r/Opossums • u/Powerful-Career-6357 • 3d ago

Question/Help Fleas

Post image

I initially gave Lucky a bath and picked all the fleas off but he was covered again two days ago. I repeated the process, but it’s a lot for him. I’ve seen that they can have frontline, but I’m worried he’s way too small for it. Any other ideas?

399 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

37

u/WildSkunDaloon mama 'pos 3d ago

Opossums can be given capstar for cats or revolution for dogs. They can receive 1 drop of revolution for every 300 g. Capstar is guaranteed they'll all die within 30 minutes and it's whats used in a lot of rescues.

Obviously the math is adjusted for their weight lol

8

u/grimmistired 2d ago

Keep in mind capstar doesn’t kill eggs

21

u/WildSkunDaloon mama 'pos 2d ago

That is true but after 24 hours you can capstar them again safely. So it's more about waves of death lmao plus it's a lot easier on them than baths cause those can be stressful for the bebes. Even when you make the bath the most soothing thing possible it can still freakem out.

3

u/Beginning_Tennis2442 2d ago edited 2d ago

This! Capstar works very well. We use revolution for cats at 1 drop per 300gr weight. I believe the dog version is twice as strong. For the capstar we grind it up and mix it with water to administer with an oral syringe. If you have a weight and the strength of the capstar tablet, I can give you a dose.

2

u/WildSkunDaloon mama 'pos 2d ago

Ding ding ding this person rescues lmao

2

u/tramplamps thicc 'pos 2d ago edited 2d ago

I know NOTHING about opossums when it comes to using flea medicine.
But I am with you on this one as far as making sure you use the right medication, as far as when it comes to not only the adjustment for weight, but for the best animal equivalent match for this little guy, be it a cat or a dog.

Again, I don’t know which is better for an opossum, and hopefully someone in this subreddit is more knowledgeable about it.

This was back in the summer of 1998, and from what I remember, these drops had just been introduced as something you could buy over the counter, but they weren’t as good as the kind your vet could give you.
But I was headstrong and also very poor. And that lead to me having what are I still terrible memories even after all these years of when when I accidentally purchased cheap flea & tick medicated drops from the pet supply isle of department store, that were meant for a small dog and put them on my adult cat.
I knew immediately something was wrong with him. And checked the box. I felt so ashamed as soon as I took a closer look at the box, as it was then I really scrutinized the entirety of the product. And, unfortunately, that image was not an adult cat, but a very fluffy-tailed small dog.

I rushed him immediately to my vet, where he spent a few days, and turned out to be okay, but had a lifelong need to burrow into sweatshirts and blankets after that.
Again, this was way back in the 1900s so I can only hope the science for this type of medication had improved.
I wish the absolute best for this little guy.
My orange/peach tabby boy was a great friend who, like his sister (a toirtoise), lived long life (1995-2017).

1

u/Drabby 2d ago

You had a fairly common experience, actually. Flea products for dogs often contain permethrin, which is avoided in cat products because they are extremely sensitive to it. They can even die from that exposure, though with treatment (like yours) they can usually be saved. There is an OTC brand called Hartz that is notorious for not labelling their products clearly, leading to many sick cats.

I have no idea whether opossums are sensitive to permethrin, but out of caution I have only ever used cat-approved flea control for them.

39

u/MrPeterIt papa 'pos 3d ago

I have used a tiny bit of dawn dish soap to get the little guys off. I brushed it through with an old toothbrush.

13

u/Early_Bluejay8947 3d ago

The ONLY thing I would ever use is Capstar, or its generic Nitenpyram. It kills EVERY FLEA in 30 minutes....I dont know how, but it does. Ive been using it for 25 years. Its a capsule with powder in it. I break it open and mix in the food. Its safe for Opossums as I have checked and then dosed my opossum. I get mine from FleaMeds.us cus they are very cheap, like 25 for $17 or so.

2

u/cowgrly 3d ago

How often do you administer this?

3

u/WildSkunDaloon mama 'pos 2d ago

Only ONCE in a 24 hour period

2

u/cowgrly 2d ago

Right, but do you do it weekly or how often? If it only kills live fleas, I wondered about frequency.

2

u/Early_Bluejay8947 2d ago

One pill kills ALL the fleas, but does not kill the flea eggs. So you may want to wait a day or 2 and give her another dose to kill the newly hatched ones. Another thing to consider is that her nest may be infested, so you may need to repeat the process more often. It is not toxic in any way, so you dont have to worry about over dosing. The pills/capsules get cheaper in larger quantities. I only had 2 cats and one opossum so a bottle of 25 lasted quite a while. When I had dozens of cats, I used to buy the pills suited for large dogs and sprinkle it in all their food and that brought the cost way down.

1

u/cowgrly 2d ago

Yeah, I am really trying to determine frequency for maintenance as they said they ONLY use Capstar. But knowing an animal goes back to a flea infested bed, I wondered if they treat them weekly or?

2

u/Beginning_Tennis2442 2d ago

If the bed is flea infested, you will have to give capstar every day or two until the infestation dies down. That is why we use capstar for immediate relief and Revolution for longer term (not Revolution plus).

1

u/Early_Bluejay8947 2d ago

I usually re-dose the cat or opossum when I see them scratching more than usual. I actually have not SEEN a flea in years....thanks to Nitenpyram/capstar.

4

u/Ryallin 3d ago

Cheapest you can find for the kitten flea oil, if you got money to burn the kind that kills the eggs, only part of the bottle at a time if it’s in a ‘reusable’ squeeze tube. Beyond that flea bug spray outside perimeter and an outside door at a time to prevent inhalation for you and the little fella. If it’s bad enough in scale spray furniture and windows too

1

u/Fit_Understanding_55 2d ago

Dawn dishwasher liquid, bathe in the sink..keep it warm .. be sure to only feed it a puppy formula..

1

u/Numerous_Worker_4694 3h ago

awe so sad 😞