My new mom dog and puppies have fleas. How can I treat them safely?

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.

I like to use a flea comb dipped in a solution of dawn dish soap to comb off the fleas. That is safe and dipping the flea comb in the soapy water will kill the fleas. I would comb them daily and manually remove the ticks. All puppies get intestinal parasites from their Mom. Giving nemex every two weeks once they are four weeks old will take care of them. You can apply Advantage to the mother and place a drop on each pup when they are six weeks old to kill the fleas. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

You can treat the mom now and there are some products you can use on the puppies now as well (like Revolution). Here is a chart of what products you can use. I suggest you consult with your vet about what products they have available. I would suggest treating everyone with Revolution. You do not need to isolate the mom. ( https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/puppy-health/flea-and-tick-medicine-for-puppies/ ) Don't forget to treat the environment - both the house and the yard. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Oh no, how frustrating! I would not recommend using Adams flea and tick products for dogs of any age, as they tend not to be terribly effective and can lead to some serious reactions. Your puppies are currently too young to be treated with any oral or topical flea and tick preventatives. However, one method of managing fleas at this young age is to bathe the puppies in original Dawn dish soap weekly. The original (blue) Dawn will kill adult fleas, but it will not kill eggs or treat the recently hatched larvae. Be sure to dry them well and keep them warm after their baths since young puppies are not able to regulate their body temperatures as well as adult dogs. By 6 weeks of age, your vet can prescribe Revolution to be used topically, or you can purchase K9 Advantix II OTC when the puppies are 7 weeks old. Also be sure to wash their bedding and any soft materials they contact in hot soapy water. Assure that the puppies' mom and any other dogs in the house are also receiving flea and tick preventatives regularly. K9 Advantix II is labeled as being safe for pregnant and lactating bitches. I hope that all goes well!

Pretty much all of the OTC flea medications are safe for 7 month-old puppies. There are several options, such a monthly topicals, flea collars, or a Seresto collar. Flea shampoos don't work well at all. Prescription oral flea preventative seem to work the best, in my opinion, so I would recommend that Grace be checked out by a vet so she can get started on one of these. Please know that it can take several months of consistent treatment to get rid of a flea infestation. Fleas don't live on the dog, they only jump on at bedtime. So, if you see a 2 or 3 fleas on Grace at one time, then there could be 20-30 fleas off of her, laying eggs to make new fleas! Here is some more information on fleas: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=3682

Great question! Yes, you can give the puppies a dawn dish soap bath, and use a flea comb to comb out the fleas. As for Harley, there are flea treatments that are safe to use on nursing dogs. Capstar is a one time pill that starts killing fleas in 30 minutes and is safe for her. I would follow that up with Revolution (you can use Capstar and Revolution together). Revolution is a monthly spot on treatment that is safe to use on nursing dogs. You will need to disinfect the environment as well. Wash their bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a flea spray such as Indorex, but make sure it is completely dried before allowing Harley and her puppies back into the treated area. I hope this helps!

This is a difficult to answer question. So we have a mother with mange, and this means the puppies will likely be infected with mange also. Therefore the risk of the puppies dying or getting severely ill from mange vs adverse events from medication is higher, and therefore I would treat the mother;s mange. You will however have to find out what kind of mange mites are present. Your vet should be able to tell you after an exam and then should prescribe a medication for mother and possibly puppies. There are several medications that will kill mites such as avermectins, (Revolution spot on, ivermectin or doramectin injections, Bravecto, Nexgard, etc.) Please take Diamond and her puppies to your vet for an exam and prescription.