new 9 week old kitten. lots of questions.

hi trisha…. dawn is good for animals in oil spills but wont keep fleas away. you’re best trying to get an over the counter flea treatment otherwise itll keep coming back.

flea collars under 10 bucks

https://www.google.com/#q=hartz+flea+collar+cats&tbm=shop&spd=17252959621553986423

flea shampoo

https://www.google.com/#q=hartz+flea+shampoo+cats&tbm=shop

shampoo with the flea shampoo, wash your drape and carpets have the kitten wear the collar

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/1215989387115499464?sclient=psy-ab&q=hartz+flea+treatment+home&oq=hartz+flea+treatment+home&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.59930103,d.cWc,pv.xjs.s.en_US.vJ7vy_5RjSY.O&biw=1663&bih=879&tch=1&ech=1&psi=8IbhUsbWK6bfsATM24LYCw.1390511859284.13&sa=X&ei=lIfhUqq_H8q0sQTgnYHIAQ&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAA

now as for spaying, if you live in certain areas, you might be able to get help from a mobile spay/neuter van. 🙂

1. Like SNS said, Dawn does not protect against fleas. I do not know the best flea treatment for cats, as mine are mostly outside cats and I have yet to win that battle (plus they’re not bad in my area…), but be careful what over-the-counter flea sprays and treatments you buy, as a lot of them have been known to cause seizures in pets. I have found everything from Sentry to be ineffective, though.

2. You’ll have to teach the toddler how to properly play with the cat. Buy a wand toy for the cat, and show the toddler how to play with kitty. Teach her not to hit kitty with a wand, but to dangle it near the cat to play with kitty. Teach her to “call” the kitty by giving kitty a treat or dangling the wand. Let the baby give kitty the bowl of food at kitty’s dinner time. You’ll have to teach baby how to properly hold and pet kitty. This just requires patience and reinforcement, plus discipline if baby does something like hitting kitty or swinging kitty by the tail (I’ve seen parents allow kids to do this to cats without any consequences). I have a five month old baby, and I’ve already taught her how to properly pet a cat without grabbing kitty’s tail and such, so they are never too young! 🙂

3. Which shots are important depend on the area you live in, which determines which illnesses are common. Only rabbies vaccine is required by law. If you don’t mind administering the shots yourself, you can buy the vials of the kitten vaccines either online or at your local feed store (that sells hay, chicken feed, and such). The shore you buy it from, both online or at the feed store, can provide you with instructions and guidelines about how to both administer it and at what weeks to administer the shots. You can watch “how to” videos on youtube for how to administer the shots. The only one you cannot administer by law is the rabbies vaccine (must be administered by vet).

As for spaying, I’m not sure about where you live but where I live, you can get a voucher from the shelter that makes the spaying half cost through your vet. It does not matter whether you got the cat off the street or from a private owner, if you call the shelter where I live and ask for a spay voucher, they’ll give you a piece of paper. You then bring the piece of paper to the vet, and the vet gives you a discount for the spaying service. They also do a “kitty fridays” at the humane society where I live, where the kitties are fixed for $30. If you have proof of hardship (like you are on food stamps and such), then you can get it done for even cheaper at the humane society. Again, this is where I live, but you should see if something similar is available in your area. Hope this helped!

Welcome to TDK. You can click pink tags on rside of this chat for more helpful chat/links:
Messybeast, fleas, kittens. (IMHO flea collars are very toxic to cats. I would only put flea collars in my vac cleaner when cleaning hse if have fleas.) I would get an over the counter natural remedy that is safe for cats/kittens & non-toxic to both cats/humans.)

Hi Trisha,

Can’t add more advice than the great tips that the other “TDKrs” have provided, but bless you for saving this kitty and giving her a furrever home. What have you named her?

Ohhh, poor wee darling, thank you so much for rescuing this little one. Fleas are best dealt with by a bath in Dawn (don’t let baby get chilled) and a gentle comb with a flea comb every day (drown the fleas in soapy hot water) until your little one is old enough for vet-provided flea remedies. From what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t buy any over the counter flea remedies in the States. So ask your vet when you take kitten to them, Revolution can, I believe, be given to younger kittens, but it’s only available from a vet in the US. Otherwise your best defence is to vaccuum more often and thoroughly, paying special attention to kitty’s bedding, and I agree with Jeankit, put the flea collar in the vacuum cleaner bag, that way they die once you’ve hoovered them up.