I found Dugo under my car around midnight two weeks ago while I was at Verdugo Bar (@verdugobar) in Los Angeles. He was meowing a ton, so I knew he couldn't be that feral. Plus he came to me after only a few high pitched "C'mere"'s.
I brought him home and after he ate, we played and cuddled for about an hour and a half before I noticed something crawling on him. And then another something. And then about 40 somethings... he was covered in fleas - and they were big ones too! I knew he had to be too small for regular flea medicine (which I actually had in the cabinet) so I went to the blogs to see what to do. I found out you can use Dawn brand dishsoap to kill all the fleas - so I drove out to CVS at midnight to get some! It was really gross at one point during the bathing, they were crawling into his ears and mouth...I gave him 3 baths over the course of that night and the next day just to make sure I got them all.
I set Dugo up in a corner of one of our rooms for the night and kept him isolated from Suki since he wasn't tested and had no shots yet. I thought for sure he'd be stuck in this corner, but I found him the next morning hanging out under the couch on the other side of the room.
The next morning, I took Dugo to the vet and had him tested for everything and got all his first shots.
Our vet told me during our visit that I would need to come back because he needed a stool sample. Almost on cue, Dugo pooped right in front of us! It was pretty funny, and also convenient. Since bringing him home, that was the only time he pooped outside of a litter box. He tested negative on feline leukemia, negative on poop parasites, negative on worms - he was pretty much super healthy. The vet even said I killed all the fleas with the dish soap and that he wasn't finding any living ones!
Transitioning him in has been a little difficult with Suki but we are working on it. She still growls and hisses (out of fear, I think) but she likes to watch him sometimes from a few feet away. I can't wait for the day they are cuddling, but it is definitely not happening yet.
Leave a comment if you have ever rescued a kitten before!
