I have two adult spayed cats, one 8 week old kitten and a nursing mama with five 3-week old kittens. This is my first encounter with fleas and I am at a loss. I first found the infestation when I took an older cat to the vet. I treated all the adults with Advantage, except the pregnant one. The advantage has helped the two adults, although I think they will need a larger dose next time, as I'm still finding fleas on them. I've treated the carpets and bedding with powder, and just today with a spray. Today I found fleas on the baby kittens and called the vet because all the products say not to use on under 8-12 weeks old. The vet said they would use a spray and leave it on a short while and then wipe it off. So I tried this at home using Adam's Flea and Tick Mist. I wiped it on fairly thoroughly with paper towels, left it on for about 90 minutes, then rinsed each kitten with water. I also put the Mist on the mama's back only, so the kittens wouldn't ingest it while nursing.

I read in some previous threads about feeding garlic and/or Brewer's Yeast for continuous organic prevention and control and would very much like to hear more about this and any other organic methods. Can I use fresh garlic? How much? Garlic AND Brewer's Yeast, or one or the other?

Also, two babies seem to have a problem with discharge in one of their eyes. The mama was a stray, so has probably never had any shots. After she's done nursing, I plan to get her spayed and get her shots, but are there things I should watch for in the kitties in the meantime? I'd like to keep them as healthy as possible so I can give them away when they're old enough.

This forum is awesome...I really need to spend more time here. There's a world of wisdom out there for the asking! Thanks in advance to all.

-- Dawn Ricklefs (papermaker76@bigfoot.com), August 23, 2001

Answers

Hi Dawn, Bless you for taking in the mamma cat and babies! You sure have a houseful. On the discharge from the babies eyes - use a damp, soft washcloth and gently clean the goop out of their eyes. It's not unusual for the discharge, but if it gets worse or the eye looks cloudy, better to be safe and take to the vets. I use garlic and brewers yeast on my dogs, haven't tried it on my cats yet. I would suggest sprinkling a wee bit of garlic powder on the bigger cats' wet food to start and mixing it in well. There are organic flea powders out there you can use safely on kittens, the one I used on my kittens years ago had pennyroyal in it (sorry, can't remember the name. If you have access to the herb pennyroyal, plant it around the door, pick a few leaves off, crush and sprinkle on floor. Wait a few hours then vacuum. The organic stuff doesn't work as fast as the chemicals, but it does work and it is a whole lot safer. Good luck.

-- yancee in texas (rnanning@comwerx.net), August 23, 2001.

Hi Dawn, you can feed garlic and nutritional yeast, works better than Brewer's yeast, both help the other in being more effective. Use garlic powder and nutritional yeast powder, they mix and keep better, and are cheaper to find.

Start out at a 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic/yeast mixed in some canned food that the cats really like, give the dose twice a day. if you don't see any improvement in the fleas after two or three weeks (this does not work overnight!!!), up the dose to 3/4 teaspoon, or a teaspoon if the cat is over 10 pounds and will eat it!

It will not hurt the animals in any way provided you start the dose small and let their digestive tracts get used to it, otherwise it can cause gas, bloating, and diahhrea.

The kitten's eyes need cleaned with mild soapy warm water and a rag, do this as often as needed, every time you see them runny. It is normal for this to happen, and as long as they are eating and acting OK, don't worry about it.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), August 23, 2001.

watch all the kittens gums-if the are very pale it means that they have become anemic from the fleas on them. I learned the hard way by losing 3 kittens before I found the cause. I have also used tea trea oil soap to give the kitten a bath-kills the fleas and they smell good too

-- dale (DMDM444@aol.com), August 23, 2001.

If the kittens eyes are open you can put in antibiotic drops , depending on your state will depend if you can buy them over the counter .Garlic and yeast will take a little while to kick in .You may need to bath the babies daily {and mama} also spray and power often .Wash in hot water with bleach if possible.I imagine you still have them in the house and that is why the cats are getting reinfested .You may want to consider a bomb.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), August 23, 2001.

You can get the nutritional yeast at a health food store. It's actually a good source of B vitamins for people too.

-- Susan (smtroxel@socket.net), August 23, 2001.

Dawn - the garlic and yeast take a bit of time to kick in - and I don't know how tiny kittens stomachs can tolerate it. Also, I would not use any soap for their eyes - just plain warm water and a soft washcloth. I have used gentle flea powders on kittens very carefully, but the best treatment, in my opinion, is the fleacomb. It picks up the adults and the eggs, without any adverse reactions. Have a cup of soapy water ready to dip the comb in to get rid of the fleas.

-- Dianne (willow@config.com), August 23, 2001.

We had a major(to my standards anyways)flea infestation due to puppy and supposedly male cat we brought in. Turns out cat was female and now we have 4 cats and 4 kittens, plus the dog. I quick-dipped them (did not leave them in the dip as long as package suggested because I hate chemicals and kittens were two weeks under the suggested age). I began feeding them the brewers yeast and garlic mix immediately and our fleas are less, but not gone and the indoor cats do not like the garlic, which is unusual because my cats usually climb my legs when they smell it. A bomb will get rid of them(we haven't done it yet due to pilot on stove and water heater and time restraints), but it will kill all else and last for months(not even a fly last summer after bombing despite the manure pile not far away). Very scary how well the bombs work! Garlic and yeast will keep the fleas away once your home is free of them, though. Good Luck, Blessings, Epona

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), August 23, 2001.

DOn't forget about DE-- Diatomaceous Earth (sp?)

-- Brendan K Callahan (Grinnell, IA) (sleeping@iowatelecom.net), August 23, 2001.

I recently had a really bad infestation with my three cats. There is a new product available from the vet that consists of one pill (cost is less than $2/pill). Within 30 minutes of giving it to the animal (dog or cat) the fleas will start dying and falling off the animal. You may want to start feeding the garlic/yeast combo but also give a one-time dose of Capstar to get rid of the fleas already on the cats. The vet would probably know about the safety of giving it to a nursing momma.

-- Deb Foster (DFoster987@aol.com), August 24, 2001.

I use some stuff called "Flea Fix", with generally good results. It is a hormone-based product that prevents baby fleas from growig up into biting adults, so you still have to kill off the adults at first until the old generation dies off (plus it won't kill off any that are brought in from elsewhere.) Very species specific, like Bt. It lasts 7 months. You get it from GardensAlive!, or other organic gardening sources. The stuff from GardensAlive! is $9.99 (for a 1 oz bottle of concentrate. You mix in your sprayer and spray down the carpets, matresses, anything that fleas will live in including the yard. 1 oz treats 1500 square feet. The 4 oz bottle is 29.75. Order number is 3140 (1oz) or 3141 (4oz). Order at 812-537-8650 or 5100 Schenley Place, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025. Shipping and handling are $5.95 for up to $25 and $7.99 for $25.01 to $45.00, so it makes sense to put together a full order first. Their products are really good, though.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), August 25, 2001.

Soni, the Flea Fix sounds similar to "Program", which I believe you would have to buy from a vet. Program works great for me. While it's true that it won't kill adult fleas, they don't live all that long anyway, and a flea bite here and there seems a lot better than poison on the animal. After the adult fleas die, there will never be anymore born in the cat's fur, or in its bedding. The problem will be safely solved, unless there are A LOT of fleabag cats or dogs who come visit your animals. It works great for dogs, too. It's not a poison, is harmless to all animals (including humans) except fleas. Amazing product.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), August 25, 2001.

Just a quick note to say thanks! to all of you for your prompt and very helpful responses. I've declared all-out war, using every technique suggested, and then some. I do believe I'm winning the battle, if not the war. Thanks again to everybody!

-- Dawn R - SC Missouri (papermaker76@bigfoot.com), August 29, 2001.

I lived in the south for 15 years w/indoor/outdoor cats. the Adams says it's safe even on kittens, but you are right this is war. if untreated flea eggs can remain unhatched for 15 years! diotomatious earth (not the pool kind) can be used on all, just try to keep from breathing it.mixed with baking soda and sprinkle on the carpet. vacuum with a kirby,an add said they pick up 90% of flea eggs. (the add was in an old catfancy.) also pyrethrum powder added helps. the combs work if you are quick. sorry so late I just started e-mail and typing too. -N-

-- nicole morgan (bamorgan@mindspring.com), November 01, 2001.