What Do I Do If Newborn Kittens Have Fleas

Create a ring of detergent around the neck to prevent fleas from running up the body and onto the head.

What do i do if newborn kittens have fleas. Drop fleas in a bowl of hot soapy water. Newborn kittens with fleas or ticks should be treated immediately. If you use soap choose a nonmedicated tear free gentle soap only like dawn or baby shampoo. Flea dirt looks like small black flecks of dirt and will be present along the base of the fur.

Get the kitten wet from the neck down do not get water in their ears or eyes. Once they are wet get some dawn dish soap. Rinse thoroughly with warm after to remove all detergent residue. The best way to treat fleas is to make a warm bath of just water.

While you re drying them pick the fleas off with tweezers and wash them down the sink. Vinegar makes your kitten s blood unappetizing to fleas. If fleas or flea dirt are present treat the kitten for fleas right away. If you are removing fleas from a newborn kitten.

Then remove the fleas from the kitten. Never use a topical chemical treatment on a neonatal kitten as this may be toxic to a young kitten. Avoid flea shampoos because they aren t intended for use in kittens under 12 weeks of age. Instead you will need to provide the kitten with a bath.

You can also mix equal parts water and vinegar and apply it as a conditioning and flea repelling rinse after a bath. Fleas hate it but it is safe for your pet. If you have a kitten under 8 weeks old that has fleas it s a better idea to use a flea comb to remove the fleas. 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.

A kitten s body is small so there isn t a large area to cover and you should be able to remove the fleas with your fingers or tweezers easily. However most professional flea and tick products contain toxic ingredients that can be fatal to kittens. Place the vinegar and water mixture into a spray bottle and spritz your kitten s fur allowing it to dry naturally. Soapy water helps prevent fleas from jumping out of the bathwater although it isn t actually necessary to remove or kill fleas.

Keep the kitten away from any flea drugs or chemicals. Blood sucking parasites can be fatal to kittens as they can cause anemia or a low red blood cell count or carry lyme disease. Have tweezers at your side. If they do make their way to the head use tweezers or a flea comb to remove.

As for getting the fleas off of the kittens bathe them in warm water and dawn dish detergent.