Please help .. fleas;(
Sounds like he may be getting the fleas when he goes outside to urinate or defecate. You may have an infestation of fleas on your lawn or like you said they may be coming from the feral cats outside.I would try seven dust(can get from walmart) and sprinkle that all over your lawn.Also the fleas may have made a home inside yor house and may be living on your couches, rugs,or your bed. Alot of the time you will not see fleas on your animal but it doesn't mean they don't have them.Fleas will stay in a particular area and wait for the host (which is your animal) to come by and jump on them, feast on their blood and jump right back at the location there were at.There are several flea powders you can use inside your house.Make sure you are using both products at the same time. for your house and outdoors. Lastly get your dog a flea collar or medicated flea killer.These can be purchased at your vetrinary clinic. Best brands used are frontline, or advantage (these are a three to four month treatment). :-)
I used frontline for YEARS, but the new pup doesn't respond to it, so I got advantage and that works just as well. I don't even bother treating the cats anymore.. Just the dog and all the fleas die!
Can you get a professional company to come and do a treatment? You and your pets will need to be out of the home for at least 4 hours. Get your pets to a groomer for flea dips before bringing them back into the house. Vacuum every single day and wash pet bedding.
If you can't bring in a professional, do this: Vacuum every single day. Even the linoleum and tile floors. Then empty your vacuum and take the contents to an outside trashcan immediately. Wash your pet's bedding every day if possible. Give your pets baths with flea shampoo, then put flea collars on them or some kind of pet appropriate treatment like Advantix or Frontline. Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and find something for fleas that you can apply to your lawn.
THE VACUUMING AND WASHING OF BEDDING ARE VERY IMPORTANT! I hope this helps.
To treat the house I bought a flea bug spray from the grocery store and sprayed every room (took the cat out with me for a couple hours) came back and vacuumed and mopped. Ditched the vacuum bag and repeated the process a few days later in case there were any eggs in the apartment during the first cleaning.
Labor intensive but 100% solved the problem.
Frontline...and its cheapest I found it was Amazon...also...vacuum...vacuum vaccuum...
The larva of the flea...like to squiggle to dark places(like under the coach) and feed on dead skin...till they hatch
Goodluck.
I'm also a Frontline user, but we got tripped up recently because (my vet says) you can't use Frontline 3 days before or after a bath. I had been giving my dog his treatments as soon as he dried off. After a few months of that we had a raging flea infestation - they were tearing me up - flea bites everywhere.
The vet gave us Capstar and educated me about the 3 day rule. The Capstar is supposed to kill the fleas in minutes. After that we followed the 3 day rule, treated our home and our yard (Bayer makes a flea product for the yard that you just spread like fertilizer). We are now flea free.
I haven't had the problem before, so I don't know from personal expirience, but I did read a brochure on the issue at my vet. It said:
- Give your Dog a bath and use a medication for fleas( I use advantix k9 on my dog, and 1800 petmeds is where i buy it since its free shipping and normally on sale)
- Then it said to allow your dog to lay everywhere it normally would. That way if there are any fleas living in the carpet they will attach to the animal and be killed with the medicine on your pup.
- And Vacumm tons
I personally would buy the floor treatment people above were telling you about, as well as the medicine.
GOOD LUCK :)
Use a non pesticide flea shampoo like Kelco Zap.
Use a non pesticide flea spray like Herbal Defence.
Sprinkle 20 Mule Borax all over your carpets and leave it there for a day or two (non toxic).
Treat your yard with diatomaceous earth (dirt that kills fleas works in the home too).
Vacuum everyday and empty the container OUTSIDE in the trash!
Use a flea powder or chopped up flea collar in the vacuum's canister to kill adult fleas.
Consider giving your dog Apple Cider Vinegar and Brewers Yeast.
Wash all bedding in hot water.
Wipe down your furniture.
Flea comb your dog and dip the flea comb in a dish with soapy water.
Homemade Treats: Flea Haters
Brewers yeast is a natural anti-flea remedy.
Makes about 5 dozen bone biscuits
1 cup flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup brewer’s yeast (available at health-food stores)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, chopped medium, or 1 teaspoon powdered garlic (optional**)
1/2 cup chicken stock plus 3 tablespoons for basting
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Mix flour, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a mixing bowl, combine oil and garlic. Alternately add 1/2 cup chicken stock and flour mixture in 3 parts; mix until well combined. Knead about 2 minutes by hand on floured surface; dough will be sticky.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out about 3/8 inch thick. Cut out bone shapes; place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, rotate baking sheet, and baste with remaining 3 tablespoons chicken stock. Bake 10 minutes longer. Turn off oven, leaving oven door closed. Leave pan in oven for 1 1/2 hours longer
**Garlic and Onions can be toxic to dogs. Typically the problem is with large quantities not "seasoning portions". You should seek the advice of your veterinarian to find out if any garlic use is appropriate for your pet. If in doubt, leave the ingredient out.
I had a stray kitty come into my home last winter that had fleas. Here's what I did and it worked:
Bought the drops to (like Frontline or Advantage) from a pet store and put it on the new kitty and my older kitty
Threw my bedding in hot water
Vacuumed
Set off a flea bomb on each floor of my house and got the heck outta there for a few hours with my kitties
Took the new kitty to the vet for a checkup the next day anyway and they found she had a tapeworm that cats get from ingesting fleas
Was concerned about my other cat so I took her in to the vet and they gave her the same medication for the tapeworm (one dose) even though I have no way to know if she had a tapeworm or anything...it was a precaution.
Vacuumed and cleaned my bedding nearly every day for a week to get rid of the flea carcasses
Good luck
Hi! I'm a groomer in FL (which pretty much makes me a flea expert,lol) and it sounds like you've gotten some pretty good advice so far. However, I DO NOT recommend putting a flea collar on your dog (useless). What I would do is:
1) Drop your dog off at the groomers & have a flea bath (depending on severity) or dip done.
2) While dog is away, have someone come in to spray or bomb your place. Or, try the borax or other method yourself.
3) Vaccuum like crazy and wash all of your pet's bedding & toys in very hot water.
4) I recommend putting any pet that goes outdoors (or has contact w/outdoor pets) to be on a flea preventative. You will probably want to purchase some Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix, Revolution, or Advantage (not a fan of this one - it washes off in the bath unless you use a soap free shampoo). Be sure to part your pet's hair and apply the treatment to the SKIN, not on top of the hair.
Fleas are pretty tough and can be difficult to get rid of sometimes because of their life-cycle and so many people don't realize they have a problem until they're almost infested with them. Many people think they don't need to put their pet on flea prevention because their pet lives indoors... if your pet goes outside to potty, the fleas can just hop on from the grass and they've found a new home. It only takes a second to get them, but can take a while to get rid of the buggers. Good luck! :D
it doesnt sound like its that bad yet but everyones advice is good. Its your choice to have some one bomb your house. I dont see the point. We had fleas 2 years ago and its was from our basement window being left open and know one paid any attention and they came through the screen. all our cats usually hang out in the basement so that was the worst area. It was sooo gross, I would walk about 5 ft and they would crawl up my legs. any who, I got advantage drops for all the cats and the dogs(since they were going out side to potty) they I got the flea power and covered everything in it and vaccumed after it sat for the recommended time. I also bought the hertz flea spray and sprayed inside all the couch cusions. we also put down moth balls inside the couch just in case the spray didnt get them. I vaccumed once a day. it seemed to clear up quick. I also would comb the cats to get the adult fleas off. If you look at the fur of the animal, im not sure if with dogs but with cats you can see the flea droppings their like lil black crummies (yup gross). I wouldnt recommend flea collars b.c the last time we bought them one of our cats ended up being allergic to it and it gave him bald spots around his neck
Good Luck in your war!
After three nights, we slept flea-free.
About two months ago we had another flea outbreak. A minor one, as we only saw one flea hopping around on the kitchen floor, and noticed the dog being particularly itchy, but we busted our asses to get to PetSmart and get Advantage for them again. We have yet to see another flea.
Hey swtiris,
I'm Celeste, I'm actually a certified vet assistant. I know that you're questioning where the fleas came from....believe it or not, you can bring the eggs in from the environment, on your shoes from just walking around outside....once the eggs have a suitable habitat to hatch in, they will..and thus will attach to the host (puppy dog).
Basically the life cycle is as follows:
A female flea will take a blood meal (bite), they will then excrete feces, which is the flood meal they ate earlier (this is often seen to be a spot of dirt that looks almost like a C- try to test...put the 'dirt' on to a papertowel, dab a bit of water and smeer the 'dirt'....if its flea excrement, it will turn red. The blood meal)
Once the female flea has taken her meal, she is then able to lay eggs.(many thousands at one time) the eggs are layed and fall off of the pet into the environment....the pets bed, the carpet, anywhere the pet goes. Once the eggs have left the host they will only hatch when their habitat is ideal to do so. Eggs usually hatch in warmer weather....so summer time, and quite often winter when your heaters are turned up. Keep in mind eggs can take up to 5 years to have a viable environment in which to hatch.
Once the eggs have hatch, they are pupae which camoflage themselves in their environment via organic debris....they are sticky little critters, so they pick up dust, fibers, hair, whatever. Once the pupae matures into an adult flea, the flea will then jump (and i quite literally mean they will jump!) onto the host (your dog) and begine the cycle again.
THE TREATMENT:
In order to counteract this activity, my best suggestion is to give your dog the product called 'Advantage' or 'Revolution'. It is a topical liquid that will 'soak' into the lipid layer of skin (fat layer) and act as a parasiticide to the fleas. dont be alarmed, it's not a pesticide, and it will not harm your dog if ingested. it is completely safe! Be aware that 'cheaper' pet store brands of similar products (ESPECIALLY Zodiac...does not work....the active ingredient has no potency against the fleas, and you actually end up spending twice as much buying more of that product trying to control the fleas, than you would if you bough the right stuff originally.) The active ingredient in 'Advantage' is called imadicloprid.
Alternatively...there is a pill that will INHIBIT eggs from hatching. Unfortunatly, the female flea will still be able to take a blood meal and lay the eggs (so you'll still see the fleas), but essentially, the pill is a birthcontrol for fleas. the eggs are not, and will never be viable. If you continueing using this pill, eventually the colony will thin and thus no more fleas....but remember what i said in the beginning, you can bring fleas in on your shoes.....which means you could bring in a new colony. This pill is called "Program".
There are many other products on the market (like 'Capstar' (pill) that will start killing only the adult fleas withing an hour...we call this the quick kill pill...this is not a wise on-going flea prevention tactic, you're best going with a monthly application)
Lastly, the house is no doubt infested. Once all pets in the household are treated with a flea treatment, you don't really need to treat the house with sprays unless it is REALLY bad. Just remember you wash all bedding, clothes, anything the dog has been in contact with. Also, it is suggested to vacuum every 2 hours.....as this is difficult for most people who work all day...jsut make sure to vacuum daily.
In coordination with a flea treatment and a clean house,voila! Flea's be gone!
FYI: i do not suggest flea collars....as they only cover about an inch perimeter from the collar....and being a larger dog, that won't do much of anything. The 'Advantage' for example, spreads thru the fat layer of the body within 24 hours...and if you're not too creeped out, you can actually start to see the fleas start to be woozy and sloooooow :)
Oh, also about bathing...if you do want to bath...BATHE FIRST BEFORE ANY PRODUCT IS APPLIED. Usually with the liquid applications they say not to bathe or swim for about 4 days after the application :P Good idea to treat ALL animals in the house.
Wooo! thats quote a bit of info, and i really hope you take the time to read it :) otherwise, I've done nothing in the world for my career :)
I bod you good luck with those icky bugs, and a happy, non-itcy season for your puppy friend :)
By the way, wha'ts his name???? :D
Sorry, another quick note.....also a good idea to have doggy dewormed....as fleas can actually be carriers of worm eggs :) (tape and round) Worms are gross, i assure you of this. They look gross, they do gross things, and are generally just nasty nasty parasites.
Best to contact your Veterinarian for a variety of deworming products :)
Just a tip, I have found really good prices at Joespetmeds.com (the lowest I have ever found). They are out of Austraillia (I think) so it takes a little bit longer to ship.
I don't remember if this has been addressed yet, but DO NOT BUY FLEA STUFF AT WAL-MART. The Hartz and...what is it...Sergants or something. Yeah, don't use those. For one, they don't work. Two, well...do a quick google search.
Sorry jewels, but for my pets it had to be Advantage.
Original Post by laurieellen:
Yup Frontline worked for me! I think I have the only cat that is allergic to fleas. (I know not true) Poor thing broke out immediatly after I brought my Kitten home from th SPCA . (this was 4 years ago) She is so allegic one flea will do it! She got a pill to kill any fleas on her and then a shot for the allergy. It was expensive, even with my Mom's discount (she works there) but totally worth it!
Nope your not the only one! my kitty Tiger (RIP) was allergic to fleas and she would loose almost all her fur and had bad dry skin. I also think my 3 yr old kitty Lulu is allergic too but she is bad and digs at her skin until she has severe open wounds ( I figured she was allergic after we got rid of our last infestation of fleas 2 yrs ago). Shes been healed for that long and we havnt had any other flea infestation.
