When I give my cat bath for fleas they run to the top of her head, i can't kill there there, what should do?

Question

When i give my cat a bath with flea shampoo, the few that can't make it to her head in time die. however, the other ones run to her head and stay until the bath is over. How do i kill these remaining fleas?!

Answer 1

My groomer says to start shampooing with the neck (blocks fleas from head) and then do the rest of the body. However, frontline or advantage is your best bet!

Answer 2

You could also use a flea comb while she is in the bath. Just run the comb over her head to get the fleas out, and quickly put the comb in the water with the flea shampoo to kill them. This is probably the safest way to immediately get rid of them. Also a product like Frontline or Advantage. Always make sure you wait a few days before these products, as the work with the oils in their skin. There is also a pill called Capstar, which I have used on my dogs. It will kill anything on the animal for 24 hours, and starts working 30 minutes after dosing. I would only recommend a regular bath to clean kitty up after using this product though.

Answer 3

The best way to do this that I have found is to have the bath ready, but first set kitty by the sink and shampoo around her neck to prevent fleas from running to her ears, this way her feet are not wet and the fleas are 'caught by surprise'. Once you put kitty in the bath and her feet get wet the fleas are already in motion, so start with them dry. Remember to massage kitty so she thinks she is getting pets and loves instead of being thrown in the bathwater. After you wash around the neck, use a flea comb to get the ones off her head and then takee her to the bath. Keep the flea comb close and repeatedly check her head for fleas while washing the rest of her body...and use only enough water in the tub to get her feet wet, not enough that it touches her body, this will help with anxiety. Use a cup to wet her down and again use a massaging motion to slowly wash her. It is usually best to let the flea soap (whatever you use) stay on her for 5 minutes, and if she starts to get antsy, try some accupressure...rub the middle and tips of her ears to help calm her down and above all try to keep yourself from getting stressed! If you get stressed, she will get stressed! Oh, and clip her nails BEFORE putting her in the bath!
Good luck--cat slave

Answer 4

I might take a washcloth and dampen around her head with the medicated bath..making sure not to get in her ears or eyes. Either that or get a flea comb and while she is in her bath comb the fleas out.....the fleas that are brushed out should be placed in some alchohol, which will kill them. I would also invest in getting some advantage or frontline...cheaper flea medications just do not work, nor do flea collers.

Goodluck!

Answer 5

Use some proper treatment. Flea baths are not proper treatment - all you're doing is washing the fleas off temporarily, and not all of them by the sounds of it.

Get some Frontline, Advantage of Revolution from your vet. These are spot-ons - you apply them to the skin on the back of your animal's neck, and they spread over the whole skin, including on the head and give continued protection for at least a month.

Pet stores aren't licensed to sell the proper chemicals for flea treatment - anything you find in store is just going to be a basic pesticide that you can't expect to work. Don't use anything from stores.

Chalice

Answer 6

I was told by the Vet that I could use the original Palmolive dish soap (the green kind). She said it is gentle enough to use on cats and kittens and it kills the fleas. I bathed two 8 week old kittens in it and i scrubbed the top of their heads also. That was two days ago and today I can't find a single flea on them. I'm waiting on this flea treatment to come though to make sure they stay away, every Vet I have talked to recommends using "The Revolution".
takes care of pretty much everything for your pet

Prevents heartworm disease
Kills adult fleas and prevents their eggs from hatching
Treats and controls ear mites
Treats and controls sarcoptic mange (in dogs only)
Controls roundworms and hookworms (in cats only)

Anyway I thought wow how nice is that to have one treatment that you apply to the back of your pet's neck each month that takes care of ALL of that. So I just wanted to share for those that have pets since I had never heard of this until yesterday.

http://www.petshed.com/revolution.asp

Hope this helps

Answer 7

Frontline. If you don't use a product like Frontline they will just keep coming back. They lay eggs and live in your house!

When we gave our kittens bathes when they had fleas. My husband would hold them under the water with just their head out and all the fleas would go to their head. I would them use tweezers to pull them off the kitten and kill them.

Answer 8

I used flea comb when the fleas get on top of the head

Answer 9

Ok i have two kittens and what is pour shampoo on their body and then i rub in and when u do the head ,get a lil on your finger and rub it all over his head even the ears but watch and make sure none gets in his eyes or mouth. That will usually do the job. And when you rinse just hurry up and pour a cup or two of water on his head but make sure all the shampoo is out . The reason i said pour it on his head is in case it does gets in his eyes you rinse the shampoo out of his eyes at the same time or if you dont want to pour water on his head just take a wash cloth and and dip it in water , put your hands over his eyes and get it out that way.

Answer 10

Get a sticky paper lint roller ready and stick each flea to it. Immediately decapitate the flea before it wiggles loose. For more info on getting rid of fleas go to my 360 Blog (first entry).