HELP!! Baby kittens have bad fleas...?

Question

My sister got this cat, and she never got her fixed, but would still let her out the door whenever it wanted. Now she just gave birth to 4 baby kittens yesterday, and every time I pick one up I see huge fleas crawling around their little bodies.

I have a cat of my own, so whenever I'm giving her flea baths or flea combing her, or even putting flea med on her I always do it for my sisters cat too. Except when we found out she was prego I didn't think anything except the flea comb was safe to use on her, so even though I argued about her getting out side where she could be exposed to fleas, the cat herself learned tricks on getting out... I don't want her kitten to get all eating up, and scabby, no one wants to take a kitten home that looks half eaten... How can I get rid of the flea pest on them? They are so small of course, and squirm when I pick them up, and trying to comb their fragile bodies is not working... I'm worried..

Please any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

The best way to flea treat kittens is to flea treat the mom cat, but you must use something safe for nursing moms.  Both Frontline and Advantage are safe.  Also change the bedding daily, and wash it in hot water with some bleach, this will kill the flea eggs in the bedding.  Ask the vet about getting some frontline spray for the kittens, and how much to use on each of them.  The spray that the vet has is safe for tiny kittens, but don't use any over the counter sprays on them as they could be lethal to the kittens.

Next step is to convince your sister to get the cat spayed.  

Answer 2

Fleas are very dangerous for kittens.  There is a product your vet can use.  It's a flea foam but not for another 2-3 weeks.  Use a flea comb and dunk the fleas in hot soapy water.  They should go to the vet ASAP regardless and your sister's cat should be taken away from her as soon as the kittens are weaned and eating on their own.

Answer 3

call the vet to see if there is anything you can do...if you dont do something quick the fleas are going to suck all the blood out of the kittens and make them anemic or they could die ...or try to bathe the fleas off of them ...please do something quick because baby cats should not be crawling with fleas

Answer 4

Use baby shampoo and warm water to wash them down...it will drown the fleas and not leave pesticide on them.....make sure they are dry and warm after the bath....however if mom cat has fleas, they'll just transfer to the kittens.....you should actually check with a vet about what can be used on the mother now....while nursing the kittens...flea killers are not recommended for kittens under 6 weeks of age. Also, the fleas could cause the kittens to die because of loss of blood....check with the vet...and as soon as possible do that poor mama cat a favor and get her spayed....thank you for trying to take care of them....maybe take the cat away from sis...she sounds a little irresponsible.

Answer 5

Call the vet and see if you can put Frontline Plus or Advantage on the mother.  I believe you can.  Then flea comb the kittens daily until they reach 8 weeks when you can use Frontline or Advantage on them too.

EDIT -  I did a little web searching and found a couple sites that said Advantage is safe for nursing cats and others (such as 1-800-petmeds) that said consult a vet first.  So call the vet to be certain but it looks like you may be able to use it on the mother which would help the kittens immensely.

Answer 6

1. Wait a few days until they are a little bigger.

2. Then, use Frontline SPRAY (not spot-on, just the spray, and just Frontline) on them, but be careful: only press the spray button once on each kitty, covering his face, and don't let them l**k each other or the mother l**k them until they are dry. Frontline SPRAY only can be used from 2 days old, but I'd wait until they are like 1 week old.