SarahH

thanks everyone The fleas are...just normal dog fleas. I think. Before easter I thought I had it under control. Then we went away to the holiday house and within a day they were infested with what I think were juvenile dog fleas because they were very small. I'm not sure if they were in the car or at the holiday house. I think the car is more likely and a nice warm 6 hour drive brought them all to life (hence the car got bombed and vacuumed this morning and will probably bomb again this weekend) The next day, the little brown fleas had become big orange fleas...obviously had a good feed? I managed to get rid of most of them with a wash and bombed the holiday house before we left - hopefully they died before they managed to lay too many eggs. When we got back to Sydney they were covered in them again - which convinced me it was the car. But then the day after we got back i.e. yesterday the poor things were absolutely crawling in them so I figured they must still be in the house/garden as well. Gads...I don't know. I'm keeping them out of the garden for the moment till the pest man can come (he's calling me back) and am madly washing everything in flea shampoo and hot water....water and electricity bills are going to be horrific. I really need to get the girls skin sorted out because i can't use a spot on till she stops losing skin. Will nick off to the vet now for cortisone but what is best topically? - something like a natural neem oil soap or an oatmeal wash. I think I'm going to have to get her a collar too so she stops chewing herself.

I have had no sleep - spent the whole night tossing and turning and semi-dreaming about being ravaged by armies of maruading fleas. And you know how you start itching at nothing just knowing that there could be fleas around? the boy looks fine...he just scratches incessantly which drives me nuts but he doesn't seem to have any visible allergic reaction though i am sure just the scratching is making him far more miserable than it makes me. but my poor beautiful girl is an absolute mess...she usually has such a beautiful soft sleek coat (they are GSPs)...now she looks like something dragged in out of the gutter :-( If I have time between the carpet cleaning and the pest controller and cleaning/bombing the car today I will try to get her to the vet for some cortisol...it might have to wait until tomorrow though. Have also been advised to put out mouse/rat bait as they can harbour fleas. Yes - their worming is up to date...that's something I am always very good about. But I've heard that fleas transmit tapeworm..Sentinel covers tapeworm doesn't it? (I've chucked the packet out) What is Permoxin and where do I get it from?

ughh just vaccuumed the whole house again...moved all the furniture, replaced the bag, sprayed the machine...I am becoming obsessive. Losing my mind. Just the thought of having flea eggs and larvae in the carpet makes me nauseous..but I know they must be there. We haven't had any on us...they seem to prefer the dogs. my mother also suggested I flea bomb the car too. Hadn't thought of that. Lime - how much do I have to use? Will it kill the grass? (not that I care at this point)

shmoo - thats on the top of tomorrow's To Do list.

thanks for that - I forgot to add that I have also been using a Neem oil based soap on the girl to try to calm her skin down and have just a few minutes ago rubbed in half a bottle of baby oil into her backside (the only mild oil I have on hand)...her poor skin is just so raw it hurts me to look at it. and having read that first link I am now even more scared about the potential side effects of all the chemicals - have just thrown the flea shampoo out. Frightening.

I am at my absolute wits end and have been driven to tears. We have a flea infestation that no amount of chemicals, vacuuming or washing will get rid of. Before this summer my dogs had never had fleas in their entire lives (and the older one turns 9 this year) Now they are covered in them ...no sooner do I wash them than they are covered in them again. At lunchtime today for example I took them to the beach for a swim as the saltwater really helps soothe the itch. Whilst they were in the water I gave them a good scrubbing..head to toe including a good dunk (which they like) they were flea free when I got home at 1pm. By 6pm they were covered again so I washed them in the toxic flea wash....but experience shows me they'll be covered again by the morning. This has been going on since mid January. They are both on Sentinel, I was using Frontline but that didn't work so I switched to Advantix but that didn't work either...now I am just washing them in the toxic chemical flea wash every 2-3 days, the house has been flea bombed 3 times, I vacuum everyday and replacing the vaccuum bags twice a week (costing me a fortune), their beds have been thrown away - now they sleep on an old mattress protector which I wash in flea shampoo once a week. I've also been using the Capstar rapid knockdown pills which works for about a day but I can't use them everyday. My boy is OK - just itchy... but my poor girl is raw and half bald with flea allergy dermatitis...her skin is coming off in great big flakes and apparently the topical treatments (Frontline, Advantix etc) won't work when her skin is this raw and dry anyway. I think we're going to be bankrupt or have cancer from all the chemicals before I get rid of these fleas. Is anyone else going through this? Does anyone have any suggestions? I am having a nervous breakdown. Oh - and I'm in the inner west of Sydney if that makes any difference....I wonder if I am fighting a losing battle if my neighbours aren't doing the same thing? Please help me!

I feed my GSP roo mince combined with dried food and chicken necks or frames - not alot of roo meat - probably about 250g a day. he's always had a very sensitive stomach - especially to fatty meat - too much fat and he'll be crook for the next day and a half (and i have to clean it up!) so I can't feed him lamb off cuts in particular, regular beef mince is too fatty and the premium is too expensive! so the kangaroo meat has been great. his coat looks and feels terrific and i often have people comment on how shiny it is.