My dog has 5 day old puppies. There is a growing flea problem. Can I treat these puppies at this age? Can I treat the nursing mother?

I recommend using plain rubbing alcohol,it will kill the fleas and won't harm the pups.Try not to get the alcohol on the breasts where the pupies will nurse,it will taste bitter to the pups.A syringe will work good for applying the alcohol down the backs and on their necks and ears.

I would verify the rubbing alcohol technique with a reliable source before using it. Some of it has methanol in it which could pass through the puppies' skin. Your most reliable information would come from a vet.

Before breeding dogs, you should do extensive research so you know the answers to such questions. How much care went into selecting the breeding stock? Are both parents of good temperament and know to be free of problems common to the breed?

All flea products that are liquids are 90 percent alcohol.I was vet tech for five years,and a flea will kill a small animal much faster than alcohol.they will become anemic,and will need a blood transfusion to survive.Plain alcohol,and perhaps a flea comb to comb the dead fleas off.

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Originally Posted by jortego

My dog has 5 day old puppies. There is a growing flea problem. Can I treat these puppies at this age? Can I treat the nursing mother?

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If you use alcohol on the puppies you say it won't harm them what about where the fleas have bit them won't the alcohol get into there system that way I have the same problem my puppies are 2 weeks old and have a flea problem and I don't know what to use on them

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Originally Posted by roxie11

if you use alcohol on the puppies you say it wont harm them what about where the fleas have bit them wont the alcohol get into there system that way i have the same problem my puppies are 2 weeks old and have a flea problem and i dont know what to use on them

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Talk to YOUR vet about an effective remedy safe for puppies the age of yours. Ask about alcohol and see if he gives a derisive snort.

To rid the puppies of fleas, you must clear out the entire house. Clearing a home of a flea infestation is tough. The first step is to put every animal in the house on an effective flea treatment. Then bomb the house. If the product you use doesn't kill the eggs, you will need to repeat or spray areas the dogs are in with a spray such as Ovitrol that kills eggs. You also need to treat outside areas the dog uses too. If the dogs travel much, the car too. If you don't kill off the eggs, new fleas will keep hatching out for at least 2 weeks.

Treat a dog with alcohol, and even if it kills all the ones on it, more can jump on before it is dry. The only safe, effective ones come from vets practicing mainstream medicine.

When I got my dog he had a few flees and I gaved him a regular bath with some puppy shampoo. When I lifted his ears and they were just crawling out of there like some sort of terror movie. I killed the flea one by one by hand. I think that's the safest way to do when it comes down to puppies.

You can use dawn. The green one. Not the scented kinds.

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Originally Posted by pompano

all flea products that are liquids are 90 percent alcohol.I was vet tech for five years,and a flea will kill a small animal much faster than alcohol.they will become anemic,and will need a blood transfusion to survive.Plain alcohol,and perhaps a flea comb to comb the dead fleas off.

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The alcohol in the flea products aren't what kills the fleas, you know..
I've heard of the alcohol technique working somewhat well though, but I would be very cautious with such young pups, as it is a skin irritant..

I pulled 3 pups out from under the porch at 2 weeks old. They had enough fleas to make black rings around their eyes. I ripped the siding off to reach them, thinking one had an eye gouged out. 200 sq ft. of porch was nicely bedded in fresh cedar shavings to repel fleas. Apparently cedar's not much of a deterrent.
Each 1 pound puppy had maybe 8 fleas per inch. It was evening. Desperate, I put them in the kitchen sink, rubbed them with bar laundry soap and rinsed. Some fleas washed away, but none died. I didn't have any Dawn - so don't know if that would have done the trick.
Pouring an inch of alcohol in a cup, I got tweezers. The alcohol acted like chloroform, slowing the fleas so even I could pick them off one by one. Those demons were paralyzed by fumes on the tip of the tweezers! Dip each flea in the alcohol. He's instantly drowned and sinks. In an hour I was done. The puppies got clean, white, and relaxed. It would have taken longer to find a store.
Frontline is labeled for lactating es while Advantage is not. But that mom scratched more after using Frontline than before (so did my cat). Mom still has fleas but now she's covered with scabs too. Mom's getting a shower and the pups have upgraded to their own room in the house.

If you can find it, it is hard to find in it's pure form, Lavendar oil, not additives, just the oil mixed in a spray bottle, 2 drops for a small one. Use the Spray setting and spray the animals and your house. Then use a babywipe to clean the pups. I stumbled across this when I had gotten some of the Lavendar oil for myself as I like the smell. I was spraying the house and some got on the dogs and within a couple of weeks no more fleas in the house. The dogs got sprayed every time they came in the house. Ran out of the oil and fleas came back. So it can get cost prohibitive. Good luck and listen to Lab Man he does know what he is talking about.