Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 9/14/2010

Question
I am a surrogate mom to a 2-3 week old kitten that was found in my yard. I took her to the vet yesterday and she is doing very good and is very healthy however she has fleas. The vet put frontline on her to kill them but it didn't work. They are still alive and crawling on her. I took her outside and picked off the ones i could find but keep finding more. I read online that I could bath her in Dish Detergent or Johnsons Baby shampoo but want to be sure this is safe for her before i try it. I don't want to do anything that might harm her but i cant let her on my carpet until I'm sure the fleas are gone. Do you have any other suggestions?

Answer
Frontline is not an instant kill.  It takes a few days for the Frontline to distribute all over the skin. Once the fleas contact the Frontline, they will die in 24 hours. There are many flea sprays that are OK to use for young kittens.  One that works very well is called OVITROL.  But before you put anything on the cat read the label and make sure it says safe for for kittens.