Flea dirt but no fleas on little kittens?

[Greensleeves]

My kittens Hallow and Hex are about 7 weeks now, I posted about them when I first got them as they had been very neglected and mistreated, were much younger than advertised etc. I'm happy to report that they are blossoming, gaining weight nicely and so much more cheeky, confident and energetic!

We took them to the vet a couple of weeks ago (who was very angry at the way they had been treated) and she said that they had worms but not fleas. They're due to have the usual regular flea and worming treatments as part of our insurance plan along with vaccinations, microchipping and neutering.

They're very fluffy so need bathing and grooming regularly. I've noticed that both of them have crusty stuff deep in their fur, next to the skin - it's black and crumbly and a quick Google tells me it's flea dirt

None of us have seen a flea, no bites, and the kittens aren't scratching, but I'm still worried we may be brewing an infestation. We had one about 15 years ago with another set of kittens, the fleas got into the carpets and we got eaten alive, it was horrific.

Any advice? Back to the vet?

I believe it's customary on The Litter Tray to provide a picture of the kitties, so here you are:

Any cat slaves about?

They are adorable

Isn't flee dirt really flee poop and therefore there must be flees?

When mine were same age we bathed them also and then I would wrap them in towels and go over them (literally) with a fine tooth comb and tweezers to get rid of the flees

Have you actually flee combed them ?

Sorry i cant offer any advice but they are so adorable

Despite regular flea treatment, and combing with a nit comb revealing no evidence of fleas, when my cat died he still shed about half a dozen fleas.

If you're got a lot of black crusting, then either they have a heavy flea infestation, or it's something else - so back to the vet.

You could comb with a fine-toothed comb and see if you caught any fleas. But advice then would be back to the vet, to see what flea treatment would be suitable for such young kittens.

I would go back to the vet. The evidence of fleas is there - you just haven’t seen any yet.

Side note: do kittens need bathing? I didn’t know this. I thought regularly bathing cats could be bad for their skin?

Definitely talk to vet as they are too young for most of the available flea treatments. Certainly supermarket flea treatments can be extremely dangerous for all cats, especially young kittens.
Frontline Spray from vet's is ok for kittens but not particularly effective in my experience (with foster kittens). Once they are 1kg in weight and 9 weeks of age they can have Advocate spot-on from vet's.

Bathing should remove/kill any fleas currently on them but it's only a temporary fix since there may be flea eggs in the house.

If there are fleas then you'll need to treat the house too, Indorex is best but follow the instructions carefully to keep humans and pets away from the areas that are being treated for a couple of hours.

They look like their going to be long haired!