New born kittens and fleas, need advice!

[Suigeneris383]

I found one flea on a 4 day old kitten today. I cannot find anymore. Momma cat is being protective of them and when they mew she wants them back in the box so it's hard to examine them well and pull the fleas off with a comb. I didn't put flea meds on her when she was pregnant. I got some Frontline gold today to put on her, but I want to wait until she leaves the box to put it on so the fleas don't jump off her and on to the kittens. I also want to change the bedding after she gets out of the box. Am I going about this correctly? How can I get the kittens without her freaking out? Should I not worry so much about the kittens having fleas after I get meds on her and change the bedding? Like I said I've found only one so far, and can't find it again on that particular kitten, and haven't seen anymore yet, from what I've been able to quickly examine. It's not a crisis yet, but I definitely don't want it getting worse, and I'm freaking out! Thank you!

[fjm]

I would check with your vet before using any spot on or other treatment, just to make sure it is safe and to ask how long to keep Mum away from kittens after the treatment - your vet will also know whether fleas in your area are resistant o the pesticide used in Frontline. Once you have treated with one pesticide you may need to wait before using another, so this is important to know. The only time I had kittens with fleas I used a flea comb repeatedly until they were clear, but their mother was very laid back about me handling her babies. One or two nasty bitey things are not going to do much harm, and you have a plan to control them before they reach plague proportions, so I would not panic at this stage. If they are still around when the kittens are older your vet will be able to recommend a safe treatment.

Assuming that the mother cat has had access to your home I would start vacuuming and cleaning areas she has been in - and more particularly slept in - vigorously. She will have shed eggs, which eventually develop into hungry adults - the more you can get rid of now the better!

[Ruth B]

I have heard of rescues using a Frontline spray flea treatment on very young kittens so it might be worth asking your vets about that and to find out just how young kittens can be for it to be safely used.

As fjm mentioned making sure that all the bedding and the area around the box is vacuumed well will help a lot. I have also heard of people putting half a flea collar in the vacuum bag or cylinder to kill any fleas that hatch out in there, the only good use of a flea collar in my personal opinion.

[booktigger]

Frontline spray can be used from 2 days old, although you have to spray it on your hands and then rub onto their fur. Spot ons cant be used on mum but the spray can as long as you dont go near their nipples and everyone is dry. Changing bedding is a good idea, they will naturally move after a few days as in the wild the smell would attract predators but you do have to be careful

[Suigeneris383]

Thank you for your responses everyone. I put the Frontline gold (recommend by our vet) on her when she left the box. So far I just found one dead flea on her and haven't come across anymore on the kittens. Mommas made it difficult to change the bedding but I'm working on it. I have 2 other cats, they both got a flea treatment as well. I'm still keeping a close eye on the kittens and checking for fleas with a comb. Still pretty worried about unhatched eggs near them though!