Newborn Kittens Have Fleas

Check the kitten for fleas by combing through the fur with your fingers or with a flea comb.

Newborn kittens have fleas. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Newborn kittens with fleas or ticks should be treated immediately. Fleas can make a new home on your kitten in many ways even in indoor cats. However most professional flea and tick products contain toxic ingredients that can be fatal to kittens.

Take a wet washcloth to clean the ring behind the ears and to wash the chin and face. Typically flea products haven t been tested on kittens younger or smaller than that so they may contain doses that are too high for very young tiny kittens. As for getting the fleas off of the kittens bathe them in warm water and dawn dish detergent. As soon as you notice there are fleas either in the house or on a pet take action.

Put a thick soapy lather of dawn around the neck and ears first as they will run fast and far to get away from the soap. Fleas do not just exist on your cats and kittens. Lightly spray the paper with a demister. However you can bathe them in dawn dish soap in the mean time.

Again newborn kittens need manual flea removal. In consultation with your vet kittens over 4 weeks old may be treated with capstar there is a minimum weight requirement. Dry the baby with warm towels so we don t drop their temperature too much and dry the best you can. How to treat fleas in young kittens and nursing mothers method 1 of 3.

Use flea medication on the mother only. When the fleas surface pluck them out and send down the drain. Most products are safe for use in kittens older than 8 10 weeks or over 1 5 2 pounds but every product is different. Every foster parent should have a flea comb.

To kill anything that the bath didn t completely get rid of we need a preventative. If the mother has fleas the kittens will have them also. Most of the fleas will die and those that won t will be stunned enough so that they re easy to pick off. Check with your local vet since the kittens are so young.

Wash all bedding in hot water. The preventive to treat kittens with fleas. Topical flea medications are poisons that kill. Have tweezers at your side.

Stand your cat on a white piece of paper move your hand in the opposite direction of the hair growth to dislodge flea droppings and eggs. Blood sucking parasites can be fatal to kittens as they can cause anemia or a low red blood cell count or carry lyme disease. The mother may have fleas the kitten may have picked them up outside or sand tracked indoors can even contain fleas. You may see active live fleas which will appear as fast moving small dark brown bugs that quickly dart through the fur seeking refuge in the cat s face belly and armpits.

This application kills the adult fleas but not their offspring. While you re drying them pick the fleas off with tweezers and wash them down the sink.