It's possible to bathe a newborn kitten with fleas?

Hi, well to start I usually feed any cat that came to my house, and a pregnant cat start coming around 2 months ago but unlike the others cat, she remained on my yard and basically she lives here.

At some point, when I realized that she was pregnant, I started to lock her on my house where she can give birth and be safe.

Just some 3 days ago, she gave birth to 2 completely black kittens (she is black with white points) and one white kitten with black points. But when I was looking closely at the white kitten, I realize that he had fleas, and obviously all the kittens and the mother have, but they are too dark to watch the fleas.

I read that an easy way to remove the fleas is bathing the kitten, but ironically I also read that if a person touches a kitten too much, the mother can stop recognizing it by its smell, and even eat it, without mentioning that they are only 3 days old, so I guess that this is not an option.

I also read that fleas abhor the smell of chamomile tea, so I could do a bit and rub a bit over the kittens without bathing them, but I don’t know if what I mentioned in the previous point also applies.

For the mother, I don’t think I have to worry, because I’ll buy her a pipette,

I also want to clarify that the kittens are not infested with fleas, maybe they have 5 or 10, but they are 3 kittens that sleep one on top of the other, and I prefer to be safe rather than sorry.

(Sorry if this is not the correct place to ask such a question, but I couldn’t find an “AskVet” alternative on Lemmy)

zipzap_cat, (edited )

kitten lady has several good videos on this, but I’d strongly advise you to get in contact with a local rescue. They can care for and find a home for the kittens (once they’re old enough) and spay and release mom (once the kittens are weaned). They should keep mom and kittens together until they’re ready to wean. Main concern with bathing the kittens is that they can’t self regulate temperature at that age and you put them at risk of hypothermia by getting them wet.

Source: kitten foster parent

Xirup,

Thanks so much for sharing the video! I never thought it was so extremely simple to use a flea comb. And I’m not entirely sure if there are local rescues where I live, and even so, some of my relatives have already fallen in love with the kittens and want them, but believe me, if this had been an option before she gave birth I would have considered.

zipzap_cat,

Awesome, glad they’ll have loving homes! Enjoy having kittens around the house!

Devi,

As much as your relatives might like the kittens, they do need vet care. Fleas can kill kittens quite easily and you might lose all of them, bathing them can also kill them.

Either you take them yourself or try to find a rescue who can. They can safely treat the family and check that they're OK outside of this issue.

fiat_lux,

Shelters are very location dependent, unfortunately. If you're in a wealthier country / area there are likely some good ones around. Please get the kittens checked by a vet as soon as you can though, fleas can cause anaemia in kittens and kill them quickly. Even if you're rural, a vet who specialises in livestock likely knows of some local charities who can assist financially in providing care, if that's a concern. Kitten Lady's website is great for practical young kitten tips and product choices if you need to do some hands-on care yourself. Someone else already linked her YouTube videos which are also great, but I find the organisation a bit hard to navigate by comparison.

If the kittens look like they have pale gums/tongue or they are lethargic, or stop eating it's emergency vet time. Those are signs the fleas have caused anaemia. And it's important to keep them warm. 24 hour veterinaries exist in many cities. They frequently offer payment plans too.

They do need to see a vet soon though, even if they look healthy, so they can be checked and dewormed. Once they have been given the all clear, for good beginner-friendly long term care advice Dr. Uri Burstyn "Helpful Vancouver Vet is great. Also Jackson Galaxy for understanding cat behaviour is a fun watch for your family members who have fallen in love.

Please also consider getting them all desexed. There are programs globally working with vets to help get stray populations sterilised, which is recognised as the most humane approach to limiting cat populations. Cats also typically have longer lives when they're desexed, and are less prone to territorial behavioural issues like pissing all over your things.

zeppo,
@zeppo@lemmy.world avatar

The proper thing to do would be to lick it from head to bean.

Xirup,

Haha, in fact that is the best way.

deadcatbounce,
@deadcatbounce@reddthat.com avatar

You’ll find it much easier to bathe in water. Bathing cats in fleas is counterproductive.

ShartyWaffles,
ShartyWaffles avatar

Yes. You can also just dunk the kitten in the fleas.

luthis,

No! Never dunk kittens in fleas! Use a cloth to gently apply the fleas.

_cerpin_taxt_,

DO NOT GIVE KITTENS A BATH

I was in pretty much the exact situation as you with two brother kittens when I was in 4th grade. They had really bad fleas, so my brother and I gave them both a bath. They both ended up going into shock from the water. One died at the vet - the other lived to be able 21.

Please don’t risk it. I’m in my 30s now and still don’t forgive myself for Ernie’s death.

Xirup,

I’m sorry to hear that, I don’t think it’s your fault either, many times a person acts on their own because they think they are doing the right thing but end up doing something wrong, and unfortunately as human beings we learn from mistakes.

And not worry, after reading several comments here, I will not bathe them.

_calm_bomb_,

Why are people upvoting you is beyond my comprehension.

The fact that you were kids and made a mistake doesn’t mean that you can’t/shouldn’t bathe a kitten!!!

Just make sure you prepare for the task: use warm water and wash the kitten from tail to neck - it’s better to avoid the head and anyway there’s little to no fleas on the head. I’m no vet, but I got this advice from my vet when I found a flea infested kitten under my car.

So, for people reding this: yes, you can bathe your kitten, but get some advice from your vet beforehand!

_cerpin_taxt_,

Personally, if there’s even a 1% chance of something killing a kitten, I don’t do that thing.

Definitely talk to your very first, if you absolutely want to give them a bath, but they clean themselves with their tongues, so absolutely not necessary whatsoever.

Sethayy,

Then again almost everything has a 1% of killing anything, the world’s pretty dangerous. So - with a vets opnion - bathing a kitten to remove discomfornt isnt all bad news.

Great example is im sure many kittens have died eating before, but of course we still feed them

VelvetStorm,

Seems like you didn’t have the water at the right temp and didn’t dry them quickly enough or put them back on a heating pad. Which is fully understandable because you were 9 years old. If you know what you are doing it’s perfectly safe to give them a bath but it’s not recommended unless they are infested with fleas.

Fleppensteijn,
@Fleppensteijn@feddit.nl avatar

I once found an abandoned kitten and gave it a gentle wash and he was fine. Did you use cold water or something?

_cerpin_taxt_,

Nope, warm water. Sure, they can come out fine. One of the two lived a very long life afterwards. Personally, if there’s even a 1% chance of something killing a kitten, I don’t do that thing.

medgremlin,

There’s some conflicting stuff on the things I was reading, but it seems like the safest option would be flea treating the mother and using a flea comb on the babies. However, I would highly recommend contacting a veterinarian and getting their advice first if you can.

Xirup,

Thanks for researching, in fact I don’t know why I didn’t think of using a flea comb before, that should be easy enough.

And for the mother, I will try to give her a flea treatment.

Laticauda, (edited )

The cat eating the kittens if you touch them thing is a myth. The only times a cat might eat their kitten/kittens is if they’re extremely stressed, malnourished, or if a kitten is ill or dies. And even in those cases it’s still rare and the cat is more likely to abandon the kittens rather than eat them. A cat may decide to move her kittens and try to hide them if she doesn’t like them being handled, but that’s about it. And lots of cats actually like when their kittens are handled by humans for various reasons, so it’s possible she won’t have any issue with it regardless.

I’m not sure where the myth came from, but my guess is that in rare cases some feral cats or new mothers get so stressed by humans handling their kittens too much that they eat the kittens because they feel like the environment isn’t safe enough for raising a litter and go nuclear, but I doubt this happens often even among cases of cats eating their young, and like I mentioned before the cat is far likelier to abandon the kittens rather than eat them unless she’s starving. A cat isn’t going to lose the ability to recognize their kitten just because they have human scents on them. They use more than just their sense of smell to recognize their kittens, and handling a kitten isn’t enough to completely remove the kitten’s smell. Cat’s noses are too sensitive for that. Not to mention if that was all it took to get a mother to reject their kitten, then it wouldn’t be so common for mother cats to adopt kittens that they didn’t give birth to, or even baby animals from a different species. Their mothering instinct post-pregnancy is too strong for something like scent to be a primary factor.

Many flea treatments can be unsafe for newborn kittens because of how sensitive they are, so don’t cover them in any mixtures you read about online without consulting a vet first. Don’t use soap on them either, and submerging them in water isn’t a good idea. I think the usual method for kittens that young is just using a very fine flea comb and dampening their fur with warm (but not too hot) water, then picking off the individual fleas by sight, since they’re small enough for that method to be effective. Even if their fur is dark, the flea comb and a good light source can still allow you to see and pick them off effectively, and the water will cause them to gather in the drier spots, making them easier to find. Then you let them dry in a warm place to make sure they don’t get too cold after. Kittens can be very sensitive to changes in temperature which is part of why bathing them outright isn’t a good idea, and why keeping them warm after dampening their fur is important. Also you’ll want to treat the mom at the same time, so she doesn’t just give the fleas to the kittens again, and clean all their bedding and whatever their bedding is kept in (if they’re in a box for example).

I highly recommend calling a local vet to ask over the phone about what methods to use to de-flea both the mother and the kittens, at the very least. Even better if you’re willing to get them an appointment, the sooner the better since fleas can be dangerous for young kittens, even if you don’t think they have many on them. The mother can probably be medically treated, but the kittens can’t. Whatever source you’re getting this “I read” info from isn’t reliable, and while I try my best to do my research, I’m not a vet, I’m just a random person on the internet. so I would recommend consulting a professional first and foremost if you want to be absolutely sure that what you do is safe and won’t hurt the kittens. Even if you don’t want to pay for an appointment, most vets are willing to answer questions and give advice over the phone. Source: I worked at a pet hospital and often consulted the vets about questions asked over the phone.

Xirup,

My sources were generally searching the internet and wandering through various sites, but it’s like searching for elbow pain and ending up thinking I have cancer, so I asked here.

I will probably call some vets that I have nearby, but don’t worry, I am not going to do anything by myself and much less without consulting a professional before, I don’t want to hurt the kittens either, my intention to ask here is because I noticed their fleas now that in my country it is night and I can’t ask in any vet because they are closed, and I wanted to know if I could do something in the meantime for the kittens.

Thanks for the answer!

Laticauda,

It’s worth checking if you have any 24/7 vets in the general area if you’re worried and want to contact someone sooner rather than later (these places usually take emergencies but they’re usually willing to answer questions over the phone as well in my experience), but if there isn’t one then the kittens should be fine for the night if they seem healthy still aside from the fleas. The main thing you have to worry about with fleas is anemia iirc, which can be deadly for kittens if left untreated. If they aren’t abnormally lethargic and don’t have pale gums then they’re likely not in immediate danger, just make sure to stay on top of it and get them treated (using professional advice) as soon as you’re able. Good luck!

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