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My 5-week-old kitten still has fleas after bathing. What now?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

I have a kitten who is 5 weeks old and she has fleas! I gave her a bath and removed some fleas but I wasn't able to get them all. What do you suggest I do?

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on July 10th, 2017

Since your kitten is still too young for flea meds, you can try to give her a bath using some Dawn dish soap to kill any fleas on her body. You can then use a flea or fine toothed comb to remove the dead fleas from her after her bath. Keeping her environment clean by washing bedding, vacuuming baseboards, etc can also help remove fleas and eggs from the environment to help prevent reinfection. Once she is old enough, switching to a topical preventive flea medication can help.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 24th, 2017

    Hi and thanks for posting this afternoon. Dawn dish soap will kill the adults and wash off the eggs, but fleas and flea eggs are likely still in the house or environment and they will only come back within a couple weeks if Milo is not on any monthly flea preventative after the bath. You can purchase flea preventative products for Milo from your local veterinarian. I hope this helps and best of luck to you!

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    Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on August 18th, 2019

    Flea baths or sprays only work for a couple days. They kill the fleas on the body, but don't prevent additional ones from the environment from jumping on. You can get a flea spray at the pet store and spray it onto a towel and wipe the towel on Coco daily for continued flea management until she is old enough for a monthly preventative. You will also need to treat your house for fleas, since fleas don't live on pets, they live and breed somewhere else and only jump on when they are hungry. https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/

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    Answered By Oneal Bogan, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 8th, 2018

    Hi there. I would watch closely for any more fleas and if you see any signs have your veterinarian prescribe a flea prevention/treatment that is safe for young kittens. Bathing will often remove the adults but the eggs may still remain. I hope that helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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