View Full Version : Fleas - yuck!! Help!!
Momof3Labs
10-12-2009, 03:23 PM
Our dog is on flea preventative, but apparently it isn't working. Or maybe she vomited up the treatment last time - I don't know. Anyways, I found two fleas on her head this morning, so we whisked her off for a flea bath and topical flea treatment. I'm washing all the rugs and her dog bed. We have all hardwood floors - no carpeting - so I didn't do anything there. No other pets in the home. But what about the furniture? She doesn't get up on the furniture, but is there something we still need to do to it? The groomers recommended doing a flea bomb today but I'm not comfortable with that given that we have two infants in the house.
Anyone BTDT with some advice??
Thanks!!
bubbaray
10-12-2009, 03:25 PM
I'd call your vet and see what they recommend. I know mine isn't thrilled with the OTC flea treatments. IIRC, they do flea treatments at the office that are very good.
GL!
vejemom
10-12-2009, 03:51 PM
Call the vet and ask for Capstar. It is an oral medicine that will kill any fleas still on the dog within an hour or so. IIRC, it is OTC, so you don't even have to haul the dog in to the vet.
Try not to panic about the house. The fleas may never have gotten off the dog. They tend to want to stay close to the host. I'd take a wait-and-see approach for a few days before I went to the trouble and expense of flea bombing. How many fleas did the groomer find? If they used flea shampoo correctly, in most cases they would be seeing dead fleas in the rinse water. Did they? When I worked for the vet, only about 1 in 5 dogs they we flea bathed were actually bad enough that we got visible "kill".
brittone2
10-12-2009, 04:40 PM
We've done diatomaceous earth in the past on the carpets. You could do that on her bedding, etc. It is nontoxic which is a bonus with little ones.
Our dog was on a preventative, but our vet said fleas are becoming resistant to some of the meds. Dh's sister is a vet tech and has said the same thing.
icunurse
10-12-2009, 04:54 PM
Shortly after we brought our dog home from the pound, we found a couple of fleas. Our vet gave the pup a really good flea bath which we had to repeat the next day and we had to give our cats a flea preventative (we use the topical oil). Basically, any fleas remaining would try to jump on an animal which would have flea control and then die. We were also told to vaccuum really well daily and throw away the bag after each use.
wellyes
10-12-2009, 05:12 PM
We had fleas in the house this summer - YUCK. The only thing that worked for us was daily vacuuming for a little while. Or, I suppose you could use a flea bomb, but we weren't willing.
Momof3Labs
10-12-2009, 06:05 PM
Thanks, all. The groomer didn't find anything when she bathed her, so hopefully I found the only two this morning. What are the chances?
The vet mentioned Capstar (we talked to them over the phone) so may still do that. The groomer put on a topical flea treatment but I've also heard that fleas are becoming resistant to some flea treatments.
Beth, where do you get diatomaceous earth?
R2sweetboys
10-12-2009, 06:21 PM
We've always used Frontline Plus with great results. When it comes to flees and ticks I don't mess around. I'm curious, what kind of topical treatment did the groomers use? I know with Frontline we always make sure not to bathe the dogs two to three days prior to applying and at least a week after. The fur's natural oils need to be there for the Frontline to work effectively. If you haven't tried it, I'd give it a shot.(along with consistent vacuuming to get rid of any in the house) Good luck, they are a pain to deal with!
brittone2
10-12-2009, 07:49 PM
My local co-op grocery carries the diatomaceous earth. I *think* I've seen it in the pet section of whole foods. I've seen it online too.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00127Q860/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00025H2PY&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0RENKZ1JV8JSEKGKWSBB
eta: online I see references for using it directly on pets. We never did that...just carpet, furniture, etc. in seasons when we've had more fleas (knock on wood the past year has been good around here with minimal to no fleas). But, apparently you can dust the pet with it (the advice I read was to avoid mucous membranes obviously). It feels kinda chalky and just dries out the fleas, which is how it kills them without being toxic.
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