Fleas

[Risyntira]

My yard has heap of fleas, is the rain bringing them in? what can I use to kill them all? Someone told me LIME!

I am having trouble breaking the cycle, everytime I think I am on top of the problem they are crawling on my dogs again!

What do you use on your lawn and your dogs? I have heard here that frontline doesn't work? does Advantix work well? I am fed up with spending soo much money on stuff that doesn't work.

All my neightbours are having trouble too.

Please help.

[Pup's mum]

I use Advantage on the dogs and just heard of a product called Delete that is supposed to repel flies and fleas from surface areas... http://www.thecompetitiveedge.com.au/

I find once the dogs are Advantaged that there are no other fleas anywhere. Do you wash their bedding etc regularly? I would use whatever you intend to on the dogs then wash and disinfect their bedding and sleeping area at the same time. It might help.

[chilli]

We had this similar problem a couple of years ago. Every time you walked into the yard the little rotten things would be all over your feet.

In the end (after all sorts of stuff and having a pest control person spray), we got rid of them by using Malawash (i think this is what it is called), probably not supposed to....but it worked. We got a bindi poison yard sprayer thingy (techno term! ), and using the correct dilution just sprayed the yard, the kennel, bedding, the dogs, everything, steps, concrete every three or four days for about three weeks. Yes, the yard and everything stank to high heaven, we probably absorbed more chemicals in this time than we ever will for the rest of our lives, but it was the only thing that worked as frontline just wasnt doing a thing.

We also put down builders lime in the gardens as well.

I have recently been using Revolution on my cats and dogs (although this controls ear mites and heartworm as well...so might not be applicable for you if your dogs have proheart injections already), and I swear this stuff is ace, works a treat on fleas.

[t-time]

OK. Lime is good.

Fido's Flea and Tick Rinse is BETTER! ;)

It's pyrethrum so not toxic city like most other products.

Get the concentrate - it'll cost you a bit - water it down in a watering can and spread it around the whole yard.

Treat your dogs with whatever flea preparation you want to - I've been using Advantix and think it's a fantastic product

Either way, the preparations you have been using would probably work if your dogs weren't being reinfected from your yard.

Treat the yard, the dogs bedding, carpets, and your yard and your flea problems will disappear

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Your neighbours probably need to eradicate their fleas too, or the problem will just come back. ;)

[Risyntira]

Thanks everyone!!! ;)

Will also let all my neighbours know too (I just hope they do it too, they don't really take good care of their pets)

Will let you know how we go in a few weeks time!

[Cavalier]

We use frontline on our dogs and I find it works really well.

Advantix is also a good product.

Pyrethrins are actually quite toxic to dogs. Try to use a product which is "insect specific" such as frontline, revolution, sentinal, advantix.

Anything with pyrethrins or organophosphates are potentially toxic to your dogs.

Try to stay away from flea rinses and powders, their efficacy is questionable and toxic effects much greater.

[t-time]

Anything with pyrethrins or organophosphates are potentially toxic to your dogs.

Yes, if they EAT them and avoid contact with eyes...use commonsense.

Try to stay away from flea rinses and powders, their efficacy is questionable and toxic effects much greater.

Cavalier, what have been reading lately? Honest question and am genuinely interested to know.

I have been using Flea & tick rinse (pyrethrum-based) for many years with huge success. In fact, you can see the fleas & ticks coming off immediately as soon as you use the product in the hydrobath. I do follow the instructions and have NEVER had a sick dog post treatment. It is very effective for eliminating fleas and ticks but is not a "stay-on" product. For full effectiveness you must treat with the rinses every couple of days which is why, for my dogs, I prefer a spot on, stay-on product like Advantix, Frontline, Advantage etc. You should not use both the rinse and a stay-on product.

Recently our chickens had a lice outbreak including day old chicks - it was awful. The ONLY product my vet could recommend was Flea & Tick rinse for the little chicks as it was the LEAST toxic. We gave them all a little bath and they were FINE - no toxic effects at all.

I wouldn't know about powders as I've never had reason to use them. Have you tried any of these products Cavalier?

We use frontline on our dogs and I find it works really well.

Frontline has not worked for us in our area for about 3 years. The vets no longer recommend it. There have been a couple of recent threads about this.

[KismetKat]

one old fashioned and organic method of helping combat fleas in the garden is to plant the herb pennyroyal. Especially in shady spots where cats and dogs like to lie.

It's probably not as affective as nuking them, but it looks nice. ;)

[HuntinHound]

Fido's Flea and Tick Rinse is BETTER!

I have been using Flea & tick rinse (pyrethrum-based) for many years with huge success. In fact, you can see the fleas & ticks coming off immediately as soon as you use the product in the hydrobath. I do follow the instructions and have NEVER had a sick dog post treatment. It is very effective for eliminating fleas and ticks but is not a "stay-on" product. For full effectiveness you must treat with the rinses every couple of days which is why, for my dogs, I prefer a spot on, stay-on product like Advantix, Frontline, Advantage etc. You should not use both the rinse and a stay-on product.

;)

Ditto t-time .. our guys get bathd weekly in Fidos' NEVER had a sick dog ... but then again they don't eat or drink the stuff

[Rappie]

In situations where there is an actual flea problem (rather than occasional fleas, or where flea treatments are simply for prevention) you need to try to hit the fleas from multiple angles.

In a situation like this, I wouldn't recommend flea rinses as being most effective - you really need a product with an insect growth regulator. Yes, flea rinses kill fleas, but they have no considerable residual effect - meaning that while you kill the fleas currently on the dog, you are doing nothing to prevent re-infestation. To use an analogy from a seminar I went to - pets in the house are both walking mops, and walking salt shakers.

You need to utilise their ability to be a "mop" - that means that if you have fleas in the house, but the dogs / cats are outside, you need to get the animal inside unless YOU want to be the next meal. If you treat the pets with an effective, residual (spot-on) treatment you will ideally kill the fleas that transfer from environment to pet before they lay eggs.

You need to understand the "salt shaker" effect - everywhere a pet with fleas goes, it will leave flea eggs, and its own hair. You want the fleas to not be able to hatch, you want "treated" hair to fall off the pet where the flea eggs are. Depending on the environment, the flea eggs may not hatch for over 6 weeks - hence the absolute need for continuity of treatment, and why flea problems often get worse before they get better. A hot day after some rain can set off a wave of hatching eggs just when you thought things were under control. It wont go away until all the eggs are hatched, and all the adults are dead.

When a product says treat ALL animals, you should treat ALL animals - dogs, cats, rabbits - fleas or not. If one animal has fleas, you should consider them all to have fleas. You might have the best flea control, but a stray cat that wanders over your fence might be continuing the problem.

[Jabba The Hutt]

Have you tried FRONTLINE drops? Just a squeeze of a few drops on the dog's shoulders and will repel fleas for months. Meanwhile, sun all your linen, mop and wipe all floors with an antiseptic wash and all rugs and carpets rolled up. If your whole house is carpetted, you will have to vacuum the it thoroughly and administer a flea spray all over. We use FRONTLINE and swear by it whether with fleas, mites or ticks. Haven't seen them for eons. (touchwood)

[Marianne]

Talking of toxicity, be careful with using Advantix if you have cats. Advantix contains Permethrin which will kill your cat if ingested (licks your dog where the product is). Some cheap supermarket flea control products also contain permethrin and I have seen several cats die (or close to) in our veterinary practice as a result of these inferior products.

The best tip - don't get a flea problem in the first place, put all of your pets on flea control all year round as a preventitive instead of waiting for an outbreak to occur and expecting a miracle! My pick is Advantage or Frontine, they are both great products if used correctly and as a preventitive not a miracle worker.

[Cavalier]

Both organophosphates and pyrethrins are able to be absorbed through the skin so even if you use powders or rinses they can have toxic effects.

We had a dog in not long ago who was wearing a flea collar and the owner used a flea powder and the dog ended up with OP poisoning.

Just been reading the latest research.....and the small amount of kowledge I have from a veterinary science degree...

[t-time]

We had a dog in not long ago who was wearing a flea collar and the owner used a flea powder and the dog ended up with OP poisoning.

Yes, so why did the dog get OP poisoning? Because it had essentially been double-dosed

Shall I mention again, the part where I said to follow instructions and not to use 2 products together and to use commonsense???

Just been reading the latest research.....and the small amount of kowledge I have from a veterinary science degree...

Guess what? You've already written this in another thread!!! I didn't ask what qualifications you have.

I asked: what have you been reading?

I also asked if you had tried any of these products???

(Both genuine questions and I believe I also said that. No need to sound all smarmy)

[Rappie]

Note to all vet students - consider forums to be absolutely chock full of potential clients waiting to be shown respect for their own knowledge, so that they can respect you for yours.........