Help!!!! 1st day with kitten and FLEAS!!!!!

[DVCJones]

Hi,

I just adopted a "backyard" kitten (free). She is adorable, but she has fleas. I noticed them while at the pet store, so I bought some flea shampoo for kittens and gave her a bath as soon as she entered the house. Her little paws never even touched the floor. I counted 40+ fleas in the bath water when finished. I also hand picked any flea I found stuck in her fur. The ones I found were dead. I am thinking from the shampoo.

My question...Do you think it is safe to let the kitten be free in the house or should I keep he confined to the bathroom for a few days and repeat the bath a few more times?

I also bought some flea and tick killer (like Frontline) for cat/kittens under 5lbs. Should I put that on her too?

Thanks in advanced!

 

[LMC]

Go to the vet tomorrow and get a capstar pill. Best thing since penicillin. It will kill the fleas off in hours. The kitten may be too young for the advantage type flea stuff.

 

[WDSearcher]

You may want to avoid giving her too many baths with the flea shampoo. Even though it's "kitten" shampoo, too many baths can be toxic.

Dawn dishwashing liquid (the original blue version) works great with kittens. I used it for all of the "backyard kittens" I've brought inside to kill fleas. It's gentle, kills the fleas, and doesn't dry out the kitten's skin or fur like flea shampoos can.

I would bathe her in Dawn every other day -- mostly to kill any flea eggs left behind -- for about a week, and then she should be fine. Definitely take her to your vet and find out what kind of flea control product she can handle at her age. You don't want to give her (even as a flea collar) something that is too strong for her. A neighbor of mine did that once, and the poor kitten was throwing up this green bile-like substance for three days! He's fine now, but she nearly poisoned him trying to get rid of fleas.

You may also want to get some good old borax from the laundry aisle of your grocery. Sprinkle it liberally on any carpeting and let it sit for a few hours. Any fleas that might be in the carpet will eat the borax and bloat up. After a couple of hours, simply vacuum the floors. Fleas will be gone, carpet will be clean, and you'll have a nice fresh scent left behind.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

I'll second the Dawn dishwashing soap. We raise orphan baby squirrels and they always have tons of fleas so they get a bath or sometimes two with Dawn before we bring them into the house and that does the trick. Never had a problem with fleas in the house or our pets getting them from the squirrels after there Dawn bath. And it was gentle enough even for the ones who didn't have their eyes opened yet.

 

[jfoofj]

When you take the kitten to the vets ask at what age he/she can start Frontline. We have 3 outdoor cats (SO not by my choice, my kids and DH seem to attract strays) and we treat them monthly with Frontline and we have never had a flea or tick issue.

The kitten will probably need to be wormed and tested for feline leukemia and FIV and started with vaccines. Hopefully you will choose to spay or neuter the kitten. Free kittens are cute and all my cats have been "backyard" freebies or strays, but there are so many cats out there who are abandoned when the stop being cute, start spraying (if you "fix" them early enough it won't be an issue), etc. that there is a HUGE cat popluation issue. If you find that this stuff is more money than you expected with your vet, call local animal shelters and inquire about low cost spay/neuter programs (the one near me does it for $40 and they throw in the rabies vaccine for free). Petco also has clinics on weekends and offers low cost vaccines.

I hope I'm not coming across as lecturing, I am really happy for you AND this kitty that he/she got a great new home. I am not a crazy cat lady, really! I just live in an area with a big cat population issue and I have worked with a shelter to help spay/neuter/rehome cats and kittens.

Good luck and enjoy your new pet!

 

[DVCJones]

Thanks to all for the information. I did by Dawn (blue) and plan to give Muffin a bath today. I also have a vet appointment for tomorrow.

She is so stinkin cute. My girls and I are smitten and it has only been two days.