I'm a sucker. Chance's family found a litter of orphaned kittens in a field near their house, and took them in. They called us to bring out kitten formula because they don't sell it anywere in their town, but when we got there I couldn't leave them. The poor things hadn't been pooped in two days, they weren't being burped, they weren't warm enough, they weren't being peed until they were empty, just until they started and they weren't being cleaned off afterward, and they weren't being fed often enough.

Despite all that they seem pretty healthy, but my vet didn't have any helpful advice on how to get the fleas off of them. I know some VBers have raised kittens before so I was wondering if anyone had any pearls of anti-itch wisdom.

With all the kittens I've hand-raised, I've used dawn dish detergent the first few times that I've washed them. It doesn't take much to wash them and the liquid has a pretty subtle scent so it's not too strong to be used on them. It's also thick so it helps to drown out the fleas. It won't get rid of them all the first time if they are really covered, but it does a good job. It also leaves their fur easy to comb out.

I just run the water to warm, put'em under and get them really wet, save for the face. Then hold the kitten with one hand and work the soap in with the other.

If their nails need trimming, I wait for a bit until they've dried off some because they usually get sleepy and that's a good time to handle their tiny paws.

You better share some pictures of them! :smitten:

ETA: try combing as good as you can first if they have a lot of flea dirt or mats on them. the washing won't take long at all then.

Normal sawn dish soap gets the fleas off pretty well.
Past that just keep thier bedding clean and keep an eye for any more flea's.
I do not normaly have to wash them more than once but then again I have no carpeting or anything.

If they get in your carpet, google Borax for flees. It works (I've done it twice). You can pick up Borax in the grocery store. It's a laundry soap booster.

I've successfully removed all fleas from pets by fleacombing, this avoids any dangers associated with washing babies. It just takes patience. :)

Thank you for all your advice, I gave them a little bath yesterday and we're going to get a flea comb later this afternoon. Here are pictures, I really shouldn't be thinking about keeping one...or more....but you know my cat hasn't come back and I still have a cat on my lease... and they need really good homes....

http://www.pirategeek.com/kittens/

You can see how cute their markings are, they're like siamese/tabbys Chance's grandparent's have a cat with similar markings named sammy, so they call them "samameise" lol.

wash the neck first, then the body. This will keep them from running to the head and into their ears and eyes. It's pretty nasty when they do that.

Kitten pics:

Soooo cute!

My Kittens! Mine!

-melts-

I gave them two baths a couple days apart, but what has really helped is changing their bedding every day and washing it right away in hot water so the flea eggs don't have a chance to hatch. I haven't seen a flea in days.

Oh yeah...your smitten. Now you have two kitties! Don't let them outside!

Good luck! I have a foster right now and she has fallen in love with my hubby. It is going to be hard when she moves into her new house on monday. I'm thinking he will cry..:(

Oh yeah...your smitten. Now you have two kitties! Don't let them outside!


Yeah, I'm taking a second job so I can afford their shots, etc. and my b/f is keeping one, and I'm taking two. I'm not letting them out, my last cat escaped right after I moved into my new house because I didn't know that the doors are too big for their frames and that they'll close w/o latching and then pop back open. So I've got to put screen doors on all the doors before they move in.