My skinny kitten has fleas, fever, and won't eat. Can I bathe her?

Poor Baby! She looks quite weak in that picture. It is fine to wipe her down but I would not give her a full bath right now. Make sure she is also staying warm after her "sponge bath". I would keep her on her formula right now until she is a little bigger. You can try to see if she will take some gruel out of a syringe - if so, then this would be okay as well. Since she isn't eating well, I would have her rechecked by your vet. She likely needs some fluids to help keep her hydrated. I would also talk to your vet about testing her for feline leukemia and feline aids. If she is positive for one of these then you know that she is going to have a hard time getting over this illness. It is just information to have. You may also talk to your vet about whether or not a change in antibiotics may help her especially if she isn't improving on the current meds. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better quickly.

Poor Leela. Try Frontline Spray. It's safe to use on kittens as young as two days of age. You will also have to disinfect the environment, as fleas live there, not on the kitten, and if you don't disinfect that, it will be a continuing source of fleas. Wash her bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. I'd also have her checked out by a vet today since it seems like she is in pain. Best of luck.

You can try warming the food or mixing in a teaspoon of baby food into it. This could stimulate her appetite. You can also take her temperature to check for fever. Use a rectal thermometer and sterile lube. Normal temp is between 37 C and 39 C (100 F- 102.5 F). Anything above that is considered a fever and should be addressed by your veterinarian.

I would recommend a Dawn dish soap bath with warm water and make sure you dry Sally well. I would look for a product called Frontline Spray, which should be labeled for young cats. Once she is 6-8 weeks, talk to a vet in your area about topical products, like Revolution or Frontline Gold. I also recommend treating the house for fleas with a carpet spray. Remember to throw out the vacuum bag and treat the other pets in the house for fleas. Make sure Sally is eating a quality diet with the proper vitamins and minerals the help the anemia. If the anemia is severe, she may require a blood transfusion. Kisses to Sally!

Poor Shadow! She is very young to be fully immersed in water, it is incredibly stressful and dangerous for young animals. Moreover, dish soap is very bad for their skin and coat and not even a truly effective way of killing fleas, when the eggs hatch there will be no residual activity. In future it would be much kinder and more effective to buy a spot on flea treatment such as frontline. Now as for why she is so poorly: best case scenario is that she has gotten very cold and stressed and her body is temporarily reacting to it. But on the same hand she may have got water in her lungs ( her lungs are tiny so it doesn't take much) and this will make her incredibly sick and is potentially life threatening. You need to get her to a vet asap because if something serious is going on it needs to be treated quickly. Hopefully it is just that she is in a bit of shock. In the mean time keep her warm and comfortable. In future if you need any advice regarding pet care please ask your vet or ask us, we will always help. Best of luck.

There are no hard an fast rules about any of this. If your cat has fleas, a quality topical or oral flea treatment from your vet is most effective. Treating your house and yard will also help reduce the flea population. If you decide to bathe your cat, I recommend about once a week with any pet shampoo, it doesn't have to be a flea shampoo. Trim your cat's nails and apply a drop of plain mineral oil or a small strip of plain, non-medicated ophthalmic ointment to both eyes. Use very warm water to get your cat's coat completely wet, then apply a small amount of shampoo and lather it into the coat well, from tail tip to toes to the end of her nose. The eye ointment will prevent the shampoo from stinging her eyes. Lather her well and let the shampoo sit on for about ten minutes to kill any fleas that are on her. Rinse her well, making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies like her armpits and under her belly, otherwise any shampoo left on can irritate her skin. Towel her off thoroughly and, if she'll allow it, you can use a blow dryer on her on warm, not hot, and keep the dryer moving at all time so you don't make one area too hot and burn her. As far as food is concerned, wet, dry or some combination is between you, your vet and your cat. Some people with fat cats feed exclusively wet food because it contains no grains and therefore has fewer carbohydrates than dry foods. Other cats do perfectly fine on only dry food. My cats are mainly dry food eaters, but I do give them wet food sometimes as a treat.

Mavrick is so cute! Newborn kittens can be very fragile, and unfortunately sometimes some of them don't make it. The best advice I can give you is keep her warm and fed. and weigh her daily to make sure she is gaining weight. It's safe to use Frontline Spray on her to kill the fleas, so I would use that instead of bathing her every day. Be sure to disinfect the environment from the fleas, as they can be a continuing source of fleas. Wash her bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. Just keep her out of any room you use a flea spray on until it's dried completely. If there are any health problems or concerns with her, be sure to take her into a vet immediately. Best of luck, I hope this helps!