I live in Tahiti and unfortunately there aren't a lot of pet stores here on the islands. In fact, there aren't any pet stores here on the island. If we want anything for your pets we have to buy them from the veterinary or the pharmacy. We pay an extremely high price for our pet care needs.
One night my boyfriend came home from work with a 6 week old puppy. He was adorable and so cute. However, he was infested with fleas. I had never seen so many fleas on an animal before.
I went to the pharmacy and purchased a lice comb. Here in Tahiti they don't sell a flea comb for dogs. A lice comb works great if you buy the plastic one like I purchased. Afterwards, I stopped at the grocery store and bought a bottle of white vinegar. When I arrived at home I poured the vinegar into a bowl. I then proceeded to comb the dog with the lice comb. This trapped the fleas on the dog. Afterwards, I rinsed the comb in the bowl of vinegar. This immediately killed the fleas on the comb.
After spending an hour combing the dog and removing the fleas I made a tub of warm water and poured 2 cups of vinegar into the water. I soaked the dog in the tub of warm water for 30 minutes.
This procedure took me around a week to get rid of all the fleas on the dog. Fortunately, I have never had a flea problem again. Once I killed all the fleas with vinegar my dog has been free of fleas.
After some of the sores healed on the dog I was able to take him to the lagoon and bath him in the salt water. Here on the islands the salt water is fantastic for controlling and getting rid of fleas. However, when a dog's skin has too many sores it is not a good idea to bath him in salt water.
Please help. This is our first ever problem with fleas.
By Kendall from CO
My dog had issues with fleas for years, and was allergic to pretty much everything I tried, including oatmeal flea wash. Then I planted pennyroyal in our garden and placed clippings of pennyroyal under her mattress. No more fleas!! You can also put sprigs of pennyroyal in oil (like canola oil) and let it sit for a week or so, and then dab the oil on all the flea zones of the puppies (ears, neck, tail etc).
My vet is really excited about Comfortis, since it doesn't go directly onto their skin and is apparently bacteria based. You can start using this when your puppies are 4 months old. Check it out and see what you think:
www.comfortis4dogs.com/
No poisons please. Dry borax in the carpets. Build their immune system.
Make sure you are vacuuming the carpet every other day. This is so you are getting eggs and newly hatched fleas.
Take your puppies to the Vet. They have a flea treatment that is safe for puppies because their skin is so sensitive.
My puppies had fleas from their mother and one treatment is all they needed.
DO NOT use over the counter flea treatment or flea treatment for older dogs. This stuff will burn the puppy's skin.
I have 5 dogs and two cats. This is nothing new for my family, we have always had at least 3 pets at a time. So fleas, ticks, worms..... etc. is not new to me. I also know how important it is to keep your pet free of these pesty, little things. In all the years that I have had pets inside and outside our home, we have been where we are now for well over 10 years, I have never had such a struggle! I take our pets to the vets (NOT CHEAP, thats why I work so hard to NOT let my pets get these things!) and not even their meds are working. Someone said something about COMFORTIS, it did not work for us. We dose all animals at the same time and do the house as well. Until now, I have never had them infested in my home or jump on one of us from the furniture or seen my poor animals so miserable. They have given us 3 types of flea and tick meds, pills and drops. I have resorted to stinky collars, not working. I have vacumed carpets, furniture, curtains. Ive mopped, shampooed and did the same to the pets. The wont go near ANY running water. They wont even let me pet them, they are probably sore from the flea comb and flea picking! I have discovered that Dawn dish liquid is like liquid, blue, duct tape! I read that about the Dawn soap bath on here, I also read about the vasoline trick on here, it worked great. I havent tried spreading salt everywhere just yet, it might kill some fleas but not before my dogs go crazy trying to lick in out of the floor and such.
I have a puppy, 5 weeks old, that gets fleas really bad. How can I keep them off? I bathe her almost every day.
By Angela from Rock Hill, SC
Add some garlic powder to her food. Garlic is a natural flea repellent. There are several of the organic flea shampoos that may help, but you'd need to check with a professional to see if it's OK to use on such a young puppy.
Dawn dish soap will help if you are with a 2 month old pup.
My 6 week old puppy has fleas. Can I give him a bath at this age?
By Karen from Nova Scotia, Canada
For safe removal of fleas for a puppy that young, you can buy a flea zapper comb that kills fleas the minute the comb comes in contact. I've used it on my own dogs and it really works.
My puppies are only 10 weeks, but badly invested with fleas from their mum. Is there anything I can use on them to help them at this very young age?
By A.J.
No,
Dawn is dangerous for puppies, went to the vet over it. It takes all of the natural oils and things out of coat. Do Not Use Dawn
I have a Rottweiler and she had 11 puppies. A week ago we found a flea's nest, really bad infestation. We tried not to bring it back to the house, but surely it happened. Today my daughter got send home for having fleas. My daughter is not so hard to clean up, but what worries me are the puppies, they are only 6 days old. What can I use on them? I have tried to get rid of the fleas, but they won't go away!
By Elizabeth
I have a miniature Pinscher, he is 10 weeks old and very tiny. I am looking for a safe affordable solution to get rid of his fleas. He only weighs about 1.5 lbs
By C. Wallace
My six week old puppy has flea sores on her neck. She has long hair and I have been bathing her with Dawn soap. What should I do to help her with the sores? They are irritating her really badly and she is crying.
By H.Kiser
What can I do to rid a puppy three weeks old and under 2 lbs. of fleas?
My 6 week old puppy recently got fleas, and I gave him a bath. Is it safe to de-flea my puppy? Also he is too small and I'm wondering if I can use vinegar on the dog?
