Any Vets? Kitten Ridden With Fleas

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Just picked up a kitten last night and the owners said she was born 13th Jan so is 10l weeks' old but she's ridden with cat fleas and flea dirt. We've given her some spot on for FIPROtec for kittens aged 8wks + and we are going to bath her in a mo, but what else can we do. We keep taking the fleas off her/combing but there's around 7 fleas running around at any one time. She's very small too so wondering if she really is 10wks old. She's very calm and the house we bought her from was fairly minging. We desperately tried to get a kitten from a rescue home but none are available in our area at the moment and we have been looking for over a month. We ended up buying as I have 2wks holiday from work so I'm around to settle her in - although I do work from home 3 days a week and hubby is home 1 day a week, so she won't be alone much, but wanted to give her 2wks undivided attention.
Any ideas ?
My own cat has no fleas and is treated regularly and is being kept apart as we intend to introduce them very slowly once the flea issue is sorted
I'm also sorting out her vaccinations as not had any

I would take her to the vets tomorrow and buy some prescription flea treatment which will be much more effective.

I would get her to the vet tomorrow and see what is what. You may find there's other issues and they will give you an idea of age. I'm not sure about trying to bath her, I would do some googling first. I believe it's easy to hurt kittens doing this.

I wouldn't bathe her. Just keep brushing her with a flea comb, and yes, I'd be taking her to the vets tomorrow for a full health check. Poor little thing. Hopefully, with the right treatment, she will be ok

Had exactly the same when I picked up my kitten last year. I could not believe the amount of fleas, I'm talking comb fulls.

We gave him some over the counter flea treatment and continued to comb him.

They did clear up quickly.

We took him to the vet who reassured us everything was fine but not to restrict his food so clearly he was a bit skinny.

Now a beautiful 11 month old with a glossy coat.

I wouldn’t bath either.
I had a kitten like this- poor thing was covered. I combed and combed and squished many, many fleas. Got her on the Saturday took her to a vet on Monday- no signs of fleas! Vet was impressed 🙂
I also kept her on a series blankets when possible which were boiled washed and obviously went to town on the carpets/ soft furnishings for a good few months after.

I was going to say the same as the others with the flea combing and vet tomorrow.
Good luck and pay the tax too on kitten posts 😋

This is so depressing to hear. I feel so sorry for the Mum's, who no doubt are producing kittens after kittens, that will also be suffering with fleas.

Why don't breeders look after their animals properly?

They must advertise somewhere for people to buy them, so why aren't they checked by animal welfare organisations?

My vet student daughter rescued a feral kitten that was riddled with fleas. We bathed it and combed it through with a nit comb. It took three of us an hour to get them all. He turned into the most beautiful cat .

We managed to get from the vets a tablet called kapstar or something similar when "The Alley Cat" arrived riddled with fleas. It was absolutely incredible, within 15 minutes of me having given him it, the fleas were falling off him

Id also pre purchased a nit comb, as while his previous "owner" said she had flea treated him, I saw enough of the house in viewing him to pre prepared, just in case (hindsight is a wonderful thing should never have brought him)

We let him settle in for half an hour on getting home then I cracked out my trusty nit comb, he'd been a bit itchy so I was already twitching and yep sure as hell there were fleas

It was a Friday so I hysterically called the vet asking what they had as I couldn't cope with having fleas present over the weekend, they just needed his weight to give me this miracle tablet, so whipped him up there for a weigh and got home with the wonder tablet

Administer it in the kitchen, and then kept nit combining them into the bowl of boiling water (the fleas not AC!!)

I also got one of the flea sprays they sell and blitzed the lounge as he'd been exploring for a bit on getting home before I did the nit combing. Hot washed the blanket that was in the carrier he'd been in.

Until you can get an appointment tomorrow, I'd be nit combing and putting anything you get out in a bowl of boiling hot water. I'd also consider shutting kitten in the kitchen overnight so the fleas don't have any soft surfaces they can get on, and getting a proper spray when you go tomorrow (he'll have to be shut upstairs while it airs out after spraying if you have more than 1 floor). Nit comb was a trick I remember from my parents getting a Moggy and her also apparently being flea treated but my mum having to sit on the kitchen floor with her bowl of boiling water and nit combing her until she could get an appointment for proper flea staff

I have a picture of the bowl from when we did AC, it's absolutely vile

Definitely ask for Kapster (I think it's called or very similar) it's absolutely blooming brilliant!

Hi all
Thanks for your replies. I've spent all day on/off combing and trying to encourage her to eat as she's quite frail/unsteady on her legs. I'd suggest she's anaemic from the fleas.

I have bathed her in the last hour and got rid of all of the flea dirt and some fleas have died. Her coat is so much nicer. She had flea treatment last night.

Since the bath she's now playing with a toy and seems so much happier, like a different cat with some energy and has had a wee/tucked into some food. I still keep seeing a few fleas running around on her which I keep squishing. She's being kept in our new bathroom as it's really warm and to keep her away from our other cat for the time being. House has had treatment today too - altho these fleas came from the kitten owners last night, but worried some may have jumped off as we entered our house last night.

Just sickens me people say they are animal lovers but clearly not.

Keeping on top of fleas is so easy why the hell wouldn't you treat your pets

Hopefully as you keep combing and encouraging her to eat she'll continue to perk up.

We need the picture now OP 🐈

Said cat!

6-7 weeks not 10 I’d guess. Hopefully you can get her seen by a vet asap poor thing. At least she will have a good life now you have her ❤️

Why don't breeders look after their animals properly?

Because people like the OP keep buying them.

Poor little soul. Vets asap. Do you already have her booked in for an initial check up and jabs?

Similar to what everyone else has said, I would get her to the vet . Most OTC flea treatments only work as a preventative measure . Also if you bathed her less than 24 hours after treatment you could have washed it off . Best to get the proper stuff and get rid of them. Also I suggest getting the flea spray for your home , boil washing blankets etc and steam clean in soft furnishings . They are a nightmare 🫣!