I found 2 puppy that are about 1 week old (their eyes aren't even opened) and they have a flea problem, I know they are to young to use anu frontline or stuff like that but I wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions (like a home remedy kind of thing) thanks

I have heard you can use dish soap, like Dawn, and it will kill most of the fleas. You just can't over use it, only use it like once or twice :)

Hi my name liz, I found 2 puppies around 1 week old (eyes still closed) in a shopping cart at a grocery market near my house, but they have a really bad flea infestation problem, I mean I have been picking and taking them off my hand and washing the bedding often but I am to scared to use on them what I use on my boxer when these dogs look more like a smaller breed... what can do besides taking them off one by one?

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Originally Posted by cicimommy

i found 2 puppy that are about 1 week old (their eyes aren't even opened) and they have a flea problem, i know they are to young to use anu frontline or stuff like that but i wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions (like a home remedy kind of thing) thanks

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My mother just went through this with cats. A friend recommended she use 1/2 cup of 20 mule team borax to a gallon of warm water. She dipped the cats, and then made the solution again and mopped the floors in the house. (The fleas had jumped off the cats in the house too!) She was very satisfied with the results.

As far as fleas around the house I have heard you can sprinkle salt on the carpet and leave it there overnight, then vacuum it up the next morning.

If those puppies are only a week old, they need more than just flea remedies. Saving them yourself will be very difficult. I think at that age they still need the stimulation of their mother licking them to eliminate them. I think you should turn them over to the experienced people at the local animal shelter. I hope they will try to save them.

Well I have had experience with young pups for along time since I have taken care of another litter a while back when my aunts dog gave birth and was very ill so feed them, so I did all that work like made sure they ate every two hours, and made them pee and defecate with a warm cotton ball and it was a lot of work but paid off when they went to a good home, but this time the puppies are responding well to the stimulation and the vet already checked them out and helped a little when taking some of the fleas off but I am guess the eggs were left behind which I am having a problem with because they fleas can be removed but not the eggs without something killing them off like a dip but the puppies are two young:confused: :confused:

If you have past experience with new puppies, you can understand my concern. It is a very specialized task many are not up to. I am glad you have a vet advising. I just checked the label on the Ovitrol Plus I have in the house. It says not to use with new borns, but doesn't say exactly what it means by that. You might check with the vet to see if he carries a similar product you could spray your house with. I don't like the suggestion of the salt. I am not sure I would trust the vacuum to pick up all of it, and any that is left wouldn't be good for the puppy, and maybe not for the carpet. It may kill adult fleas, but I am not sure about the eggs. The Ovitrol keeps them from hatching.

Good for you for rescuing and caring for the pups. I think you had better phone a vet, explain your problem and find out how old they have to be before you give them a bath.

Have you tried a flea comb? That will be faster than one by one, and help get rid of the flea eggs as well.

God bless you for taking in these pups! Yes I agree with froggy on this one, a flea comb would help a great bit. Call your vet to see if there is anything else you can do for them that would be safe for their age; they will have answers! Don't put anything on the pups that you use for your big dog; this could be dangerous for them.

I have a new puppy, also, and she had too many fleas for me. So I googled "puppy with fleas" and found this info (but I don't remember where.) It said to take a mild shampoo and mix it, in equal parts, with water. Then while the puppy is dry, cover them with this combo. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. The fleas cannot survive in the soapy conditions and will die. After 5 minutes gently rinse them and then use the flea comb to get the fleas off. I worked very well with Chloe, and she smelled great! After she was 7 weeks you can get Advantage or whatever. It really made a lot of sense, too, because to trap fleas you can put a bowl of water, with dish soap in it, under a bright light and the fleas will jump into the bowl and then can't get out. I think they like the sweet smell of the soap.

Washing them in a luke warm bath of Dawn works well too! Use a flea comb afterwards!

I merged the 2 questions on the rescued puppies. In sorting out the advice, you might check see what people say in their profile. As I said elsewhere: ''Just owning dogs for a long time doesn't give much insight on the best care practices.''

I know most people say this is probably not healthy for dogs. When someone dropped a stray off at our home, he was bitten by a copperhead. We kept nursing him but in the meantime our Doberman contracted fleas from the stray. My father always told me to put seven dust (the kind you use on garden plants) all over him and rub it in especially on the neck region because that is where the most blood flow is for fleas to feed off.. sure enough.. fleas started jumping off our dog right away and we haven't had a problem since. Hope this helps!

Ndill, you know, I have heard of that remedy before from someone else. I thought it sounded a bit strange but it is interesting to hear from someone else that it works. It is something that I will be discussing with some of the vets I work with. However, I don't think it would be the smartest thing to use on such young puppies. Better to be safe than sorry and have a vet give direction on that.

By the way rankrank, I checked with a vet about the Dawn dishwashing detergent because I was curious about it. Just as an FYI to all here, he did confirm what you have been saying. Dawn should be applied using just a bit of water to make it easier to work with, rub onto dog, let it sit for a few minutes if you can, then rinse in tepid water. The Dawn will suffocate the fleas. That is the best way to get rid of them on puppies.

To all, A vet tech told me to use Ivory soap that it was milder for the babies. :)

That is the first time I have ever heard of anyone suggesting Ivory soap bushg. Personally, I find Ivory soap to be very drying to the skin.? I will have to ask one of the vets I speak with.

The bar soap? It's supposed to be the purest form of soap, it floats. That is what I used for my babies (human) and they rarely had lotion on them. But personally I do not like to use it on me. Yeah this tech told me that a few weeks ago, there was kind of a dispute on here as to what should be used And I called the clinic where I take my animals and she verified that was OK to use, I have also used the dish wash liquid, she also said alcohol was OK but that surprised me! I kind of think that the techs have their own methods just like the rest of us. It is just what one prefers.

I know there was a dispute, which is why I asked too. I recall the ads about Ivory soap floating and it being great for babies. I could never use it as a young child. Dried my skin out terribly. Which made me wonder about what it would do to a puppys skin. It is so frustrating hearing about so many differing "expert" opinions on something that should be so simple.