another flea question - this time about a very young kitten

[blueraven95]

Friends of mine just became owned by a very young, tiny, gorgeous kitten. She was found along with 10 other kittens in a box that was dumped in the woods behind another friend's house (and there was no mother cat anywhere) and she has a bad case of fleas. My friends were guessing she was about 6 weeks old, I would say that she's probably closer to 4 weeks (and unfortunately, clearly underfed). Regardless, she is too young for any of the flea meds that I know about. I recommended that they get a spray to spray around the house to prevent an infestation, but besides that I have no idea how they should go about managing the flea population until she is old enough for something stronger. Any ideas?

Besides the fleas, she seems to be in good health and will see the vet this weekend.

[emilyg]

1. Very young.

A kitty flea comb to begin with. Perhaps the vet can tell your friend best.

[blueraven95]

2. probably.

Fleas reproduce so fast, and because it's a couple of days until she sees the vet, I was hoping to help my friends from having a flea fiasco.

[tencats]

3. Use the orig Dawn®

I have always bathed the very young ones asap using Dawn® liquid and water warmed to near 100 deg F. Dry the kitten well and use a good flea comb to finish-up. I always have followed up with Selamectin(Revolution®) later when the kitten is at least 8 weeks old. The bath though using Dawn has always seemingly eliminated the problem adult fleas, their larva and eggs. I hate fleas on my kittens.

[emilyg]

5. Excellent suggestion.

I keep a water-original Dawn spray bottle handy. Mist all my rugs.

[Dover]

4. Treatments must be very gentle and mild - herbal products, like dilluted pennyroyal shampoos

http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0696/et0696s4.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Natural-Flea-Collars---Cheap-Easy-and-Non-irritat/

Or a mild soap like Dawn (as was suggested).

A vet may know of other solutions.

[spooky3]

6. I had the same problem - if they can give it a flea bath

that is apparently the safest thing. Their vet may be willing to board the kitten for a day or two and give it the bath. I've read that flea combs should be used, but I found them helpful only when there are few fleas.

When I fostered I saw fleas as merely a nuisance, but learned later that it is very important to get the fleas off the kitten because their bites can threaten its life.

Good for your friends for their big hearts.

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/kitten_fleas.htm
http://www.catsofaustralia.com/fleasgetridof.htm

[blueraven95]

7. thanks for all the ideas everyone!

They gave the kitten a dawn bath last night, and while she didn't like it at all, it at least seemed to do the trick for now.

:hi:

[Eurobabe]

8. When we brought my Demon home from the SPCA

they recommended we use a mild dishwashing liquid to bathe him and pick off the fleas, so he had his first bath in Ivory dish soap, and all was right with the world. I don't think he was much older than your friend's kitty. To this day, he loves to be bathed, well as much as a cat can like water. He tolerates it without too much whining. LOL.

Here he was after we bathed him, the little orange fuzzbutt :loveya:

[demnan]

9. Awwww!

I had to bathe Lily too at barely 8 weeks. She is 18 years old now so this was before they had all the wonderful products they have now for cats. I used a cat shampoo at that time and a flea comb afterwards.

[Eurobabe]

10. Wow, you Lily is a year older

than my oldest cat Sebastian. How is your grand dame holding up? My old man is getting terribly wasted in his rear/back side. He has gone from 23lbs down to about 14. He looks good from the front, but he's never been this thin before. :cry:

[demnan]

11. She is doing ok

She is a little thin in the back too, but still pretty stout. I would say she is down to about 9 1/2 pounds. When she was younger she got as big as 13 pounds, which was really too heavy for her, as she's a fairly small cat. The weight loss has helped her as she has arthritis in the back legs pretty bad (an Abyssianian trait so I've read). I took her off Science Diet to reduce her weight. I give her glucosimine but she doesn't always get a full dose as she eats more dry food than wet.

Does Sebastian eat well? Could he have a thyroid condition? If so, that can be monitored with medication. Hope you get him looked at.

:hi:

[blueraven95]

12. oh, how cute!

He looks a little more filled out than my friend's new kitten, but about the same age.

[alstephenson]

13. I agree about the flea comb. And to suppress any infestation...

see my response (#5) regarding 20 Mule Team Borax, the laundry detergent. I swear it works!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=243x36162

[blueraven95]

14. thanks,

I'll pass the info along!

[Lisa0825]

15. Use just a tiny drop of Advantage.

We use it on even very young kittens at the shelter. The fleas will put a kitten that young more at risk than a tiny drop of Advantage will.

[Warpy]

16. She can look underfed from the fleas alone

and serious flea infestations have been known to kill kittens.

The best bet is to use a flea shampoo the vet recommends and bathe her every three days or so. As soon as she's old enough, you can use another method to kill the little buggers that survive on her head.

Even regular shampoo, the kind you use on your own hair, will drown fleas if you want to start now. Just make sure she doesn't get chilled before she's dry.

[LeftyMom]

17. flea bath and a flea comb

Don't use a flea bath meant for dogs (the medicine in them can kill cats) or a dish soap (cats have VERY sensitive, thin skin) just invest in a proper flea bath for cats and a flea comb. The two together should only be about $10. Make sure to keep her very warm afterward until she's dried off, she's so young and small she may not be able to control her body temperature well.

Capstar is safe for cats 2 lbs and up, and will kill off fleas within hours. If the flea infestation was serious I'd ask the vet about doing a half dose on a younger kitten or something, because fleas can kill a kitten by causing anemia.