Cats!

[Lani]

You have to go to Amazon to get it?

[keith]

Peanut.

I see lots of records, but no turntable.

Whatcha got?

[Sequoia32]

FLEAS! I’ve been eaten alive.

We knew she had them, but she was too little to treat. She’s FINALLY old enough and heavy enough for Frontline, so she got her first treatment today. We’re all going to be a lot happier.

Edited to remove unsolicited advice and to say I'm glad she's fine.

[Maybenaut]

She’s fine.

[Azastan]

Diatomaceous earth is not safe for any animal to breathe. It can, and does, cause respiratory issues.

[Maybenaut]

FLEAS! I’ve been eaten alive.

We knew she had them, but she was too little to treat. She’s FINALLY old enough and heavy enough for Frontline, so she got her first treatment today. We’re all going to be a lot happier.

Edited to remove unsolicited advice and to say I'm glad she's fine.

Our vet told us to wait til she was 8 weeks and 1.5 lbs. They did the second worm treatment when we took her back for the URI.

She’s a little ball of energy!

[Sequoia32]

He didn't tell you you could just bathe* her and be rid of them? Why should you all suffer and have your home infested?



*Two warm bowls of water (warmer than for humans - cats' temps are 100-102), Dawn dish soap, Castile soap or some other mild soap handy.

Place kitten in 1st bowl, grab your soap and quickly suds a ring around her neck. This keeps the fleas from climbing up onto her face.

Soap up the rest of the body, see all of the dead fleas. Comb them out if you want. Keep kitty's chin on the edge of the bowl so she doesn't accidentally slip too far down into the water.

Put her in clean bowl, rinse out/wash away dead fleas. Rinse carefully under warm faucet if needed.

Carefully wash face/head with cloth and comb if needed to remove any fleas there.

Immediately dry off. Use hairdryer carefully to fully dry.

As I said, we use 1 drop of flea meds on newborns. It is actually safer and less stressful than bathing tiny ones.

[Maybenaut]

He did say we could bathe her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She seemed pretty traumatized when we got her and I didn’t want to make it worse.

[sugar magnolia]

Bathing my sweet Lucille Parker Purrer is how I found out that I had accidentally stolen someone's kitten.

[Sequoia32]

I can understand that but fleas can be a serious problem for kittens and and not a good thing to have infesting your home.

Most kittens settle into the warm water an actually seem to enjoy it.

I avoid baths because of the need to get them completely dry down to the skin and I am usually dealing with compromised kittens.

If they have loose stools, I try to get away with just a butt-bath.

4 Diseases Carried by Fleas That Could Make Your Cat Sick

While a flea infestation is a big problem on its own, diseases carried by fleas can also introduce your cat to a host of issues that can threaten their health and happiness. Here are the four most common diseases caused by fleas in cats.

1. Bartonellosis in Cats and Cat Scratch Disease

Cats can contract a bacterial infection called bartonellosis from ingesting flea droppings when infected fleas shed the bacteria in their feces and drop their waste right on your cat. It’s this close contact between flea droppings and your cat’s skin that creates a breeding ground for the Bartonella bacteria.

While cats usually don’t get sick from this infection, a wide variety of feline medical conditions have been linked with Bartonella bacteria, including mouth and gum disease, eye inflammation and heart disease. One troubling concern is that cats can carry the bacteria in their systems for more than a year, potentially passing it to other fleas and, in turn, other cats — or even potentially infecting a human with cat scratch disease. When a cat with Bartonella bacteria around their nails scratches a human, the bacteria can infect the fresh wound — hence “cat scratch fever” or “cat scratch disease.”

2. Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD) in Cats

Fleas are bad enough, but flea bites on cats can lead to other issues. Cats can be hypersensitive to fleas’ saliva when they bite, causing a condition called flea allergy dermatitis, one of the most common causes of itchiness in cats.

When fleas bite, substances in their saliva can enter your cat’s skin and trigger an immune response. This can cause intense skin irritation that spreads beyond the bite locations, resulting in hair loss around the tail, belly and inner thighs, as well as skin infections that can make the problem even worse.

If your cat is experiencing FAD, you may see or even feel small scab-like bumps on their skin. These miserable symptoms will continue until the fleas are controlled.

3. Anemia in Cats

If a large number of fleas bite your cat and feed, your cat can develop anemia. Symptoms of anemia in cats include weakness, lethargy, rapid breathing and potentially death if the fleas are not killed. This is a serious medical condition, especially in kittens, that should be addressed through veterinary care right away.

4. Tapeworms in Cats

Tapeworms can be passed to cats from fleas, often during grooming sessions. If your cat swallows a flea infected with tapeworms, your cat can also become infected. Tapeworms attach to your cat’s intestines with their sharp, hook-like mouthparts, where they then grow and steal nutrients from your cat.

You may see pieces of the worms stuck around your cat’s backside. These pieces, which look like white grains of rice, are actually packets of tapeworm eggs that might appear to move on closer inspection. When the outer casing of these packets dries out, eggs are released into the environment where a flea can swallow them and the cycle can be repeated.

[Sequoia32]

Bathing my sweet Lucille Parker Purrer is how I found out that I had accidentally stolen someone's kitten.

I must have missed how this happened. Please explain. Sounds like a good story.

[sugar magnolia]

Bathing my sweet Lucille Parker Purrer is how I found out that I had accidentally stolen someone's kitten.

I must have missed how this happened. Please explain. Sounds like a good story.

We had an art show about 2 hours south of here and arrived a few minutes early to drop off the work. We heard a tiny baby kitten crying and spent several minutes before locating her under a car. Coaxed her out about the time the gallery manager pulled up and he said they'd been trying to catch her for several days with no luck. We knew one of our tenants was looking for a kitten so we put her in a box, texted the tenant, hung the art work and headed back to town. About an hour into the return trip we got a text saying they'd decided against the kitten, so she became mine by default. She had a stripe of grease down her back and lots of fleas, so the first order of business was to give her a bath. She seemed to tolerate it very well and especially enjoyed the warm bath towel I dried her with. Head, ears, face, back, legs, all good and fluffed up. Only the belly left. Flipped her over, started towel drying her and noticed stitches. From spaying! I had stolen someone's cat!!!

I didn't feel too bad though, since the manager had already told us she was out in their parking lot for at least 3 days. She is a beautiful sweet calico and we wubs her. She is the first cat we've ever had that HATED the cold. She's already sleeping in the house at night now that it's cooler, and once the days get cool she'll stay inside except to pee and poop. If it snows, she doesn't even go out for that.

[Sequoia32]

I knew you had a good story to tell.

Thank goodness you took her. Poor little thing. Sounds like she has a wonderful life with you.

[RVInit]

[RTH10260]

[Estiveo]

[Maybenaut]

Stormy attacked the cat in the mirror.

[Sequoia32]

She's so cute! And entertaining.

[Phoenix520]

Someone just shoot me, please.

I’m going to foster kittens again. Oh well I’m not sleeping anyway.

[Phoenix520]

PS I love your floor, maybenaut!

[AndyinPA]

[Uninformed]

Wonderfully bad

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Bravo! The calico looks just like my Siri.

[Maybenaut]

Stormy fell in the toilet yesterday. Regrettably, there are no photographs.

[FiveAcres]

Stormy fell in the toilet yesterday. Regrettably, there are no photographs.

Kittens, in my experience, usually only do that once.