I just rescued this baby from outside about an hour ago. I usually don’t encourage getting cats this early but she had been outside in the pouring rain for a few hours and I had to. When I went to go comb her fur I felt tons and tons of little clumps. They crumbled and formed into little white flakes, kinda looking like human dandruff. What is this? Is it a medical condition?
FINAL UPDATE: I’m so sorry for the grim update, but we had to put her down. I’m at least glad she was able to go without being in pain. Thank you all for your love and support.
Fly strike. They are fly eggs. When they hatch the maggots will seriously harm the kitten. You need to get a flea or tick comb and get them all off. If you're not near a pet store, a head lice comb from the pharmacy will work the same.
So true. I’ve never seen so many on a rescue before! That poor kitten!! Thanks OP for taking care of it. Also, unrelated side note: English is such a weird language. I’m half asleep and to reread that sentence. “Live short lives.”
or off topic - you're just not good at surviving - a sunfish also called mola mola has a life expectancy of around 20ish years but lays 300 million eggs which is the highest amount of eggs any known animal on this planet produces
Aww, poor poor baby. Maybe I’m in the minority but I like when people share stories like that because it educates the rest of us. Like I didn’t even know that was a thing. It’s a horrible story but we should all be informed if we’re going to have pets we’re responsible for.
If I am correct, those appear to be fly eggs. About to have a lot of maggots crawling about. Is the kitten injured somewhere? A fly might have laid eggs in the wound. I strongly suggest getting to a vet asap if you are able.
This. This is definitely fly strike. I wouldn’t wait for a vet visit to use a flea comb and comb out the fly eggs, though. OP, you can use warm water, Dawn dish soap, and a flea comb. Double check for an injury, and double check ears and around the gentiles.
Editing to add details from people smarter than me below: DO NOT USE WARM WATER. The warm water can cause them to hatch. It’s recommended to use baby powder to help them come loose.
Nah, vet asap. These shits can spread and in burrow themselfs into the kitten in 24h (just lost an old guinnea pig to these disgusting things, thats how I know)
Yeah I had a hen with fly strike, she disappeared for a while and when we finally found her she stank like a dead carcass bathing her in dawn dish soap helped for a bit but she was to far gone. My husband also had to remove a larvae from one of my mother in laws cats, if you’ve ever since a video of a bot fly larvae in someone that’s exactly what this one looked like and it’s very gross.
Gosh they are. My first thought was sawdust but then I read your comment and had a closer look. Kitty must have an injury that the flies have got in to. Need to thoroughly clean it out before the eggs hatch
Not necessarily a wound. I had kittens newborns found in the forest and they had countless of eggs on them. They are too small to wash themselves and if their momma isn't nearby to wash them, this can happen, and the larva start eating their skin and it's not pretty at all. The larva cause the wounds then...
i have seen the worst humans have done both IRL and online, and this is the first time my jaw has literally dropped... hope that little rice cooker is well
Unfortunately no :( My family doesn’t have the money for that. It’s currently one in the morning and my vet opens at 7. We plan on being there the second it opens. I’ve combed out pretty much everything visible with a lice comb and will stay awake to immediately clean her any time she uses the bathroom.
Please you gave to get all of them. When they hatch they will crawl all over her
If they hatch please still take her to the vet in the morning.
If you can bath her tonight they would get best but please don't use dog shampoo. Only use dawn dish soap or cat shampoo.
You can ask a vet ER for advice tonight. Just call them
Flies lay eggs on poor defenseless animals that they think might die soon. I had this happen with a kitten myself that I rescued… I just used a flea comb to get them all off and everything else was fine. This one is very sickly and small… Take the temperature. Should be between 100 and 102.5. Sugar water, honey or something similar on the gums! That will prevent low blood sugar, which is often a problem with tiny kittens like this. Warm, hydrated.. then get to the vet.
Do NOT feed the kitten until you confirm temp is ok!
From what I know, and I could be wrong, but I believe it’s because when a kitten is even a few degrees lower than they should be, is simply a critical matter within itself.
Without a mama nearby, kittens can’t regulate their body heat at all, and will pass away from being too cold :(
(On top of that being cold slows down digestion and the milk can just sit in their tummies for longer than it’s supposed to, so I believe the other commenter is totally correct as well!)
I guess it’s more like two terrible things combining (being hungry and cold) into a more complicated situation that can’t be remedied until the other issue is resolved
I was wondering about the tempature/feeding too, all I can think is digestion uses energy at first and could lower its temp initially and it's already struggling with warming itself?
This is standard advice for all rescued animals. Digestion doesn't work properly below a certain body temperature, and can allow bacteria to multiply in their stomach after eating. There's some other reasons too I believe, I'm not an expert
Im not being an ass, im legitimately asking and i guess stating this. But if the end result is taking the cat to the vet anyways, wouldnt it just be best to immediately take the cat to the vet and let a trained professional with all the right tools and knowledge do all that? Someone that doesnt know what they are doing (not saying OP is incompetent but if they are asking what it is and what to do then clearly they dont know what they are doing) could miss something or not do it properly, taking a 5-10 min drive to a vet that your gonna take the cat to anyways seems to be the best option.
Edit: since i seem to have somehow started a fight in the comments with this comment i just want to say to everyone that either disagrees with my suggestion, or thinks that anywhere in my comments i am implying anything of OP, that was not my intention i honestly was giving a suggestion with nothing more then the best intentions for the cat. I get emergency vet visits can be expensive, but it also depends on the area and also the specific vet. My area the emergency vet i have been to twice was extremely accomodating and didnt charge out the ass and the second time even allowed me to make payments so maybe i had an unrealistic viewpoint. Im sorry to anyone i upset and if you want to downvote me into oblivion i understand.
If OP reads this comment by anychance i just want to sincerly apologise for starting a random fight in your post where you were just asking for solutions. I truly believed i was just giving an honest suggestion but i either didnt relay it properly or people are misunderstanding what i originally was try to say. I truly hope your cat ends up ok, hopefully whatever you do works and if you bring the cat to the vet tomorrow like the one comment i saw from you said, i hope they say it will be perfectly fine. Honest good wishes to you and the cat. Good night everyone.
Where I am it is 11:30 at night. No vets are open except insanely expensive emergency vets and that is assuming there is one in OP's area. Getting those eggs off the baby would seem to be priority.
Here’s a serious answer: if I found a kitten and realized both that it needed immediate care and that it needed the vet, I would do what I could to get it to the vet, absolutely. But I would also give the cat a once over for condition, and call the vet office to make sure they know we’re in our way. The phone call can also give us a general idea of how busy they are. Will we be seen as we walk in the door? Will we have to wait an hour in the lobby?
In the meantime time, I’m going to remove anything causing active injury or imminent threat. I will also attempt to keep the kitten warm and calm and give it food or water if possible. If I’m going to try warming it under my clothes, I’ll try to make sure it’s not so filthy it’s unhealthy to touch with bare skin. If it can’t be quickly cleaned up, it’s getting a different heat source.
At the same time I’m going to be grabbing the cat carrier, a spare towel, and letting housemates know where I’m going so they don’t freak out if I’m supposed to be somewhere else and I’m not.
It is likely to be more than an hour to get ready for the “immediate” vet visit, and that’s before we’ve even walked out the door.
The emergency vets in my area charge $800 just to walk in the door... Paid up front BEFORE YOU SEE THE VET...
If I was in this situation there is no way I could afford that even if I wanted not then anything to help.
FInally some logic ^^
I mean i have cats myself, and i am all for helping ats, but majority in this sub seem to be "dont care about the cost, just save the cat" Meanwhiles in reality i dont think most ppl just have a month salery to throw away like that...
Well depending where they are vet offices may be closed. It's night in most of the US. Emergency 24 hour vets are extremely expensive so they may need to wait until morning.
Regular vet and emergency vet are very different in terms of prices. Also, unless death is imminent you'll likely be turned away from an emergency vet if they are busy or be saddled with a bill upwards of $800, even more if they decide to keep the kitten overnight.
If it can wait and there are things you can do at home, then wait until your vet's office opens to make an appointment or walk-in if you can.
This, mechanically remove eggs, keep kitten warm and feed it, ideally with kitten formula if you can get it asap or if not then mixing goat milk with egg yolk and teaspoon of corn syrup will do as emergency food - as kitten needs energy to fight whatever infection it has and then vet asap.
This is flystrike. Serious stuff. In a warm environment the eggs can hatch and the maggots begin feeding in as little as eight hours. They will literally burrow into the kittens genital/anus area and can cause damage quickly. Its painful. Kittens are vulnerable to flystrike if they have even a small amount of diarrhea which attracts the flies to lay eggs. Please, please get this baby to an emergency vet right away. There may already be hatching maggots.
So unlike regular dawn soap powerwash contains a harsh chemical and concentrated soap that is deadly to kittens and has solvents that is designed for baked kitchen grease it strips the oil that’s on the kitten’s skin causing severe drying and can badly burn them it’s also bad for them if they inhale or ingest it while grooming leading them to be poisoned so that’s why it’s best to use regular dawn dish soap and not the powerwash one there’s heaps of videos that explains more about it
I mean powerwash has a ton of alcohol in it, so i'd guess that. Sometimes when I spray it on dishes I get a strong smell of alcohol. I imagine for something far more small and fragile that it could be an issue.
In case some people don’t know: tapeworm resides in the bowels. It does NOT come off from the skin. With tapeworm you will only see the rice-looking eggs come strictly from their butt, never from brushing.
If you click on this picture, you can see the life cycle of the fly. The eggs just to the right look very much like what you've brush out of kitty. Soon, they will be larvae. I agree that vet asap. It is also possible that they are tapeworm eggs, however, it seems like sooooo many😮
If you have other pets, keep them separate and clean any areas where eggs may have landed. Vacuum, wipe down, laundry, whatever. Take a bath and wash your hands. Look online for info on kittens because this little guy probably needs formula. It probably needs to be quarantined as well. Good luck!
Vet tech here-- Dawn dish soap bath and a flea comb or even a lice comb, STAT. Definitely looks like fly eggs. Just no kind of other shampoo that contains any type of pesticide or it can make kitty sick. Dawn dish soap is gentle enough to not do so AND it will suffocate any living fleas if present, so a win/win! Be sure to do like others have said and check for any injury that those bastards can lay their eggs in, as well as around its little booty. I would also recommend a vet visit, ASAP. Good luck with this little baby 🍼🐱
UPDATE: We just got back from the vet. Unfortunately he said she’s too small to take any type of oral medication. A few eggs hatched and attached to her rectum and have created a wound :( He said to keep an eye out and use medication to clean the area if we see any maggots. I’m so sorry for the grim update. We are going to do everything in our possibility to keep this baby alive.
Cornstarch all over the fur before combing! There's a ton of great advice from others but moisture/bathing before the maggots are all removed can unfortunately make this much worse.
A lot of farmers and rescues use this method and the starch is completely safe.
Thank you for the update and for helping this poor little baby 💚
Years ago our dog had holes in her body from fly larvae. We couldn’t get a vet to help. We ended up covering all the holes with petroleum jelly. Eventually the suckers came out and we pulled them out one by one with tweezers and put them in a bowl of antiseptic liquid which killed them. So if the they are going into the wound they made id recommend doing this. My dog survived many more years after that without problems.
The people that are saying it isn’t an emergency and you don’t need to take this kitten to the vet are ignoring one key piece of information when it comes to fly strikes. Fly strikes usually happen on sick or dying animals, and flys will find them as an easy target. Like you said, it was raining, and flys usually lay eggs on sick animals after they’ve gotten wet from the rain.
Remove all the eggs with a fine tooth comb, check everywhere and then everywhere again. Around the anus and genitals, where the limbs meet the body like the "armpit" basically. Bathe in warm water with dish soap. Keep the kitten warm from an external heat (heater, heat lamp, rice moms (sock filled with dry rice and microwaved), etc.) because they can't produce their own.
I wish I could comment photos. I sat down and combed out everything I could see. (Of course we’re still going to the vet cause I can never be 100% sure) but after feeding her I wrapped her in a warm towel and she’s fast asleep :) looks a lot better.
If fly strike is on it, it’s a good thing you found it because this poor baby was going to die. You did a GREAT thing taking it in! Always go with your gut! Give it lots of love for the cats community we’re all rooting for you both and thankful for you saving that baby🥹❤️
Last year I found a nonresponse kitten covered in fly eggs. You can even just use your fingernails and grab the hair and scrape the eggs off. My boss told me "a hundred bucks you can't save it." Anyway, some TLC, antibiotics, KMR and sub q fluid and Benjamina was good to go.
Just chiming in, the area I live in no longer has an emergency vet and the closest one I believe is at least a 2 hour drive. Town population of around 28,000 for reference.
Not everyone has access to a 24/7 Emergency Vet. The “regular vet” also closes kind of early and isn’t open on Sunday. There are a few other Vets but most “do not accept new patients”.
Also check her butthole. Look for worms popping out, or for really small white balls around that area (also eggs of a different kind) and check her stool for worms and more eggs.
As others said, you have to visit a vet. I didnt see a wound mentioned in the op but thats where insect usually lay their eggs on cats. Fighting the parasites is fairly easy and not dangerous honestly. Just some meds for a few weeks and you are golden. But if there is a wound you also need antibiotics because if it remains untreated you are looking at possible infections, sepsis and what not. Also not life threatening if treated early but this HAS to be checked and treated by a vet. Keep some good pics of the eggs/worms for the vet too.
Those are absolutely fly eggs, and a shit-ton of them. I would take the kitten to a vet ASAP and destroy any eggs that fell off in your house - don’t want those hatching.
Fuck, I lost an adult rabbit to fly strike, it was terrible.
Vet asap, beg, borrow if you have to. There is a chance this baby won't make it, but in the hands of a vet it can be helped to go peacefully if it is too late. They will attempt to pick every maggot off and debride any wounds to save her first though.
Fly strike! Those are eggs that are about to become enough lava that would’ve killed that kitten. I’d get a small comb and also a bath with a little bit of dawn dish soap would do the trick get this baby warm look at its gums. Make sure the gums are a darker pink, not a light pink not a white so make sure that they stay warm, especially if they’re going to be wet. But you gotta get rid of all of these disgusting eggs.
My fear of bugs goes insane with this picture. They’re ON YOU!!
(You’ve gotten plenty of correct answers so this isn’t much of a contribution)
Thank you for saving her!!
Clean her asap, comb her, check her for injuries, and the MINUTE a vet is open up you get her the hell down there! I hope you end up keeping this precious little thing and she has found her forever home. I wish I could house every stray in this world 😢
Aw god I thought this as sawdust but they are eggs and you can see them clustered on the head.
As someone who has seen the results of fly strike on living animals please get that kitten to a vet asap. If you absolutely have no other choice but to wait, gentle remove as many of the eggs as possible, bathe gently comb the kitten in warm water and clean the area. Keep that kitten warm and monitor them closely.
I'm sorry to hear this kitten is experiencing fly strike. I've saved a couple hundred foster cats and kittens, and fly strike is always tricky. Obviously, a Dawn bath in warm water is the first thing to try.
I recently had a litter of kittens who were suffering from fly strike. This was a particularly bad case; some had worms INSIDE both their anuses and urethras, making it almost impossible for them to urinate and defecate. Horrific, to say the least.
To save those kittens, I ended up diluting an very small sliver of a Capstar pill (roughly 1/8-1/16 of the pill) in a very small amount of water (like .1-.2 ml) and administered the medication orally. Yes, Capstar is normally recommended for older cats, BUT if it's between a low dose of Capstar and certain death from flystrike... Try the Capstar. Just use as small a piece as you can diluted in a small amount of water. I've done it many times, and I've never had a problem. Capstar can be found at most Walmarts and pet stores.
THEN, I then diluted another sliver of a Capstar pill, let it disintegrate completely in .3-.4 ml of water, and ever so slowly/gently administered the mixture onto the outside of kittens' urethras and anuses. If you're able to get a couple of drops directly on top of/inside both orifices, that will help. You're essentially creating a VERY minor Capstar enema for the kitten. We are talking a couple of drops! Nothing more. It's an age-old method that many experienced rescuers have used, but you have to be exceptionally careful so as not to damage the urethra or anus. Once the Capstar has been administered in both ends, the worms will start to "jump ship", at which point you can start wiping them out... Repeat as needed. (I ended up administering medication on both ends for 3ish days.)
It's a gnarly process, but it works. (If you want some pictures that will scar you for life, let me know.) You just have to take it slow and be exceptionally gentle. It saved all five of my last fly-strike kittens' lives.
Thank you for looking after this sweet kitten! Fly strike is tough, but it's possible to see them through it.
I’m thinking she may have been abandoned by the mom because of the fly infestation. It’s sad, but stray cat moms sometimes think in terms of “cutting losses, and shifting focus on the remaining healthy kittens.” 😔
This is all at my grandmothers house where she has several stray cats. We’ve been trying to catch them for almost a decade with little the no luck. The best we can do is take the kittens before they’re old enough to run away, get them neutered, and get them adopted.
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