How To Deal With Fleas?

[Lambo]

Hi all,

Somewhere, somehow, my Weim has managed to pick up a colony of fleas. He didn't have any until just before Christmas, when we took him to the dog park. Since then, I haven't had any luck getting rid of the little buggers. We bathe him regularly, much to his dismay, and he has a dose of frontline once a month and wears a flea collar which is supposed to last for up to five months. I've also tried cleaning him with a mixture made from of boiled lemons. Nothing has worked so far. He usually seems alright after his bath, but then starts scratching within several hours. I'm pretty certain the fleas are in the grass in the backyard. Also we have carpets, and I'm positive some of them are now nesting there.

Is there anything I can spray around the yard (and the home) to kill them, without harming the dog? If I get a fumigator to do it, is it safe for the dog to be crated in the house at the time? (If I leave the dog outside, I'm sure he'll just bring the little blighters back in the house).

Also, can anyone recommend a flea shampoo (and if so, do such products actually work)? The girl at the pet store seemed to be steering me away from them.

TIA

Edited March 27, 2012 by Lambo

[Polgara's Shadow]

I had a persistent infestation a couple years ago. Its a pain. I suggest switching from frontline to advocate/advantix. Washing your dogs bedding in eucalyptus oil and flea bombing your house. You can get the flea bombs from the supermarket - they look like a can of fly spray, you set them in each room, get out of the house for a few hours and let the canisters empty.

[Polgara's Shadow]

Oh..and we ended up throwing his bedding out - it was passed its used by date anyway and got him some new flea free things. This may or may not be practical for you.

I've never had much success with flea shampoo's.

[Ben and Jerry]

Wash out all his bedding, if he sleeps in your bed or anything wash all the sheets too. You can also vaccuum the house to pick up any fleas and eggs from the carpet, if that doesn't help then I'd consider using flea bombs, I've also heard of people using those mortein plug in things (like an air freshner?) they don't specify that they do fleas but some people have said they have used them with success. For outdoors if you have long grass, try keep that as short as you can so it gets more sunlight throughout it and stays drier, as for chemicals, I'm not familiar with any so wouldn't be confident in reccommending something that would be safe for use around animals. When you say you bathe him regulary, do you do it around the time you apply the frontline? You can get a product called capstar which is a 24hour fast actng tablet which kills adult fleas, you can use that in conjunction with frontline or if you are finding frontline ineffective you can use advantage or advantix (advantix is toxic to cats whilst wet so you need to be careful if you own cats and the dog is pretty cosy with them).

ETA; With the fumigator option, I'm fairly certain you would need to find somewhere for the dog to go as not even humans can be within the house at time of fumigation.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Ben and Jerry

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Don't use Frontline full stop, doesn't work for fleas.

Buy Capstar and give him the tabs for 3 days in a row. Bath him on Day 1. On Day 3 put on either Advantage or Advocate and put it on religiously on the same day every month (I do mine on the 1st of each month). No good putting Advocate or Advantage on within 48 hrs either side of a bath.

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

As recommended I would try something different to frontline. Whenever we have found fleas on the dogs we have put advantage or advantix on and fleas have always gone away.

Edited March 27, 2012 by krystal&coco

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

Wash out all his bedding, if he sleeps in your bed or anything wash all the sheets too. You can also vaccuum the house to pick up any fleas and eggs from the carpet, if that doesn't help then I'd consider using flea bombs, I've also heard of people using those mortein plug in things (like an air freshner?) they don't specify that they do fleas but some people have said they have used them with success. For outdoors if you have long grass, try keep that as short as you can so it gets more sunlight throughout it and stays drier, as for chemicals, I'm not familiar with any so wouldn't be confident in reccommending something that would be safe for use around animals. When you say you bathe him regulary, do you do it around the time you apply the frontline? You can get a product called capstar which is a 24hour fast actng tablet which kills adult fleas, you can use that in conjunction with frontline or if you are finding frontline ineffective you can use advantage or advantix (advantix is toxic to cats whilst wet so you need to be careful if you own cats and the dog is pretty cosy with them).

ETA; With the fumigator option, I'm fairly certain you would need to find somewhere for the dog to go as not even humans can be within the house at time of fumigation.

Really I didn't know this! What does it do to cats? My cat is indoor only and I never knew that and have used it before

[Ben and Jerry]

Advantix contains permethrin, a synthetic insecticide, which is toxic to cats. Dogs and other mammals metabolize permethrin effectively, resulting in a perfectly safe product for them. However; cats cannot metabolize permethrin and will suffer from toxic effects if exposed to the insecticide. This is known as permethrin toxicity. Exposure to cats can happen in a variety of ways, including direct application or close contact with a dog that has been treated within the last 48 hours.

I've met a few people who use Advantix on there dogs, and own cats. I guess you can get away with using it but it really depends how cosy your dogs and cats are together whilst the product is still wet on the dog.

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

Advantix contains permethrin, a synthetic insecticide, which is toxic to cats. Dogs and other mammals metabolize permethrin effectively, resulting in a perfectly safe product for them. However; cats cannot metabolize permethrin and will suffer from toxic effects if exposed to the insecticide. This is known as permethrin toxicity. Exposure to cats can happen in a variety of ways, including direct application or close contact with a dog that has been treated within the last 48 hours.

I've met a few people who use Advantix on there dogs, and own cats. I guess you can get away with using it but it really depends how cosy your dogs and cats are together whilst the product is still wet on the dog.

Oh wow won't risk using it again Coco is inside 24/7 so they are often found sleeping together. Thanks for that info

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nowstarin]

Advantix contains permethrin, a synthetic insecticide, which is toxic to cats. Dogs and other mammals metabolize permethrin effectively, resulting in a perfectly safe product for them. However; cats cannot metabolize permethrin and will suffer from toxic effects if exposed to the insecticide. This is known as permethrin toxicity. Exposure to cats can happen in a variety of ways, including direct application or close contact with a dog that has been treated within the last 48 hours.

I've met a few people who use Advantix on there dogs, and own cats. I guess you can get away with using it but it really depends how cosy your dogs and cats are together whilst the product is still wet on the dog.

Oh wow won't risk using it again Coco is inside 24/7 so they are often found sleeping together. Thanks for that info

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is only a risk for cats AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. There is no risk for dogs living with cats after the product is dry. Approx 6 hours minimum. It is a bit like the washing on the line. How long does that take to dry? Recommend 12 hours separation After that No problem with cuddling licking spooning etc.

Edited March 27, 2012 by nowstarin

[experiencedfun]

Bath the dog in Martha Gardners euclyptus wool wash (not the cheap knock off).... flea bomb everywhere, use more rather than less.

[Borja]

Advocate. We just had fleas on our pup and they were gone once we put that on rather than frontline which the breeder was using :)

I also used a wool wash with eucalyptus and bathed him in that, left him a little bit wet so the eucalpytus stays. It only worked for a couple of hours before we saw another flea, then the advocate came in and did the job!

Maybe if you decide to fumigate you can leave your dog outside and then bath him before him comes in and then put on advocate??

Goodluck!!

Edited March 28, 2012 by Borja

[Guest lavendergirl]

Wouldn't be safer to use a diluted pure eucalyptus oil rinse rather than a wool wash? I would be worried about the effect on the dog's skin of a wool wash.

[minimax]

Apple cider vinegar helps - a diluted rinse after a shampoo, also rinse bedding etc. it's less harsh than eucalyptus oil and wool wash.

[Borja]

I didn't put it directly on the skin i mixed it in the bath and had no problems. But it didn't get rid of them permanently anyway so if you're worried then don't bother with it

Wouldn't be safer to use a diluted pure eucalyptus oil rinse rather than a wool wash? I would be worried about the effect on the dog's skin of a wool wash.

[minimax]

I didn't put it directly on the skin i mixed it in the bath and had no problems. But it didn't get rid of them permanently anyway so if you're worried then don't bother with it

ACV and eucalyptus can help because fleas don't like living in the PH environment of the skin they create, which is different to just washing them out with a soap/wool wash etc

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

Advantix contains permethrin, a synthetic insecticide, which is toxic to cats. Dogs and other mammals metabolize permethrin effectively, resulting in a perfectly safe product for them. However; cats cannot metabolize permethrin and will suffer from toxic effects if exposed to the insecticide. This is known as permethrin toxicity. Exposure to cats can happen in a variety of ways, including direct application or close contact with a dog that has been treated within the last 48 hours.

I've met a few people who use Advantix on there dogs, and own cats. I guess you can get away with using it but it really depends how cosy your dogs and cats are together whilst the product is still wet on the dog.

Oh wow won't risk using it again Coco is inside 24/7 so they are often found sleeping together. Thanks for that info

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is only a risk for cats AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. There is no risk for dogs living with cats after the product is dry. Approx 6 hours minimum. It is a bit like the washing on the line. How long does that take to dry? Recommend 12 hours separation After that No problem with cuddling licking spooning etc.

The above info says 48hours

[luvsdogs]

When I last took my cat to be vaccinated the vet asked if we were having a problem with fleas, yes i said. She said they were so bad at the clinic that even the humans were being bitten.

For the cat she said to use Revolution, which I have all her life, & Advantage alternate fortnights. I haven't tried it because we seem to have gotten rid of the fleas by treating all the dogs with Advantage & cat with Revolution. I also sprayed the carpet where the dogs lie with a flea spray. I can't use bombs because of the fish tanks.

In the past Advantage was all I used on my 1st Border Collie who was allergic to fleas. Worked every time but doesn't seem to be as effective as it used to be.

[Guest]

I had a horrible flea infestation about a year ago .... Comfortis is outstanding ... works immediately and i have not seen a single flea since

can't recommend it highly enough ..

and even though it's not recommended for Tick control, i also haven't had a paralysis tick since I started using it ...

everything else is a waste of money.

[rusty&biscuit]

I highly recommend Advantix :) Frontline is rubbish, used it many years ago and dogs still got fleas. However I have been using Advantix for at least 5 years, never seen a flea or tick on the dogs. Comfortis is also excellent, if you don't live in a tick area. However I live in the tropics, so would never risk using a product that doesn't cover ticks. Advantix also helps with flea allergy dermatitis, and biting insects (which is good up here because of the mozzies! :laugh: ).

At my work what I usually recommend with flea infestations is Capstar, which knocks all the fleas down within the hour, then Advantix as the ongoing treatment. As others have suggested, any bedding and places the dog has access to will need to be cleaned thoroughly.