Urgent, Frontline Q. for Kittens

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It was the regular Top Spot. I may have erred on the side of caution
and not used enough of it. Guess we'll see if the fleas all die.


One drop is about 0.05 ml - so I don't think you gave them too little.



I got
most of the ones on the bodies of the kittens in the bath, but it was
the ones around the head that were still alive.


They probably migrated from the torso to the head when the torso got wet. I
always do the head first with a washcloth so the fleas migrate to the torso
and die in the bath.



YES, kitten season is long here. By now it should have peaked and new
litters started to dwindle. It's not dwindling, not at all. :-(


This year has been terrible and it doesn't seem to be tapering. I'm very
worry about a panleuk epidemic with all these kits. How's it been by you?

Many kits are too young to vaccinate and I don't have a history for most of
them. So we've been inoculating the very young ones with antisera from
adults that have a high titers to panleuk. So far so good- not a single
case- but a couple of fosters have had a few losses.

The only problem with antisera is that the antibodies interfere with the
vaccine the same way as
maternally-derived antibodies- so I have to hold off on the vaccinations for
a little longer. I can live with that because at least I know they're
protected during their most vulnerable time.

Don't get me wrong- I love kittens but dozens of them sure are nerve-racking
and very time-consuming! I don't have time for trapping- and this month is
a crucial time - neutered females need several weeks for their fur to grow
back before the cold weather sets it. I gotta a feeling this winter is
going to be a nightmare digging out shelters and feeding stations. ;-((((

Phil

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Phil P. wrote:


PS: I'll see your 4 and raise you 9! Is it my imagination or has this
been
an unusually long kitten season?

Can I vent? Here are the circumstances. My son found these kittens in
his front yard--he lives across from an elementary school. Two little
girls came up and said, "Those are our kittens." Fine. They took them.
In 5 minutes, here they came back with them and said, "Our mom took
them away. She said they would find good homes by the school. She said
we can keep the Mama cat."

Now. I found out where they live, but I was unable to confront the
idiot mother today. I was just too angry. I couldn't just go up and
knock on their door. I'd have looked and acted like a rabid chihuahua.

So I have collected myself, and tomorrow I am going over there and take
an application for the *free* low-income spay/neuter program we're
doing at the shelter. If their income doesn't qualify them I'll push it
through anyway. If the woman doesn't take me seriously, I am telling
her that dumping defenseless kittens is a felony according to the
animal cruelty statutes in the STate of Oklahoma and I will see to it
that she is charged with animal cruelty unless she lets me get that
mama cat spayed.

Ack. I'm getting worked up again just telling this. The nerve. Taking
four flea-infested 10-week-old kittens and dumping them in front of an
elementary school on purpose.


I have zero tolerance for people who dump helpless kittens. *Zero*. Remind
me 2008 to tell you a story about an asshole I caught dumping a litter of
dehydrated, malnourished and flea-infested kittens on the side of a
*highway*. When I saw how he put the box down- I knew what was in it.
Suffice to say for now, he wished it was a cop that caught him that night.
I'll never forget those kittens, and I *know* he won't forget them for the
rest of his life either.

The kittens were old enough to stand but couldn't- that's how bad their
condition was. I had to rush them to AMC- they all needed transfusions and
had to be tube-fed. They all would have been dead in another few hours-
luckily they all survived. The asshole dumped them in the right place at
the right time- 1 minute later and I wouldn't have seen him dump them.

The maximum penalties for abandoning cats may be severe in many states- but
most people only get token sentences. I think the penalties for abandoning
helpless kittens should be double the normal sentence and the assholes
should get the maximum jail time and fine and ordered to work in a shelter
for a year. Until then, I guess Bronx justice will have to suffice.


Phil

Charlie Wilkes wrote:


Yes, and I hate using any kind of insecticde on them, they are so
little. The fleas around the head/ears/nose/eyes were just awful, and
it started to look impossible to get them all manually. The poor
things were already looking like flea anemia, and I just had to decide
whether to take a chance on them dying from the fleas or using the
Frontline.

Sure, it's not easy to know what is best. It's good of you to take
this on. I wouldn't show up on that lady's doorstep with the
intention of confronting her, however. That could backfire.

Charlie

Well, I've thought about that but I can't see I've got much choice. If
I don't, that Mama cat is going to keep cranking out kittens, she's
going to keep dumping them, and those little girls are going to grow up
thinking that's how you're supposed to do. Believe me, I am nervous as
a "cat in roomful of rocking chairs". I"ve got my business card and the
spay/neuter application and am practicing my good Samaritan voice and
going to try like hell to come off as just trying to let her know about
this free neuter program. I'm also going to offer to transport the cat
and just act like we do that for everybody.
I'm just afraid she is going to say something stupid that will set me
off, like "Oh, I don't want to have her spayed. She has such pretty
kittens." Or "No, I'm not interested. She won't catch mice if she's
spayed."
Sherry

On 5 Sep 2005 06:23:34 -0700, wrote:

I'm just afraid she is going to say something stupid that will set me
off, like "Oh, I don't want to have her spayed. She has such pretty
kittens." Or "No, I'm not interested. She won't catch mice if she's
spayed."

I think you should at least call her and schedule a meeting. I
wouldn't go over there and knock on her door if you think you might
lose your temper. But, it's none of my business

Charlie

On 4 Sep 2005 12:25:03 -0700, wrote:

I have got myself 4 little urchin throw-away kittens today. They are
completely covered in fleas. About 10 weeks old.

Problem is, I don't have any Advantage, and have called around, no
friends have any on hand, and the vet is closed.

One friend does have one vial of Frontline for dogs. Now, I already
have read that it is the same formulation as the Frontline for cats,
the only difference is the volume in the vial. After reading on it,
though, it says plainly "Use on Dogs ONly Do not use on rabbits. Do not
use on other animals." And I'm too afraid to use it now. Are there
*different* kinds of Frontline now?

The pack says, "Frontline Top Spot." Active ingredients: fipronil,
9.7%, inert ingredients, 90.3%

I bathed them with Dawn dishwashing liquid and managed to drown, pick
and squish a great number of the fleas. There are still live fleas on
them, though. Can anyone advise me about using the Frontline.

Sherry

You need to go to vet or pet supply store and get a good flea bath shampoo for them and a
flea comb. Dawn will not kill the fleas.



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whayface wrote:

You need to go to vet or pet supply store and get a good flea bath shampoo for them and a
flea comb. Dawn will not kill the fleas.

Dawn does kill fleas, actually. I had a vet tech tell me about its use
once, and have since read online about it. It just doesn't work as well
as pesticides, for sure. (Maybe it just drowns them?) But it's
relatively safe, as long as you're very careful to stay away from the
eyes.
The problem is, it's a holiday weekend and nothing was open. We are
*very* far from a Petsmart or vet supply store.

Sherry

I think you are wonderful to care for these little kittens.
Gail
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whayface wrote:

You need to go to vet or pet supply store and get a good flea bath
shampoo for them and a
flea comb. Dawn will not kill the fleas.

Dawn does kill fleas, actually. I had a vet tech tell me about its use
once, and have since read online about it. It just doesn't work as well
as pesticides, for sure. (Maybe it just drowns them?) But it's
relatively safe, as long as you're very careful to stay away from the
eyes.
The problem is, it's a holiday weekend and nothing was open. We are
*very* far from a Petsmart or vet supply store.

Sherry