# Black insects in my Cat's fur! Please help.



## abckb (Mar 6, 2013)

Hi, I'm new in this forum. Recently I rescued a little kitten which someone left(possibly because it was annoying for him/her) in a nearby childrens park. Here is a photo of it:
My lovely little kitten
Another photo

Now the question is, I am seeing little( about 1mm - 1.5mm long) black bugs roaming in his thick fur(not too many, I spotted only 1 or 2 bugs). I am really anxious that the bugs may seriously harm him in some way:crying: 
As I hardly have any experience, it would be very helpful if someone suggest a standard and scientific way to debug him. Other than the bugs, he is healthy and active. Thanks in advance!
I shall upload a video of him playing with my brother soon.


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

Those are probably fleas. Please do not buy any flea products from a supermarket: they are dangerous and do not work. A suitable product to get is Frontline or similar from a vet. They will explain how it works. While you are there, is it possible for you to let the vet give your kitties a check-up? They may need deworming, vaccinations as well. Just to see that everything is OK.


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## Tao2 (Sep 9, 2012)

Register with a local vet. Ours does a free new pet check, so is worth finding out if yours does the same. At the initial check they will check for fleas (which is almost certainly what you are seeing), worms and weigh, look at teeth, advise about neutering and vaccinations etc.

I agree with previous poster about being wary of pet shop defleaing products, except that some pet shops (including pets at home) and even chemists now sell decent spot ons such as frontline. They are not usually on the shelf though, avoid those you can pick straight of the shelf they either don't work at all so a waste of money or worse have horrible side effects (Bob Martins get particularly bad reports).

Well done for taking on your kitten and welcome to the forum.

Sorry, just written all that assuming you are in uK, then seen you are in India!! No idea what pet shops sell over there! Worth asking another cat owner what they use/about vets?


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## Space Chick (Dec 10, 2011)

I agree that it's fleas.

I also wanted to say what a gorgeous kitten :001_tt1:

If you are able to get a vet to check over the kitten that's probably wise, as in time it would be wise to neuter the kitten too. Hope you can get that level of care in India.... All I've seen about vet care in India is with the tigers on nature documentaries


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## abckb (Mar 6, 2013)

Thank you koekemakranka, Tao2 and SpaceChick 

Yes I'm in India. Here there are pet shops but only in the big cities. But every Block Office has an attached Vet hospital and fortunately the nearest Block Office is not very far away from my home. Hope they can deworm him or at least advice me how to do it.
And yes I'm not gonna buy any off-the-shelf product. Not before seeing an expert.
Thank you all for warm welcome and the valuable inputs.


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## Misi (Jul 13, 2009)

That's great news  Yes, the vet will advise you on worming, too. Please keep the photos coming, that kitty is just beautiful. Looks like a Somali! What a gorgeous, fluffy little cub :001_wub:


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2013)

Fleas... and I agree not from the supermarket. Until I came on here, I had been using Bob Martin flea drops and collars on my cats (Thank god I did come on here) and when I visisted the vet last week, suspecting she had mites she actually still had fleas. Product did not work. Put some frontline comb on her and no more scratching. Hurrayyyyyy. 

So, yes, frontline is the bomb. And I would use. (If you have that in India) Bob Martin I will now be steering clear from.

Lovely pussycat by the way and kudos to you for taking her in. -Bows-


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## Melreg2013 (Mar 5, 2013)

Boadicea1 said:


> Fleas... and I agree not from the supermarket. Until I came on here, I had been using Bob Martin flea drops and collars on my cats (Thank god I did come on here) and when I visisted the vet last week, suspecting she had mites she actually still had fleas. Product did not work. Put some frontline comb on her and no more scratching. Hurrayyyyyy.
> 
> So, yes, frontline is the bomb. And I would use. (If you have that in India) Bob Martin I will now be steering clear from.
> 
> Lovely pussycat by the way and kudos to you for taking her in. -Bows-


to add u need to de flea the house with household flea spray from the vets as well as kitten.
Wash all bedding urs and cats. and do not forget spray the furniture and skirting boards too. amazing where fleas can live, i call them intrudors


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2013)

Melreg2013 said:


> to add u need to de flea the house with household flea spray from the vets as well as kitten.
> Wash all bedding urs and cats. and do not forget spray the furniture and skirting boards too. amazing where fleas can live, i call them intrudors


I have these flea bombs actually. Light them but it means you and pets have to leave house for quite a few hours. Can't do that at the moment as Fidget has to stay put. I washed all cushion covers, sheets, bedding, towels, etc, and vacummed all floors, the sofas, etc. Why do I need to flea spray my Cats when drops have been put on her. Vet said she doesn't need anything else and it will last for six weeks.


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## Emmeow (Mar 1, 2012)

Boadicea1 said:


> I have these flea bombs actually. Light them but it means you and pets have to leave house for quite a few hours. Can't do that at the moment as Fidget has to stay put. I washed all cushion covers, sheets, bedding, towels, etc, and vacummed all floors, the sofas, etc. Why do I need to flea spray my kitten when drops have been put on her. Vet said she doesn't need anything else and it will last for six weeks.


They can still live in your carpets etc for quite some time so it's best to spray everything, you want to make sure they are all good and dead!


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## Melreg2013 (Mar 5, 2013)

Emmeow said:


> They can still live in your carpets etc for quite some time so it's best to spray everything, you want to make sure they are all good and dead!


you need to spray house as they will live anywhere and breed hoping everywhere too. They can and will bite you and it is itchy and a pain.
Must kill the cycle as they will go from lavae to egg to flea to again.
The frontline is good for cat but kill the dam things in your house too.
They multiply like wild fire.


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## MoggyBaby (Mar 8, 2011)

Advocate (flea drops with added wormer but needs prescription/ purchase from vet) or Advantage (same flea drops, no wormer - can be bought on line, no prescription needed) are excellent for flea control. However, they ALSO work on the areas in the house the cats frequent - carpets, bedding, curtains etc - so less of a need to spray the house.

Prior to using Advocate, I was a walking Flea buffet table despite bombing my house, spraying everywhere and Frontline-ing with vigour.

Since using Advocate - this will year 3 - I've not had a single flea bite nor have I had to spray or bomb the house.


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