(no subject)

[icarus]

Help.

Kitty has fleas. Bad. We got him this stuff called Frontline. Followed the directions and put it on his shoulders today like you're supposed to.

For a bit he seemed to relax, and for about two hours his scratching went way down.

Now he's acting like the biting is worse than ever. He's scratching the top of his head and his chin and mouth, and he's been panicky, racing around.

Now he's panting and very unhappy, licking and scratching his extremities: face, legs, tail. It's really driving him nuts.

Is there anything we can do?


ETA: wildernessguru is going to give him a bath with a mild soap, in hopes that will get the immediate fleas off. I've told him to protect his eyes, mouth, ears, nose with petroleum jelly first.

Comments

[nimori.livejournal.com]

A little trick for immediate relief from fleas: Fill a bucket with warm water and place it in the bath tub. Submerge the cat up to the neck (you may need two people for this... or more, depending on your cat's level of water hysteria) and keep him there for 15 minutes. The fleas will all drown or run for his face, where you can pick them off and drown/crush them. This won't get the eggs, but it will give him a rest from the bites until you sort out his medication. It does sound as though he's had an allergic reaction, either to the fleas or the medication or both, so you may want to consult your vet. Eggs get everywhere, so you'll want to wash anything the cat has access to and vaccuum the carpets with some flea-control powder.