Fleas???

PonyGirl

Warrior Parent
Okay this is embarrassing for me!! But...........I think I have fleas?! :wildone: For several months, I am getting "bit" in multiple places. The bites itch like poison!!!!

This started back in mid-Fall. I had been walking 5K in the woods with my Wonder (3-legged) Dog, and bites showed up first at my ankles. I thought at first it was maybe some irritation to do with my hiking boots.

Shadow is regularly treated with Front Line for flea/tick repellent. However, she is also showing signs of bites. We had a guest dog here, my dad's spaniel, right around the time the bites started appearing.:pet:

:cool_dog:Is it possible the other dog brought fleas in? Wouldn't Shadow's Front Line have killed them before they bit her?

HOW DO I GET RID OF FLEAS??!! :capitulate:

Okay, now remember, this is just between you & me. I am mortified! Have been trying the age-old "just ignore it, it'll go away" method. Did you know that doesn't work??:stopglass:
Any and All Advice is Welcome!

Peace
 

klmno

Active Member
he he! Sorry- Several of us on the board have had issues this year with our pets getting fleas, even though they were on preventative medications. I guess fleas get immune or something. Anyway, I had been giving mine frontline plus because it also kills ticks, but mine got fleas and I had to get a different type of medication from the vet. I would suggest going that route, but also, if you have carpet you'll need to shampoo it and wash the dogs' bedding in hot water. Once they are in the house, they are difficult to get rid of because they lay eggs on almost all material. My guess is that is why you are getting the bites.

(The chuckle was just because I know it's embaressing but I've seen a few threads on board the past several mos saying the same thing- and one of them was mine!)
 

PonyGirl

Warrior Parent
Sweet!! Once again: I AM NOT ALONE! You guys are great!!

Sorry I have missed the other posts, I will go back & see if I can find.

I am chuckling, too!

Peace
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I have always used Frontline Plus on my girls and it always worked fine - but this year it didn't do squat! It didn't seem to work for anyone. The fleas have apparently become immune to the formula. I changed the dogs to Advantage and never saw another flea on any of them!
 

Jena

New Member
hi

oh, i've soo been there!! LOL

There are cans of spray, bombs you can buy i think at any grocery store. Buy one for each room. Ofcourse do them seperately, so you can move animals from one room to the next. id put towels under the door otherwise fumes get out and yup could hurt the pets. um at the same time i'd put collars on all the pets, and give them flea baths.

its' an expensive endeavor yet alot better than calling an exterminator. than i used to get the powder if you have carpeting, i'm figuring you do and put that on the carpet every 2 mos or so to make sure it's all good.

i hate fleas. i used to wake up with bites on my feet lol. difficult child used to say hmm what are these bumps?? lol
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
To kill them quick.........Bathe the dog in antibacterial dishsoap. I'd do that before trying one of the new medications at the vets. Then vacuume at least twice a day......everywhere, including the furniture. While bathing the dog, wash all dog bedding.

The fleas have been resistant this year. I hope they change the formulas next year. I just now got mine under control. And I still need to bathe both Molly and Betsy again.. I've never been so happy to see the first hard frost. lol
 

Critter Lover

New Member
Treat your yard for fleas to prevent any more coming in on you or the dog. If you have carpets, place a flea color in your vacuum bag so any eggs or fleas that get vacuumed up die in the bag or cannister so when you vacuum them again they do not come back out of the vacuum. You can sprinkle your carpets with BORAX detergent....like with a large plastic salt shaker. Leave on your carpets for at least two weeks....if you vacuum reapply with in that time. The fleas will die from the BORAX and any eggs that hatch between that time should die within two weeks time.

I use Frontline Plus and it keeps the fleas and ticks off my dogs but I also give them Brewer Yeast tablets with garlic. The fleas do not like it when they bite the dog because of the garlic plus it benefits their skin and coat making it shiney for them.
 

Critter Lover

New Member
Treat your yard for fleas to prevent any more coming in on you or the dog. If you have carpets, place a flea color in your vacuum bag so any eggs or fleas that get vacuumed up die in the bag or cannister so when you vacuum them again they do not come back out of the vacuum.


Sorry...typing too fast "place a flea collar in your vacuum bag or cannister"
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
If you bathe the dogs in Dawn dish washing detergent, it will kill the fleas on them. It must be the original blue formula and you have to put it on pretty thick, then rinse-rinse-rinse-rinse-rinse-rinse till it's all off of them, but it does work.

:cool_dog:
 

ScentofCedar

New Member
We are having the same problem. Recently, a veterinary student (a native of Florida) told us that Frontline has stopped working because a formula similar to Frontline is used to spray for mosquitoes. The widespread, continual use of this formula has enabled the fleas to develop an immunity to Frontline. Advantage, or one of the other brands (not Frontline) should be used instead.

The Dawn dishwashing soap idea is a good one. Our little guy has dry, sensitive skin though. What we do is pick the fleas off and drop them into a glass of water with a few drops of Dawn in it. The fleas are immediately paralyzed, drop to the bottom of the glass, and drown.

HA!

(Those of us dealing with a flea infestation will understand that "HA!" at the sight of a dead flea.)

:)

Last summer, even though I was using Frontline from our vet, I was catching between thirty and forty fleas every day.

If you have a cat, remember that the litter box is a perfect breeding environment for fleas. Change it often, bag it up, and get it out of the house. Same thing with the vacuum cleaner. (Good thinking, about that flea collar in the vacuum. I will do that, today.) We bought our last Frontline Plus (from the vet ~ who is no longer going to be our vet, because she should have known the Frontline was not going to work, and has been selling it to us anyway). Anyway, we bought our last Frontline Plus when we got back here in December. We can't treat again until the end of this month at the earliest, so we are struggling along as best we can.

But it will be Revolution or Advantage for us from now on.

Good luck with those fleas, Pony.

I put flea powder under the sofa and chair cushions. I think that helped.

Once you do have a flea medication that works, you should not have to have the house fumigated (this is what we were told). The treated dog or cat will attract the fleas, kill the adults, and stop the reproductive cycle for those that do hatch. If the treatment medication isn't working though, even a professional exterminator will not guarantee to rid your home of fleas if you still have pets.

So, at the end of the month, switch medications. Within three days the fleas should be gone. There will be hatchings over the next two or three weeks and then, the problem should be gone.

Barbara
 

Critter Lover

New Member
Well I live in Florida and have never heard of Frontline Plus not working.
We had use Advantix and it made my dogs greasey so we switched to
Frontline Plus....but we never had the flea problem but we did have a tick
problem a year ago. If you use any detergent that is soap base on your
dogs....you will wash off the Frontline Plus, Advantage or whatever you chose to put on your animals. You have to make sure you use a shampoo that will not take off your flea and tick treatment.

What ever works for you....go for it.
 
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