Mother cat and 1 week old kitten with fleas, HELP!

[JinxyCat]

Hello.
Ive just read your article, as I had concerns about my mother and one week old kitten with fleas. The only vet near by does not carry any means of flea treatment safe enough for the baby, and if I treat the mother, the baby will only be eaten more. Im scared of anemia, and I dont know what to do. Is there any form of treatment I can use? Our vet here is not very helpful, and I believe doesnt care enough about the animals. Ive no where else to turn. Ive searched online, and havent found a treatment. I dont know if he is anemic or not. He seems healthy and active enough. His tongue is a bit pale, and there are quite a few fleas on him. Ive tried to pick a few off, but he starts meowing, and I dont want to hurt or over handle him, as hes so young. Please help me.

Concerned pet owner

[Tambrey]

keep working on the fleas....you are right to not use ANY products on the mom even...

about the best thing you can do is keep them confined to a single room, preferably with no carpet or much furniture...a bathroom is good...clean it EVERY day...vacuum EVERY day...you CAN put a piece of a flea collar in the vacuum cleaner bag, and dump the bag when you are done...and wash your hands after handling the collar....

get some plain BLUE Dawn dishsoap and a flea comb...full a cup or bowl with warm soapy water and comb through the Mom, dip the comb, wipe and repeat...do this through her entire coat...and do the kitten as much as he will allow at a time...you need to get the fleas off of both of them....
do this EVERY DAY and soon the fleas will begin to dwindle down...it is quite a task, but with a kitten so young, it is about all that you can do...

change and wash their bedding EVERY DAY, or more often if you can, in HOT water and dry in a dryer...

make sure no fleas hitch a ride on your pantlegs when you leave the room...

is there any other vet in your area that you can take them both to for a health visit?....

[Tambrey]

I see that you are in Ontario....I am sure there are LOTS of vets up there....make some calls and see what you can find...if there is a feline vet, see if you can get in there....

[JinxyCat]

Thanks alot for your help. I will take your advice and get to work on what you said to do.

There are other vets in other towns and cities, but I dont drive, and dont have any way to get there. I really wish I did.

This has been a really bad experience. Jinx the mother, was mine. I couldnt keep her, so I had a friend take care of her for a few months. The she had the baby, and well I wanted her back, and my friend couldnt take care of her anymore, so I made my mom take her back. Then I noticed she still had another kitten in her, 4 days after the other was born. Then she had some delivery complications, and I had to take her to the vet. She had a still born, and cost me alot of money. And just the other day I realized she brought home fleas from my friends other animals. I called my vet, and they dont have any treatment, and from the way they acted when I was in the other day, didnt seem to care much about the animals, but about the money they bring in, refusing to see Jinx without money upfront, which I didnt have, and had to borrow. Im scared for them. Cause I cant afford it all, and its hard. I want to save them, more then anything. I just wish I had the money and better resources around.

I will though do whatever I can, and if that means all the work you told me about, Im going to do it.

Thanks alot.

[Tambrey]

Thank you....you obviously care about your kitty and want to do what is best for Jinx and Gabriel...

Do you work?....you can try applying for Care Credit to help with vet bills
http://www.carecredit.ca/

or maybe call around....many vets will take post dated checks and hold them....ours will take them up to 6 months out, depending on the size of the total bill...

And you DO keep Jinx Indoor Only, right?!

[JinxyCat]

I do really care.
Jinx is like my kid.

I dont work, which makes this all so very hard.
Our vet also does not take post dated checks.
Like I said, they are all about the money.
Its very unfair, and I dont believe they care enough about the animals.
Its very wrong, and sad cause its all we have around here.
Im not the only one with a suffering animal, but I am one who cares.
I think that should count for something, and they should help, but they dont.

Jinx was outdoors at my friends place, though I was against it, I am not letting her back out. And she hasnt been out since the kitten was born.

[Traci]

I really doubt the vet doesn't care. On the contrary, he can't just treat every pet that comes in without the owner paying. Vets are just like any other business. Would you expect to take your human children to a physician and the physician never getting paid for his services? Or you have to see a dr, do you think that dr shouldn't be paid?

What you really NEED to do is get this poor kitten to the vet, RIGHT NOW. Anemia in kittens can be fatal within hours to days, and this kitten deserves better. You somehow got the other cat in for health issues, why isn't the kitten just as important. (I sure hope you had the other kitty spayed by now).

Regardless of the advice Tambrey gave regarding removing fleas from the body, your kitten needs effective treatment because you probably have fleas in the environment by now, which means, no amount of bathing the kitten or using dawn dishsoap is going to matter because it isn't going to kill the rest of the fleas. You also take a risk with constant bathing or having the fur wet, in a tiny young kitten with no defenses, if you do not take extreme care by keeping his body dry and warm, with accompanied anemia, you are putting him at further risk! Anemic kittens often have low temperatures which put them at risk for hypothermia, which is just another life-threatening problem. Do the right thing and get him to the vet immediately for proper and effective treatment. Or call other vets in the area if you're more comfortable with him. The point is, your kitten needs treatment NOW.

Your vet DOES have effective treatment available, but do you think you should expect him to prescribe it free because you don't want to pay him for his services? Please, think, and get this poor baby to a vet RIGHT THIS MINUTE. It's not just a matter of caring, that's not enough. It's a matter of responsibility, pet ownership involves getting pets to a vet immediately when necessary and paying reasonable costs for the safety and well-being and health of the pet.

To the vet, TODAY please!

[JinxyCat]

Did you not read anything I wrote.
I DO NOT have any money, so therefor they will NOT see my cats.
I called and asked if they had any treatment for a kitten his age, and they said no, I did NOT mention I didnt have any money for it.

I am doing the best I can.

If the vet truly cared, he would help me out, and let me pay him as soon as I can, and I would, but that isnt an option they offer. You cant expect every pet owner to have money in every emergency, and right now I dont.

I have no one to help me, financially or emotionally, so please tell me what Im supposed to do?
Since you seem to know it all.

I want nothing more then to save these cats, and I would love to be able to take them to the vet without worry of money.
I know Ive already saved them in bringing them home, if not the mother would be dead now, from the rotting stillborn she still had in her.
And with new problems developing, and no money, its done nothing but stress me out.

I DO CARE!!! Or why would I be here for help, I am SCARED, cause I dont want to lose either one of them.

But you obviously didnt read all I wrote.
Home remedies are all I can do right now.
Unless that is my vet magically gets some new treatment safe enough for my baby.

[Traci]

Why do you think the vet should take in every animal without payment? He wouldn't be there to help animals if no one paid him. It is a service! Do you think it's fair to him that he helps every single animal and then doesn't have any money to help the next animal? A vet business is an expensive business, it entails having to pay staff high wages, pay vets and associates high wages, pay for laboratory equipment, pay utilities, pay taxes and extremely high insurance, pay for diagnostic tools and equipment, pay for surgical equipment, xrays, etc, pay for upkeep, repairs and other things for that equipment, pay for pharmaceuticals, pay for operating expenses. And pay for his loans he took out to become a veterinarian, because he DOES care.

Please keep in mind that every vet on the planet has done just as you wish. They've paid themselves for treating animals who's owners had no money. They've paid themselves for treating animals the owners said had no money, and yet they did, but the vet got duped. This happens on a daily basis. In a perfect world, every person with a service would give their services for free, but this isn't a perfect world.

Vets who do actually help out in these situations, will work with owners who have an established relationship with them, and actually show the initiative to pay, show the initiative to pay in a timely manner and show the vet they intend to care for the pet in whatever way possible. Post-dated checks are a possibility, but if you don't have a job, I guess that's moot.

This is relatively simple. If you can't properly care for your animals, you shouldn't keep bringing more in.

Can you get a job? If not, why not? Can you pawn or sell something of value? If not, why not? Can you ask a friend to borrow a credit card or help and pay them back later? If not, why not? (appears you did for the other cat). Where there is a will, there is a way, but the internet is NOT the place to be getting your information, only a vet exam and determining the extent of the problem is going to help this kitten. You said his tongue is pale, that very well could be indicative of a severe anemia that is affecting him as we speak. The longer he goes without treatment, the more at risk he's going to be.

I will only say this again, the vet carries proper and safe flea treatment and can apply the treatment in a very small amount, an amount that is safe for the kitten's age. However, if he is severely anemic, the anemia needs to be treated as well. Do NOT use any over-the-counter flea product as this will surely kill the poor little guy (nor any other "home remedies"). The right thing, the proper thing to do is get him to a vet for SAFE and effective treatment, and then clean the environment as Tambrey mentioned, to prevent the fleas from spreading or eggs from hatching.

I don't know why the vet said there is no treatment for a kitten, he is either lying or you misunderstood him. Either way, he wasn't obligated to see you without knowing you could pay him for his services. You might, however, have better luck with another vet, if you try, but they too are not obligated without payment at time of service. Again, sell something of value, pawn something, ask a friend for temporary help, pay them back by doing something for them yourself, etc etc etc.

[JinxyCat]

You seriously are misunderstanding me completely.

I WILL or WOULD pay the vet, AS SOON AS I CAN/COULD!!!
But he isnt giving me that option.
I understand that they need to get paid, and I understand they cant give me a freebie, but its not what Im asking for. I WILL pay, I just cant right now. When a vet visit means life or death for an animal, they shouldnt think twice about taking it.

The other cat isnt more important then the baby, but at the time I could borrow money, but I cant now. Ive reached my limits of borrowing, my family, me, and my friends are not wealthy. More on the poor side.

And if you would have listened, I saved these cats. No I cant afford to have them, and no I shouldnt have more. But at least I care enough to do my best with them. Ive had many pets before, and never once had to take one to the vet. Not till now. But despite your rudeness, I do care, and these cats will make it through, with or without your help.

Ive borrowed money, and owe money, and I cannot borrow anymore.
Ive nothing of value to pawn, and we dont have any pawn shops here anyways.

Im doing the best I can, with what Ive got, which isnt alot.

All you've done is made me feel like a piece of *beep*.
Thanks, stress is an illeness too.