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What can I give my cat for fleas and to heal their skin sores?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 5 months and 7 days old | 6 lbs

What medicine or home remedy can I feed my cat to get rid of fleas? Also what's the best thing to put on the sores on his body from the fleas to heal his skin?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

Veterinarian

Published on September 2nd, 2017

Hello and thank you for your question! Good question! As far as medication is concerned, there are a lot of very effective Rx mediations out there on the market for fleas. Your veterinarian will be able to prescribe you with a Rx medication. This is really the best way to treat and prevent fleas. As fas as at home remedies, dawn ship soap will help to kill adult fills, but will not take care of the life cycle of the flea (eggs or pupa) and is only a temporary solution. If the sores are infected, Moe really should be treated with antibiotics by his veterinarian. In the mean time, however, you can wash the sores with a mild soap and water and keep them clean. 3% hydrogen peroxide can help to keep the areas clean as well. I hope this helps and best of luck to you and Moe!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Unfortunately, there is not much you can do at home to rid Moe completely of the fleas. I've seen many different things tried and they either don't work or make the skin problems worse. If Moe has sores on his body from the fleas, then he should get the appropriate medication soon, because he is suffering. You can buy flea shampoos and spot-on treatments at the pet store and from veterinary offices. These are very safe and most-importantly very effective in removing the fleas. As always, it's best to do any sort of treatment in consultation with your veterinarian. There may be another condition that needs treatment as well and the veterinarian will be able to prescribe medications that can give Moe some immediate relief. One thing you can do at home is give a bath with a cat shampoo that contains oatmeal. Some of the fleas will be removed and it will help to relieve the skin. You can repeat the bath every 3 days to help keep the sores from getting infected. Do not scrub the skin or use any products that are not labeled for cats, because these can be damaging to the skin and actually make him more susceptible to infections. I've included a link to an article below that has good information about controlling fleas: https://www.petcoach.co/article/the-best-flea-prevention-plan-for-your-cat/ I hope that helps and Moe gets better soon.

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