Is It Bad If Newborn Kittens Have Fleas

Keep a very close eye for fleas on kittens as a heavy infestation can kill.

Is it bad if newborn kittens have fleas. These little bloodsucking insects can cause major problems for kittens and need to be removed. Dry the baby with warm towels so we don t drop their temperature too much and dry the best you can. Fleas can make a new home on your kitten in many ways even in indoor cats. The mother may have fleas the kitten may have picked them up outside or sand tracked indoors can even contain 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. 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. If the kitten scratches itself or licks the area where fleas are present it is very possible for the kitten to ingest fleas. For kittens younger than 4 weeks there is no safe medication for killing their fleas.

One old myth says that kittens can be born with fleas but this is not true. My go to product is the vet. The preventive to treat kittens with fleas. To kill anything that the bath didn t completely get rid of we need a preventative.

Blood sucking parasites can be fatal to kittens as they can cause anemia or a low red blood cell count or carry lyme disease. 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. Fleas are annoying to humans and animals and can actually be dangerous for very young 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.

While you can safely use flea medications on nursing mothers manual removal is usually necessary for newborn kittens. Because of newborn kittens young age and fragility do not apply any type of detergent or medication on them. However most professional flea and tick products contain toxic ingredients that can be fatal to kittens. With the baby being under 8 weeks of age we have to be careful with what we use.

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. Fleas can make kittens itchy and spread disease and if they re really severe they can even cause serious blood loss and illness.