Fleas! It's freaking October! HELP!

[pritchettzoo]

It started with the kitties (indoor). I thought Cassie had an allergy or something because she scratched her head raw. Nope, fleas. We hadn't seen any fleas in our house, and the dogs were clean. So we put Advantage on the kitties two weeks ago. George is *STILL* scratching himself bald in a couple of places.

The dogs had a dose of Advantage a month and a half ago, but our vet said that it actually lasts longer than a month, especially with indoor animals (doggies go outside to use the restroom, but otherwise they're indoors). Now the dogs have fleas. Can we buy Frontline or Advantage OTC at Petco or Petsmart? I know I can buy it online without a prescription, but IRL? What the heck can I do with the kitties? It's only been two weeks since their last dose. The thought of bathing them is pretty funny. George ripped us to shreds the last time we bathed him--when he was 8 weeks old (9 years and 13 pounds ago). I don't have any arm-length leather eagle-taming gloves to use...

We have little carpet, so that's good for minimizing an indoor infestation (shudder). Also, I haven't gotten any bites and I'm usually a prime target for fleas, mosquitos and other nasty little buggers (maybe my sweet disposition? ;)).

One of my friends says her indoor cats have fleas for the first time ever too. What is up with this? Has anyone else had a flea problem recently? I'm in GA, so it's not below freezing here by any stretch, but usually flea season is in the heat of the summer.

I'm blaming DH's partner's nasty little leg-humping dog for these. He brings the awful dog to work and it probably humped some fleas on DH to bring home to our babies. x(

Anna

[rrosen]

Sending a truck load of sympathy your way! No fleas here but, tons of tics. We took 6 off Bailey last week after a short walk. And we have had frost here already! I have bought Frontline at a feed store near us (think horses, hay, etc.) like a pet store but, more county IYKWIM. So, I know it is sold OTC.

Good luck!

[Momof3Labs]

Fleas and skeeters (heartworm) are fair game until you've had a good, hard freeze, unfortunately. We haven't had this problem (knock on wood) so can't provide many suggestions.

I do know that www.omahavaccinecompany,com has good prices on flea treatment stuff, and they ship fast (and can probably do a rush ship). They have Advantage and such; locally, I think that only our vet's offices sell flea preventative.

[mmaimp]

We have indoor cats and had a flea problem in late summer. We must have brought them in from a neighbor’s dog. The first month we tried Frontline but that did not get rid of all the fleas. The next month we used Advantage and this worked a thousand times better. DH picked up both at a local pet store. We also have hardwood floors but did treat our area rugs with Borax to help kill the fleas and eggs in the rug. I would also use a flea comb and vacuum everyday, even your hardwoods. Empty the vacuum canister or change the bag after every vacuuming.

I don’t like using these pesticides but I also don’t like fleas in the house. DH treats the cats and DS and I go to my parents for the day or weekend so we are not exposed to the pesticide before it dries. I don’t know if this is effective in lessening our exposure but it helps my piece of mind.

Maybe you will get any early freeze!

[jd11365]

Here's an off the wall suggestion, but it's worked for us...and living in the south, you know we are in flea country!

Believe it or not, we have no fleas. I attribute this to Ivomec. We gave it to our Weimaraner when he had mange, and ever since we haven't had any fleas. Now, straight Ivomec is for cattle and you can only get it at a feed store or the vet. It's a last ditch effort for dogs who are dying of mange, which is what happened to our dog when he was a puppy. We had no other alternative. Anyway, heartworm medication has Ivomec in it (Ivomec is a pesticide), so if your dog isn't on heartworm medication w/ Ivomec, I might suggest giving that a try.

HTH!

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[nitaghei]

One word - FRONTLINE!! It's the best - and available OTC. And it actually kills the fleas. The best price is www.omahavaccinecompany.com , and they do ship really really fast. Your vet should be able to supply it, too. I imagine that Petsmart/Petco carries it too - I just haven't been in one of the stores in years.

I think they have a cat version too. We've never had a flea since we started using Frontline, even though my dogs go out a lot. And we live in prime flea/tick/heartworm country.

One caution - get only Frontline, NOT Frontline Plus - there's plenty of anecdotal evidence of adverse effects from Plus that I'm not comfortable giving it to my two. And the regular Frontline does a great job.

And if you can't find it, PM or email me. I'm pretty sure I have an extra 3-pack I can mail to you.

Edited to correct URL
Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[miki]

You can definitely get Frontline OTC. You can also go to the vets office and they'll sell it to you without seeing your pet since it's OTC. If you can't figure out a way to kill all the fleas in the house, maybe try Program to keep the fleas from reproducing?

[alkagift]

Anna,
I can't suggest much other than the stuff you've already done.

I will say, though, that we've bathed our cat maybe three times ourselves, but we DO ask our all-cat vet to do it if we have to board her. Maybe you can do the same for George? Under the circumstances, it may be worth it for his sanity!

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[Bethann31]

We are having a HORRIBLE flea problem here too. We have one indoor cat and 2 indoor/outdoor dogs. They just went to the vet this weekend, so hopefully, they will have been treated. THe cat is just plain old (almost 20 years) and has Kitty Alzheimer's, so she lives in the downstairs bathroom.


Beth

Josh 3/90
Mollie 4/92
Jeffrey 12/94
and Katherine 6/03

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