Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: chimpzoo on December 15, 2006, 23:03:58 PM
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i have a couple of questions i hope you don't mind answering, i'm sure they come up a lot here,
i'm think my new kitten (10 weeks old) has fleas, i just picked her up last night and one day later i noticed in her bed what look like tiny white eggs, about the size of grains of salt. I think they're flea eggs after googling?
1) My main question is,.. what do fleas look like on the cat? as i parted her fur today and noticed something black and tiny running across her skin but it was to fast to catch. Does that sound like a flea? or somekind of mite?
Hopefully it's nothing too serious. She'll be off to the vet to be checked out in the next few days.
2) if it is fleas, what can i expect the cost to be?
I should add, she seems really happy and is not constatly scratching or biting herself.
Thanks for any help. I expect i'll be back ! ;)
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Yep, definately fleas, the fleas are dark brown or black and a bit shiny, they run very quickly through the fur and as you have already found the eggs are white and are laid in the bedding or wherever the cat sleeps. You need to be careful with young kittens, if they become overun with fleas they can become anaemic and very ill or worse, good news is you can get flea remedies for kittens although as yours is 10 weeks old she will probably be ok with adult remedy. Don't bother with any of the shop bought stuff you will be wasting your money, it don't work. Best wait till you go to the vet and buy from them, they will advise you on the best one, it will be more expensive than shop bought but cheaper in the long run cause it works.
I buy the Front line spot on, and also the household flea spray from the vets for round carpets and furnishings, the front line comes in a pack of three doses and costs around about £11 or £12, can't remember exactly, I have four older cats so have to buy two packs but only need to use it every 6 months to a year and that keeps them at bay.
Also wash your kitties bedding as the eggs can stay there for months before they hatch out.
Good luck with your new kitty, she sounds happy, what's her name?
You will get lots of good advice on here, look forward to seeing some photo's :Luv:
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Hi there, it might be worth treating your house with a spray you can get from your vets in case they have got into the environment. As Fiona said it would be good to get her treated soon as kittens with a large amount of fleas can get very sick as they can make them anaemic. Good luck with her, she sounds lovely!
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Yep, definately fleas, the fleas are dark brown or black and a bit shiny, they run very quickly through the fur and as you have already found the eggs are white and are laid in the bedding or wherever the cat sleeps. You need to be careful with young kittens, if they become overun with fleas they can become anaemic and very ill or worse, good news is you can get flea remedies for kittens although as yours is 10 weeks old she will probably be ok with adult remedy. Don't bother with any of the shop bought stuff you will be wasting your money, it don't work. Best wait till you go to the vet and buy from them, they will advise you on the best one, it will be more expensive than shop bought but cheaper in the long run cause it works.
I buy the Front line spot on, and also the household flea spray from the vets for round carpets and furnishings, the front line comes in a pack of three doses and costs around about £11 or £12, can't remember exactly, I have four older cats so have to buy two packs but only need to use it every 6 months to a year and that keeps them at bay.
Also wash your kitties bedding as the eggs can stay there for months before they hatch out.
Good luck with your new kitty, she sounds happy, what's her name?
You will get lots of good advice on here, look forward to seeing some photo's :Luv:
thanks for that, im just glad is wasn't some nasty mite or something. A couple of days she'll be off to the vet and hopefully it'll be fine. I'll post some pics of tilda when i get my usb lead replaced! but she's the best looking gray tabby i've seen, like a little tiger.
The bedrooms are out of bounds for her until this gets sorted and anything that can go on a boil wash has!
thanks for the advice.
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The little one will most certainly have tapeworm as they go hand in glove with fleas.
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I buy the Front line spot on, and also the household flea spray from the vets for round carpets and furnishings, the front line comes in a pack of three doses and costs around about £11 or £12,
Buy through this link and not only will you save loads of £££'s Coventry cat rescue will get a donation form the company. Scroll down and on the left under links exchange click "VetUK"
http://www.ccg.triadian.streamlinetrial.co.uk/main.php (http://www.ccg.triadian.streamlinetrial.co.uk/main.php)
Please dont be tempted to use Bob Martin!
The bedrooms are out of bounds for her until this gets sorted and anything that can go on a boil wash has!
Fleas can get into your bedroom anyway, they will travel on you, so you must spray in there too with something like Acclaim or Indorex.
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Chimpzoo, just for reference, i quote from NOAH "FRONTLINE Spot On Cat can be used in kittens from 8 weeks of age and weighing at least 1kg." so please weigh her before you use Frontline!
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Chimpzoo, just for reference, i quote from NOAH "FRONTLINE Spot On Cat can be used in kittens from 8 weeks of age and weighing at least 1kg." so please weigh her before you use Frontline!
yeah, i will do, she's pretty small.
Refering to another post - the vet did say they'd be checking for tapeworm too.
thanks for all the help.
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the vet did say they'd be checking for tapeworm too.
You don't often see any type of worm until it is endemic, then worse case scenario it can be too late. All cats need to have regular flea and worm treatments.
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the vet did say they'd be checking for tapeworm too.
How do you check for tape worm ?? (lol got all kinds of pictures in my head now)
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the vet did say they'd be checking for tapeworm too.
How do you check for tape worm ?? (lol got all kinds of pictures in my head now)
i meant 'treating'
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How do you check for tape worm ?? (lol got all kinds of pictures in my head now)
Perhaps a stool test, Although they live in the gut also. It is only when you see the evidence walking down a cats pants (like grain of rice) or see dried bits in the bedding that you may realize although by this stage the problem is endemic. Cats should not be allowed to get to this stage. Cats need treating for fleas and worms on a regular basis and buy treatments recommended by vets and not the stuff you buy from pet shops and supermarkets.
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Be very careful useing frontline on kittens .Make sure it is a dose suitable for kittens.Adult Cats are I bellieve 5mg . Its very potent stuff. Some cats get sick and go off their food for a day or so, other cats do not seem effected.
You need to make sure that you apply it very high up the neck at the back of the skull where the kitten cannot twist round and lick it off or she will get very sick. Make sure you rub it well into the skin as it works by going through the skin and being absorbed by the blood supply. Fleas then eat the blood and their eggs are ..........killed?..... (can't think of the word grrr)
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Fleas then eat the blood and their eggs are ..........killed?..... (can't think of the word grrr)
de-activated? :-: i know what you mean. It won't be fun, i might try the gentle approach and do it while she's asleep, not much seems to disturb her after she's been playing for an hour.
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de-activated thats good :) thats just how I feel at the moment actually hee hee.
I think doing anything with cats that involves sticking things in their eyes, ears or mouth or up their rear and other similar indignatories should definitly be done whilst they are asleep. ! That way you stand half a chance of getting away with only minor cuts and scratches lol :rofl: :rofl:
best of luck ;)
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Be very careful useing frontline on kittens
The frontline spray is Ok as that can be used on Kittens from 2 days old.
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Nick, i think that frontline is 'stored' in the oil glands in the skin and doesnt get absorbed into the bloodstream
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Hi Chimpzoo and welcome to Purrs,
I don't know whether you have used any treatments on your kitten yet but I actually prefer to use a flea comb which I find very effective. I do use Frontline as well but only as a last resort because i prefer combing. I am not sure about the toxicity of different types of poisons, in the short term I am sure they are fine but over a period of time I am not so sure.
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I don't know whether you have used any treatments on your kitten yet but I actually prefer to use a flea comb which I find very effective.
Obviously people use what they think best however, a flea comb does not get to the route of the problem and that is the household so really the home should be sprayed occasionally. Also if a flea preparation is used that flea will be 'deaded' in a time but if you use a comb obviously it is only the fleas on the cat at the time that are caught the rest can hop on and off the cat as much as their little hearts desire.
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Hi Chimpzoo and welcome to Purrs,
I don't know whether you have used any treatments on your kitten yet but I actually prefer to use a flea comb which I find very effective. I do use Frontline as well but only as a last resort because i prefer combing. I am not sure about the toxicity of different types of poisons, in the short term I am sure they are fine but over a period of time I am not so sure.
funny you mention that, as i just got a comb today. I might be being paranoid but personally i'd prefer to get her totally flea free and the flat also, so i'll be reluctantly going down the chemical route.
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tilda was given some stronghold and the worming tablet this morning, already she's leaving a trail of dead or half dead fleas wherever she walks. The house has been sprayed too and will be again when all the eggs hatch into larvae. The hair down her spine was quite thin due to over grooming - something i hadn't noticed until the vet pointed it out :-[
Anyway, all is fine now.
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Aww! glad she's sorted, she'll be a much more comfy kitten now :Luv: riddance to all the nasty fleas :P
like her name Tilda, that's cute
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Glad you got her sorted, fleas can be so dangerous to small kittens and it sounds like she was quite riddled with them.
If you feel brave contact the person you got her from and tell them the problem you had and encourage them to sort it out. And drop one in there about neutering the mother :sneaky: