The 'F' word!!!! Freaking out!!

[PlaydoughBarbershop]

My husband has just rang me as he was leaving for work to say he has seen fleas on our 4 month old kitten. I am stuck in work and mortified/devastated. Need to get home and start the decontamination process and strip all bed etc. Pleas can someone give me some advice as a first time cat owner. She is an indoor cat and I even had the flea treatment to administer this week but am now completely out of my comfort zone. Cat seems perfectly fine in herself. Thanks in advance

[Grumpyoldpersonwithcats]

Treat the cat with vet supplied medication (would not recommend Frontline). Spray the carpets with indorex.
Job done - until next time.

[Phosphorus]

Do you think you might be over reacting just a little?

[Wolfiefan]

Fleas on a little kitten can actually be dangerous. What flea stuff do you have?

[PlaydoughBarbershop]

Oh I am quite aware I sound neurotic. As I said I am a first time cat owner and this is all new to me. I just feel helpless being here and having no clue what to do at all when I get home. Also have read about lifespan of fleas and the cat has been with my children and on their beds. Thought here was the perfect place to ask for advice.... you know.... as a forum... within a cat topic

[ParentInCharge]

Whatever you do, DO NOT USE BOB MARTIN PRODUCTS.

Cheap crap like Bob Martins and Johnson's you can buy in shops and supermarkets is well known to cause terrible reactions. Many cats have been killed by poisoning with that stuff. Take the little one to the vet and get them to prescribe something. We use Broadline which is a spot on flea treatment with wormer. You really should be treating the cat every month or two. I tend to leave it longer but that is down to laziness on my part.

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

At 4 months you really do need to use flea treatment prescribed by a vet.

Yes to Indorex and hoover, hoover, HOOVER!!!

Wash bedding on as high a temperature as you can (most will take 60).

Don't panic!

[ParentInCharge]

Oh and strip bedding and vacuum everywhere. A hoover is one of the most effective ways to remove the little buggers. Just make sure to empty the vac outside.
Your vet can sell you a home flea product too to treat the home too if you want to try that.

[ParentInCharge]

Oops, cross posted with @YesItsMeIDontCare

[Wolfiefan]

You need to see a vet. Treat monthly with stuff from vet. Indorex house. If ok for a kitten.

[PlaydoughBarbershop]

Thanks to you both. Will give the vet a call now and see what treatment they suggest. Think it's just the thought of them in my house now being spread. Feels like the equivalent of one of my children having headlice. Gosh I'm neurotic!!

[Wolfiefan]

The vet won't prescribe without seeing the cat.

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

Yes, the vet will need to see kitty as treatment is prescribed based on weight. If you've got a decent vet they'll do it for you there and then which is always a bonus... I know spot on stuff is the easiest, but it's not always easy.

[MrsCatE]

Yes to above advice re vet and definitely don't let anyone (however well intentioned) give anti flea medication designed for dogs - can be lethal.

However, I'm confused how an indoor cat has caught fleas? Do you have a dog?

[SendYouUpinFlames]

Again another saying, do not nip to B&M and get some cheap Bob Dylan.

This can burn cats and make them very poorly and sick.

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

Bob Dylan can burn cats and make them poorly?

I know his music isn't to everyone's taste, but I've exposed at least 3 cats to his songs and none of them have suffered much. 😂

I did have one cat who absolutely hated opera though.

[thecatneuterer]

Yes, you are over reacting. Yes, it absolutely has to be a 'proper' flea treatment, nothing off the shelf. You could use Advantage which is sold in chemists and Pets at Home, as well as in vets. That's the only proper treatment you can get without going to a vet.

However she should be visiting a vet anyway as four months is the recommended time for spaying. You could book her in for that and see the vet about fleas at the same time.

[ParentInCharge]

Oh yes, good point, get her spayed too. Some vets won't do it until 6 months but 4 months is better IMO so they won't risk getting caught and having a litter first. It only takes one quick escape and you'd be a kitty gran.

[Soubriquet]

Go to the vets and get some advocate

de-flea the cat. Repeat in 4 weeks. You will find they go very quickly.

I never bother striping the house and washing it as fleas don't actually like human blood. They eat us out of desperation, so as long as there is an animal about that has been medicated, within a couple of weeks they are all dead

[PlaydoughBarbershop]

Thanks all. My vet has given her a tablet form of flea treatment. Vet said 24 hours and all should be killed. I have powder and a spray for my carpets, curtains, cushions etc. and all bedding is in the wash. I know I am over reacting but never had to deal with a pet before and Google can be your worst enemy (now haunted by the phrase 'flea infestation'!) Am I good to go now? Can I stop stressing since this should be sorted in the next 48 hours?

[PlaydoughBarbershop]

Also vet won't neuter her until she is 6 months. She is only just 4 months and I tried to book her in but they told us to wait! I think I may have gained the olympic world record for the fastest 'key-in-door-and-squeeze-through-the-gap' event that I appear to have entered into in the last 4 weeks. No idea how she got them but I am starting to think maybe she came to us with them. We took her in from a family who said they had wormed and flead her but she was tiny and the people ended up being questionable in regards to pet owners. She got the all clear from the vets at her first injections though and hasn't been scratching, but her fur is quite dense though. Feel like the worst cat mum ever!

[Wolfiefan]

You're not the worst. Honestly!
Our vet made us wait to get our girls done too as they were so tiny. We went for the "always one door shut between them and outside" routine!

[Namethecat]

We have a house cat. We had him from 8 weeks ( now 5 years old ) and they only leave the house for vaccinations and nail clipping. Last year we noticed he was scratching a bit and one night I was reading in bed and felt something on my arm - a flea ! We got flea treatment from the vets and now do a monthly spot on. We was told it was probably is that took the flea(s) into the home of picked up from a vet visit.

[HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone]

Chances are you gave them to her, if you have not noticed them in all the time you have had her she is unlikely to have come with them. I am glad you got treatment from the vet as others have said the supermarket stuff is not only rubbish but sometimes quite dangerous.

[dementedpixie]

I had to take my cats to a different vet to get them neutered at 4 months as mine said 6 months too. I wanted them done as early as possible so went elsewhere

[Beamur]

Don't worry. It sounds like you've got it covered.
My cats are not indoor cats. Today I was greeted by a dead mouse in the hall this morning and have just rescued a frog (unharmed). It's all part of the joys of cat ownership.