What My Vet Said About Fleas

[ruthless]

Hi,

We found 2 fleas on Angel this morn. She's been scratching like crazy for the last week but we didn't know why till today. She's scratched herself raw in places. I rang the vets and they said to wash all the dogs tonight with their normal shampoo and treat with spray on frontline tomorrow or the next day and wash all their bedding and hoover the house. I told him she gets Sentinel at the start of every month and he said that's not enough as it only sterilizes the eggs. He said we should use that and topical Advantage. Either all year round, but especially in the hotter months.

We're in Sydney and they don't hang out with other dogs very often, so I don't know where they could've come from. What's everyone elses flea routine?

Thanks

[Tilly]

We normally don't have fleas but of late I take my GSD for a walk at a forrest and I believe he managed to pick up a few fleas.

A few weeks ago we noticed our rottie was starting to scratch and I noticed a small red "scrap" on his lower back. Because he had a fall a few days before we initially put the redness down to his accident.

A few days later we found fleas

Both dogs were washed in a the hydrobath using a flea/tick rinse (Fido's Itch Free Rinse or something like that). We then treated the yard with the wash water and malawash. We have basically drenched the yard every week - particularly the "holes" and the favourite sleeping places.

About a week later we bathed them again. Last weekend I treated them both with Advantix and they will both get another bath this weekend.

Normally we don't get fleas but because one dogs leaves the yard more then the other we will continue to treat him with Advantix - that way he won't bring anything home.

We used to alway use Frontline but have found that for some reason it doesn't seem to work as well as it used to. Some vets even recommend the use of a flea collar over some of the other methods.

Malawash and Fidos rinse are usually our preferred method.

[ruthless]

is treating the yard necessary? if your garden is 80% dirt/black sand and 20% grass where would fleas live? no trees or bushes. [i know, i'm painting a very pretty picture of our back yard!!] also, the staffies live inside during the day. don't lie around in the garden very much.

the vet nurse guy said that the flea rinses weren't very effective. since angel now has had a reaction to the fleas i thought i'd use the pyotex (medicated shampoo) followed by conditioner.

god i hate fleas

[SoL]

Remember to wash and de-flea bedding and sleeping areas as well at the same time you de-flea your dog. Otherwise your hard work and money will be for nothing.

I use Advocate and that seems to work fine.

Edited February 22, 2007 by emmark

[witheverythingiam]

is treating the yard necessary? if your garden is 80% dirt/black sand and 20% grass where would fleas live? no trees or bushes. [i know, i'm painting a very pretty picture of our back yard!!] also, the staffies live inside during the day. don't lie around in the garden very much.

the vet nurse guy said that the flea rinses weren't very effective. since angel now has had a reaction to the fleas i thought i'd use the pyotex (medicated shampoo) followed by conditioner.

god i hate fleas

Fleas lay their eggs & breed in sand!!! So that is where they're breeding and they're living there except when they're hungry when they'll just onto the next moving object that comes their way for a feed - hopefully not you! This is why you need to turn your pets into a "walking flea killing machine".

It is also correct that Sentinel won't kill fleas just render them infertile. If you wanted to kill the fleas ASAP, there's a tablet called Capstar made by same people as Sentinel Spectrum, which will kill all fleas on a dog in a 24 hour period. Most our clients by a 6 pack, and give their dogs a tablet every 2-3 days until finished. They're also helpful if you ever take dogs to dog parks - give dog tab before you get in the car for ride home, and won't be bringing fleas back with you. Usually helps eradicate most of the fleas present, but also a good topical product like Advantage will do the same.

Advantage kills fleas, flea eggs, flea larvae, and forms crystals which will fall off in the dogs environment and kill the fleas in the surrounds also.

But to be effective you have to treat every pet in the household, and also won't be as effective if you have roaming cats coming into your yard.

Hope this helps!

-WithEverythingIAm

[sandgrubber]

I would guess that up until 100 years ago, all dogs had fleas.

They are not fatal, though they may cause some nasty skin problems.

Your vet may or may not be right . . . but it's a case where you can afford to experiment if you don't like the vet solution. Some vets err strongly on the side of caution . . . or perhaps the meds companies have been very good in teaching people to sell their products . . . or perhaps some people are so upset about the slightest flea problem that vets feel a need to use overkill every time.

[Tunsafun Boxers]

we've been really lucky, we haven't had a flea problem since i hit a puppy on the road........

(quick explanation, was going through a roundabout, clipped the pup, checked her out [bump on the head] and brought her home. she was fine, just dazed but had, i think we counted almost 900 fleas on her during her bath)

after she went to her new home, i flea bombed the house, and treated all the other dogs with advantage. I use advantage from august to march and we dont have a flea problem here.

maybe try that........

Jenna

[carousel266]

I use revolution and have never ever had a problem with fleas. We don't need to do any extra things like wash their bedding or wash them with a special flea wash or anything.

[ruthless]

We ran out of Sentinel so when OH was gettting Sprint Oil the other day he got something by Ranvet to use instead. Has anyone ever used it?

You're right Sandgrubber, I hate pumping all these chemicals into the furry ones, it can't be good for them longterm. Chopper was on 3wks of anti-biotics recently for a bad reaction to insect bites. I need to get rid of the fleas for their sake more than mine though as they have reactions to them. I've tried the garlic in the food thing before and they don't really like it. Does it really work?

Jenna, I don't think we have a flea problem as such, so we won't bomb, but I'll try the Advantage, thanks. It's what we used to use anyway until the Pet Shop told OH that Spectrum was better as it did more stuff.

[nuttyboutdoggys]

seems to be quite the flea out break at the mo. we can't keep ontop of them either... i think the fleas get immune to brands, i've suggested to mum to use diff product each month.

i'll keep the tablet method in mind if it gets worse...Capstar.

[shmoo]

This is the flea season and its pretty bad this year.

For starters, Frontline doesnt seem to work anymore. We dont even stock it at the salon because we had so many complaints. I would recommend Advantage for the top spot.

Give Angel a flea bath (really good lather up and make sure you cover her head to tail) and 24 later put on the Advantage top spot. While she is in the bath soaking (flea treatments in the bath must be left on for usually 10 mins) wash ALL her bedding and spray down anything she might sleep on that is not washable (eg the couches) with a flea spray (can usually buy something suitable at the supermarket).

Hopefully that should fix the problem. If not, then you might have a breeding ground in your yard (fleas breed in sandy areas), and you will need to get an outdoor spray.

;)

[Kavik]

What about ticks? I was using Advantage but when I moved to a high tick area I changed to Frontline because it is supposed to help with ticks. I know everyone is saying that Frontline doesn't work anymore. Is there a better topspot that also helps with tick control?

[Rappie]

What about ticks? I was using Advantage but when I moved to a high tick area I changed to Frontline because it is supposed to help with ticks. I know everyone is saying that Frontline doesn't work anymore. Is there a better topspot that also helps with tick control?

If you found that Advantage was working well for you, you could try Advantix (which is also made by Bayer).

As with Frontline, it is a fortnightly application for ticks.

Just be aware that is contains permethrin which is highly toxic to cats - and if the dog is likely to come into contact with cats it is best to separate them for at least 12 hrs.

[nuttyboutdoggys]

that's what i meant though.. we always have used advantage, i told mum to buy a diff brand due to it not working.. i think it's good to change brands.....

ticks, well don't fix what's not broke i guess.... if ur pupper is protected by Frontline.. it's not worth the risk yeah??

[KOE]

We once had a bad flea infestation, the dogs were washed every couple of days in Fido's free itch rinse the whole yard and under the house was hit with Garden Lime and the inside was flea bombed, the dogs wore bayer kiltix collars

no more fleas and never had one since, when I go to the coast showing the dogs are bathed before we go bathed there and usually thrown into the sea before we come home and bathed 1st thing on return.

[Just Midol]

I had a huge flea problem.

Frontline plus didn't keep the fleas nor ticks off.

Advantix worked a bit better but not complete.

Now I use neither and just spray him with permoxin(SP) once a week and if we go bush walking a light (more diluted) spray both before and after. He is fine now. I sprayed the entire house but not outside as we have 10 acres so I am just waiting for dad to do the spraying again then add permoxin to his spray.

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

HEY, Midol SOOOO the permoxin has worked

[benny123]

What about ticks? I was using Advantage but when I moved to a high tick area I changed to Frontline because it is supposed to help with ticks. I know everyone is saying that Frontline doesn't work anymore. Is there a better topspot that also helps with tick control?

We live in a village in the Royal National Park (Sydney) where even the people get ticks. We now use Pro-Ban tablets every 2nd day for tick protection as most of the spot ons don't seem to work here. You still have to check the dog every day but what we find are usually small dead ticks. Big old Benny, the boy in my Avatar almost died from tick poisioning when we were using Frontline (every 2 weeks). Someone told me recently that ticks become immune to the various tick preparations over time, so if that's the case perhaps Frontline has had its day in terms of ticks. I also hate putting all these chemicals into the dogs, but I'd rather have a live dog than a dead one.

May have to give some Pro-Ban to the OH as he seems to have developed an allergy to ticks!

Edited February 24, 2007 by benny123

[sas]

Hi,

We found 2 fleas on Angel this morn. She's been scratching like crazy for the last week but we didn't know why till today. She's scratched herself raw in places. I rang the vets and they said to wash all the dogs tonight with their normal shampoo and treat with spray on frontline tomorrow or the next day and wash all their bedding and hoover the house. I told him she gets Sentinel at the start of every month and he said that's not enough as it only sterilizes the eggs. He said we should use that and topical Advantage. Either all year round, but especially in the hotter months.

We're in Sydney and they don't hang out with other dogs very often, so I don't know where they could've come from. What's everyone elses flea routine?

Thanks

You'll find fleas come from all sorts of places.....neighbourhood cats, under the house etc etc.

We use Advantage, we've foudn it to be the best so far.

[Jack@sandysmum]

What about natural ways of helping get rid of them? I have heard of adding garlic and kelp into their food? Anyone tried any of these?

We have lots of problems with fleas, we are on the coast and with all this rain we had a couple of weeks ago it just got worse. We also had a problem with fleas inside a few months back that I thought I had fixed but when I bought a Dyson and vacuumed the carpet ( you should have seen what it picked up ) they became active again, so had to bomb the house again!

Jack doesn't seem to have much of a problem with them, but Gizmo (RIP ;)) had soooo much trouble with them, maybe it is to do with the fact that I use advantage now and used Frontline before????