How to remove fleas from a kitten

Removing fleas from a kitten is not a trivial task. Here, a lot needs to be taken into account and acted with the utmost care: the body of a baby up to one and a half to two months old can react very sharply to any unwanted substances that it has to deal with.

If you decide to remove fleas from a kitten that has not yet been weaned from its mother, you should remember that the baby is in very close contact with her: the cat constantly licks him and takes care of him. Accordingly, if any insecticides remain on the fur of the cub, they will certainly enter the mother's body, and then with milk - into the digestive tract of the kitten itself. Therefore, when removing fleas from kittens that feed on a cat, this moment must be taken into account.

Rule!

Before fighting fleas in kittens, the degree of infestation with parasites and the potential harm they cause to babies is always taken into account. With normal growth and development of a kitten, a small amount of parasites will not be especially dangerous, but the use of drugs can create a risk to the health of a small pet. It usually makes sense to wait for the kitten to reach a certain age at which modern, effective insecticides can be safely applied.

 

Methods for removing fleas from a kitten

There are few main methods for removing fleas from kittens. These include:

• combing and mechanical destruction of fleas
• bathing a kitten with special shampoos
• and the use of flea drops for babies over a certain age.

The most reliable way to protect a kitten from flea infestation is to remove parasites in the house and the place where the mother cat stays most of the time, as well as to constantly and timely rid herself of insects.

It is very effective to treat a cat for fleas before pregnancy itself, and then keep its habitat clean. During pregnancy, it is impossible to use drugs that destroy parasites, but the mere observance of cleanliness and order will provide, if not complete protection, then a minimal risk of infecting the mother with fleas, and with it the kittens.

Do not worry too much if a few fleas were found on a small - a few days old - kitten. Single insects will not cause him any particular harm, and literally in a month and a half the baby can be treated with reliable means.

 

Getting rid of fleas kittens up to two months: accuracy is paramount

When getting rid of the parasites of a kitten fed by its mother, you can not use any means containing insecticides.

Single preparations that are acceptable for use in kittens under two months of age imply their use in cubs already weaned from their mother. As long as the kitten lives with its mother, the drugs that it will be treated with will enter its own body.

The most reliable and safe, but also the most time-consuming way to remove fleas from a kitten is to comb out the baby with a soft but dense comb with catching and crushing parasites.This method is quite effective: fleas are perfectly combed out with a comb, but this requires time and some skill. The specificity of the body structure of these insects is such that it is almost impossible to crush them with your fingers. They are destroyed only by nails or hard objects.

On a note

In newborn kittens, fleas should only be removed with a comb.

You can comb a kitten from the age at which the mother allows it to be done. It is also important to remember that there will not be many fleas on a very small kitten in any case - the cat constantly licks it and bites out the parasites.

For kittens already weaned from their mother, over the age of one month, insecticidal preparations can be used. One of the safest, but at the same time quite effective, is Mr. Kiss made in Switzerland. It can be used on kittens over four weeks old, following the usual procedure:

• 1 ml of shampoo diluted in 300-400 ml of water
• stir until foam appears
• the kitten sits in the water and is washed so that his eyes, mouth and nose do not get wet
• shampoo is aged on the kitten's fur for 3-4 minutes, and then washed off with plenty of warm water.

After bathing, the kitten must be dried with a hairdryer and ensure that it is not in a draft or in a cold room for 8-10 hours.

You can not bathe a kitten using Mr. Kiss more than once every ten days.

At a month and a half, the kitten can already be rubbed into the wool at the withers drops for kittens Stronghold.

It is important!

At such a young age, it is impossible to immediately apply the shampoo or drops recommended even for kittens.The first time the baby should be treated only as a test - whether his body will react to the insecticidal preparation. And only then the agent can be used in the amount recommended by the manufacturer.

All flea remedies for kittens can be used no earlier than two weeks after vaccination.

Review

“Sometimes even my kittens get fleas. Still, visitors often bring infection into the nursery. I take Stronghold and rub each kitten literally one drop. This is enough for him not to have fleas. I never noticed any side effects after that either in the Siamese or in the Persians. It is very important to rub the drops thoroughly so that when the kitten is returned to the cat, they have already been absorbed into the skin and she could not lick them off.

Maria, Kaluga

 

Kitten from two to three months: the specifics of the fight against parasites

After two months of age, the range of products that can be used to fight fleas expands significantly. When deciding how to remove fleas from a kitten during this period, you can look at the following drugs:

• Phytoelita shampoo is one of the most effective shampoos for cats in general. For kittens, it should be used in reduced amounts.

• Beaphar Powder, a remedy that can be applied as soon as the kitten stops communicating with the mother. The powder is sprinkled on the wool and rubbed into the skin with your fingers.

Review

“I have tried, probably, all flea remedies for kittens. Powders are the most trustworthy. They are easy to rub in, fleas disappear immediately, and allergies in animals never occur.

Olga, Tula

• Spray Beaphar. They do not need to spray directly on the kitten - they should sprinkle the drug on their hands, and then wipe the baby with them.
• Drops on the withers Hartz. They are allowed to be used for kittens from three months.

Today, the choice of a cat breeder is not limited only by these means. You can buy analogues from other manufacturers, carefully studying the instructions, contraindications and side effects. And before full-scale use, be sure to conduct a test treatment of a small pet to identify possible allergic reactions.

 

Kittens older than three months: full arsenal available

After three months, the kitten is no longer a baby, but a kind of feline "teenager". He is already almost completely independent, walks by himself, and by himself catches fleas on every corner.

At this age, almost any anti-flea remedy used for adult cats can be used for a pet:

• Drops on the withers of Advantix, very effective and long-lasting.
• Drops and sprays Beaphar, with the most gentle action.
• Flea collars. For example, Hartz collars (protection effect - up to 4 months).

Review

“I keep a cattery of angora cats. We regularly carry out preventive procedures for the safety of animals, and we also provide quarantine for purchased animals. For fleas, we apply drops on the withers of Hartz. When we take animals to exhibitions or for sale, we put on collars. By the way, you won’t be able to get fleas out with collars, in any case you will need to pickle. But you can protect yourself from the attack of new ones.

Irina, St. Petersburg

It is especially difficult to protect a kitten from fleas, which is planned to be shown at exhibitions. For example, sphinxes are not recommended to wear collars, and it is undesirable for Angora cats to rub drops. Cats with pure white fur can develop an ugly shade of white after being treated with an aerosol, which disappears only after the next molt.

All these features of each breed must be known and taken into account when choosing a drug for a kitten: in a young animal, the effect of a flea remedy will be more pronounced than in an adult.

But, as you know, the prevention of any trouble is easier than getting rid of it. Much smarter:

• remove fleas from a cat before pregnancy and care for her before and after childbirth
• make sure that the kitten itself does not communicate with flea relatives
• maintain cleanliness where the pet stays most of the time
• take measures to repel fleas.

And then you hardly have to worry about how to remove fleas from a kitten using insecticidal preparations. These measures will be both less labor-intensive and safer for the pet.

 

Useful video: how to wash a kitten