eewwwwww..... fleas!

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Postby mnp13 » June 9th, 2011, 8:02 pm

Well, after owning dogs for 8 years, I suppose it was our turn.

Riggs has been chewing at his butt for the last few days, and today I found two fleas on him.

And I'll admit I have no idea what to do about them. I'd really rather not flea bomb the house. Ruby and Connor are not itching nor do they have any sign of fleas that I could find. But I'm guessing that that doesn't really mean much at this point.

I know all of the bedding needs to be washed on hot - our machine actually has a "sanitary" cycle that heats the water to 190 so that's taken care of.

But what do I treat them with? I know better than to go buy "Hartz" at the pet store. I've got to treat the three dogs and both cats. Is the stuff from the vet ok?
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » June 9th, 2011, 8:06 pm

I use the cedar/lavendar shampoo bar from Chagrin Valley Soap. I try to avoid chemicals like the plague. You can also try diluting some organic ACV and spritzing it on them regularly to avoid future issues. And vacuum everything. I did put a flea collar into my vacuum canister so any buggers I sucked up would be killed.

ETA : the link to the shampoo bar I use: http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/dogshampoo.htm
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Postby plebayo » June 9th, 2011, 8:46 pm

Most people treat with Frontline or Advantage.

I REALLY like a product called Comfortis. It is a pill that dogs take orally and will start to kill fleas within 30 minutes and will kill all of the fleas on the dog in 4 hours. The only kind of lame side effect is it can cause dogs to vomit. I never had any issues with my dogs, and neither did most of my coworkers but one of the veterinarians had a dog that vomited on the drug.

If you go with a topical instead of comfortis when you are vacuuming you can put a flea collar in the chamber or bag of your vacuum and that will kill the fleas you suck up. The flea life cycle is about 3mos so you'll need to treat consistently for that amount of time because the flea eggs will hatch and you will see more fleas.

I really prefer the comfortis because I hate how oily advantage is and you have to apply so much for a dog in the 50lb range and it is really effective. Fleas have been horrible this year and last year...
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Postby iluvk9 » June 9th, 2011, 8:52 pm

I don't know what to suggest for short range goal of getting rid of fleas, but I swear by NUPRO supplement for long range flea control. I have woods in my yard and live next to the Greenbelt (protected natural land) and I have not have one flea or tick on any of the 7 dogs that I have owned.
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Postby mnp13 » June 9th, 2011, 9:40 pm

Do I get comfortis from the vet? and can cats take it??

Joyce, I'll take a look at NUPRO. Where do you get it?

Liz, I'm not looking forward to bathing my cats...
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Postby plebayo » June 9th, 2011, 10:00 pm

You can get it from your vet. They have a topical for cats bur it gave one of our clients cats a bald spot so we stopped offering it, our rep said she had the same complaints from other clinics, the product is called assurity. If you wanted to treat everyone with the same product I would go with advantage over frontline as it seems to be more effective, we have had some clients complain that frontline hasn't been working.
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Postby furever_pit » June 9th, 2011, 11:09 pm

I use Vectra 3D on my dogs and have had good luck with it. For the dogs outside, I also spray them down with DuraGuard once or twice a week and that helps with all the critters.

You can also use Diatomaceous Earth in your yard and in your animals' coats.
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Postby Malli » June 10th, 2011, 12:21 am

I 2nd comfortis. Its good for dogs that swim and bathe because its oral, so it doesn't lose affectiveness.
I'll be using that on Os.
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Postby iluvk9 » June 10th, 2011, 5:52 am

These are the ingredients: http://www.nuprosupplements.com/ingredients.htm

If you look at their website, you will read the reference to combating fleas with it.
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Postby Malli » June 10th, 2011, 2:51 pm

wanted to add, don't forget that fleas come with hitchhikers.... worms! So you may want to worm...
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Postby mnp13 » June 10th, 2011, 8:21 pm

Ok, I have worm medication.

We went with Advantix, my vet doesn't have the oral stuff. Holy crap that stuff is expensive...

I also picked up "Flea Free" which is a food supplement that I got at the natural food store. They didn't have Nupro, but this stuff looked good as a long term solution.
http://www.healthyfoodforpets.com/FleaFree.html
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Postby call2arms » June 12th, 2011, 11:12 pm

What did you get for your cat in the end?

Fleas suck, but not as much as thinking you've got fleas, and finding out by bringing a bug at the vet, that you have bed bugs... :puke:
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Postby furever_pit » June 12th, 2011, 11:17 pm

um...gross.
The thought of bedbugs makes me want to vomit.
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Postby call2arms » June 12th, 2011, 11:26 pm

The scary part is that I have a coworkers that didn't have bedbugs before she moved in with a roommae who also didn't have bedbugs. They found out they got them through the mover's blankets that was put on their mattress. Way to make me paranoid.
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Postby furever_pit » June 12th, 2011, 11:35 pm

Ack!
I have also heard you can get them from hotel rooms.
UGGHHH!!!!

I may just sleep in the truck with the dogs from now on.
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Postby mnp13 » June 13th, 2011, 1:02 am

oops, I lied. We got Revolution, not Advantix.

And it's not working. Riggs is still scratching like crazy, and I've found a few live ones since we put it on him.

I'm going to vacuum him every day and see if that helps. We have a flea collar in the Dyson to kill them when they end up in there.
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Postby plebayo » June 13th, 2011, 1:27 am

Before comfortis I used revolution it's a good product but doesn't kill fleas right away I don't think. You'll need to treat for three months consistently to get rid of them. The adult fleas may be killed but their eggs will hatch. I don't remember how revolution works but I don't think it kills immediately. Also if your dogs are sensitive one bite can send them into an itching frenzy.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » June 13th, 2011, 7:28 am

Maybe try wiping them down with ACV - it's supposed to repel fleas pretty much immediately. And could you maybe give him some Capstar? That kills any nasties on him within 30 minutes.
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Postby call2arms » June 13th, 2011, 9:51 am

Revolution is SUPPOSED to kill fleas within 24-48 hours, if it's not working after that call the clinic where you bought it, and let them know. Capstar works super well too, and it's quick like Suzanne says. And, if Riggs is hypersensitive to flea bites (some animals react and some could care less) then it's possible that he's just reacting to them... Remember the fleas have to bite him to die with revolution.
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Postby mnp13 » June 13th, 2011, 10:53 am

ACV? Apple cider vinegar?

And where do I get capstar?
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