I have always received great advice from this forum, so here I go again!
We are hoping to catch a mama and her two kittens over the next couple of nights. This will be my first time catching kittens straight from the outside. I was able to get some Frontline Plus on mama a couple of weeks ago, but I know that isn't for kittens. The instructions specify 8 weeks or older, and at least 1.5 lbs. I don't know the exact age of the kittens; I'm guessing this is their 8th week, because she first started bringing them around 2 weeks ago. In my limited experience, the feral moms often had their babies away from the main thorough-fare where our very small colony eats/lounges, but then starts to bring them around as they hit 5-6 weeks.
But I do not know the exact age -- this is a cat that we had been trying to catch, and I was worried that pregnancy was going to happen soon, but I had NO idea she had been pregnant much less given birth. This is a cat who would come at least a few times a week, so I'm still surprised at my cluelessness. But one day she showed up with 2 kittens in tow, and they have spent increasingly long amounts of time on our decks.
I admit I'm squeamish about fleas and ticks, and really don't want an infested house as we have 9 house-cats of our own. The room/space I will keep mama and the kittens in is carpeted. There is a small bathroom attached that I will likely put them in for the first day or two, just because the outer room is large, and I worry w/too much space (and some hiding spots that are very tricky to block) all 3 will hide quickly. Mama cat is very comfortable with me at this point, but that's when she's on her own turf. I'm assuming that will change when it's my turf!
So, is the Frontline a definite no-go as I can't be sure the kittens are over 8 weeks or is there a small amount of wiggle room? I obviously don't know their weights either, but would be surprised if they weren't over that 1.5 lb directive.
I've read and watched videos about giving kittens flea baths using gentle non-scented/colored dish or baby soap. I don't believe that would work very well w/8 week old feral kittens though? I can't imagine them letting me scruff them long enough to put them through that, when at the moment they'll only tolerate a couple of pets from me before getting scared.
Are there any other options for fleas/ticks to hopefully help prevent our upstairs area from getting infested?
I'm going to try to get mama to the clinic to get spayed as soon as possible, hopefully early next week, as part of me is worried she's already pregnant again. Her stomach looks suspiciously larger to me. And I worry about her health, too -- she's so skinny (other than a chunkier belly) despite me giving food (and her eating it) many times a day -- easily 5-8 cans/pouches at least. She has bite marks/itchy looking skin around her ears that I hope is 'just' from the fleas/bugs vs anything worse. She also has terrible gas. I tried to get her to eat a Drontal pill; first hidden in tuna, then in a pill pocket, and she was way to smart from jump and turned up her nose at all of it. So I know she will need deworming.
Now that I've droned on too long, I was trying to attach a few pics in case anyone is good at estimating age by sight. Says my files are too large so I'll do some investigating to see if I can get the sizes down. And I'll be crossing my fingers that there is another flea/tick option other than trying to bathe these little babes!
Thank you!
We are hoping to catch a mama and her two kittens over the next couple of nights. This will be my first time catching kittens straight from the outside. I was able to get some Frontline Plus on mama a couple of weeks ago, but I know that isn't for kittens. The instructions specify 8 weeks or older, and at least 1.5 lbs. I don't know the exact age of the kittens; I'm guessing this is their 8th week, because she first started bringing them around 2 weeks ago. In my limited experience, the feral moms often had their babies away from the main thorough-fare where our very small colony eats/lounges, but then starts to bring them around as they hit 5-6 weeks.
But I do not know the exact age -- this is a cat that we had been trying to catch, and I was worried that pregnancy was going to happen soon, but I had NO idea she had been pregnant much less given birth. This is a cat who would come at least a few times a week, so I'm still surprised at my cluelessness. But one day she showed up with 2 kittens in tow, and they have spent increasingly long amounts of time on our decks.
I admit I'm squeamish about fleas and ticks, and really don't want an infested house as we have 9 house-cats of our own. The room/space I will keep mama and the kittens in is carpeted. There is a small bathroom attached that I will likely put them in for the first day or two, just because the outer room is large, and I worry w/too much space (and some hiding spots that are very tricky to block) all 3 will hide quickly. Mama cat is very comfortable with me at this point, but that's when she's on her own turf. I'm assuming that will change when it's my turf!
So, is the Frontline a definite no-go as I can't be sure the kittens are over 8 weeks or is there a small amount of wiggle room? I obviously don't know their weights either, but would be surprised if they weren't over that 1.5 lb directive.
I've read and watched videos about giving kittens flea baths using gentle non-scented/colored dish or baby soap. I don't believe that would work very well w/8 week old feral kittens though? I can't imagine them letting me scruff them long enough to put them through that, when at the moment they'll only tolerate a couple of pets from me before getting scared.
Are there any other options for fleas/ticks to hopefully help prevent our upstairs area from getting infested?
I'm going to try to get mama to the clinic to get spayed as soon as possible, hopefully early next week, as part of me is worried she's already pregnant again. Her stomach looks suspiciously larger to me. And I worry about her health, too -- she's so skinny (other than a chunkier belly) despite me giving food (and her eating it) many times a day -- easily 5-8 cans/pouches at least. She has bite marks/itchy looking skin around her ears that I hope is 'just' from the fleas/bugs vs anything worse. She also has terrible gas. I tried to get her to eat a Drontal pill; first hidden in tuna, then in a pill pocket, and she was way to smart from jump and turned up her nose at all of it. So I know she will need deworming.
Now that I've droned on too long, I was trying to attach a few pics in case anyone is good at estimating age by sight. Says my files are too large so I'll do some investigating to see if I can get the sizes down. And I'll be crossing my fingers that there is another flea/tick option other than trying to bathe these little babes!
Thank you!
