How to Get Rid of Fleas on a Mother Cat and Her Kittens

If your cat and her kittens have fleas, it can lead to serious health issues for them, including life-threatening anemia in the kittens. You can't use many topical flea treatments, shampoos or sprays on kittens younger than eight weeks and on nursing mothers. Depending on the age of the kittens, you can give them or the mother an oral medication after removing as many fleas as you can by hand. Use primarily natural, nontoxic methods to remove the fleas from both your cats and your environment.

Things You'll Need

  • Dish soap
  • Wash cloth
  • Towels
  • Heating pad
  • Cardboard box
  • Flea comb
  • Petroleum jelly
  • Topical or oral flea treatment
  • Vacuum
  • Borax
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Instructions

    • 1

      Take each kitten and place it in your kitchen sink. Wet the kitten with lukewarm water and lather a small amount of dish soap into its fur, avoiding the face. Allow the suds to sit on the kitten's fur for five to 10 minutes. Dampen a wash cloth and use it to wipe the kitten's face and remove any fleas that you find.

    • 2

      Rinse the kitten thoroughly with lukewarm water. Towel dry the kitten. Wrap a towel around a heating pad set to the lowest setting and place it into a cardboard box. Place the kitten in the box to keep it warm.

    • 3

      Wash and dry each kitten from the litter and place it into the box with the other kittens. Wash and dry the mother using the same method you used for the kittens, allowing the soap to sit on her coat for 10 minutes before rinsing. Unlike with the kittens, you can use a hair dryer to dry off her fur before placing her in the box.

    • 4

      Coat a flea comb with petroleum jelly and use it to comb each kitten's fur to remove any remaining fleas, flea dirt or eggs. (The petroleum jelly helps the fleas stick to the comb.) Dip the comb in a bowl filled with water and a few drops of dishwashing soap. Before reusing the comb on another kitten, rinse it in a separate bowl filled with clean water. Reapply the petroleum jelly to the comb as needed.

    • 5

      Use a prescription topical flea medication that's safe for nursing cats, such as Advantage or Frontline Plus, on the mother. This will kill any remaining fleas on her and treat the kittens as they nurse. Squeeze the liquid from the tube between the mother cat's shoulder blades and rub it in. Alternately, you can give the mother and the kittens (if the kittens are four weeks or older) an oral treatment, such as Capstar, to safely kill the fleas.

    • 6

      Wash the mother's and kittens's bedding in hot water to kill any fleas or flea eggs that remain. Sprinkle borax on carpeting and floors; then vacuum thoroughly. Immediately discard the vacuum bag in a sealed garbage bag.