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How to treat fleas on a 3-week-old puppy and protect my cat and home?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Catahoula Leopard Dog | Male | unneutered | 17 days old | 3 lbs

We are getting a 3 week old Catahoula puppy from family members. Their dogs have fleas and now so does our potential puppy. What treatments or preventative measures can we take to insure it doesn't infect our home and cat.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on November 16th, 2020

Three week is way too young for a puppy to be separated from their mother. It won't even be weaned yet. The puppy should stay with it's mother until it's at least 6-8 weeks of age. Make sure your cat is up to date on it's flea treatment, and the puppy can only have Frontline Spray to kill the fleas. Best of luck.

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I have 5 puppies, there about 4 weeks old know and they are covered in fleas. Are they too young for treatment? I've tried baby powder but no luck....
Poor pups. Unfortunately they are too young for a topical flea preventative like Revolution (youngest is 6 weeks of age). Your only option here is to give them a Capstar (NItenpyram, located at your local pet store and vet clinic), which is ok to use in puppies that are at least 4 weeks of old AND at least 2 lbs. Then you should bathe them in a Dawn dish detergent (strips the fleas and eggs off very well), just make sure none gets in the eyes, and dry them well after carefully with a blow dryer. And thereafter keep them away from the flea source. Flea fogger your home if you suspect they have bred in the carpet and are getting on the puppies that way. Flea fogger's are found at your local Home Depot or Lowe's. After this you only have 2 more weeks and you can get all puppies treated and protected with topical Revolution.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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i have 4 puppies that are 3 weeks old and they have fleas.. i went to the pet store and got frontline spray as recommended by the guys at the pet store and i sprayed one spray on one puppy and i immediately brought wet paper and tried to wipe it off.
Frontline spray is safe to use on puppies as young as two days old. Because it dries rapidly, it's safe to handle the puppies as soon as their coat is dry. It has a very high safety margin, so as long as the puppies are dry, there should be no problem with them licking each other. I would not wipe off the flea treatment, as it will not work. If you are too concerned to use it, then you can give each one a warm bath, and use a flea comb to comb out the fleas. Make sure to dry them thoroughly after the bath. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash their bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I got a new puppy on Thursday. They told me he was 8 weeks but is actually 6 weeks today. I know it’s bad for them to be away from their mom. They also didn’t inform me he had any fleas just that they haven’t washed him. I took him a bath and took
Six weeks of age is young, but Mickey is old enough to be separated from his mother. You will need to feed him a puppy formulated food, and brands that I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. As for the fleas, I can give you a flea treatment program for him that's safe to use at six weeks of age. First, I would give him Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. This is a treatment that has to be used once a month. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash his bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. Enjoy your puppy and I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I have 3 kittens that are 5weeks old they don't have very many fleas but I don't want it to become an infestion so what can I use on them and the mother she doesn't have a real bad either they just have a few
Great question! You can use Frontline Spray on the kittens. It's safe to use on kittens from two days of age. On Beauty, you can use Revolution or Advantage. Those are spot on treatments that have been tested and proven to be safe on nursing mothers. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash their bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Health & Wellbeing
I have a 3 week old kitten and all her siblings have died over the last week, I got kmr today and bathe her every other day and pick the fleas off, do you have any advice to help her thrive?
Mavrick is so cute! Newborn kittens can be very fragile, and unfortunately sometimes some of them don't make it. The best advice I can give you is keep her warm and fed. and weigh her daily to make sure she is gaining weight. It's safe to use Frontline Spray on her to kill the fleas, so I would use that instead of bathing her every day. Be sure to disinfect the environment from the fleas, as they can be a continuing source of fleas. Wash her bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. Just keep her out of any room you use a flea spray on until it's dried completely. If there are any health problems or concerns with her, be sure to take her into a vet immediately. Best of luck, I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I have a puppy that me and my fakily adopted a week ago he was 8wks and I notice him scratching and I see a flea so we bathed him this morning with Dawn Soap i after cleaning and blow drying him i saw another flea im really concerned and don’t know w
Here is a way to get rid of fleas: Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your pet when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). Flea treatment:  1) Get some flea medication such as a Flea spray or a spot on from a pet shop or your veterinarian and apply monthly 2) get flea powder, put some in your vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum your house and furniture and also non-carpeted areas frequently to remove flea larvae and eggs which live off house dust., Dispose of the bag in the trash outside. Hot-wash all the pet's bedding, If you do this diligently for a few months you will get rid of the fleas. Flea products: Spot-ons and/or chews Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution (stronghold i
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Have a five week old pup that was strayed, has fleas, I have appointment set up for a day from now, but what can I use to get the fleas off this pup before the appointment
I am sorry to hear about your concern for this pup! In tiny animals that may not be old or large enough to use flea medication we often use a bath in dawn dishsoap (being very careful to not get it in the eyes) to kill the fleas and then comb them out using a flea comb. There is also a product called Capstar https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/dog/dog-and-puppy-flea-and-tick/capstar-flea-tablets-for-dogs-and-cats-2-25lbs which can be used in puppies older than 4 weeks that weigh 2 pounds or more. It will kill all the fleas on the pup within a few hours but only stays in the system for 24 hours so won't prevent new fleas.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I detected some fleas on my newborn kittens. I've being told that I can't use Advantage on the mother. Can I use the powder created for preventing fleas on the kittens? (Pictures below). Is it true the best way to prevent newborn kitten from fleas i
Frontline spray is safe to use on kittens from two days of age. If the kittens are that age, you can safely use it on them. It can also safely be used on Baby. You will also have to disinfect the environment, as fleas live in the home and not on the animal. Wash their bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. If you do use a spray like Indorex, do not allow Baby and her kittens in that area until the spray is completely dry. I hope this helps.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I found a flea in my 8 week old puppy, pitbull! He is 14 pounds. Just got his first 2 shots, DHPP 1 & Deworming. He only goes to our backyard to pee&poop. I read he can't have a bath until 12 weeks old. What to do?
You can treat him with a monthly flea prevention, like NexGard or Frontline which are both labeled for use on puppies over 8 weeks of age. Ask your vet for the best flea prevention for your puppy. Continue to give him the flea medication on a monthly basis.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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How do I get rid of fleas on one week old puppies?
The best way to treat puppies this young is with a warm bath and some dawn dish soap. You can't really use any flea treatments on them. However you should, and can treat the mother. You should also wash any bedding and make sure that you keep the puppies free of fleas at all times. After bathing make sure to dry them thoroughly. They are still too young to control their body temp.
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