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Fleas on dogs

Mike

Might know the answer
Messages
977
Location
Kentucky
Planting Zone
6b
Having a minor case of fleas this year on our two dogs. Something in the past we've not had much problems with and typically would just put Frontline on them and be done with it.

The thing is that was long before we had a little guy running around and now since he's at the age where he's walking around and loving on the dogs I would rather not use any harsh chemicals on the dogs that could end up on him or in his mouth from loving on them.

Second, Frontline in the last two treatments seems to have no affect on fleas. According to several people around this area is that fleas are becoming immune to it. Newer chemicals are suggested instead - but that goes back to my first concern - my son.

Those of you with dogs, what other methods have you tried, if any, that works great without the need of putting chemicals on the outside skin?
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Mike,
Ordinnary flea medicine would not stop them on our dogs either, so Linda gets Comfortis from the vet. It is pricey but it works and keeps the dogs from suffering and constantly scratching.

It is a pill you give them so it should not harm your baby.

Ernie
 

Mike

Might know the answer
Messages
977
Location
Kentucky
Planting Zone
6b
Thanks Ernie! I'll check and see if any of the vets around here carry that.
 

Rahab222

Well-Known Member
Messages
354
Planting Zone
9B
If none of the vets in your area carry it, try PetMeds. They are also much cheaper than the vet. If it's a prescription med, they may have to call your vet for a prescription. I get my Frontline at Sam's and Pet Meds. simply calls my vet to approve heart worm medication, antibiotics, etc. PetMeds delivers very quickly and I save a lot of money.
 

Mike

Might know the answer
Messages
977
Location
Kentucky
Planting Zone
6b
@Rehab222, our vet will not allow us to order from Pet Meds. :rolleyes:
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Mike,

After Rehab mentioned it I checked an online price, and the price for Comfortis online was about the same as the Vet charges. California price is about $90 dollars.

Amazon pushes a substitute if you type in Comfortis for one third the price, but reviews run about 50/50 pro and con.

Ernie
 
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Mr_Yan

Guest
We had the same thing @Mike, fleas that survived FrontLine, and also tried the chewable pill. I am not sure but think it was the Comfortis @ErnieCopp mentioned above. It worked. I remember the pill we used also was listed for multiple months.

After reading some on fleas it looks like some populations are getting immune to the FrontLine. As with most pest controls rotating the chemical is a good idea to maintain effectiveness.

Two or so years ago we had a single flea / tick / heartworm pill for our dog called Sentinel. It worked and was cost effective but was unavailable for a year. My vet said FDA shut down the Novartis plant that made Sentinel because of some lapses on the human drug side of things
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
To follow up on the Confortis that Yan mentioned. Linda said the 90.00 dollars is for six pillls. We have two dogs and the dosage is 1 pill per month for three months. The pills come in different sizes for the weight of the dog.

Ernie
 
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Mr_Yan

Guest
the dosage is 1 pill per month for three months.

The one I used was a one dose pill with multi month coverage for fleas. Man frustrating that I forgot the name now and I know I tossed the paper work on it between Christmas and New Years.
 

Rahab222

Well-Known Member
Messages
354
Planting Zone
9B
I've read that diatamaceous earth also works and isn't harmful to pets or people.
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Mike,
Your comment made me feel better. i had a big bag of it sitting around that i bought to control snails, that did not work very well. I finally threw the whole bag away, but was thinking of buying another bag of it to try for the fleas.

Ernie
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
One more thing on the Flea war. We have used Comfortis in the past with success but I did not pay close attention to how long it took to work. We applied it the first of this month and we saw a few dead fleas, but the dogs were still scratching, so Linda bought some flea collars today. But they have not scratched much today so we have not put them on. It may take 2 weeks for the eggs to all hatch and the new fleas to die. I will let you know in a few days if the scratching has stopped from just the Comfortis

Ernie
 
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Mr_Yan

Guest
I've done the flea war only twice and both times were after I put my dog in jail and headed out of town for the weekend.

I found the fleas all over the place and this is a limitation of the diatamaceous earth. We have wood floors in the main area of the house and carpet only in the guest/play room. I found fleas on the kids stuffed animals, the couch, the dog bed... You can dust the dog with the DE but that will only kill the fleas on the dog at that time.

When I was reading about this I read a few good articles but, as you can expect, I can't find them now but here are a few main points I remember. I think one was on the permies site.
  • By medicating the dog, as we have listed drugs above, you'll kill the fleas that bite the dog. If the dog is the main host this will usually work.
  • Relatively high heat will kill fleas and most to all eggs. Running the dog beds and other things you can through the washer and dryer on high heat usually does it. I almost packed all the kid's stuffed animals in the car and left it in the summer sun for the day.
  • (This one I did not test) Low humidity can kill the adult fleas as they dehydrate to death. Turning off the humidifier during a cold snap may help. Some of the authors were saying they never had trouble with fleas in desert locations but when they moved to more humid areas again they were in constant flea-combat.
  • DE can be dusted into carpets as well as the dog. Again I don't have carpets so I didn't try.
  • The vacuum cleaner is a great tool to fight these invaders with.
  • Don't medicated the dogs but leave any other demons (I mean cat's) you may have untreated. The fleas will just eat the demon-cats.
 

Mike

Might know the answer
Messages
977
Location
Kentucky
Planting Zone
6b
DE can be dusted into carpets as well as the dog. Again I don't have carpets so I didn't try.

This stuff is extremely fine and I haven't found a good way to "dust" it on anything. That said most of my house is wood flooring so I'm not sure how much the dusting will help.

Between the DE and the weakened Frontline seems to have helped a bit. They are not perfectly clean but a lot less. So maybe the DE is working, slowly and not as thoroughly but is working to some degree?
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Update here.

We only found one flea, but our dogs were scratching all the time. Linda was talking to a different veterinary and he told her to buy some BENEDRYL for ALLERGY, [no prescription needed] 25 MG give one pill every 8 hours for small dogs [Cavalier Spaniels} She gave the first pill last night and the scratching has slowed way down already.

Ernie
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Yes,

it is made for itching eyes on humans apparently. Since we could not find but the one flea, and the Dogs were still scratching, the Vet thought it might be an allergy causing the scratching.

Ernie
 
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Selma Richard

Guest
If your home is infested with fleas then its a costly and frustrating endeavour. Fleas cause discomfort to both pets and people. They are simply nuisance and requires the skills of professional exterminator to eradicate.
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Thanks, Selma,

We did not have a flea problem after all. The pet shop had used a different shampoo on the dogs and that is what caused the itching. We told them not to use that any more, and they have not been scratching.

I checked the date of my last post and it was in February. How soon we forget. It was driving me crazy watching them scratch but i had not thought about it since then.

Ernie
 
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louismanz

Guest
Hey Mike, I Think your home is highly infested with Fleas, and so disturbing your dogs. Proper cleaning is the option you can implement, or you can also contact to professional rodent exterminator to get rid of pest like fleas, rats and let the dog live happily with you.
 
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WilliamBentley

Guest
Mike, Do you have inspected from where do those fleas came to your dogs. Fleas even jump on humans from the pets. So you should better be aware of these things too. Have fleas harmed you or your family. You should better get rid of them as soon as possible. You should ask some professional like Exterminator Redding CT(yalepest.com/redding-pest-exterminators) to inspect your house and let you know if your home is infested by fleas or not. If it is infested they can help you exterminate it so that from next time your dog will also won't have fleas. Till then you don't worry. You don't need to put any chemicals on your dog. You can try some products like flea shampoos, flea combs or brushes, flea powders which you can easily find on your nearby vet shop.
 
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dkerry5900

Guest
An Ivermection injection, while used primarly for heartworm prevention will also prevent fleas and also ticks. Switched to this after frontline didn't work for us.
 
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