Advice needed - odd 'parasite' on my kitten..

Plek Trum

Hi all,
we have our lovely kittens home with a week and all is going well Lots of fun and fussing.
Billy is 9 weeks roughly and Maisie 12 weeks. We treated both with Johnsons Flea and Tick drops (back of neck, base of tail) one week ago and thought this should be fine.

However, while grooming Billy last night, I discovered several teeny black little dots deep in his fur (he is white), the more I brush the more seem to appear. They are not fleas, they dont move and dont seem to have any 'flea features'.

The worrying thing was I spotted two 'crawlers' for want of a better word :eek: Grey / brown thing, thing, long shape, no legs that I could see, about 4mm in length. I tried to pull it out but it moved fast and away, tried repeatedly but couldnt catch it. Sort of slithered away!

I was at the vet 2 days ago to get a different flea / tick treatment as they scratched a few times and I had seen these little black dots but he advised me not to treat them until they are both 3 months old. This was before I saw these new things though..

Any ideas what they could be? Why didnt the initial tretment work? Any product that you would recommend that would be safe at this age for both of them? All advice appreciated, thanks...

Toulouse

Personally I wouldn't use supermarket brand flea treatments on any pet. Only the stuff you can get over the counter from the vet. That goes for wormers too.

The black bits sound like flea dirt which is pretty much dried blood. Fleas are pretty fast and can seem to slither through your fingers. You can get a flea comb and go over them both until they are old enough to treat. I'd be wary about treating them again with another product so soon after the last one so take your vets advice about this.

If they are on your pet then they are in their bedding, which should be washed at 60degrees and make sure you keep hoovering your house well.

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/fleas/info.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_flea

Plek Trum

Thanks for that - will give the place a good scouring this evening and wash the beds. Will get a flea comb too and keep on top of that for a few weeks until we can dose them again. Relief that it isnt anything too sinister!

morgana

Yeah sounds like fleas or what they leave behind :P. As the previous poster, I would not rely on supermarket-bought flea / worm treatments. Frontline is excellent so is Advantage flea/worm spot on. Frontline has the advantage that it can be sprayed on bedding etc as well making sure the little buggers can settle in anywhere.

mymo

As above, its flea dirt.
Give your vet a call and ask about the flea powders, I'm sure theres one for kittens(sorry can't remember name, been a while since had kittens).
Brush the fur back the wrong way and shake it on, then comb through as much as you can, prime sites are around the neck and at the base of the tail, but try to get it all over if you can. Also buy some of the spray for bedding and use it on any carpet or fabric that you can't wash, air the rooms well after.

Plek Trum

Will do - all part of the job I guess! Thanks guys, feel itchy now thinking about it :rolleyes: