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How to safely treat fleas on very young kittens and their mom?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Small Animal | Unknown - Small Animal | Female | 1 month and 2 days old | 1lb

What would you recommend for the kittens under 5 lbs. And mom which is 8 months old for fleas then cause that's what the vet sold me for the kittens and mom

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Amy S. Eutsey, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 4th, 2018

In your previous post, you indicated that the kittens were 5 weeks old. If that is the case, there are no flea products labeled to use in kittens this young. Adams flea spray bottle is labeled for kittens 12 weeks of age and older. If your kittens are really just 5 weeks, they would only weigh about 1 pound. The safest thing to do in that case is to use a flea comb and manually pick fleas off. You can remove the mother cat from them and apply Revolution and wait about an hour to put her back with the kittens. Most topical monthly flea treatments are labeled for use in kittens that are 9-10 weeks old and over 2 pounds, but there is really nothing appropriate for 5 week old babies.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 20th, 2018

    Unfortunately your options are pretty limited at that age. Most flea preventatives are for kittens 7-8 weeks of age an over. Nitenpyram is labeled for use in kittens over 4 weeks old weighing at least 2 lbs, but it only lasts for 24 hours. You could also try using a good old fashioned flea comb and/or a bath (make sure your kitten doesn't get too cold after the bath!) but again the fleas could come back since they are likely in the environment. As far as worms are concerned I think your best bet would be to have a veterinarian examine Kitty and test a stool sample since there are many different types of intestinal parasites (roundworms, coccidia, tapeworms) and they do not all respond to one medication.

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