8-week old kitten came into contact with flea-infested cat?

Question

My 8-week old kitten came into contact with a flea-infested cat recently. As soon as we went back home, I combed her for fleas and got maybe 5 of them off. I combed her every couple hours or whenever I noticed her scratching, finding one or two fleas each time. I stopped finding fleas after about the second day. At this point, it's been about 4 days since the initial flea infestation. I saw her scratching last night and combed her immediately and found nothing. Was she only scratching bites?

I think the adult flea population might be under control but I worry about any eggs they may have dropped. Should I worry about using flea products for the carpeting and bedding areas? If I wash my kitten with Dawn dish detergent, will any eggs/larvae in her fur die? She's too young for harsh flea products and collars, so I am trying to seek alternatives to control this situation.

And her veterinarian appointment is scheduled for this week.

Answer 1

Combing is NOT going to solve this problem! Adult fleas lay HUNDREDS of eggs - they're on your cat but mostly, they're in your home.

No, don't wash your kitten in Dawn - this will certainly not kill eggs and larvae. All it will do will wash off some of the current fleas - she will become flea infested quite quickly.

There are proper flea treatments available for kittens. You're right about collars - they shouldn't be used even on adult cats because they're fairly dangerous and, they don't work. Pointless objects.

You can pop in to a vets before your actual appointment and pick up Frontline spray. This is not a 'harsh chemical' - it's specially for flea killing, it works, it doesn't affect the animal internally, and it's quite safe for use on kittens from 2 days of age.

You seem to only be aware of home treatments and store available treatments, which I presume is where the 'harsh chemical' perception comes from. Store-bought products are indeed dangerous and ineffective, stores are not licensed to actually sell the proper drugs, but they are allowed to sell the random cheap pesticides that get dressed up as flea treatments, so they do that. Don't fall for it, just go in to a vets and get Frontline spray. Frontline spot-on can actually be used from 8 weeks of age but as you're worried - as I say, the spray can safely be used on 2 day old kittens, I've done it plenty of times myself.

You will need a house treatment because as I've said, this is where most of the eggs are living. Unless you get Skoosh, which does kill flea eggs and larvae, you may well have to spray, vacuum the next day, then repeat the treatment in 1-2 weeks time to get the newly hatched eggs.

Chalice

Answer 2

Right on with the vet appointment on the Flea problem. Your kitten is in need of a vet since her age is so young. I already had two cats that had fleas and the vet told us that it was smart to bring them in because it gave one of them a infection of the skin from scratching. Good luck with your kitten and hope the fleas & the eggs leave town.

Answer 3

give her a flea bath you can use regular flea soap i had to do that for all 3 of my cats once my one was a kitten and she turned out fine. just give her a bath and disinfect everything that she was on to make sure that the fleas arent in your carpet but chances are they arent cuz they cant live long without blood so the fleas in ur house will soon die

Answer 4

Get some Adams Flea spray. Spray a little bit on a cloth and BLOT it on her. Adams is very gentle and can be used for babies. You can also use it on her bedding, just put the bed some where to dry before she gets back on it.

Answer 5

use dawn dishwashing soap. when our cats were kittens that killed all fleas and seemed to remove the eggs as well !