How to get a flea from a kitten at home

An animal can get into the house in different ways - some kittens are brought from the street by children, someone has already been born at your place, and sometimes you yourself decide to have a pet and take it from a friend. As if the baby did not get to your family, it should be prepared for further residence. And the very first thing that needs to be done is to rid the kitten of parasites. Fleas in a newborn kitten most often come from a mother with whom he is in close contact. However, do not worry about this in the first weeks of the animal's life. The fact is that a cat, as a rule, licks a kitten and at the same time “bites” insects. The absence of long and fluffy hair at an early age of kittens allows you to do this without difficulty. After weaning, after about 5-6 weeks from birth, you can save the baby from blood-sucking parasites. The difficulty in ridding fleas of kittens lies in the fact that we cannot use aggressive chemicals, like for adult cats. In the fight against fleas in a kitten, you need to use gentle, but at the same time effective methods, which we will tell you about.

How to understand that a kitten has fleas

Of course, if you saw a black jumping dot on the hair of an animal, there is no doubt that the baby is infected with parasites. But what are some signs that a kitten has fleas? Indeed, not only feline, but also canine parasites can live on his coat. A kitten can pick up insects through a cat mom or other animals with which he communicates and plays. In addition, if the baby goes for a walk outside, it is not at all difficult to bring fleas to the house from the attic or basement. A flea kitten is not difficult to recognize - it constantly itches, becomes restless, its body and skin are in abrasions and wounds. If your pet has such symptoms, you should urgently examine him. Have you found at least one parasite on the animal’s hair? If the baby is still small and lives with his mother, you should not use any means, because the cat constantly licks the child’s hair, poisonous components can enter her body. In addition, as soon as you get rid of fleas, the baby again picks up parasites from the mother. Therefore, you should not get rid of parasites before you excommunicate the baby from the cat. The first, safest and most gentle way to get rid of bloodsucking is mechanical cleansing.

Combing a kitten from fleas

For a kitten, this is the best way to get rid of fleas, because in this case he is not subjected to any processing. In addition, combing is much more acceptable than bathing, because contact with water is stressful for the baby. Before combing, you should prepare a small bowl of water, in which you need to add a little household chemicals - a means for washing a gas stove, tile, etc. It is better if the product is with bleach or bleach. A container of water is necessary in order to throw caught parasites into it. After all, fleas have a fairly firm abdomen, they can not be crushed by the fingertips. You can destroy the parasite, for this it should either be healed between the nails, or pressed to another hard surface. But when in the hands of a small kitten, which strives to break out and run away, crushing fleas is very uncomfortable. But if you throw an insect into a prepared cup with detergent, you will instantly destroy it.

Sit in a comfortable position, put a light towel or sheet on your knees so that dark fleas can be seen on its background. Take the kitten in your hands, prepare a frequent comb, preferably metal.Carefully comb out the animal’s hair, centimeter by centimeter. As soon as you notice the parasite, immediately try to pull it out and throw it into the prepared water. It is quite difficult for some owners to pull fleas out of wool, for this there are special tweezers with rounded edges, so as not to injure the skin of the pet. Using such tweezers to pull out fleas is much easier. Carefully comb the kitten from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. Pay particular attention to the stomach, groin and armpits - fleas live there most often. Of course, it can take you more than one hour to process, but it's worth it, you can save your pet from fleas. Sometimes it is not possible to completely clean the animal’s hair, but even partial removal of the parasites has a positive effect on the state of health of the kitten.

After manual cleaning, the place where the baby lives should be carefully treated. This is to prevent re-infection. Vacuum carpets and rugs thoroughly, wash all textile items at high temperature, and should be ironed after washing. Thoroughly flush the floor with insecticidal solutions, paying particular attention to crevices and corners. The litter of the animal must be well treated with steam. If there are other animals in the house, you should poison the fleas of all at the same time to prevent re-infection.

How to bathe a kitten to get rid of fleas

If there are a lot of fleas, combing them is simply unrealistic. In this case, the kitten can be bathed using special parasite shampoos for the procedure (for example, Mr.Kiss, Rolf Club, Phytoelitis). Many of them not only relieve parasites, but also look after wool, moisturize the skin. Remember that they should be just for kittens, aggressive chemicals for adult cats will not work! If you did not find such a shampoo, ordinary tar soap is suitable. It is absolutely safe even for kittens, but is effective in fighting fleas.

1. To get started, prepare a towel, cotton wool, detergent, a small bucket or mug, a basin of warm water about 38 degrees.
2. Place small balls of cotton wool in the ears of the animal, they are necessary to protect the crumbs from moisture. In no case should water get into the cat’s ear, this is dangerous.
3. Take the baby in your arms and carefully lower it into warm water so that only the pet's paws are immersed in it. Moisten the animal’s hair and gently soap it from the tip of the tail to the neck. Do not touch your head!
4. At the moment of soaping, fleas can start to scatter or rise to the muzzle - try to destroy them immediately.
5. After soaping, the baby should stand "in the foam" for another 3-5 minutes. But remember that you need to bathe a kitten in a warm room so that it does not freeze.
6. Then you need to wash off the foam and dirt from the kitten, carefully pouring it with clean water. Muzzle and head can not be watered, you can just wipe it with a damp cloth.
7. At the end, the kitten is patted with a towel. If the baby is not afraid of the sound of a hairdryer, it should be dried thoroughly so that the kitten does not get sick.

In general, washing an animal is difficult enough alone, try to take someone to help. Usually one person lathers and the other holds a pet. After water procedures, you should carefully comb the exhausted crumbs - so you can remove semi-dead parasites that are under the influence of tar soap. On the day of water procedures, try not to let the kitten out, beware of drafts, because the baby can get sick. The cold is tolerated by kittens is quite difficult, so you need to be alert.

Special means for removing fleas

When there is absolutely no time for swimming and combing, you can use other proven means. However, remember that most of them are intended for adult cats and kittens older than 5 months. Before using specialized tools, read the instructions!

1. Drops. You can use such funds only from the age of four months, not earlier. Drops are a special viscous liquid that repels fleas. It is applied with a pipette to the withers. The wool on the neck needs to be moved apart, a drop of the medicinal composition should be dripped onto the skin and rubbed thoroughly throughout the back. Some manufacturers recommend applying along the spine along the entire length of the back. Among the medicinal drops for fleas, Bars, Advantix, Stronnghold, Beaphar, etc. can be distinguished. One application of the drug lasts for several weeks. Some manufacturers produce a special series for kittens, while others restrict the use of the product only in concentration. That is, if for an adult cat a whole pipette of drug composition is needed, for a kitten one drop will be enough.
2. Collars These collars are made of special rubber impregnated with an insecticidal composition. For kittens, there are safer collars that are saturated with a herbal extract, that is, an extract of plants that repel parasites. Many collars are made with a special fastener that allows you to adjust the size of the accessory as the animal grows. The advantage of the collar is that the smell haunts the animal everywhere, it not only eliminates existing fleas, but also protects against new infections. You can safely send the animal to the street without fear that the baby will bring “uninvited guests” with it again. The drawback of the collar is that some cats cannot get used to the new “decoration”, they are constantly trying to remove it. Popular brand collars - Hartz, Bolfo.
3. Powder. Unlike drops, the powder is safer and more acceptable for use already from one month. It is not difficult to apply, you need to gently rub a small amount of powder into the animal’s hair. Parasites die in the first few hours after treatment, dead fleas should be combed out with a comb.
4. Sprays This tool is effective if you need to get rid of fleas here and now. Spray should be applied carefully so as not to get into the cat’s eyes. After applying the product, you need to follow another 10-15 minutes so that the baby does not lick the wool, you can distract it with games. When the specified time has passed, you just need to wipe the animal with a damp cloth or bathe.
5. Homemade herbal remedies. They do not act immediately, but the result lasts a long time. Everyone knows that fleas are wary of the smell of wormwood, tansy, garlic, geranium, calamus, and lavender. You can apply the essential oils of these plants to the wool or grease the wool with a decoction of these herbs. If you fill the litter of the animal with fresh sawdust, fleas will only have memories, parasites are very afraid of the smell of wood. Keep a bunch of wormwood or tansy near your cat’s habitat and you won’t have any fleas.

Such treatments can be carried out only if the kitten is excommunicated from the cat, otherwise the mother can lick the medicinal composition from the coat, this is very dangerous for her. If the kitten is still with his mother, the first couple of days after treatment, he should be removed and milk fed from a pipette.

The main prevention in the fight against fleas is hygiene. Keep your cat's habitat clean, observe the hygiene of the animal, use all kinds of protective equipment comprehensively, and the parasites will not bother you!

Video: how to bring fleas in kittens