How To Deal With Fleas - Cats - Adult, 4 Month Old, 2 Day Old?

Question

Hello. I am really feeling bad for my cats. Especially the 4 month old kittens (I have 2). My adult cat also has fleas but it doesn't seem like they are as bad as on the 4 month old kittens. The adult cat spends most of her time upstairs and the two 4 month old kittens are downstairs. The adult cat had kittens yesterday and I am afraid they will get fleas as well. I don't know what I can do to get rid of the fleas safely and quickly. I did vacuum around the house and I put the flea collar on the two 4 month old kittens who do not ever come upstairs. The 4 month old kittens look so uncomfortable....and I feel bad because they are so loving. I don't see any scabs on them or anything but I do see flea droppings near the tails. I don't know much about fleas as I have never experienced them with pets. I don't know if it helps but the adult cat is an outdoor cat. I don't know what type of products to get or which part of the house I should focus on. Please help. Thank you.

One more thing...could the fleas survive in the unfinished basement? The two 4 month old kittens play down there a lot. Could I close off the basement and bomb it safely?

Should I take the flea collar off of them before spraying them with Frontline? I'm sorry...I really have no clue about pets and fleas.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Yes the new kittens could get fleas. You need to completely bath all animals in flea shampoo, except the newborn kittens. Try using dish soap on them because they are not old enough for the flea shampoo. After shampooing, completely pick all the fleas off the cats...it could take A LONG TIME!! After you see no more crawling fleas, use a veterinary only flea serum on them; I use Advantage on mine. The advantage is put on your cat at the base of the neck once every month, and is an oily residue liquid that absorbs into the skin. When this is put on the cat, the fleas that are living in your house will jump on to the cats and die. If you let your cats outside, you should continue to put the flea medication on once a month for most of the year. If you are going to be keeping your cats inside then you should probably use it for up to 3 months to make sure all the fleas eggs have hatched and the fleas have all jumped on to the cats and been killed. Regularly bath your cats...something like once a week or every ten days. The fleas should fall off of the cats once they are dead, just keep vacuuming all over your house including the basement. As for the babies and the 4 month old kittens as well, you have to get rid of the fleas as soon as possible. 70 fleas can consume 1ml of blood per day; double the amount of fleas and they could be dead in a month. Baby kittens are not that big, and losing so many red blood cells causes them to become anemic and die. I would also suggest you spray your house to help rid it of fleas, although if you use the Advantage once every 4 weeks, it will eventually get rid of all of the fleas in your house. On the newborn kittens, just to let you know they can be born with fleas if the mother has them...I had that happen when I was younger and all of the kittens died.

Answer 2

Flea collars on such young cats isn't a good idea. They aren't old enough.
If you have fleas in your home then remember that fleas only spend a small portion of time on the pets. They mostly hide out in dark spots and on your rug. And they multiply like crazy. If you removed your pets and walked through your house you would probably end up with tons of flea bites. Sounds like you might have a flea infestation. No biggie but it needs to be brought under control with larger measures. You want to remove all the cats to another place. Clear all their toys,food,water and yours as well. Then you need to go to the store and get flea bombs. They let off a large fog of insecticide so it kills all the flea eggs and fleas in your home. It gets in the nooks and crannies. You'll (and the cats) have to leave for the day while this is done.Then you should get a fine tooth comb and a little rubbing alcohol on a plate. What you can do is give the 4 month old kittens a diluted flea bath. Ask the vet to explain. You can't use it full strength. Then go over all the kittens with a fine tooth comb. As you pull off the live fleas quickly put the comb and them in rubbing alcohol. They are very hard to catch and kill because they jump quickly. This will do the trick. Flea collars aren't worth their cost unless the fleas are on the collar. If you have an indoor out door cat you need to get it flea dipped and then later ( a few weeks) put on one of those flea repellent droplets you can get from the vet or pet store (for cats) You can also cut up the flea collars and stick them in your vacuuming bag to kill the ones you are sucking up.
Cats should be kept indoors and this is one of the reasons why along with the many diseases they can get like Feline Leukemia etc and spread amongst the rest of your cats. Birds also suffer needless deaths when cats are left outdoors.

But if you must let her out I hope you get her fixed!

Good Luck

Answer 3

Fleas and flea eggs can survive just about anywhere as long as a viable host passes through occasionally.

Put Frontline Plus on ALL your pets, indoors and outdoors, EVERY FOUR WEEKS. Cats with fleas often become allergic to the bites, and will scratch and bite their own skin into oblivion. Fleas also spread tapeworms to the cats who are chewing them off their body, which will harm your cat's overall health.

Get rid of the fleas. Deworm the cats with praziquantel every 3-4 months as long as there are fleas on them. Do neither, and your cats will suffer.

P.S. the drug johnomurro is referring to is called ivermectin. It is stronger than necessary for this case, Frontline and a tapeworm dewormer are all that is necessary, unless the cats ALSO have ear mites. Please coordinate with your vet, they will be able to guide you in the right direction for caring properly for your cats' health.

Answer 4

Spray with Frontline. The older ones can get the spot on treatment, but the babies can only get the spray. Read the instructions. Only press the button of the spray like once on each, avoid the face and keep them apart until it dries off (don't let the mum lick it off either). Just make surre you also keep them warm though, because being wet may cool them down too much at this age.

Answer 5

take them all to the vet and get them all treated. while you are gone flea bomb your whole house.

Answer 6

i went to the vets today and they told me about this stuff that get rid of flees, worms and ear things but i cannot remember the name of the stuff. going there again tomorrow il find out the name