Fleas Ticks [GUEST POST]
Guest Writer: Janyn Roldan (Member of the Pet Care Club)
Finding a Stray Kitten
From spring to fall, Kitten Season approaches for a vast majority of shelters to take in poor, unwanted kittens. However, there are some shelters that aren’t able to safeguard all kittens, and are left in their harsh environment without a mother at times. If you find a kitten, or even a litter, that is left alone without a mother, you should wait 3 hours for the adult cat to return. But, if the cat doesn’t return within the time limit, or even if you see that the kitten(s) is in bad condition, you should bring them to a nearby vet. It is usually expensive to pay vets to take care of kittens until they get sheltered, but it is really simple to take care of them with a proper schedule. Most importantly, what all kittens have a problem with when it comes to their health deteriorating is from fleas or ticks.
Fleas and Ticks
Fleas are tiny, fiendish insects that nest in a kitten’s fur and feed on their blood. There also excrete flea droppings (or flea dirt) that is their blood or feces that can visually appear around a kitten’s fur. Flea dirt acts as a food source for their developing larvae, which come from their nasty eggs. That’s very disgusting, but if you see it on a kitten, it is a clear sign they have flea infestation. This would make a kitten miserable with severe discomfort! They could suffer from flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), anemia, transmission of tapeworm infection, and even worse… They wouldn’t survive with so much blood taken away from them at an early age!
Ticks are larger than fleas, and creepy arachnid crawlies that also suck blood off of kittens. They are measured to be from 1 mm to 1 cm long, and have white, round shaped body with eight spider legs. The scariest thing about them is that… They are far more DANGEROUS than fleas, since they are capable of spreading many diseases if there were a critical infestation! Those tick carriers can transfer: tapeworm, bartonellosis, babesiosis, anemia, Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever on animals. Thankfully, they are far more easier to spot due to their varying size. In addition, you can feel them like small bumps when you stroke a kitten. That is very heartbreaking to see, and we must save those poor angels!
What should I do when I find a sick, stray kitten?
Once you take them to the vet and are diagnosed to have fleas or ticks that transfer a severe disease on them, it is important to follow their procedures if you are given prescriptions for medicine treatment. Although, if you are unable to schedule a vet appointment and you know they have fleas or ticks, you should go to Petco or any other pet provider store near you and get the essential following:
Fluffy blanket
Heat Pad
3 cc oral syringe (no needle)
Miracle Nipples or a suction nipple perfect for feeding a kitten
Fragrance-free soap or dish detergent
Soft Sponge
KMR-It is a complete diet kitten powder formula to mix with water that is life-saving with fortified vitamins and minerals. DON’T feed them with any other formula for humans, adult cats, or other animals, JUST the KMR!!!
Flea comb
What should I do once I take them home?
When you first take them home:
Cozy up the kitten with a nice blanket if they are left in a cold area. Of course, that blanket would be infested with ticks or flea dirt and shouldn’t be used again unless it’s washed. But at an early age, a kitten’s body isn’t developed enough to produce their own negative feedback against the cold. (For an additional precaution, microwave a heat pad for 5 minutes to increase the cozy temperature of the blanket.)
Once they are snuggled and comfortable, make the KMR formula with warm milk, and suck it up with the 3 cc syringe with a miracle nipple attached. By feeding the kitten with essential vitamins and minerals within the formula, it would help them gain more strength to get those fiendish infestationaries off, and rejuvenate them a little to proper health. This is essential to prepare them for a safe water cleaning to get rid of those fleas and ticks, because if you make a kitten go through a bathing right away, this could kill them! As I’ve explained before, kittens can’t produce body heat to fight the cold at a young age. So it is better to prepare their bodies with warmth and KMR formula, otherwise they won’t survive!
Getting Rid of the Fleas and Ticks (Part 1)
Treatment for taking out fleas or ticks are different, but they share the same procedure when being taken out altogether: baths. Kittens panic and get chilly during the process, thus bathing them must be done quickly in under two minutes. Never leave a kitten wet and unattended!
Go to a sink and turn on the water for warm water, and once it’s warm put it on the kitten’s body. NOT THEIR HEADS!!!
Create a ring of soap around their necks to prevent many of the disgusting insects from crawling up to their face. After doing that, put more soap on their bodies and hand scrub them as you grab water. You must wash from their neck down to their body, while avoiding any of their head parts. If you hear them crying, it does sound really sad, but it’s a good sign to know they are responsive and alive. Don’t panic because you are amazing in saving the kitten’s life.
Once you finish fighting the war against those little intruders, get a towel and wrap the kitten for them to dry, because it is dreadful to leave them wet to freeze.
Getting Rid of the Fleas and Ticks (Part 2)
4. Next, grab a sponge and use the soft spot fused with little water to gently scrape the insects to give them, and if some living bugs wouldn’t come off, try grabbing them out of the kitten’s head.
5. When you finish, grab a spare toothbrush and a blowdryer on a nice heat setting to quickly dry them as you brush their fur. Make sure they lay on a heat pad that is under their wrapped towel to keep them snug and happy. Also, a toothbrush stroking their fur reminds them of their mother cat grooming them with their tongues, which keeps the kitten feel comfortable.
6. But this isn’t the end… If there are still fleas on the kitten, grab some tweezers and take off the remaining little buggers.
Another Method for Flea Removal
Another way to remove fleas apart from bathing a kitten because there is another powerful weapon…. the flea comb! In addition, comb out the kitten in a warm room so they do not get a chill or develop a cold.
Grab a bowl of warm water and add a few drops of liquid detergent.
Comb the fleas, flea dirt, and their eggs off. Then dip them in the water bowl, and mix the comb around the water to drown them.
You should speak to a vet for what they recommend for flea medications, as most of them are DEADLY to kittens, and that’s why a manual removal is one of the safest cleaning processes to get fleas out. Always check with a vet before utilizing the prescribed medicine on your kitten. Some of them require the kitten to be at least eight weeks old, so you can safely use them to kill any flea offspring. In addition, avoid using natural oils that are toxic for the kitten’s flea removal, such as: lavender, eucalyptus, and geranium.
Another Method for Tick Removal
Now to get rid of those dangerous ticks. You’re gonna need: a pair of gloves, tweezers, and an insecticide jar or rubbing alcohol.
Put on the gloves and use one hand to hold down the kitten.
Using the tweezers, pick out the tick. DON’T TRY TO SQUEEZE A TICK WHILE PICKING THEM UP WITH THE TWEEZER. Squeezing them will cause a tick’s harmful inner bacteria to flood into the kitten’s bloodstream.
Drop those little aliens in a jar of insecticide or alcohol. Then, wash your hands for up to 20 seconds.
If you talk to a vet for tick prevention medications, you can apply it on the kitten’s coat. Talk to your vet for more prevention medications before utilization.
If you have antiseptics, gently apply it to a tick bite to prevent infections and check for any infection symptoms (lethargy, stiff limbs, fever, appetite loss).
Important Note: (I am not a veterinarian and found all of these treatments from my research. If you are in doubt, you should contact your veterinarian for the best treatment option)
There ya go! If you follow these steps carefully, you can save those poor little angel kittens. I hope you are able to take the time to give any abandoned kitten a chance at life, and make them feel more alive rather than just survive for most of their days. Thank you for reading and as Princess Diana of Wales said: “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.”
Citations:
[1] “Cats and Ticks: How to Spot and Remove Ticks from Cats.” Blue Cross, www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/cats-and-ticks#:~:text=Cat%20ticks%20are%20spider%2Dlike,%2C%20blood%2Dsucking%20creepy%20crawlies.&text=You%20are%20most%20likely%20to,area%20they%20are%20sitting%20in.
[2] “Fleas and Ticks on Cats: Treatment and Prevention.” Pet Health Network, www.pethealthnetwork.com/cat-health/cat-checkups-preventive-care/fleas-and-ticks-cats-treatment-and-prevention#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20number%20of,short%20time%20periods%20after%20treatment.
[3] Morgan, Stephanie. “Which Are Worse: Fleas or Ticks?” Visalia Pest Control & Exterminator, 17 Feb. 2015, www.sanjoaquinpestcontrolinc.com/blog/which-are-worse-fleas-or-ticks.
[4] Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. “How to Deal with Fleas and Ticks with Newborn Kittens.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 9 Apr. 2019, www.wikihow.com/Deal-with-Fleas-and-Ticks-with-Newborn-Kittens.
[5] “Prescription Flea Medicine For Dogs & Cats: Comfortis (Spinosad).” What Are Fleas? | Comfortis (Spinosad), Elanco, www.comfortis.com/what-are-fleas.
[6] Shaw, Hannah. “Syringe Feeding.” Kitten Lady, www.kittenlady.org/syringefeeding.
[7] Shaw, Hannah. “Fleas.” Kitten Lady, www.kittenlady.org/fleas.
[8] Syufy, Franny. “How to Treat Ticks on Cats.” The Spruce Pets, www.thesprucepets.com/safely-remove-ticks-from-cats-552086.