answer 4

Get kitty a flea collar, or use a flea treatment quick! I used advantage the last time, I think. We have indoor cats, so we didn't leave collars on them for very long, only long enough to take care of the problem. I have had my house so overrun with fleas before when we got a new kitty, that we had to put all the kitties in the basement, and set off a flea bomb, that was the only thing to get rid of them all, once that was done, we have never had another problem since..... The problem is that if a couple of fleas jump off kitty and into the carpet, they are very happy there too, and will bite you instead of kitty and breed like crazy, so whatever you do, get rid of them as quickly as possible...

Answer 5

Do not put a flea collar on the kitten. They are toxic and could harm the kitten. As the others suggested, take the kitten to the vet. He (the kitten, not the vet) needs to be checked anyway and may need to get his shots. Congrats on your new pet!

Oh, also, you can buy a very fine toothed flea comb and dunk the fleas in soapy water (use dish soap). The soap kills the fleas very quickly, and this might provide some quick relief for your kitten while you are waiting to get him to the vet.

Answer 6

Don't use OTC flea dip....any vet will tell you not too...

Give it a bath and use what the vet recommends because the kitten is too young...it isn't going to like the bath either most likely....hopefully you guys have not brought it into the house yet...other wise ask the vet the best way to get rid of the fleas no harboring in the home without killing or harming the kitten....

Answer 7

My kitty from the pound had the same problem.
-Check with your vet for medication that prevents fleas (i.e. Revolution) Plus, that stuff takes care of other diseases, so you should get it anyways.
-Buy a Raid flea spray for your house...because those fleas are everywhere now. It's not necessary to bomb...just spray around baseboards and where kitty spends lots of time (but keep kitty away while you spray.)
-You can give kitty a bath with flea shampoo...but if kitty still has all its claws - good luck with that!
-After you spray (or you can use the carpet deoderizer with flea killer in it,) vacuum...but be sure to empty the bag into an outside bin.
-Wash all blankets and whatnot kitty has laid on.
-You may need to spray the house again for fleas in about a month.

-And don't use a flea collar...at any age. Those things put cats at risk of getting caught up on something or choking.

I'm so glad to hear you all adopted a kitten! Good luck with your new companion! (And what is kitty's name?)

Answer 8

Take it to the vet. Since it is so young, there's no flea medicine you can use on it safely (packages often say 6 weeks, but I wouldn't risk it). The vet can give it a pill which will start killing the fleas very quickly. Then ask about what preventative measures you should take to keep it from getting it again.

Also, you may want to bug bomb your house/apartment or use a flea-killing powder on your carpet. When my puppy got fleas it took 2 months to get rid of all the buggers because the eggs lay dormant in fabric.

Answer 9

Give him a flea bath. When I gave mine a bath the fleas jumped off my cat. After the bath make sure you keep him wraped up in a towel because he will get cold. I am not sure if it's old enough but you should start him on a monthly flea medication like, Frontline or Revolution. You can check the package for the age requirements.

Answer 10

Take it to the vet and ask them. It depends on how young, but the stuff that goes on the back of the neck works. Now that she has it they might do the flea dip and that gets rid of them right now.

But the vet will know what is appropriate for a kitten. It is about time for shots anyhow.