Fleas on kittens...

[vickalamode]

So, my two 3 month old kittens have somehow managed to get fleas. They are indoor only, so one of us humans must have brought them in from our shoes or clothes from being outside.

We actually didn't notice the fleas at all, but we brought our kittens to the vet yesterday to be spayed and neutered and get their shots and the vet told us they found fleas on the kittens and they were both treated with revolution flea treatment. I didn't even find any fleas on them yesterday when I checked their fur, but I noticed one this morning and managed to get it out of the kitten's fur and kill it.

Anyways, has anybody had a flea problem before and can give me some advice? I looked up the revolution flea treatment and it is supposed to take around 24 hours for it to start working which would be this afternoon. What else can I do? I have vacuumed the rugs and cleaned as well. Are fleas a total nightmare, what am I in for? They must have JUST gotten them before we went to the vet because we didn't notice them before and spend a LOT of time playing with and holding the kittens.

Also...it figures that this would happen when for the first time in my life my cats are indoor only! Growing up my cats were always allowed outside since we lived in the suburbs, but now that I'm on my own and live in the city they can't even go outside. Boo!

 

[angierae]

Once they've been treated at the vet it's just a matter of time before they're all dead. Spray the carpets and furniture, vacuum (and empty the bag/canister outside) and really, it's just a waiting game. If there are eggs in the furniture/carpet they will hatch, hop on the cats, and die.

 

[5 Disney Fans]

We had an infestation on our kitten prior to it being old enough for treatment. After looking up info on line we gave her a bath with Dawn detergent and used a nit comb to go through it's fur and pretty much hand picked them all off. We did this nightly for 4 nights and they were gone.

 

[marie1203]

Sometimes is hard to find fleas in cats, because they clean themselves so good. Make sure to take a couple baths a day there is shampoo for humans but it is usually not necessary. Wash your clothes, etc in hot water. The other problem with fleas is that they can transmit other parasites such as tapeworm. Have your cats been check for parasites? Keep their flea prevention monthly and you should be able to get rid of them. All our pets are on flea/tick preventative and we never had flea problems.

 

[vickalamode]

OK glad to see from the replies so far that it isn't as scary as google is making me think it is haha. Do I need to flea bomb the house? I can't bathe them right now unfortunately because they just both had spay and neuter surgeries yesterday and I need to keep them dry.

I also have shut the bedroom doors since those rooms are carpeted and full of linens clothes etc. The only rooms I am letting the cats in right now are all either hardwood or tiled, with a couple of small area rugs that I can clean easily.

I'm just hoping that this doesn't turn out to be a nightmare. I have been combing their fur and picking out any fleas I find but it's making me so paranoid!

 

[cglaura]

The important thing is to kill the cycle. Whatever you get to do the house, make sure it kills eggs and larvae also. Otherwise, only the live fleas will die, you'll think it is ok, but then a few weeks later the eggs hatch and then...more eggs...you see the cycle. In the past I have I used Raid rug spray, it was in a purple can. Although since our dog passed last year, we don't really have any problems with the cats, though I still treat them just in case guests bring any in.

If there were any fleas present I use Capstar, which kills any live fleas within 24 hours. Then I use Program tablets once per month for prevention. Both are safe for cats over 4 weeks.

I get mine at 1800PetMeds.

 

[vickalamode]

Thanks everyone...I went ahead and got some Bed Bug/Flea/Mite killing spray at CVS and sprayed all the furniture and carpet with it. Additionally, I LIBERALLY sprayed their cat condo with it and put it in "quarantine" in a room that is closed off to them. Since that is the piece of furniture they spend most of their time on, I want to make sure it is flea free. I will probably keep them away from it for a few days and spray it every morning and night until I run out of the spray lol, just in case. I just checked the kittens again for fleas and didn't find any live fleas on them so hopefully that means that the medication the vet gave them yesterday is working!

I am hoping that we got lucky in that they had JUST acquired the fleas right before we took them to the vet...I actually only think that one of them had the fleas anyways because only one has a bunch of the black flea poop in her fur that looks like dirt, I found a couple fleas on the other kitten but he didn't have any of the flea poop in his fur really...so hoping that is a GOOD sign!

 

[reelmom]

You can also put a flea collar in your vacuum cleaner to kill the fleas, larvae, and eggs that you have sucked up. Apparently, flea eggs and larvae are resilient little buggers and can lay dormant until a later time to hatch. You don't want them to drop out into another room that you are vacuuming.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Be careful about overdoing it. These sprays, dips, treatments can be toxic to the central nervous systems of young kittens and puppies because they're so small.

5 Disney Fans has the right idea!

http://kitten-flea-control.com/kittens-and-fleas.html