Fleas

[Jamilupine]

Okay, I know I've been MIA recently, but I haven't forgotten about GP!

Short recap - Justin and I left for two weeks and got married, leaving Lucy in the Kennel at the vet's for the duration of the trip (actually, that was a pain in my butt, but I don't feel like getting into it!). Lucy is on Frontline, suppossedly one of the better flea preventatives. I've never seen a flea on her before the stay at the vets. But now, I see them on her ALL the time! To the point where I find them crawling on ME! It's nasty and now I feel like they are everywhere.

I know the flea preventative stops the life cycle of the fleas if they bite her but don't prevent them from getting on her, is that right? I have two cats, do I need to get them on flea prevention (they are inside only so up until now I haven't had them on anything)? Can I just do a flea shampoo or something on Lucy and take are of it? It's freaking me out and I really detest fleas. Seriously, I feel like I itch EVERYWHERE right now! Any suggestions would be great. I've had pleanty of dogs before and we've had to flea bomb a house (which was not fun) becuase of them, so I want to PREVENT that now!

Thanks.

[linnie]

You definately need to put flea control on all your animals.
Bombing the house is horrid lol
Do you have access to swipe a fly By swipe???
Diluted it is fabulous you can spray it around the edges of carpet where fleas seem to hide.

You are right about frontline it stops the breeding cycle but still bites the dog in the meantime

[HarleysMom]

I agree with Linnie- Put frontline on all your pets and if I where you I would call the vets office and notify them that your dog had NO fleas when she came in but brought fleas home with her-- THEY should be willing to give her a flea dip for FREE--At our clinic ALL dogs and CATS are tested to see if they have fleas when they walk in for boarding or to be in the clinic IF they have fleas they are treated before being put in a cage--it is on the consent form that all animals must be flea free in order to stay there and if fleas are found they will be treated at the owners expense.

[shandoggy1]

I would definatley BOMB the house but that means you and the animals would have to evacuate for the day or at least 4 hours or more. Is there a groomer you can trust to take care of your animals and maybe give them a flea bath while they are there? I would NEVER dip a cat, I have heard stories of cats dying from dip. I have groomed for over 10 years and I would never dip a cat only a dog and with a dilute formula. Good luck, they are a pain to get rid of luckily my animals have never had a flea problem. Let us know how you make out and Congrads on your marriage!

[Shadowkins]

Aww! Congrats on your marriage...wishing you many years of happiness!
What an awful thing to come home with . I would also advise the vet office , they should know since I'm sure Lucy wasn't the only dog there.
That same thing happened to my girlfriend who grooms dogs...someone picked up their dog from the vets and brought it in to her place for a bath...we had to close the place down awhile so we could bomb ( not literally) it and clean everything in sight.
I had them too at one point and I cleaned everything as well...i don't know if it was necessary but I felt better about it and didn't "feel itchy" all the time.
Good luck to you!

[britishbandit]

Congrats!! Sorry to hear about the "flea" problem though.
I am not sure what preventatives you have in the US, but usually the same or more than in Canada. About 5 years ago I got a dog from the humane society that had fleas. When I took him to the vet they suggested I put him on "Advantage" drops. It worked like a charm. There were no fleas to be found within maybe 8 hours. My dogs and cats are all on it now from March - October and havn't seen a flea in years.

[Tiffany0204]

I'm all about the Advantage drops as well. I used them on Gizmo and it worked like a charm.

What I did to rid my house of fleas?

Put the Adavantage! drops on Gizmo. In around 12 hours or so ALL fleas on him were dead. Then I opened up the windows so the cold air would come in (fleas hate the cold) and vaccumed my house top to bottom. That included doing the couch, in the crevaces, pillows, you name it. Some people suggested I put part of a flea collar in the vaccum bag to kill the eggs that you vacuum up but I just immediatly brought the vaccum bag to the dumpster. I also steamed cleaned my carpets with a friend's Bissel Steam Cleaner.

Then I washed all the bedding (mine and Gizmo's) and sprayed a flea control spray on all the baseboards. Took me darn near 6 hours, and I have a tiny apt, but it payed off and I haven't seen a flea yet *knock on wood*

The great thing about Advantage! is that you get a 6 month supply of it. So in a month, you repeat the process (that will pick up any fleas that have hatched from eggs).

I'm sorry about the flea problem. I'd definitly notify your vet as well. Lucy shouldn't have come home with fleas! Congrats on your wedding as well! Do we get to see pics?

[linnie]

I forgot about the flea collar in the vaccume Idea now thats one we should all keep on file

[calgal]

I'm not into useing any chemicle's on pets. Here is a site that sells items that can safely take care of that problem. http://www.naturespet.com/flea.html

[Jamilupine]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I live in a small apartment and will be moving in 4 months, so I don't know if it is worth it to bomb?

I'll call the vet tomorrow. I'm becoming somewhat unsatisfied with them. When I had called about flea control prior to bringing her in (I put advantage on her a week BEFORE going in) they said definately do it becuase they have had bad fleas in the past...so I wonder what they will say when I tell them.

Flea dips scare me - what about flea shampoos?

I'm talking with my Husband about the flea control for the cats (thanks by the way for all the congratulations! ) - he always orders all that stuff so he has the accounts all set up.

What is you opinion about flea colars on the cats? Something about it bothers me, but I can't put my finger on what.

[Odetoadream]

I have 5 cats and I use Revolution on them, it's by prescription only, I believe. But it works wonderfully. They also make it for dogs, I've never used it on dogs. I use Frontline for Kody, due to Revolution containing invermectin.

I would definatly treat your apartment, otherwise they could move to your new place if left untreated.

Be sure to vacuum everyday, it'll stimulate the eggs to hatch. I also sprinkled plain table salt on the carpet and left it overnight then vacuum it up. It helps kill eggs as it draws the moisture out of the eggs. The salt won't hurt your pets either. I also sprayed the house, bedding and washed everything. I did this every two weeks to help break the cycle as well as dosed the cats and dog with Revolution and frontline. Otherwise you risk re-infestation, which is not fun.

Good Luck and Congratulations!
Cinthia

[Jamilupine]

Okay, just wanted to update everyone (or do I just want some sympathy for what I'm about to go through!? ) - I am getting the flea problem under control!

First, I called three vets to get reccomendations, they all told me something different, so I went with the one I felt most comfortable. I went to the vet and bought:
Flea fogger
Frontline for cats (The dog is already on Frontline)
Flea spray stuff
and some pills that kill fleas within 24 hours

I gave everyone the pills, and within 30 minutes everyone was dropping fleas like crazy! My cats were going berzerk with the feeling of dying fleas! Then I put the Frontline on everyone. Now everyone looks SO much HAPPIER! I can't believe the difference. And today, I am preparing to fog the apartment. I have to stay out of the house for at least 2 1/2 hours, which will be a bit of a pain with the cats, but I think I can pull it off. I just got done spraying the car, just in case there are any rouge flea eggs in there. And I'm going to prepare the apartment as soon as I am done with this post. Then I have to come back in and vaccuume everything (after I buy a flea colar for the bag). Ugh. I'm not looking forward to the rest of this day! Except for the really clean, flealess house I will have!

So, just wanted to update everyone, and thank you all for your suggestions.

[mrsgrubby]

What did your vet say when you called to say Lucy got fleas after staying with them?

[Shadowkins]

Boy, you have your work cut out for you! I know the feeling...I went through it with Shadow a few years ago, the only good thing was that my house was spotless.

[RIo&Nickysmommy]

Call me the dog washing bandit but anytime I put my dogs at the vet or even take my dogs to my Moms (she lives in a very wooded area. No matter what time I get home even midnight, both my dogs gets baths right away. This started cause I woke up with a tick on my and found one on RIo after going to Mom's. SO now we use frontline all the time in the warm weather. We also mix whole cloves of garlic and let them ferment in a gallon milk container cleaned of course with water for two weeks then we spray our whole yard and tree's. ( neighbors wonder what the heck we are cooking) this has worked well for us and has kept us flea free. I keep my dogs coats short for the summer- easier to do flea and tick checks on. I can feel for you. If I see a flea or an ant I rip my whole house apart. I wish you luck. No fun de-fleaing!
Rio&Nickysmommy