# Help with fleas



## shepherd513 (Jan 26, 2011)

I just came home from Africa two days ago and picked my dog up from my friends and he has fleas. He was one week overdue for Frontline but I figured I'd administer as soon as I got home. I quickly put his frontline on him as soon as I saw the fleas which was two days ago. He still has a good number of fleas on him. Anybody know what I can do now? I'm very frustrated


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

Frontline may take a few days to work. don't over medicate.


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

We recently rescued a kitten that had fleas! He was too young to use any treatments so we washed him with dawn dish soap. It worked great once we started lathering him all the flees run to his face. Then uses a flea comb and take them off! It took a few washings to get them all and allot of house cleaning. Dawn dish soap does kill flees on cats so I am thinking it should work on dogs!

Also try to keep your pup contained in one area of your home


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Dawn is great for washing dogs. Leaves coat soft and shiny. Many SAR folks keep it in their trucks for decon after a search in a nasty area.

Captsar for rapid knockdown - you can repeat daily for awhile until you get under control...though I am not sure about that combo with frontline. I know you can combine it with Revolution and Sentinel which both control fleas as well as heartworms.


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## Veronica1 (Jun 22, 2010)

We fought fleas all summer, even with everyone on frontline. We switched to revolution and finally started combing out dead fleas! Our vet wanted to keep the cats on revolution. She switched panzer to comfortis and sentinel to knock out the fleas. It worked! Panzer will stay on sentinel year round.

My advice is to ditch the frontline, vacuum lots, and flea comb, disposing of the resulting fleas immediately. 

There is conflicting advice regarding Dawn use on pets, so might want to research before using that.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

What is the issue with Dawn?

I would not use it regularly because it really strips grease and oil (which is great for decontamination and ocassional clean of a dirty dog) - - it may also remove the frontline. Dunno.

Most of my dogs bathing is a dip in the lake or a stream and a shake off though.

I have used a flea comb - did it for years when my kids were small and flea control options were mainly dips which I did not want to use. I sat there with a bowl of alcohol which I dipped the comb in when I got some which quickly killed the little buggers .... Definitely very tedious with a double coated dog. Best place to get them is on the lower belly between the back legs. Also with a bath, start high on the neck so they don't run to the head for refuge.


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## shepherd513 (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks guys!

I bathed Gideon in dawn this morning and really lathered him up. I've vaccumed and washed bedding. I have since flea combed him very carefully and so far no fleas. I have also started giving him garlic tabs. I figure it can't hurt.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

jocoyn said:


> Dawn is great for washing dogs. Leaves coat soft and shiny. Many SAR folks keep it in their trucks for decon after a search in a nasty area.
> 
> Captsar for rapid knockdown - you can repeat daily for awhile until you get under control...though I am not sure about that combo with frontline. I know you can combine it with Revolution and Sentinel which both control fleas as well as heartworms.


 
capstar can be used with frontline. We had to use it a couple times a two summers ago when we had a flea problem. Dawn dishsoap is fabulous as well. 

OP, with the DAWN, its cheaper than buying a dog shampoo formulated to help kill fleas. You start at your dogs neck, get him good and lathered up and work your way back. The fleas will generally head to the face where you can get them off with a flea comb which you then would dip in soapy water to clean after each swipe. The remaining fleas should be trapped in the suds which is what kills them. Let your dog soak all sudsy for about 5 minutes before you even think about rinsing him. Wash all pet bedding in hot water, limit him to a specific area of the house but maintain a STRICT cleaning schedule all over the house every day. Be sure to flea comb him really good once or twice a day and remember to check those hard to reach, wash and rinse spots like his armpits, under the tail, between his toes, backs of his ears, inner thighs. All else, you may have to take him to the groomer for the day for a flea bath and have someone come in and spray professionally for the day. repeat in two weeks just to be sure.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

shepherd513 said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> I bathed Gideon in dawn this morning and really lathered him up. I've vaccumed and washed bedding. I have since flea combed him very carefully and so far no fleas. I have also started giving him garlic tabs. I figure it can't hurt.


 
insteadf garlic, i would recommend brewer's yeast. You can get it in tablet form, though you'd have to double the dose. garlic can be toxic to dogs, even in small amounts. You can also buy Brewer's Yeast at feed shops.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

I've never had a problem using garlic. :shrug: We've always given it to dogs for yeeeeears! Unless the dog has a blood disorder, it shouldn't hurt unless you give it in huge doses.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> I have also started giving him garlic tabs. I figure it can't hurt.


The problem is, who knows what that dosage is?
It can cause blood problems, which aren't noticeable with the eye. 
It's safer to avoid it, rather than risk making your dog sick.
He's got enough chemicals on him now anyway to avoid the garlic altogether.


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## susnrob (Oct 10, 2011)

I use food grade diatomaceous earth powder on my dog and cat. Here's some info on it Food grade diatomaceous earth for flea and tick treatment.


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## CaliBoy (Jun 22, 2010)

My poor dog got a terrible infestation from a visiting relative's dog. The vet took him off the Advantix he was on and immediately starting him on a combination of Comfortis (killed the fleas very quickly) and Sentinel (mylbemycin oxime + lufenuron), which killed the flea eggs that were still around. That did the trick. I still shampooed him weekly with Vet Solutions BPO-3 medicated shampoo, because all the flea bites had really irritated his skin badly. In a month, he was back to his happy self and minus the horrible round the clock scratching and itching.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

My female had a run in with fleas about 2 years ago until we switched medicines and I will say that after $600 on steroids and other drugs without as much relief as I would like, the benedryl (at 1mg/lb every 4 hours I think; I would look it up if I gave it again) actually did the trick there for a whole lot less. She was terribly torn up.

It was from my daughters dogs - Aaaargh - I was ticked off because she did not seem as agressive with her flea control as was I and brought them over to stay when she knew they had fleas.

The puppy picked up a few fleas and now seems good too after going on Sentinel but they did not cross over to the female (though I think the fish oil she gets daily helps with any allergic response). For a few years it seemed like fleas were a thing of the past. Pretty resilient little buggers. 

She got Comfortis and Revolution. I still have the Comfortis; have not needed it since. Everyone is on Sentinel for the time being.


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## shepherd513 (Jan 26, 2011)

Thank-you guys all so much. I have given him a dawn bath, am giving him yeast/garlic in one tabs, and have started him on capstar. So far, I am combing off dead fleas which is wonderful! I have sprayed the house, am vaccuming, washing bedding, etc. I will continue to do capstar as needed until I can safley put more preventitive on him. I also plan to switch him to sentinel for a few months for his heartworm preventative. Once I can safley administer more prevention I plan to switch from frontline to Advantix unless anybody else has anyother great suggestions! 

I really really appreciatte all of your imput


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## cocoandrico (Nov 3, 2011)

*Aloe can help*

Aloe Vera gel can help if your dog has "hot spots" from a flea infestation. In addition to antibacterial properties which disinfect the wound, Aloe also has an anesthetic effect. Applying the gel regularly can soothe the itch and relieve your dog's need to constantly tend to the wound. For more info, check out Aloe For Healthy Dogs, Cats, and Horses - We Love Aloe!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Wow, learn new things every day, I had no idea about Dawn detergent! Looks like use it, then a conditioner (to prevent dog's skin from drying out) THEN make sure to use a topical like Advantix or Frontline.

http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Fleas-With-Dawn-Dishsoap

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Will_dawn_dish_washing_liquid_get_rid_of_fleas_on_dogs


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

Yeah, Dawn is great for killing fleas. I don't recommend using it frequently, because it can dry their skin out, but it's a good first step for infested animals. We've rescued a few litters of kittens that were horribly infested and too young for flea treatments, and Dawn killed the fleas and helped make the poor things more comfortable.

Also, when doing it, make sure you lather up the whole body with Dawn and get the ones on the face before you rinse, or the fleas can move from the unwashed area to the already-rinsed area and survive. 

I hope your dog is feeling much better, and he's lucky to have such a good owner. Too many people in my area don't even try to control their animals' fleas.


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

i second the food grade DE.

along with keeping it on the dogs/cats etc..
you can also sprinkle it on your carpet and kills fleas there too.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I was told by a groomer or two that regular shampoo will kill fleas, and it's true. The lather makes them come off, plain shampoo doesn't "kill them" per se, but they aren't on the dog so you rinse them down the drain basically.

Now - I used to work in a shelter an we didn't have a budget for the newer flea meds, so more than once I used bio-spot on puppies and it killed the fleas.

But we don't have the continual/chronic flea problem here in our area and it's a rare dog that comes in with a flea infestation. So rare I sometimes forget to check and we wind up with fleas. The last time we had fleas, I used biospot on my own + the foster dogs (we're talking around 15 animals) and it worked fine and nobody got sick.

They've changed the formula and I'm not sure how the new stuff works. We do not treat "preventable" here the way the west side has to treat their pets, so I don't just break the stuff out unless there's a known flea problem - if we catch a foster w/fleas we capstar until they are clear because we don't have fleas _in_ our house.

I did buy DE, btw, this seemed a particular nasty infestation (8mos. ago or more) because as mentioned, we just hardly ever see fleas and didn't realize a foster brought them in. 
But the biospot arrived first so I used it and never had to break out the DE.


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