[keytha]

Pet Care


My female cat had kittens . My female cat got fleas . I am getting some stuff from the vet Thursday for the cat and kittens. Want do I get ? The kittens will be two days old. Will they be fine to then . I don't want to lose them

[shazamataz]

There aren't any flea treatments for 2 day old kittens.

You will need to bathe the kittens in warm water with a mild dishwashing detergent.
Dry them thoroughly then manually pick the fleas off them
Treat the mother and the bedding to prevent re-infection.

Tapeworm is another thing to watch out for as fleas are carriers for it.

[Akoue]

The vet will likely be dispensing Revolution for the mother (Frontline is another common brand). You need to administer this to the mother every month until the flea problem is behind you. Shazmataz is right: You can't give anything to the kittens yet. Once they're a bit older you can get some Revolution for them as well as some de-wormer (Drontel is best since it's a one dose medication that will kill any tapeworms they may have picked up from the flea eggs as well as the roundworms that they most likely got from their mother). For now, don't separate the mother and her babies. Wait until the kittens are a few months old and then get them to the vet for a check-up (this is when they'll get the Revolution and the Drontel). Continue, in the meantime, to give the mother Revolution/Frontline so that she doesn't end up picking up fleas from her babies. Once everybody has been treated with Revolution/Frontline and is flea-free you can stop the treatment.

You should give serious consideration to keeping the mother inside. If she's going outside, you'll need to continue the Revolution/Frontline, since she's just going to end up with fleas again. You should also plan on getting her to the vet for some Drontel once the kittens have been weaned, since she may well have a tapeworm by now.

Do you plan to spay your cat? I urge you to do so.

[AuntSwee]

Just a tip about bathing kittens, in order for them to feel safe use a bucket, and let them "hold" on to the side of it. You will need to bath them at leat once a week until you can give them flea meds. Baby shampoo is the best to use. My vet had me use that as I had a mother cat that would feed her babies but not clean them, weird I know.