1 week old baby kittens infested badly with fleas "UPDATE WITH PICS"

[floridachickhatcher]

UPDATE: The 2 female kittens had to be put to sleep..

he had his eyes closed when i took this i have named him Chester

and he wouldnt stay still for me to take the picture and his name is Milo

UPDATE:She had to be put to sleep the next morning after i took this picture. I had named her Jasmine

Update: She had to be put to sleep her eye was too bad and the vet said it would be the humane thing to do for her instead of taking it out.I had named her Ciara

 

[Quinn4321]

Olive oil rubbed into their coats might suffocate them. then u can bath them again, but they may be a little greasy for a while. or baby oil or powder maybe too. a gentle baby shampoo will help get oil out of the coats too.

 

[Zanna]

You can buy shampoo that will kill the fleas (it dehydrates them) that is safe to use on kittens. I assume you know how to make them go potty? Kittens that young will not go on their own and will die if you do not stimulate them and make sure they go. I have some good methods, PM me if you are interested

 

[MetalSmitten]

i work with rescue kittens. for now, your best bet is a lukewarm bath using regular dawn dishsoap (NOT antibacterial or anything) - start working the soap in at the back of their heads and work your way down their bodies towards their tails, giving the fleas nowhere to run. leave the soap on for about five minutes to drown the fleas, and then rinse. you'll also need a small flea comb to spot check their heads and faces, since you don't want soapy water in their eyes or ears, and you'll probably need to do this for a few days in a row until you're not finding anymore fleas. gently blow dry them afterwards (low setting, make sure not to overheat them) if you can, or dry them as thoroughly as possible, since kittens that young can't control their body temperatures.

once they hit about 4 weeks or 2lbs, see if you can get ahold of some capstar.

here's a really good website for your reference: http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15

good luck

thanks for taking care of the babies.

 

[floridachickhatcher]

Quote:
oh im pretty sure they aint no where near 2 pounds so its going to be awhile

 

[MetalSmitten]

yeah, mine usually hit 2lbs right around 8-10 weeks, depending on how malnourished they were. capstar is generally given to the very young babies though, it's considered by many people to be the safest of the chemical flea killers. you could always ask your vet about the capstar, if their infestation is really bad and they're anemic, then the benefits may outweigh the risks, but that'd be for a vet to decide. most shampoos etc actually want the animal to be 8-12 weeks.

poor kitties =/

 

[shadowpaints]

dawn dish detergent kills fleas and lice.. i have used it many times. just work up a good lather and rinse..

 

[floridachickhatcher]

i think MAYBE they are over a week old cause i was reading something that said At about 3 weeks, they will start crawling around. At 3½ weeks, the ears will start to stand up. At 4 weeks, they'll start to play with each other and develop teeth. they have teeth i have seem then and the ears are UP and i weighed them they are all under a pound 60 to 75 ozs so im hoping the goats milk with the kitten milk replacer will change that in a few days time and if they are over 4 weeks old and at 2 pounds then i should be able to put flea treatment on them right?

 

[debilorrah]

Very tiny kittens like that using a commercial flea product could do more harm than good. I have experience with this. Have a cup of rubbing alcohol on a sink, have a qtip and a pair of tweezers. Dip the Qtip in the alcohol - Alcohol stuns the fleas and you can pick them off and dump them in the cup of alcohol. It can be time consuming but once they are off and the kitten has been bathed, use a lice comb to comb the leftover eggs out of the fur.

If not treated a major flea infestation can kill the kitten. I have experience there too.

 

[floridachickhatcher]

well i rubbed baby powder all over them and im going to give them a bath again tomorrow and then tuesday im going to call the shelter to see what they can tell me about matted eye cause the female black kitten her eyes are matted everytime i see her after cleaning them off and if its not taken care of i have a feeling she will go blind