My cat has fleas..poor baby, first time ever and I tried the dish soap trick, it wasn't dawn but I heard that any soap works. It did work, somewhat..some of the fleas died and rinsed off and some are still alive, not sure how many..some also were not moving after, but are still attatched to his fur..are they dead? I left the soap on for about 5 minutes..should I leave it on longer? I am going to do it again in like a week or so, does Dawn really work best? Should I buy a flea comb to use after the next time? I feel really bad that it didn't kill them all...especially since it's his birthday (he's 4) and he hates baths.....I know I am a dork! lol! After his fur dries and he stops licking I am going to use a Flea Halt brand wipe to kill more of them.... I am sad... :( I can't help but feel like I did it wrong or something!
2007-09-27 18:53:51 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
Yeah it worked, you just missed a few steps. When you gave him a bath you should have made sure as much of his body as possible was submerged for the 5 minutes after you soaped him up. The water drowns the fleas, the dish soap creates a kind of slick on the water that keep the fleas from jumping out. Then after you rinse him good you wrap him in a towel for a few minutes. More of the fleas will die. When you unwrap him you comb him with a flea comb to get the dead fleas and any eggs off of his body.
http://www.rateitall.com/i-26383-dawn-detergent-dish-soap.aspx
So you now should go out and buy a flea comb and get him nice and flea free. Then get Frontline or Advantage for cats and apply it. You will have to wash all bedding in hot soapy water and start doing a lot of vacuuming(immediately dispose of the bag after use or they'll crawl back out). Realize that eggs drop off of the cat onto your carpet and furniture. That's how the little nasties reproduce. You may need to treat your house even more either using a "flea bomb" that you can get at the vet's or a home-made safer product like 20 Mule Team Borax and/or salt to break the reproductive cycle.
Too many baths aren't good for a cat because it does dry out their skin but it would be ok to give him another in about a week if you really think that daily flea combing is not solving the problem.
Note: Dawn dish soap seems to be the most effective brand, but I've used Johnson's Baby shampoo on kittens with equally good results.
Hope this helps.
2007-09-27 21:59:36 · answer #1 · answered by Squeek E 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Don't use ANY dish soap - it's pointless! It only washes the fleas off, then the cat just gets reinfested. Dish soap is not a repellant, Dawn or otherwise.
Don't waste your time with any store-bought products. They're cheap because they don't work, and have caused many deaths in animals.
Get some Frontline from a vets. Or Revolution, or Advantage. Yes it's more expensive - because it works. It will get rid of ALL fleas, and keep them away. There's no point only getting rid of a few fleas. Make sure you get the stuff all on the cat's skin, not on it's fur. Don't bathe the cats, it washes off the skin's natural oils that Frontline needs to work.
Chalice
2007-09-29 18:07:33 · answer #2 · answered by Chalice 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dish soap isn't going to get rid of all the fleas or the flea eggs. It will however dry out your cat, I only use dish soap in case of emergencies! One thing you need to do is go buy some advantage or other quality flea medicine from the vet or petsmart or petco. Put the drops on the back of the cats neck so he cant reach it to lick it off and the fleas will be gone within a couple of hours, it will kill the eggs and keep them off for a month. You will need to apply this every month. Once your dcat has had fleas it will then have worms. Fleas give cats worms, so now you will need to also get a dewormer from the vet as well. Good luck!
2007-09-28 02:02:59 · answer #3 · answered by crissyk24 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sadly, the only treatment for fleas if you would like them completely gone is to head to the vet. The medications you can get over the counter at a local pet store will only kill off the live bugs and won't touch the eggs and the cycle will only continue. This holds true for just about any soap you can buy commercially. They will do the trick for the time being, but in the long run, the eggs will hatch and you will need to do it again.
2007-09-28 02:00:27 · answer #4 · answered by Yelliez 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I know it seems simple to some degree to get rid of fleas just by bathing your pet. It's just not that simple. Think about it, if your killing fleas as fast as they attack your pet.
then the fleas may be coming from someplace else, from the yard, the carpet.
Not sure if I can post a link on here, check this out. May not be the answer you desire, but it will give you some information.
2007-10-01 17:00:48 · answer #5 · answered by john s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
awe poor kitty your submitting him to baths... if you really want to get rid of the fleas, take him down to the vet and they will give you a pill for the kitty to take.. it will kill all the fleas on him in about 15 mins, then they will tell you to put drops on the kitty.. like frontline.. after that go home and vacuum everything.. make sure you keep up with the drops because those fleas will keep hatchin in you carpets and spreads for weeks to come... but no dishsoap is not gonna work.. all you're doin is drownin a few fleas but you not givin your kitty any kind of resistance to new fleas hatching every day.. get the pill, get the drops, and clean up.. that's the only safe way for you're kitty.
2007-09-28 02:07:00 · answer #6 · answered by the critic!! 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why not just get some Frontline for cats?
Continuous bathing of your cat will dry out it's skin...
2007-09-28 02:51:54 · answer #7 · answered by More Lies & More Smoke Screens 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go to your local Vet and get some Frontline or Advantage.
2007-09-28 02:02:43 · answer #8 · answered by starlight10103 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋