Help!!! Kitty sitting problems!!

[pdswife]

HI,
does anyone know of any natural flea killers? I'm kitty sitting for a friend who FORGOT to mention that her kitten had fleas!!!

Mew has been here since yesterday and I'm starting to see fleas on him and sadly on me.

He's about three months old.


I think I should have put this in the VENTING thread. I'm very upset!!!!!

I'll be going to the store tomorrow for a flea collar but in the mean time...any hints.

Thanks, Trish

no smiles today!!

 

[deelady]

If you submerge the kitty in a bath it should remove alot, the fleas should float then when they die they sink....my grandmother alway kept a glass of soapy water around for when she found a flea she would drop it in the water and it would die pretty fast(not good swimmers!).....thats as natural as I can think of.

For my cat I always bought the advantage or store brand version of it where you drop in on the back of their neck and it would kill them off very quickly and my cat would be flea free for about 3-4 months! Collars NEVER worked in my experience...my cats Always found a way out of them! We would find those collars in the funniest places!!
Hope this helped a little! Good luck!

 

[pdswife]

Thanks. I did the bath earlier.... and yep, there were a few in the water.

 

[Constance]

When I got my cats, they both had fleas and the vet said the safest and most effective method is a flea bath. As kittens, they didn't fuss much, but I'd hate to try it now!

 

[smoke king]

FWIW, my vet told me in no uncertain terms, that retail store flea-collars are a no-no, and recommended (sales pitch?) having him dipped (which he offered for a nominal fee) seemed to work though.

 

[vyapti]

Fleas won't survive a bath. Their eggs may, but a bath should work as a quick fix. As far as kitty comfort, I use plain old aveno. My cat has a skin problem and, after trying everything on the market, I discovered that aveno clears her up better than anything.

 

[pacanis]

What the others have said, a bath. It doesn't even need to be a flea bath, use blue Dawn mixed with water. That will drown the fleas, but not stop new ones from hopping back on. And if the cat has fleas, no doubt they have taken over the house, too. So to "try" to keep them off the cat you will need some sort of topical on him.
I like Adams's spray, too. Just makes sure it's for cats. You can spray it on a towel, then wrap the cat up in it (not the head of course). That will smother the fleas with flea preventative/killer and put a topical on the cat without actually spraying it.
And yes, collars are worthless. I've found some of the highest concentrations of fleas on a pet around the collar.
As for more topicals I would use, I recommend Frontline Plus. Stay away from the Hartz or Sergeants stuff they sell at Wally World. That doesn't work either. The problem with FL+ though, is it will take a couple days to take affect and it won't repel fleas, only kill the ones that get on the cat for a meal.
They will need to treat the house, too. Quarrantine the cat to an area and spray the carpets and along the baseboards. Then under the furniture. I recommend Ultracide. Try an exterminator for it, otherwise I think the only way you can buy it is by the case online.
And watch for tapeworms in case the cat has eaten an infected flea.

As for a "natural" flea killer.... get a flea comb and a small container of water with some dish soap in it and have at it. Comb the cat, dunk the comb.

And if the fleas are really bad.... the cat will start hanging out in the tub or the sink. They aren't stupid and know where to go to avoid the fleas.

Good luck. You can't fight fleas lightly if you want to get rid of them.

 

[urmaniac13]

Bath will get rid of the fleas which are ON the kitty at that moment, but I am afraid there are at least some of them got out and went about in the house, too and they might hop right back on the kitty and infest.
The best thing you can do to be sure should be take the kitten out for a dip, and while you are out, you should bomb the house.
good luck Trish, a kitty sitting should be fun not a torture like this!! Hope the kitty's owner will compensate you for your inconvenience when they come back!!

 

[Adillo303]

Hi Trish,

I don't know how long that you have the cat for so this may not be what you are after.

You can get an appliance, it has a green light and a sticky pad. The green light, for some reason attracts the fleas. To get th the light, they need to walk across the sticky pad. You can guess the rest.

Fleas, I understand, go on the animal, or you, to eat. they live and breed in the rugs, etc. Oddly enough, your friend, needs to treat their lawn. that is where it all starts. Since treating the lawn, we hav ento seen fleas in years.

A dip will kill what is on the cat. A spray or bomb will clear the house. since you are sitting, the yard may not be an issue for you. There is a bomb that requires that you all go out for a few hours and set a few of these in the house. When you come back the fleas will be history. I do not recall the name, but, you can get at a pet store. It is activated with water.

Don't know if this helps, hope it does.

AC

 

[buckytom]

If you submerge the kitty in a bath it should remove alot,

including the stinky cat, eh dee?

 

[pdswife]

Luckily he's going home tomorrow...

Needless to say.. I won't be kitty sitting again.

THANK YOU!!

 

[Adillo303]

You should treat the rug, etc. Kitty could leave "Friends"

AC

 

[jpmcgrew]

You need something that will kill the eggs as well. Meanwhile drag out the vacumn leave it plugged in and vacumn a lot and often, pull up rugs you can wash in machine.

 

[pdswife]

lol. I got it plugged in and have used it a few times today... sigh....

 

[jpmcgrew]

lol. I got it plugged in and have used it a few times today... sigh....

Oh well, maybe you can catch a bunch and train em and travel the country with your very own FLEA CIRCUS

 

[GrillingFool]

My former tenants left me a flea infested house.
FOUR hours of professional carpet cleaning didn't clear them.
TWO bombings didn't either.
Last weekend I used flea killing powder on the 2 carpeted rooms in the
house... pray it worked.

And this house is unoccupied! Super fleas! Run runnnnnn!

 

[pdswife]

Well... after his bath and some liquid flea killer stuff and vaccuumming a few times...
I've only seen a couple...but, I will be getting a bomb tomorrow.

I know they are just hiding waiting to make their move.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Well... after his bath and some liquid flea killer stuff and vaccuumming a few times...
I've only seen a couple...but, I will be getting a bomb tomorrow.

I know they are just hiding waiting to make their move.

Poor kittie I bet he/she hates the fleas as much as you do I bet kittie is cute as can be and of course I know you dont blame kittie.

 

[GotGarlic]

You need to be very careful about using toxic products on a kitten. It's been so long, I don't remember the details, but a former co-worker of mine used a flea-killer product on a kitten, and it died. Make sure whatever you're using is intended to be used on a kitten.

 

[expatgirl]

Be sure to throw away the bags each and everytime you vacuum or the fleas will think that they are on vacation in some foreign dusty region.....they aren't jumpers for anything! Good luck.......with 4 cats we have been thru this same problem so many times until Advantage came along.......you might suggest that she take Meow to the vet for it. Fleas are not safe to have around..........