[staceycarey4]

How old does a puppy have to be to start flea drops

[ahkelteke]

Having fostered puppies for the humane society as young as 5 weeks, I understand your concern. Almost all puppies from the society came home with fleas! I've successfully used puppy flea drops on puppies as young at 8 weeks, but I usually use very small doses (usually half or less of what the package recommends for the 10 pounders). Just moniter the puppy to make sure that they aren't ingesting their drops or their playmates' (usually takes around 1/2 hr to dry). If you notice a poor reaction, bathe immediately. If the puppy is very young, try using a dilute flea bath and spray or powder the house with flea sprays or powders. Beware, though, many sprays are intoxicating and very strong in odor. If you are going to spray, do so on a day when both you and your puppy can be out. Open the windows and head for the park! You can also try flea collars if the puppy is all right with collars.

Good luck.

[teachnk]

Please speak to your vet about the proper dosage and which brands are safe for puppies. Please avoid the "grocery store" brands as these have very dangerous chemicals in them.

[linnealand]

I'm curious about this, too. We just got the flea and tick drops from the vet because we asked for them, but we haven't put them on our 2 1/2 month old yet. He spends a nice amount of time in the garden, which has a lot of mosquitoes, but we aren't sure if we should use the drops or not since we haven't seen any fleas on him. The brand we have is called "stronghold," (active ingredient: selamectin), and it also treats intestinal parasites, which is new to me. His stool has been shown clear of parasites. If anyone has any recommendations I would love to know.