Ann.without.an.e Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Front line completely failed us! Somehow we got fleas last Spring and we still haven't totally gotten rid of them. We finally found something that works on the cat. I just resorted to Capstar for the dog. I gave him one dose yesterday and he is flea free for now. I really, truly can't stand the idea of bombing the house. I might have to resort to that though. So far, we have just treated the animals and vacuumed like mad and they are better but not gone. We tried Diamotaceous earth with no luck. I fear that we are going to be bombarded in the spring. So, if we keep vacuuming like mad and keep treatment on the pets and give the dog a capstar every week or two for a few months, will this work? Can anyone recommend something other than Frontline for our dog? Thanks ya'll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Advantage! When Frontline didn't work I switched to Advantage and gave it to my dogs, then gave it again 2 weeks later. Then once a month after that. We had fleas for 5 months before getting Advantage. After that first month and half using it the flea problem was gone. Heres a fun little experiment to monitor the flea in your house. at night leave a small dish with soapy water in it on the floor in a room you think is invested. shine a flashlight on the dish and keep the rest of the room dark. In the morning see how many fleas there are in the dish. This is one way to monitor the progress of getting rid of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alef Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Diatomaceous earth worked for us, but we spread it around the house really thickly and left it for several days before vacuuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Advantage! When Frontline didn't work I switched to Advantage and gave it to my dogs, then gave it again 2 weeks later. Then once a month after that. We had fleas for 5 months before getting Advantage. After that first month and half using it the flea problem was gone. Heres a fun little experiment to monitor the flea in your house. at night leave a small dish with soapy water in it on the floor in a room you think is invested. shine a flashlight on the dish and keep the rest of the room dark. In the morning see how many fleas there are in the dish. This is one way to monitor the progress of getting rid of them. I was just looking at Advantage since it is different ingredients than Frontline. All I know is, we need a change :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 You can get an oral med called Capstar that will kill the fleas immediately. Our kennel uses this and it's been around since dirt. It won't protect them long term, but will get them off the animal. Bath then repeat according to directions. Our dogs are taking an oral preventative called Trifexis that protects against fleas, heart worms, and ticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Advantage is what we use on our cats, but when we had an infestation a couple summers ago, we vacuumed like mad and resorted to the nasty sprays (not the bombs). I would get the kids ready to go, send them outside on the porch, spray, and then leave with the kids for a couple of hours. It was a pain for a few weeks, but it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 You need to understand the life cycle of the flea to effectively combat them. Google around a bit (unit study!). Bottom line is that you need to vacuum *every day* for many days until the infestation is gone. Vacuuming can suck up the live fleas etc., but will also cause new fleas to hatch (due to CO2, heat, and vibration). This is a good thing - you don't want any laying dormant in the house. So you must vacuum again the next day to get the new ones before they breed. And so on, to break the cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Uggh, I feel your pain. We had fleas so bad in the house this summer (while we were overseas) that our house sitter had to leave. They bombed twice and put flea stuff on the animals, and we didn't get rid of them until November. I'd try the Advantage and just keep mopping, washing rugs, cleaning carpets and upholstery, and vacuuming, esp around the baseboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Use the capstar and Program. No need to bomb house, between the two the fleas willbe gone soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upward Journey Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I can no longer remember which (Advantage or Frontline) my vet prescribed for the cats when we had this problem, but I do remember him telling me that the stuff from the store wasn't as strong, and he had me put the medicine on the cats more often, I think it was every 3 weeks instead of every four? I also swept borax under my baseboards, sprinkled it into the carpets and vacuumed everyday for awhile. Thinking too that I kept the cats indoors until we had them under control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 frontline stopped working for us this year, we switched to comfortis. usually if you keep the animals dosed, they'll act as walking flea bombs and decimate the population eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Now that I am not on my phone. Program works by making it impossible for fleas to reproduce. Thus stopping the cycle. Of course you already know that Capstar works by killing the already existing adult fleas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anneinco Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 We went through a flea infestation right before the holidays. The vet said that this year she has pet owners coming in with flea issues and their pets have been on Frontline. It just has been a real bad flea year for Washington. We had never used anything, but with her recommendation, we did a treatment of Capstar with the two animals (dogs) that should fleas and are using Comfortis for monthly treatment. The cat did not show fleas, but we started him on a monthly treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 We live in the South and fleas are awful here. I have used Pet Armor from Walmart for the past three years and have not had a single flea on my dogs or in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 We had a flea problem thanks to our cats too, a couple of years ago. They seemed to become immune to Frontline. I was worried we were breeding super-fleas in our backyard! And my poor dd got *nailed*. (I guess she's the sweetest one of the family!) I'll echo the recommendations of the PP about the pet treatment, but when it comes to dealing with the infestation in the house, I have two words for you: Flea Busters. http://www.amazon.com/Fleabusters-Rx-Fleas-Plus/dp/B000MS6Q2Q That stuff *works*!! Yes, you have to wait about 6 weeks to get rid of all the life cycle stages, but in the meantime a couple of those glue/light traps work pretty well to catch the adults. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I just want to tell you that I am so sorry. Fleas and lice are horrid. I hope it gets a whole lot better very soon Just out of curiosity, is what you are using, the stuff that isn't working, is it the stuff from the vet or is it from the supermarket? My FIL is a vet and we just used what he gave us us. I have no idea what it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyk Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 We had a flea problem thanks to our cats too, a couple of years ago. They seemed to become immune to Frontline. I was worried we were breeding super-fleas in our backyard! And my poor dd got *nailed*. (I guess she's the sweetest one of the family!) I'll echo the recommendations of the PP about the pet treatment, but when it comes to dealing with the infestation in the house, I have two words for you: Flea Busters. http://www.amazon.com/Fleabusters-Rx-Fleas-Plus/dp/B000MS6Q2Q That stuff *works*!! Yes, you have to wait about 6 weeks to get rid of all the life cycle stages, but in the meantime a couple of those glue/light traps work pretty well to catch the adults. Good luck!! I second this--this stuff is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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