Best way to treat fleas on kittens?

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Saturday night I acquired a new kitten, approximately 4 weeks old. Skinny, dehydrated, etc.

So far it’s gaining energy and eating, but it was scratching like crazy, so today I gave it a quick flea bath in Dawn soap.

OH. MY. GOD.

I have never seen so much blood from flea poop in my life. The sink, the water, the towel it was on, my shirt - all covered in it. I thought I’d accidentally done something, to be honest. Got about 20 fleas off the kitten, but I’m sure there’s more that didn’t get removed in the bath.

I’ve read that you can use a drop of Revolution on a kitten this young, but I don’t have any and I’m afraid to try it anyway. I’m going to call my vet in the morning and get the kitten in for wormer and ask them, but if anyone has ideas in the meantime, I’m all ears.

And the requisite photo:

[LilDunFilly]

You can do another bath (sans dish soap, which is very very drying) and flea comb. That will get a lot of them.

Consulting a vet s a great idea; they will be able to give you best advice for using flea killer (which will kill all of them quickly).

[Marla_100]

You can place kitty in water up to it’s head, fleas will all run to head, take tweezers and crush
remaining fleas, rinse off dead ones and flea poop.
My son does this on my GSD because he’s anti- poison and chemicals on my (his) dog.
It works.

[CanadianTrotter]

@Marla_100

You can place kitty in water up to it’s head, fleas will all run to head, take tweezers and crush
remaining fleas, rinse off dead ones and flea poop.
My son does this on my GSD because he’s anti- poison and chemicals on my (his) dog.
It works.

I did this one time long ago when I rescued one of my first kitten rescues that was infested with fleas. When I lowered the kitten into the water a large number of fleas travelled to the head and into its eyes, nose and ears before I could catch and crush them. Then they jumped off and migrated into the house. I strongly recommend applying a band of Dawn around the neck first then lowering the kitten into a Dawn and water bath.

[ThreeWishes]

Dawn works best. Just a drop. If you want to do something milder just let it sit long enough. Basically anything will work given time.

[ThreeWishes]

Never have seen a topical recommended for a kitten under 6-8 weeks.

[shiloh]

Oh ick, BTDT. I have used a single drop of Advantage on kittens that little with great success.

I found a kitten at the one home I rented (the place was overrun with cats) and that poor baby was just leaping with fleas. I put a drop on her and put her in the tub. After about an hour I checked on her and the tub was absolutely loaded with fleas. Gave her a little bath and the water ran almost chocolate color. She was fine and much happier after that.

But if you aren’t comfortable with that, then Dawn is a good choice. Def talk to vet.

[Xanthoria]

If kitty weighs at least 2# you can give Capstar and that kills all the adult fleas on it right away. You’ll have to be meticulous about cleaning bedding etc to prevent infestation, but all the fleas on the cat die right away.

[GraceLikeRain]

I’d do a dawn ring around the neck to keep the fleas from climbing up the face and do another sudsy bath. I’ve done this with probably 60 and counting over years of fostering. I won’t do any topicals until two pounds and six weeks and prefer to capstar at that age instead if I’ve got a newcomer. After the bath I flea comb twice a day for two weeks. Good exposure to combing and a great way to get any stragglers.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

She got wormed today - weighs just 10.5oz, and that’s having eaten a tablespoon of formula right before going to the vet.

I’ll give her another bath tonight or in the morning. I want to try to get her to start eating canned food soon - she’s not nursing so much as just chewing on the bottle, and she’s gone through 4 nipples in 3 days! But she isn’t sure about drinking yet.

So those of you who say to do a Dawn ring - how do you do that?

Update: she ate canned food! Thank goodness. I love it when they start to eat on their own.

[shiloh]

Oh geez she IS tiny. I’m trying to think of something in my house that weighs that much and also remembering days when I measured what they ate in oz not lb.

Thank goodness you found her. You know her name is Flower, right? Or Flora.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Yeah - unfortunately, her mother is the same feral that gave me Schuyler and Mulligan last year. This is the only kitten from the litter that survived, as far as I know. Mama Kitty is very ill, but so feral I still can’t catch her - seems to be upper respiratory, but again, can’t get near enough to really get a good idea. She clearly couldn’t take care of her anymore; she was covered in stick-tights and dehydrated.

I’m not sure what her name is. I told the vet to call her Jinx for now (because our black campus cat is called Binx). I’m really hoping to find her a good home, but I’m batting 0:100 on that front so far, so why should she be any different?

[CanadianTrotter]

@Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom

So those of you who say to do a Dawn ring - how do you do that?

Just put some Dawn on your fingers and make a wide ring/collar of it around her neck. Then add some water to make it sudsy. That should deter any fleas from getting onto her face and into her ears. Check the area when you rinse her and any fleas that did travel should be dead or dying.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

A couple of more photos from today

[Marla_100]

Oh she’s darling. And teeny tiny.

Thinking back, some of the best
kitties I ever had were ragamuffin
rescues that no one else wanted
but they became my best long term family members.

[GraceLikeRain]

@Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom

Mama Kitty is very ill, but so feral I still can’t catch her - seems to be upper respiratory, but again, can’t get near enough to really get a good idea.

One pretty solid way is to get a feral trap, line the bottom with a piece of cardboard, lightly tarp, zip tie the door open, and start leaving food in there daily. Even better if you can put up a trail cam. Once she’s consistently going in you just set it without the zip tie and you’ve caught yourself a sneaky feral. I’ve heard of ones that can only be done with drop traps but personally I’ve never had this fail in 15 years of TNR.

Kitten lady is my favorite resource for milestones, flea treatment, etc.

http://www.kittenlady.org/age

Personally, until they are six weeks and/or clearly gaining steadily I chart their weight twice a day on a postage scale, note output, and what they ate. It’s nice reference notes if suddenly you have a weight drop to reference the last few days.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Second bath successful!! The Dawn Ring worked wonders; I got at least 30 fleas off her. They were still falling off even as I was drying her. Sprayed and vacuumed my room as well. All the other cats in the house are treated, so I’m hoping we can get it under control ASAP.

[CanadianTrotter]

She must feel much relief now that she isn’t getting bitten anymore! Glad the Dawn Ring worked, I had flashbacks of watching droves of fleas crawling into my rescue kitten’s eyes, nose and ears before I knew about it.

Like @LilDunFilly and @GraceLikeRain mentioned, use a flea comb daily to catch stragglers. Keep a bowl of Dawn and water nearby, dip the comb in the sudsy water then comb her. Put the fleas in the comb into the bowl of Dawn and water, they’ll die right away. Hopefully she gains weight quickly so you can use a flea treatment soon.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I found my flea comb and used it on her last night. I must have pulled AT LEAST another 30 fleas off her. How the heck was she even still alive?! Poor Pixie!

But this morning when I combed over her, I found zero fleas. I’ll have to spray my room again tonight and I’ll comb her again, but I’m hopeful we’re on the downhill trend there!

And the other kitties are coming around to meet her, including her brother Schuyler. He’s 13.5lbs. She’s 10.5 oz.

[shiloh]

Oh no. Now that is too cute. And Binx fits. Or Pixie. I love the tail stuck straight up.