# fleas fleas and more fleas



## JanH (Jan 21, 2007)

We had a problem last year but this year is worse and it's only May. I've been fleabombing the house once a week. The dogs are being bathed/sprayed and still infested...not talking a just an occasional flea. We'd treated outside in the yard. There's still even with weekly treatment and every other day treatment of the dogs fleas...and with one being a sheltie it is very difficult to get him soaked all the way down which doesn't help. I've been trying garlic. I tried a few months ago a pill for one of my surviving dogs and it really didn't help her - she still had fleas. So $15 each (doesn't matter what sized dog) per month for something that doesn't work is not going to happen. I've tried oral stuff, I've tried the drops (last year) and was still having to bathe excessively. 

I spray and it's like a fertility drug. Are the dogs - and ourselves - doomed to constant itching, whining and being uncomfortable because of fleas? We ripped up all the carpet except for 2 rooms to get rid of hiding places. I've tried salt. I've tried baking soda. I've tried using a spray for bedding and in addition to the weekly bug bombs in the kitchen, living room and office spray down the couch daily. 

Constructive ideas welcome - the next step is a pyrethrin dip which I hate to do but the dogs are *miserable*. The tan one looks like an Appaloosa and I just sprayed her a half hour ago. She's been itching since and from 5' away I can see the spots moving on her. There's GOT to be something that works.


----------



## GSDOwner2008 (Jan 19, 2008)

I know you said that you've tried the pills, but have you tried capstar pills? I gave them to my cats and my dog, and the fleas fall right off. We even crated one of the cats and there was like forty fleas in the crate after an hour or so. We weren't sure if the cat had swallowed his pill, that's why we crated him. After that, we followed through with frontline. It does feel like a constant battle when fighting fleas though.


----------



## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

What are you feeding? Do you use the spot on applications (the ones prescribed by the vet?) What are you shampooing with? Do you comb them out with a flea comb? 

I only know holistic remedies. Rinsing them in apple cider vinegar and adding that to their food did seem to help when I had problems here a few years ago.


----------



## JanH (Jan 21, 2007)

I believe that's what the border collie got - I know it started with a c and was a new pill. She was still crawling with fleas; as was my fox terrier who'd gotten one and another border collie. The fox terrier has since passed on but needed baths 2-3 times per week last summer and was crawling with fleas every time. And there's just not $200+ to spend on pills that the only result is some chemical manufacturer has my money and the dogs still are itching and crawling with fleas. I've been bug boming every Friday for a month....and it's just getting worse.


----------



## JanH (Jan 21, 2007)

I've changed everyone to raw food following losing several dogs in March/April to dog food issues (ones that I'm told don't exist but that's another story). I'll try the apple cider vinegar. As for shampoos I've used the regular flea shampoos and someone suggested Dawn...both worked for a day or so.


----------



## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

try K9 Advantix

Fleas cycle. One bombing won't do it unless you time 2nd and sometimes a third to get the larvae.


----------



## JanH (Jan 21, 2007)

I understand one bombing won't do. :-D That's why for five Fridays consecutively I've bombed it. By the fourth or fifth one I figured there'd be fewer, if no, fleas, as the dogs were being treated too. Instead it's as if nothing has been done. The only other thing I can do is use twice as many as recommended when bombing to give a heavier fog. o.0 I set one in the kitchen, one in the connecting living room - so 2 bombs in an area about 14X30. Plus another in the office which is about 8X10. Last week I did use 3 in the kitchen/living room area. It's shut up for over 2 hours then opened up to air. That *SHOULD* kill every creepy crawly that moves then a week later get the ones that hatched and a week later the residuals...there should be no need for a 4th and 5th treatment ?


----------



## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Oh, sorry, I remember your situation now. Garlic is controversial but I do use this stuff called Bug Off garlic and it does not completely eradicate fleas but makes the dogs less tasty. 

Whole Dog Journal did an article on getting rid of fleas naturally...maybe 3 years ago? I followed their whole protocol and got rid of them but I had the weather on my side which you don't. 

I would be very concerned about bombing that much. That's a lot of poison in your living environment...


----------



## mastercabman (Jun 11, 2007)

k9 advantix or frontline plus,i have not seen a single flea on my dogs!!!!
also keep in mind that the flea cycle is 2 weeks!


----------



## Maryn (Feb 15, 2008)

Put beneficial nematodes in your yard.

I had flea problems because of my **** cats 3 years in a row.

No more cats, and with the dog I started her on frontline toward the end of march. 

No biting jumping b*stards yet...fingers crossed.

Fleas are getting smarter. They sense the fog from bombs coming and will hop their butts under baseboards, furniture, etc to avoid being gassed.

It is war.

Get a powder to put down along all walls and furniture, get spray for upholstery, take ALL clothes and fabrics you can to the laundromat and wash them in hot water and dry for at least 45 minutes. Bomb after you've got it all set up and leave for the laundromat.


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I'm also a fan of Frontline Plus. Only have to put on each pet once a month. 

Garlic is NOT going to kill anything, egg or adult. I think that it's more a repellant type thing. Like if your dog is in the woods and smells like garlic, and a fox is in the woods and does not, the flea will prefer the fox.


----------



## halley05 (Apr 17, 2007)

Just a note we switched from the Frontline Plus as I don't think it was working anymore. My guess the fleas have built up a resistance to it.


----------



## DHau (Feb 24, 2007)

I would like to know more about the apple cider dip/shampoo. How is it done? Straight from the bottle or diluted?


----------



## nitetrane98 (Feb 23, 2008)

I had an infestation problem once, you could see the little buggers hopping around on the porch. 
I have found that typically, thanks to the EPA, anything that the public can buy doesn't work for killing anything anymore.
The only way we finally got it under control was by using the reproduction inhibitor. I think it was called Sentinel. Heart worm/flea pill. Once a month. It only works if you can keep your dogs from going out and bringing new fleas in. As I understand it, the female flea still gets her blood meal and drops off to lay eggs but they are sterile. Obviously you would have to treat all animals in the house.
My vet has commented that Frontline doesn't seem to be cutting it for a full month like it used to.
The Sentinel was kind of pricey but it worked. Our next step was to burn and rebuild.


----------



## Maedchen (May 3, 2003)

If you can get nematodes at the garden center (or online) sprinkle that around the yard, including non-pool-grade diatomaceous earth (some garden centers carry it) and use indoor and outdoor. DE will dry out the fleas. Just put some in a fine sieve and walk around the house and yard with it, leaving a fine dust- keep the dogs away from it though while you apply it.

I would also add VitB complex (you can get it as a liquid) to the dogs diet, or brewers yeast. That's not going to kill the fleas, but make the dogs less appealing. 

Put them on Advantage (not Advantix as it's more toxic) or regular Frontline and repeat after 4-5 weeks and you should be good. 

I put out the diatomaceous earth every spring around the yard (when the ticks hatch) and never had a flea infestation- and my dogs are not on any monthly pesticide.

You don't need to use flea shampoo- any regular (harmless) shampoo will kill the fleas if you let it sit for a couple minutes on the dog before rinsing. Using all that poison on the dogs and the flea bombs in the house is just making your animals sick and less resistant to parasites.


----------



## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Ha--that's it! Nematodes! Those were the little wormy things I sprayed in my yard to eat the fleas!









And I did not say that garlic kills fleas, just makes them less tasty. IT does completely keep ticks off of them though and that's why I use it.


----------



## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I had a horrible infestation of fleas in February - FRONTLINE PLUS wasn't touching the problem - the Hooligans were crawling with them. 

My vet convenienced me to try the new COMFORTIS once-a-month anti-flea pills. Within hours all the visible fleas crawling on the Hooligans were gone. I had several outbreaks the next few weeks as eggs hatched, but haven't seen a single flea since then. I'm continuing to give them the pills once a month just so I don't have another outbreak (fleas LOVE Florida).


----------



## Dogrunner (Oct 27, 2006)

About 5 years ago, the house behind me burned down. All the fleas from their 4 untreated dogs and upteen cats came over to my house. Here's how I got rid of them:

In each room, I put a night light in an outlet and a shallow bowl (or pie pan) of water with a few drops of liquid soap. At night, the fleas will hop to the light, fall in the water and drown. It sounds stupid, but it works. When you have no fleas in the bowls for 3 weeks (you want to get the ones from the unhatched eggs too), you know your house if flea-free. It's important that you don't have suds--the fleas can crawl over the suds--you just want to break the water tension. A few drops of dish or laundry soap and a gentle stir with your finger will do it.

Give each animal Capstar for 3 days and then use Advantage or Comfortis. 

I don't spray my yard because the cat goes out there. Once a week though, I put out a bowl and nightlight to catch any fleas that managed to hitchhike in without dying on the dog. 

When I first did this (after the house burned), I had literally 2 inches of dead fleas in most of the bowls I had put in the house. YUCK! It took a month before I was down to 1 or 2 dead ones. But it works! And it's relatively non-toxic compared to chemical spraying and dipping.

Good luck!


----------



## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

We haven't had too much of a problem up here but my family in NC and GA have all found that Frontline isn't working for them any more. However, they switched to Revolution and that's working well. So that's something else to try. Captstar is a good product but it only works for 24 hours and only kills the fleas that bite the dog during that period. I use it when I pull a new dog from the shelter but I can see it wouldn't help much if you have an infestation problem in a building - unless you do as the poster above me suggests and pair it with another product.


----------



## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Are you spraying inbetween your windows? Fleas can breed in there over the winter.

Lady who owned my house before me had cats. Cats sit in windows. I had to close the exterior windows, spray the area really well, close the interior windows and leave them a few days.


----------



## JanH (Jan 21, 2007)

I've been looking for DE - garden places here have not a clue what I'm talking about. There is no in between windows - there's one window to the outside (mobile home). I don't like using sprays that often but also don't like them leaving the dogs and feeding on us so I can't sleep. And I don't think Advantage or any of the others is cleared for humans!








I figured hitting inside, outside, dogs several times would take care of the problem. I'd also heard lemon juice in water; that hasn't done anything but make the dogs feel greasy and chase the buggers onto me. Will try the other things - hopefully throwing enough things will take care of it. 
Thanks.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Kenya got fleas even on BioSpot and after flea baths. After reading up on it, I learned a few things:

1) No flea shampoo "kills" anything. Fleas are hard to kill. I tried squishing one between my finger nails and even after it pop, it jumped 18 inches! The shampoos only supposedly stun them so you can brush them out.

2) No product really kills them unless it can kill the eggs, and you can't "kill" eggs, you have to interrupt their life cycle so they never hatch.

What I did was switch to Frontline Plus (on ALL animals), gave her Capstar for a few days in a row, put ALL upholstery, curtains, bedding, dog bedding, and rugs in the wash with HOT (boiling from stove) water and bleach, sprayed the ENTIRE house and porch with a product containing the insect growth regulator (nylar), sprayed the things I washed once they were dry, treated carpets and rugs with an IGR powder product, and vacuumed. Now I vacuum once a day or once every 2 days, I will use the spray and powder once or twice a year (supposedly works for a year), and I will keep up with Frontline. Have not seen a flea on any of my five animals since.


----------



## BrennasMom (Mar 2, 2008)

Dawn dish soap will kill fleas if you let it soak for 10 minutes. It's more effective if you dillute the dawn (to make it kind of watery) and put it on the dry dog. When fleas sense water they create a waxy/oily coating that protects them from drowning. Dawn will break the coating down so they will drown, however there are no residual effects, only the fleas that are presently on the dog will be killed.

The only problem is that it may strip the topical treatment as well, so do it right before they are due for an application.

I've also heard you can put bedding, cushions, etc. in your car and park it facing the sun on a hot day. Leave it for a few hours and it will supposedly kill the fleas, no chemicals needed.

I've seen D.E. on the revival animal health site:
http://www.revivalanimal.com/store/p/3158-Diatomaceous-Earth-DE-.aspx

They also have capstar and a ton of other flea products.


----------



## marylou (Apr 21, 2006)

What about a spray bottle with vinegar? Spraying baseboards, window sills, ect in the house? It would probably make your house smell like a pickle...








I used vinegar to get rid of ants that were on the warpath - maybe it would help with fleas.


----------



## Avamom (Sep 28, 2004)

What about bombing under the house, I've heard that fleas can retreat to the insulation and air vents to avoid gassing....

I also would try to treat your yard with DE...if you can't find it at your local store it might be worth it to order it online, better than spending all the money on continuing to have to bomb.

I like the bowl and light idea, I will have to try that. Fleas have been bad around here too...I just ordered the Bug Off Garlic to try to help make my guys less tasty. 

Good luck!!


----------



## Luvmygsd's (May 19, 2008)

What is a safe product to use on a pregnant and nursing dog? What is safe to use on young puppies and at what age?


----------



## srfd44-2 (May 20, 2004)

When you treat for fleas you have to treat EVERYTHING the same day. Take the dog to the groomer and when you come home spray the inside of the car. I used Zodiac Premise spray. Bomb the house and treat the yard with something like Sevin from your garden store or Home Depot. When you treat the yard it has to be done in the spring and in the fall. My one shepherd was allergic to fleas and doing all this made him flea free. Believe it or not Fall is the worse for fleas and not now.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: BrennasMomDawn dish soap will kill fleas if you let it soak for 10 minutes. It's more effective if you dillute the dawn (to make it kind of watery) and put it on the dry dog. When fleas sense water they create a waxy/oily coating that protects them from drowning. Dawn will break the coating down so they will drown, however there are no residual effects, only the fleas that are presently on the dog will be killed.


Yep, and it has no effect on the eggs, and to break the cycle of fleas on the dog and in the home, the _eggs_ are what need to be dealt with.


----------

