Need Your Help - Dog With Fleas
 

I have read that putting some vinegar and water in a spray bottle and misting the dogs body helps. Has anyone else had results with this. Do you have something else that you do? We have put salt on the carpet, but it is supposed to take about 3 days.

Thanks so much.

Feel Your Pain
 

We have been fighting fleas on our little Maltese which he got while we were in Texas. We did so many things!
He had a pill from the vet that kills fleas within ten minutes. Then we put on a monthly type repellant, plus several baths. But we must have still had the eggs because he still had fleas. So we bought a flea shampoo. Got home still had fleas, then took him to the groomer and my husband bought Sentry Home and Carpet spray from Walmart which he just sprayed on carpet. Finally we think they are gone but we are still paranoid about it! Anyway, the thing was I didn't want to do the "bomb" thing and I think we won! (Plus all kinds of wahing his bedding, etc. and him) What a nightmare!

I used Dawn classic. Got rid of the fleas.

I've also heard that and am experimenting with this also. I also put vinegar in my dog's water that I had to his dry dog food. This, too, is supposed to keep fleas away and improve digestion. My dog seems to like the flavored liquid in her dry food. I sure hope this works!

The vinegar and water thing will only make the fleas jump off of your animal, it doesn't kill them. Salt in the carpets does work provided that the animal is free of fleas and not bringing fleas into the house. You have to treat the pet, your home, and the pet's bedding all at the same time. Wash the bedding in hot soapy water in the washing machine and run it through the dryer. Wash the pet in a flea and tick shampoo (this is often harder to do with cats than with dogs). Vaccume every area of your home, including under furniture, in sofa cushions, in cracks, crevices, and baseboards, and vaccume the closets. Empty the contents of your vaccume cleaner outside as adult fleas can and will escape from the vaccume. Salt the carpets, approximately 1 box for every good sized room. With small rooms, you can use 1/2 box. Stomp or walk the salt deep into the carpet and let it remain there for 1 week. Also, treat your yard, one of the best things to use is lime. The kind of lime that gardeners put into their gardens, it's white and comes in about 50lb bags and is spread using a garden spreader. Not very expensive and safe around pets and people. After a week vaccume the entire house again and toss the contents outside. Wash the pet and their bedding again. And I'd recommend a good flea collar or something like Frontline for the pet if they are both indoor and outdoor.

I had trouble with fleas on my dog and used all the things you did and more . It was very sad to see her itching all the time but after i used the Blue Dawn I don't see any more fleas and she seems comfortable. I have my fingers crossed that it did the trick! Wishing you luck! Lorraine

I completely agree with homeschoolmom. Fleas are like lice and you have to treat everything in the house. You have to get rid of live fleas and treat the eggs. I've been through fleas and lice both. No fun! We have a prescription from our vet that covers heart worm, fleas, ticks, etc.

Okay, does the dog get a bath with the dish liquid? Is there something about Dawn that is different from others?

To kill the fleas in your carpet and other things, Diamateous Earth, very similar to the stuff used in pool filters. It dries out their bodies and eggs. Get the organic kind, doesn't include Silicon dioxide which is hard on the lungs.

To keep fleas off your dog once they have been dipped or other treatment, cider vinegar in the water, crushed matchheads and garlic in their food.

I had done everything last summer for my cats. Nothing worked. Two are alergic to any kind of insectiside. Dawn is the best thing I have used and I spray the carpets with the Enforcer from Wal Mart. The cats are doing much better and I use a flea comb on them to get the fleas that remain off. I also found if you put a white bowl with a little water and a couple of drops of dish soap on your floor at night with a small llight over it the fleas will go in and drown! I paid $30 bucks for the Black Jack flea Beacon and all it cought was a couple of flies, a couple of crickets and my little cat who was after the crickets and flies (twice)! Bowl of water worked much better and it was FREE!!!! LOL

Garlic in his food. Check with your vet though. Yes you need monthly preventative pills for fleas and tiks. Expensive and worth it!
Sand

While clearing out the flea infestation, buy a couple of extra flea collars. Cut the end off and put in your sweeper(s) an inch or two will do. store the rest of the collar in a zip lock bag and do this whenever you change the sweeper bag or empty it. Helps keep things under control once you have them all cleaned out.

The vet can give you a medicine called "Comfortis". This will result in great relief for you pet with all of the fleas gone within a short period of time. You take care of the mechanical process of vacuuming and possibly using a light spray around and outside areas you think may be hot spots with a product like precor. I think precor has a new name but it is a growth regulator and will stop the flea cycle. Check with your local feed store for the growth regulator.

In this day and age you can effectively eliminate those buggers. Best of luck to you and your pets! Hope this can help a little.

(ps, no offense to sandygirl, but I think garlic is culumative in canines and is not good for them, just like onions are not good for them)

This is a very interesting thread! I have a cat and a dog. I can get rid of the fleas for a while, but as soon as I stop the frontline theya re right back. 3 months of no fleas, then Whop! back they come. Where were they for the 3 months. I thought they couldn't live without the animal to feed from? Just random thoughts.

Thanks for all the great information. Hubby has just gone to the vet to get the Comfortis pill. Will let you know how it works out. Keeping my fingers crossed. It will be wonderful to see him be able to lay down and be going at himself all the time.

Poor little cat! My husband's grandmother used onions to get rid of fleas from in and around her home one time. I don't know if you're desperate enough for your home to smell like onions, but it is a cheap repellant. You can quarter the onions and toss them outside around the foundation of your home, etc. And if desperate enough (or you just like the smell of onions) you can put them under furniture in your house.

I do sympathize with you, I myself am battling fleas this year. My husband's grandmother lives next door to us and has a miniature daushound who up until recently has been infested with fleas. And I have two cats, both of which are indoor cats. Well, the fleas in our yard are horrible, but getting better after putting down lime. One of my cats escaped outside and when she came back in, she brought the fleas in with her. Dawn dish detergant is safe to bathe your animals in, but I can't use it because I'm allergic to Dawn. And, unfortunately, both of my cats hate baths so it's becoming more and more painful for me to bathe them. They hiss, claw, and sometimes bite now. Bad little kitties.

Fleas in your yard live on anything else alive - birds, mice, squirrels, etc. You find them in the sand at the beach. They are as plentiful as mosquitos.

OH, check for online coupon!!!!!

Only use FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth! Anything else can poison your pets. Sprinkle liberally on their bedding and rub into their coat. Vacuum and brush out.

If you can get eucalyptus leaves and crush them and put in in bedding it works, also the oil works, fleas don't like the smell!

I used borax with the salt on the carpet and furniture. You have wash everything that isn't nailed down, I added some Selsun Blue shampoo to Moira's shampoo to help with the itching when I bathed her . Moira is allergic to flea saliva so I have to be extra vivgilant. Thank goodness, Lily isn't, too. Flea colar in vac bag, yes, but they are too toxic for the dogs - even the 'natural' ones . I use Vectra D on Moira and Frontline Plus or WalMart's knockoff, Pet Armor Plus, on Lily. When I tried to use some really good natural stuff, Moira had a terrible time so the poison once a month is a little better. I do spray both of them with Critter Oil before we go to the woods or beach and put lime on their play area.

Well, I gave him the Comfortis this morning at 8:30 and he is doing much better. I believe this is about a 96% change. He sleeps for much longer periods of time and does not scratch and chew at himself very much at all. We have the salt down all over and tonight I will add a dish of soapy water near a night light and see if I can kill of some more of the little buggers.

I feel a lot better knowing that he feels better. Thanks so much.

Frontline is the most effective. Well worth the$. I have 6 dogs 2 cats!

This is a real easy way to get rid of fleas, use a night light and a basin of soapy water. It needs to have a layer of bubbles over the water, I use a wire whisk to make bubbles. Leave this under the night light for the night. the room needs to be dark. All the fleas like light and jump in the bubbles. the bubbles won't let them jump back out-- they drown!!! You will be surprised how many fleas are dead in the morning. We used this when we had our spaniel, and it works. Better than chemicals and pills.

Ginnie

Frontline makes a new flea product called Certifect - it kills fleas and releases ticks. I use this product on my dogs about every 3 months and it seems to work great. Frontline wasn't working anymore so I tried Comfortis - my dogs hated the taste - it was a battle getting them to take it, so tired Certifect (which is supposed to replace Frontline). Your vet office should carry it.

A lot of the cheaper dog shampoos will strip off your dog's flea protection, if you are using a "spot on" type medicine on their shoulder area... You need an oatmeal type shampoo from the vet or reputable pet store. Check with your vet to see if the shampoo is compatible with your flea medicine. Those meds cost too much to have the shampoo just strip them away...

We have been using Advantage Multi for fleas and heartworms, all in one. The vet recommended it and it's worked well.

Also, if your dog has had fleas you may need to treat them for tapeworm too. They get a tapeworm from eating their fleas!

I live in an apartment - the complex does very little to control fleas in the common areas so I use Comfortis for my cocker spaniel - she has been on it for 9 months now and I haven't seen a flea on her or on me! My son also uses it on his 3 dogs and does not have an issue. I have tried all over the counter brands but they just aren't strong enough. Good luck - they do make you feel like creepy bugs crawling on you.

Ticks and fleas are horrid this year. My vet told me to use the topical every month this year. My lab has had 8 ticks so far this year and the kelpie has had 2.
I use Frontline and crushed garlic-one clove or about 1/2 teaspoon- in the food. Less with small dogs.
Benedryl will help with the scratching and inching.
With 3 dogs and 4 cats I can't afford fleas!!
Will try the cider vinegar in the water trick.
Love this board for all the neat tricks and experience that gets passed around!!

I have used borax, sold as 20 Mule team borax in the laundry isle, on the carpets and crevices along baseboards for the fleas. Put it down and leave it. Sprinkle on the carpets, let set overnight if possible, then vacuum off the carpet. Leave the borax in the crevices for 3-4 days. This kills other bugs, not just fleas.
Then, I use Frontline to keep the dog and cat free of fleas once we got the &*#$& fleas gone. Frontline works for ticks too. It is a pill and now available from farm equipment department stores such as, Farm and Fleet, Tractor Supply.
Good Luck. Don't forget that while you are getting the fleas off your animals, you may be bringing them also. they like white socks, and are visible on them.

Try spraying your dog with skin so soft from Avon. I used for years on my dog,s and no flees or ticks. Spray on after you bathe your dog or cat. It will work.And if you have flees in your carpet, then spray it too.

I use the Frontline for fleas & heartworms he told me to use something like baby shampoo for bathing. He said regular shampoo/Dawn will kill the Frontline. And I use it every month and she's an inside dog and sleeps in my bed and I've never seen a flea on her. When I first got her (rescued) she was covered in fleas and sore spots caused from scratching. Has almost no hair on her belly so I can really see if a pest was there.

add brewers yeas to their food--it will build up in their bodies and make their blood distasteful to the fleas

Be very careful when using chemicals to kill fleas. You can not only kill the fleas, but your dog or cat also. Hartz products sold at Wal-Mart and Sam's club very nearly killed my sister's Jack Russell last spring. He ended up in the ER with an IV. I use Frontline on my 2 dogs and cats and so far it has worked really well. Fleas season seemed to start a lot earlier this year.

danna is right. Hartz is killing dogs and the company doesn't seem to do anything about it. Lily's Frontline Plus is a topical - I wasn't aware they made an oral med. Advantage has ivermection in it and collie type dogs can't have it without a blood test to see if they carry a certain gene. So much to think about, but once you see a flea, you need the big guns. Google Cedarcide - it kills fleas in the house and yard, but I never sprayed the dogs because I wasn't positive it was as non toxic as the company says it is.

the salt worked for me. Put it down. Wait a few days, vacuum and repeat. I even used it on the sofa. But as previously stated that is only one of the necessary things to be done

Years ago the dogs I had then got fleas, Frontline on the dogs got rid of all the fleas. We never had a lot of fleas but within 24 hours all fleas were dead. Didn't have to spray anything.

i have a maltese and I use "Frontline" recommended by the vet. He weighs only 3 lbs. and is too small for the pill thing according to the vet. I put this on him every month. It is expensive, but well worth the money. None of the "over-the-counter" meds worked. Mary
P.S. Frontline also controls the ticks.

We keep our little girl on flea and tick topical (Advantix) year around or we have a scratching/biting/chewing hair off problem constantly. We had her on Frontline Plus until this year and it seemed not to be doing the job of keeping ticks off her. DH found 2 ticks buried in her skin the first of March and decided to change to Advantix.
So far, it seems to be doing the job.

Years ago my in-laws brought their dog & FLEAS to visit us & our dogs. We were in the process of selling our house which wasn't fun after it was BOMBARDED with fleas. We bombed it with stuff from the store, sprayed amonia, vinegar... you name it. Finally we had Orkin come & while they treated tehe house, we took the dogs to the vet for a flea dip. FINALLY!

This year my Leo has had a few fleas (even tho we use Frontline faithfully every month). What we're REALLY fighting (already!!!) are ticks. I get at least a couple off him every day & just know my baby boy is going to get Lyme disease from them. Is anybody else having tick problems? Lots of them? So soon?

Hi, years ago my 2 cats were infested with fleas and passed them on to the dog. We washed the cats with insecticidal wash(not normally recommended), combed and searched for every flea but still no luck wiping them out. So we used the "flea bombs" in the house -- these are NOT an insecticide -- they spray a growth hormone which stops flea larvae from growing into adult fleas and so stop the reproductive cycle. This was a great success -- we repeated it once a year while the cats were still alive and had no more problems.