Recentky, when the cats will lay down on my bed I've noticed that when they get up, they leave tiny black specks on the bed. I immediately thought flea dirt but it seemed odd to me because they really haven't been scratching too badly and I would have imagined that for the amount of flea dirt, they'd have to be quite infested and I had never seen a single flea on either of them.
Then today I was petting Pepper and he was laying on his back and I noticed a tiny movement in the white fur on his lower belly. I tried to have a closer look but whatever it was had disappeared into his black fur. I started to suspect fleas but was still confused as to why it would be so hard to spot them.
A couple days ago I noticed a weird spot of red near Pepper's whiskers; do you think it could be related? He let me inspect it and feel it once and it feels like a little bit of dried blood stuck to his fur. Photo:
A little but to the right and up from that is a tiny black spot (can't see it in the photo) which I tried to inspect but couldn't feel or see anything. Then today I saw a tiny black bug (flea?) fly straight into that tiny black spot. Kind of weird. Sound like flea-like behavior to you?
Further, I've noticed a couple flea-dirt-like spots in the cats' ears... that normal? They've been scratching mostly at their ears and their necks if I can think of an increased scratching level. They also do the chewing their fur thing while grooming so that could maybe be a sign of itchiness?
Anyway, so my parents are freaked out at the possibility of fleas (but, er, they wanted the cats to come outside with us so...). I don't have a flea comb because... I just haven't gotten one yet. I should have. I've been just using a slicker brush thus far. Obviously we'll have to do something if we do have a flea situation. We were going to bath the cats this weekend; we were going to use our kitten shampoo, any idea if that would help at all with the flea issue? I've read about dawn dish soap killing fleas but I'm loathe to wash a 5-month-old kitten with something that strong. My local low-cost spay/neither clinic offers flea treatment (I think they've got Advantage and Revolution or something; reputable brands though) for only like $6 per treatment. I can go pick that up. Is it safe for kittens? I'm a little scared of these poisons tbh. And then would I have to separate the cats for a while after application so that they don't lick it straight off of one another? Can't imagine that would be healthy.
Thanks so much to all who can help
Then today I was petting Pepper and he was laying on his back and I noticed a tiny movement in the white fur on his lower belly. I tried to have a closer look but whatever it was had disappeared into his black fur. I started to suspect fleas but was still confused as to why it would be so hard to spot them.
A couple days ago I noticed a weird spot of red near Pepper's whiskers; do you think it could be related? He let me inspect it and feel it once and it feels like a little bit of dried blood stuck to his fur. Photo:
A little but to the right and up from that is a tiny black spot (can't see it in the photo) which I tried to inspect but couldn't feel or see anything. Then today I saw a tiny black bug (flea?) fly straight into that tiny black spot. Kind of weird. Sound like flea-like behavior to you?
Further, I've noticed a couple flea-dirt-like spots in the cats' ears... that normal? They've been scratching mostly at their ears and their necks if I can think of an increased scratching level. They also do the chewing their fur thing while grooming so that could maybe be a sign of itchiness?
Anyway, so my parents are freaked out at the possibility of fleas (but, er, they wanted the cats to come outside with us so...). I don't have a flea comb because... I just haven't gotten one yet. I should have. I've been just using a slicker brush thus far. Obviously we'll have to do something if we do have a flea situation. We were going to bath the cats this weekend; we were going to use our kitten shampoo, any idea if that would help at all with the flea issue? I've read about dawn dish soap killing fleas but I'm loathe to wash a 5-month-old kitten with something that strong. My local low-cost spay/neither clinic offers flea treatment (I think they've got Advantage and Revolution or something; reputable brands though) for only like $6 per treatment. I can go pick that up. Is it safe for kittens? I'm a little scared of these poisons tbh. And then would I have to separate the cats for a while after application so that they don't lick it straight off of one another? Can't imagine that would be healthy.
Thanks so much to all who can help
