mistaya posted:

1: DO NOT USE FLEA COLLARS. They're very bad for the cat and often do not even work.
2: DO NOT USE ANY PRODUCT WITH A HERTZ LABEL. Hertz has a bad track record of poisoning pets.
3: READ ALL YOUR LABELS. Lots and lots of flea products cannot be used on a kitten less that 12 weeks of age! The product will say on the bottle what age is required for safe use.

Get a bottle of unscented Dawn dishsoap and scrub your kitten in the sink. Start by making a "ring" around the neck to prevent any fleas from trying to rush up to her face and then bathe her like a duck in an oil spill. Don't get her head wet though, if you can help it, or water in her ears.

Anything she's been sleeping on needs to be washed in hot water as it may have eggs on it. Vaccuum everything you can and dump/empty the can/bag immediately. It's not fun but it's a manageable disaster. 11 week old kitten can have Revolution or Capstar I believe if you want to treat the pet directly (which is a good idea) but again, READ YOUR LABELS before you buy anything and make sure you have a safe product for the age and weight of your kitten.

e: If you want home remedies I've heard that using a heat lamp over a plate of soapy water will attract and catch fleas. They go for the heat source, land in the soap and can't get out so they drown. Won't remove eggs but can attract any loose fleas. That said don't leave soapy water plates out unattended in case the kitten thinks it's a water bowl.

e2: You should tell the previous owner about this because if she had fleas they all have fleas.

Gaj posted:

Just to allay my paranioa since this is my first cat. I assume they are ticks because they are small black little oblong thinsg that moved quickly, they were on her head.

Majorian posted:

My wife and I lost our 12-year old kitteh, Sophie, last night after a week-and-a-half long illness. We were asleep, and so was she. She had recently been diagnosed with bad hypertension, and had a seizure yesterday, so I'm guessing she had a stroke somewhere in there. She couldn't even stand up on her own last night. We planned on getting her put to sleep today, and bundled her up when she was asleep and we were going to bed. This morning we woke up and found her in exactly the same position we had left her, just cold and stiff. We were both pretty relieved, I have to say. She went peacefully, knowing that we loved her.

But yeah, this really sucks. My wife had Sophie since before we started going out, and she's been with us for a lot. She comforted us when my wife's parents passed away, she saw us through two big moves and the ups-and-downs of our various jobs, she always came and snuggled with us whenever we were feeling sad or stressed. I've never met a more empathic creature in my life. I was never really a "cat person;" I had cats growing up, but they were outdoor cats (I lived out in the countryside). But I really loved Sophie, and I miss her a lot right now.

Anyway, I've posted here a couple times asking for advice in previous years, and lurked a lot, so thanks to everyone who gave me pointers. Here's our little princess, just a few months ago:

Alucard posted:

I think our cat is dedicated to showing us that cats can be expensive to maintain too... we're on track to get a puppy soon but she's had 4 visits to the vet in a month for various urinary tract issues with constant recovery / relapses.

Anyone else run into this before? I'm hoping that we can do something other than suck up vet bills and hope it doesn't come back again.

Picture of the little jerk for reference:

effika posted:

Please don't use an off-the-shelf collar; one killed my mom's favorite kitten.

Listen to Dienes about vacuuming daily and washing everything. I've also got a post or two in this thread about treating for fleas around the house; let me see if I can find it.

Keep combing that little fluffball with a fleacomb and dip it into a bowl with diluted Dawn dishsoap to trap the fleas off it.

Talk to your vet about topical flea & tick treatments and heartworm prevention. These are usually once-a-month and while expensive to get a year's supply at once, month-to-month they're not too bad. The vet will know what works best in your area too! (e.g. Catego is the go-to here because we have to worry about Bobcat fever, Revolution doesn't do much now, etc).

Edit: Here we go! Integrated Pest Management for Fleas:

• Keep up with the topical flea treatments from the vet. Ask the vet if you need an accelerated application time (e.g. every 3 weeks instead of 4). If you've been given Capstar or another ingestible, use that too on schedule. (Capstar kills the fleas on the pet-- it worked for their cats but left them all lethargic and scared us a bit.)
  
• Vacuum everything you can vacuum with the best vacuum you have access to. Shark, the better Dysons, etc, are great choices if you can. A HEPA filter is great. Empty the canister outside into a trash bag and dispose (or dispose of the vacuum bag) immediately each time you vacuum. You will need to vacuum daily. This includes nooks & crannies of baseboards and furniture, in your closets, etc.
  
• All of your clothes, bedding, jackets and coats in the closets, curtains, etc need to be laundered. Launder daily any pet favorites (like a blanket) and weekly at minimum bedding and curtains.
  
• If your cats are properly treated, you shouldn't need to flea comb them. Try doing so anyway to see if there's anything you can catch.
  
• Shoes possibly brought the fleas in, so make sure outside shoes are taken off ASAP when entering and don't make it to the carpet. If you are extra paranoid and fleas are very bad where you are at, remove your entire outfit and launder. Check yourself for insects before getting dressed again.
  
• Windows need to stay closed, as fleas will jump inside.
  
• Treat the outside areas of your home with pesticides if you have noticed fleas jumping on you when you are outside.
  
• Cut down tall weeds and grass around your home. Avoid walking through tall weeds and grass when possible.
  
• Insect Growth Regulator pesticide is much safer than other flea treatment methods, but will take a few weeks to really show progress as they target only the young, growing fleas. You want a spray or a foam product to apply to areas with flea infestations to directly hit the population, and areas it is tough to get to (like under the furniture). Foggers are NOT a good idea as the fleas and their eggs are usually not in places foggers reach, nor do they provide a strong enough dose to do anything useful.
  

Gaj posted:

Unfortunately she has discovered the joy of knocking all the little things on my desk.

Account McAccount posted:

What are the urinary tract issues, specifically?

And yeah, cats with special needs can get crazy expensive. One of mine has congenital gum disease and it's a few hundred dollars every year for dental procedures. Another one has bad eye herpes and needs fancy eye drops and Prozac Prozac is because she's very timid and anxious (she takes after me!), which makes the eye herpes flare up. It actually works really well. She is a good cat.

Gaj posted:

UUUGGHHHHHHHHHH

So my toilet overflowed and I had to do a full house clean, and I decided hey why not do the litter box as well. Now it seems I either have an allergy to one of the cleaners I used for the floor, or the enzyme cleaner, or I have about 100 flea bites on my stomach.

They looked like this reference image, just over my gut area and about 100 of them. They were bright red and raised.
https://www.orkin.com/other/fleas/flea-bites
However, they have all gone away in about 30 minutes, like all gone.

Now assuming the worst, I have flea bites, I am washing my entire bedspread again. Also my Cheristin came in the mail today and once my kitten is napping I will apply it to her.

My question is what can I do to fumigate my mattress. Like can I throw down some of the flea carpet powder under my foam pad or what. Should I just go ahead and call an exterminator? Should I do something stupid and apply the Cheristin to the mattress (under the foam pad and 2 mattress sheets) itself?

Gaj posted:

My question is what can I do to fumigate my mattress. Like can I throw down some of the flea carpet powder under my foam pad or what. Should I just go ahead and call an exterminator? Should I do something stupid and apply the Cheristin to the mattress (under the foam pad and 2 mattress sheets) itself?

Alucard posted:

Before you go apeshit with flea treament, how closely clustered were they, and were they anywhere your cleaners could have touched? It could be contact dermatitis. If you had that many flea bites in short order you'd probably see the fleas bounding around in your place.

I stayed in a friends place that was flea infested in one room and it was very apparent. Thankfully his side was clear so I slept in his room and neither of us got any of our stuff affected.

Gaj posted:

Yeah Im now leaning towards contact dermatitis, as I have fairly sensative skin, my kitty isnt going crazy on scratching, and the bumps literally dissapeared in less than 30 minutes. They were randomly scattered with no visible patterns or clusters, kinda like maybe a backspray from a cleaner.

Will get a flea bag for my mattress.

EDIT

Question: Flea treatment warning says not to get into cats eyes or mouth obviously, and advises to apply to the back of the head. However it also says that if you have 2 cats it is ok for them to groom each other after 30 minutes and the solution dries. Wouldnt basic grooming possibly allow the flea treatment to be licked and thus ingested? Should I avoid scratching/petting the back of my kitty's head? Im not trying to over think this Im just curious how this works.

Deteriorata posted:

I think you want as much as possible to get soaked into their skin to kill the fleas. If they lick it, it goes through their digestive system, where there aren't any fleas. Cheristin doesn't do anything to intestinal parasites, so it's useless there. The solvent is probably the main problem. Getting acetone in your eyes hurts like hell.

Remember that Cheristin is a one-time treatment that kills the fleas that are on your pet at the time. It won't kill the fleas in your carpet, or prevent reinfestation when eggs hatch. Long-term flea control is better with a monthly treatment like Revolution. It's more expensive, but keeps working after treatment.

Gaj posted:

FelicityGS posted:

For the separation, I lock one cat in the bathroom and suffer both crying piteously on each side of the door for thirty minutes, then let them free.

eta: Don't touch the spot you put it for at least thirty minutes as well to avoid putting it in grooming reach.

This is all stuff my vet told me when I asked regarding Lucky and Toasters heartworm/flea prevention

Shroomie posted:

I just wait for their "off hours" when I know they're both going to be sleeping away from each other for a while. Like, usually after dinner they spaz out for 45 minutes and then take a nap, so that's when I hit them.

I live in a swampy area and it's been a hot Florida summer. Advantage doesn't seem to be working as well anymore, so I think I might give Cheristin a shot in a couple weeks when they're due for a re-up.

Fartington Butts posted:

Just spent a bit of time wondering why my cat was just meowing her face off from downstairs. I went down there and: "She got a cricket and wants to show us."

Vivian Darkbloom posted:

I picked up some Feliway solution to apply to Terry's scratching post and he loves the stuff. But he still loves scratching my couch to bits, so I guess I'll try one of those bad-tasting sprays to see if that works?

Vivian Darkbloom posted:

Yeah, you guys might be right about that. One problem I've had in redirecting him is that he largely ignores the sisal/jute rope that most scratching posts use and won't go for the textured cardboard either. He's pretty enthusiastic about the shag carpeting at the base of his little crow's nest though, so I might see about getting a few carpet swatches for him to destroy.

Vivian Darkbloom posted:

Yeah, you guys might be right about that. One problem I've had in redirecting him is that he largely ignores the sisal/jute rope that most scratching posts use and won't go for the textured cardboard either. He's pretty enthusiastic about the shag carpeting at the base of his little crow's nest though, so I might see about getting a few carpet swatches for him to destroy.

Rotten Red Rod posted:

How would bad-TASTING sprays stop your cat from SCRATCHING something?