mom2myboys Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) I know there are several dog people here and I am hoping that you can help. Our sweet dog has fleas. I have already administered the monthly flea and tick treatment (over the counter, the tube where you squeeze a line of the medication down the back). And then I tried an all natural spray because I didn't want to over medicate. We used that a few times. And in frustration, also used a flea shampoo. With each treatment, he seemed to have fewer fleas, but not completely gone. Then, after a few days, would seem to get more uncomfortable and then there would look like there is more. :( All of the treatment say that they kill fleas, eggs and larvae and interrupt the life cycle. I am not seeing it work and my poor baby is so itchy. What else can I use? Thanks in advance for any help. Edited August 16, 2016 by mom2myboys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Ok, first, stop bathing him. You are washing off the topical stuff, and even if it reapplies (frontline does, from the oil glands) it takes a while, leaving him unprotected. Also, which topical did you use? Something like Hartz is useless. Frontline, advantage, etc work pretty well. Finally, NOTHING will get rid of them right away. NOTHING kills the pupae stage. There are things that kill eggs, larvae, and adults, but not pupae. So you have to wait for those to hatch out, then kill those before they lay new eggs. Takes anywhere from 2 weeks to a month or longer to really hit all the stages. I HIGHLY advise using a growth regulator product on your carpets, baseboards, and anywhere else fleas may hide. Eggs can be in crevices in a wooden floor, under furniture, etc. If you don't want to use the growth regulator product you can use Fleabusters powder..you sweep it into your carpets, into the wood floors, baseboards, etc and it will continue to kill newly hatched fleas for up to a year. However, it's not a super quick kill. Another thing you can use is capstar, from your vet. It's a pill, very safe, and kills the fleas on the dog for about 24 hours. It doesn't last, but it's a good way to knock down the population of adult fleas very quickly. Fewer adult fleas mean fewer eggs being laid. But again, you can do everything right, and it will still take a while because new pupae will be hatching out for a while. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 My go to flea regiment is to bath in dawn soap, only to get an idea of how bad the infestation is. They die immediately and you can see so many in the tub or trying to retreat to the face and ears to run from the dawn. Then wait 3 days and use a good flea treatment like frontline, advantage, or revolution. No other flea treatment is worth it. Then 2 weeks later I give another flea treatment. That has ALWAYS gotta rid of the problem. For a really bad infestation, where the fleas are in the house and not just on the animal you'll have to do more like clean bedding, vacuum daily, and possibly more. But you won't know how bad it is until the dogs are nicely protected. If it is bad, they will start jumping on you if the dogs are too well protected 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 The 3 day wait is to allow skin oils to come back 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Echoing what Katie said, you also have to treat the house and should treat the yard. Agreeing on the higher quality flea treatments, there really is a difference. Daily vacuuming can be necessary. I also use a flea comb and comb my dog daily when the infestation is bad. I then spray the fleas, you can use a bowl of water and then spray the water, less chemicals on the dog. Fleas are evil! They also have a quick life cycle. You can go from a few fleas to overwhelming in a period of 3-4 weeks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Try flea treatments with different active ingredients. We have cats and had to change products because they just stopped working. We may have to again because they're becoming less effective again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2myboys Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Ok, first, stop bathing him. You are washing off the topical stuff, and even if it reapplies (frontline does, from the oil glands) it takes a while, leaving him unprotected. Also, which topical did you use? Something like Hartz is useless. Frontline, advantage, etc work pretty well. Finally, NOTHING will get rid of them right away. NOTHING kills the pupae stage. There are things that kill eggs, larvae, and adults, but not pupae. So you have to wait for those to hatch out, then kill those before they lay new eggs. Takes anywhere from 2 weeks to a month or longer to really hit all the stages. I HIGHLY advise using a growth regulator product on your carpets, baseboards, and anywhere else fleas may hide. Eggs can be in crevices in a wooden floor, under furniture, etc. If you don't want to use the growth regulator product you can use Fleabusters powder..you sweep it into your carpets, into the wood floors, baseboards, etc and it will continue to kill newly hatched fleas for up to a year. However, it's not a super quick kill. Another thing you can use is capstar, from your vet. It's a pill, very safe, and kills the fleas on the dog for about 24 hours. It doesn't last, but it's a good way to knock down the population of adult fleas very quickly. Fewer adult fleas mean fewer eggs being laid. But again, you can do everything right, and it will still take a while because new pupae will be hatching out for a while. Oh no! I didn't realize that there was another stage in the life cycle! I think it was Hartz that we used. It has been fine for us before. Good to know that I shouldn't use it in the future. I can't do another monthly product yet though, right? Even though he has had a bath? Can I get a growth regulator product at walmart? (That is all we have out here for stores, or can I order on Amazon?) I do not have carpets, only wood, linoleum and tile floors. I will also look for Fleabusters... Can I do Capstar even though I have done the other treatments (which then say you can't use them again for 30 days)? Is it expensive? This is so miserable, but I guess it helps to know that it would take a while anyway. The labels on the products lead you to believe that it is a quick fix. This has been about 2 weeks so far. So miserable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2myboys Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 My go to flea regiment is to bath in dawn soap, only to get an idea of how bad the infestation is. They die immediately and you can see so many in the tub or trying to retreat to the face and ears to run from the dawn. Then wait 3 days and use a good flea treatment like frontline, advantage, or revolution. No other flea treatment is worth it. Then 2 weeks later I give another flea treatment. That has ALWAYS gotta rid of the problem. For a really bad infestation, where the fleas are in the house and not just on the animal you'll have to do more like clean bedding, vacuum daily, and possibly more. But you won't know how bad it is until the dogs are nicely protected. If it is bad, they will start jumping on you if the dogs are too well protected Can I use the Frontline if I have already used the Hartz 2 weeks ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Oh no! I didn't realize that there was another stage in the life cycle! I think it was Hartz that we used. It has been fine for us before. Good to know that I shouldn't use it in the future. I can't do another monthly product yet though, right? Even though he has had a bath? Can I get a growth regulator product at walmart? (That is all we have out here for stores, or can I order on Amazon?) I do not have carpets, only wood, linoleum and tile floors. I will also look for Fleabusters... Can I do Capstar even though I have done the other treatments (which then say you can't use them again for 30 days)? Is it expensive? This is so miserable, but I guess it helps to know that it would take a while anyway. The labels on the products lead you to believe that it is a quick fix. This has been about 2 weeks so far. So miserable! Hartz is beyond useless. But the good news is, since it is a different chemical, yes, you can do a different monthly treatment. Frontline or Advantage is fine, you can get them at Costco. (or pet stores as well I think?). Or if you have a regular vet call them, you may be able to buy just a single month to save money. And yes, you can do capstar at the same time as the topical treatments. Often it comes in a pack of maybe 6? Or something like that, and you do one pill every other day, to help break the cycle while the other stuff is working. But even a single dose would help greatly. As for the growth regulator, not sure, walmart might. Look for the initials IGR, for insect growth regulator. Good luck, and again, if you see a bunch more fleas in 2 weeks, it doesn't mean what you are doing isn't working, just that you need to keep doing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) You can order good products from 1800petmeds.com or buy from your vet. I never treat the house with chemicals but I vacuum daily and wash any bedding I can. For badly affected dogs I like one dose of capstar to kill off what's on the dog and then a monthly (we usually use Revolution or Advantix) Google flea life cycle to understand how long they can survive in your home and vacuum thoroughly daily. Gradually you can reduce your vacuuming but pay attn to the life cycle. Edited August 16, 2016 by hornblower 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2myboys Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Thank you all for your help and guidance! Wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbusf Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Great advice so far. I am so sorry. We have been dealing with fleas in our house for almost 2 months. I have tried so. many. things. (Capstar and Advantage on the cats, natural spray, foggers in the house, diatomaceous earth in the house) I finally had an exterminator come out today. I should have called them earlier, but I was trying to save myself money. Ha! If this doesn't work, I will lose it. I normally don't use chemicals in my house, but after 2 months of 2 of my kids having hundreds of flea bites, we had to do something extreme. The crazy thing is that we have 2 indoor cats - as in, they never go outside. The fleas in our area have apparently been especially bad this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Great advice so far. I am so sorry. We have been dealing with fleas in our house for almost 2 months. I have tried so. many. things. (Capstar and Advantage on the cats, natural spray, foggers in the house, diatomaceous earth in the house) I finally had an exterminator come out today. I should have called them earlier, but I was trying to save myself money. Ha! If this doesn't work, I will lose it. I normally don't use chemicals in my house, but after 2 months of 2 of my kids having hundreds of flea bites, we had to do something extreme. The crazy thing is that we have 2 indoor cats - as in, they never go outside. The fleas in our area have apparently been especially bad this year. Ugh. Have the exterminator come back in two weeks if at all possible, to catch the pupae hatching out. 2 weeks to retreat seems to be the magic number. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 And yeah, foggers are pretty much useless. Better to use spray or an exterminator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I'm so sorry! Fleas are just a nightmare! We battled them two different times and in two different states. So far, we haven't had a problem at all at our current home. We started using NexGard here too, and it's working! It is a pill given by mouth once a month. We get it from our vet. I'll echo PP with the Capstar pill. It is only for immediate relief to kill the current fleas. If your poor pup is picking them up somewhere, he will still get them unless he has something like NexGard (or similar). You do have a silver lining here with no carpets!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypatia. Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 We've been battling a flea infestation right now due to one of our indoor cats escaping, it's a hard cycle to break. Everyone has covered the other things to do, but I just want to add that there have been some safety concerns with the Hartz drops flea medications. I know there have been with cats, but I'm not sure about dogs. We have several cats, so we switched to Blue Bottle Advanced flea control. It has the same active ingredients as Advantage II, but you can measure out your own dose (good for various sized animals) and is budget-friendly. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CMWHM6I/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Advantage or Frontline. Frontline is better on oilier dogs I think, it spreads via the skin oils. It's also better if the dog gets wet frequently. Advantage attaches to the skin cells themselves, but if your dog has flaky skin it flakes off with it. It also washes off more than frontline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Dawn dish soap plus vinegar worked for us. Make sure you vacuum your floors persistently. In our case, dh had let the grass get long. Apparently that moist, warm environment is inviting to fleas. Now he keeps it trimmed short and never lets it go! Given that your floors are hard, you could probably get this under control with baths. I think I did the vinegar and Dawn daily for a while. It was last summer. Also we had to wash all the bedding to make sure there weren't any fleas in there. If you have fabric furniture, they may be there. Can't help you there. You can also put vinegar (just a touch) in their drinking water to make them less tasty to the fleas. And you can do brewers yeast tablets. My dog things they're snacks and likes them, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 FYI, brewers yeast (and garlic, for that matter) have been tested over and over, and don't prevent fleas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 You want Comfortis or Trifexis. Period. They're the BOMB for fleas. Immediate action, too. And no problem with washing off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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