getting rid of fleas!

#16
My dog brought fleas into a house I owned years ago. I didn't have a speck of carpets, all hard wood floors & no area rugs! I left town for a week for business, he was at the kennel & they finally all died. What a nightmare.
 
#18
My vet told me about to get rid of fleas because we had a stray cat with fleas around that would visit my cats. She told me it works best to only use a spot-on and not kill the fleas. The fleas will take the poison from the spot on and pass it on to the larvae. This way you will not only kill the fleas that are around now, but make sure the larvae will not survive.

karmenzsofia, do your dogs never play outside or go for walks? My dogs is an indoor dog, too, but he spends at least two or three hours a day outside with me, so he or I could pick up fleas possibly every day.
 
#19
I take them out once a day or every other day, but keep them off the grassy areas. We walk on the sidewalks. But even there a dog can grab a flea. The only time I let them play outside was when I was living with my cousin last year. It was a brand new subdivision, and there were no fleas anywhere! It was great for the dogs, and I loved letting them roam free for a bit. But, generally, grass is loaded with bugs, especially in areas were other dogs are taken for walks. A dog can be completely free of fleas, go outside for five minutes, and come back with a flea or two. That's all it takes. It's a pain.
 
#20
I agree, fleas can be everywhere. I can't keep my dog and cats inside, but the spot-on seems to work pretty good. I think fleas and ticks don't really like my dog because of all the drugs he has to take every day ;).
 
#22
I can't remember the brand we had this year, but it is just like Frontline. It is a liquid you put on the dogs or cats neck. No fleas around our house even though my cats meet other cats outside every day.
 
#23
Oh, ok. I bought Frontline years ago when I was in Miami Beach (without doubt the most flea-infested place I've ever been at--and I have lived in a bunch of cities), and used it only once because I was successful at keeping the dogs flea-free. But because of this one freakin flea that got on one of my dogs, and which I had in front of me twice and was unable to grab it (stupid me), I applied the Frontline on my dog and it did absolutely nothing. After a week or 1.5 wks, I decided to give her another dose, this time making sure of applying every drop on the skin and not the hair. So far so good. I think I let too much of it fall on the hair the first time. Others here have mentioned different brands. Does anyone have an opinion as to which of these Frontline-like products is the best?
 
#24
If there are fleas already it will take a while to kill every stage of the fleas (from adult to larvae).

This is gross, but that's what my vet told me. The adult fleas take the poison from the treated dog and the larvae eat the flea poop (sorry) and are poisoned that way. This is why it is so important not to spray insecticides and kill the adult fleas only. The eggs are not destroyed that way and there will be lots of fleas in no time.
 
#25
Luckilly, I've never had to deal with larvae or anything like that. Just one to three fleas a year. The second I see signs of a flea, I check my dog from head to toe, find it, get rid of it. My dogs sleep with me, so I'm very careful. Plus, when I was a kid, the family dog caught fleas and it was a mess. I think I became somewhat traumatized from the ordeal! So I'm anal about this stuff. I won't have bugs living in my dogs...ewww.

BTW, downrabbithole, how's your doggie?
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#26
get the flea drops!! they work =P
my cat got the fleas and it was very bad..i had bites all over my feet! and i knew i had fleas in my bed too, the flea drops are a life saver!
 
#27
I treat dahlia internally with diatomaceous earth mixed with her raw food so she doesnt get them (and it kills parasites also). DE can also be rubbed into your dog's fur if he/she has any and also sprinkled on the carpets and upholstery. It's all natural so there's no chance of toxic poisoning and is used as internally as well as a topical. Dinovite is a recommended supplement by a holistic vet that has DE and other ingredients that help with your dog's immune system, and in turn helps with nipping a bigger flea problem in advance. I don't use it since she's on a raw food diet, but it supposedly helps with other issues also, including allergies that can cause dry skin and itching.
 
#28
Wow....this takes me back to a similar nightmare I had a couple of years ago. I have cats, all indoor, but somehow those pesky fleas got in my house. I didn't have any trouble getting them off the cats, but it took us 3 months to get rid of the fleas in our Florida room. I don't know why, but they were contained to that room, and as long as I kept the cats out of that space, we were fine in the rest of the house.

I tried every home remedy - sprays, Borax, etc, nothing worked. Finally called in the exterminators and they took care of it.

I think that a lovely family of groundhogs were making their home under my house, and I think the fleas may have gotten in that way. How sweet, eh?

I now use Advantage on the cats...in case one flea should happen to land on them when they go to the vet or the groomers!!
 
#29
The only time I had a flea problem in the house is when I lived in Atlanta and had NO pets. Sand fleas in the South get on the person (socks, bottom of pants...) and then to the carpet.
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