Is It Bad If Newborn Kittens Have Fleas
With the baby being under 8 weeks of age we have to be careful with what we use.
Is it bad if newborn kittens have fleas. Do not use flea medications including topical spot on products flea collars dips or shampoos on young kittens unless you have been told to do so by your veterinarian. A kitten s body is small so there isn t a large area to cover and you should be able to remove the fleas with your fingers or tweezers easily. These little bloodsucking insects can cause major problems for kittens and need to be removed. For kittens younger than 4 weeks there is no safe medication for killing their fleas.
Blood sucking parasites can be fatal to kittens as they can cause anemia or a low red blood cell count or carry lyme disease. My go to product is the vet. Fleas can make a new home on your kitten in many ways even in indoor cats. Fleas can make kittens itchy and spread disease and if they re really severe they can even cause serious blood loss and illness.
Some methods for getting fleas off of pets such as flea combing and bathing will only kill the adult fleas on your kitten they don t prevent new fleas from jumping on them. Most flea control products are not safe to use on kittens under 6 8 weeks old. The preventive to treat kittens with fleas. Kittens are very susceptible to anemia from fleas and can even die from it.
Newborn kittens with fleas or ticks should be treated immediately. Fleas are annoying to humans and animals and can actually be dangerous for very young kittens. To kill anything that the bath didn t completely get rid of we need a preventative. While you can safely use flea medications on nursing mothers manual removal is usually necessary for newborn kittens.
Not only can fleas be the cause of anemia but they will also cause the kitten much discomfort by irritating the skin and causing itching. Keep a very close eye for fleas on kittens as a heavy infestation can kill. One old myth says that kittens can be born with fleas but this is not true. The mother may have fleas the kitten may have picked them up outside or sand tracked indoors can even contain fleas.
Dry the baby with warm towels so we don t drop their temperature too much and dry the best you can. However if the queen has fleas or if there are fleas on other pets or soft furnishings in the home kittens can catch fleas pretty much immediately after they are born.