Fleas

We all dread them, but have you ever had to deal with them? For the first time in ten years my Shih Tzu has fleas. We have been making tons of witch hazel and putting a special powder that is basically boric acid (but okay for the dog to walk on) all over the carpets.

For the most part, my room, where she often sleeps, has become flea free. They used to be in the carpet, but we did a lot of vacuuming, spraying of witch hazel, and swept a lot of the boric acid type stuff in the carpets. I still don't think I'm getting them all out when I bathe her. I use dawn detergent which is supposed to kill them, but I think there are a few still lingering around the house. We found that she got them from being at my grandparents house, and we know they aren't in our yard. Hopefully they will be gone soon.

 

Have you tried the flea collars that our on the market? We have used them in the past for some of our dogs and they seem to work effectively at getting rid of the fleas. We would like to use them on Buddy and Oso but the way these two fight and bite each other my brother is afraid they might bite the color which can be toxic. So if anyone knows any organic way to fight fleas I would appreciate knowing, because Oso obviously have a flea problem.

 

I've used the Hartz flea collar, it didn't work at all. We have some flea powder we're putting on her, and it seems to help a bit. I didn't feel comfortable keeping the collar on my dog because it was so toxic. I figure that if I shouldn't touch it, why should my dog?

 

I think Advantage is the best way to go for a serious problem. Though, some folks swear by Frontline. Frontline didn't work at all when Misha had a flea outbreak as a puppy. Advantage is pretty effective. It is a chemical, but it works so well, you usually only have to do it once or twice and then you're done for the year. I like it because they don't have to ingest it. It usually takes about a week to ten days before you notice the fleas in the house are gone. I haven't found the flea collars, powders, dips, etc. to be effective at all.

Here is something you might try. A friend of mine swears by this. She buys a flea collar, cuts it into pieces, and puts it in the vacuum cleaner canister, bag, etc. (depending which type you have...wherever the dirt is sucked into). She says that when you vacuum up flea eggs, they go in that "chamber" where the dirt is sucked into. The heat and vibration of the vacuum cases the eggs to hatch. The chemical on the flea collar pieces causes the fleas to die. I've never tried it myself. Luckily, we have not had a flea problem since Misha was a puppy. Thankfully because fleas like me more than they like dogs!

Another thing you can try is to collect eucalyptus leaves and spread them around the house. We used to do this years ago and it seemed to work okay. You are supposed to break the leaf part way (but not all the way in half) so the oil escapes. The oil is supposed to ward off fleas.

 

Fleas must be a nuisance. I guess they like warm sandy soil. I'd never heard of them being inside before. That must be even worse. We don't get fleas whatsoever but have plenty of ticks to make up for it.

 

I'm sorry to hear that you have such a big problem with fleas! It must be awful We use Frontline, it was recommended by a veterinarian and it works great. I guess you just have to try a few different things and I'm sure thet one of them will work. Good luck!

 

We use Frontline, too, and it works wonders. I understand not wanting to use those toxic powders, but we've never used a natural remedy that actually worked, so we compromise with the drops. They work at both killing off the current ones and preventing them later.

 

We use frontline on my dog. However, we mostly use it for ticks, not fleas. We have never had a problem with my dog getting fleas. She gets a lot of ticks, but we camp a lot. Along with the frontline we also use the flea and tick collar. I have tried just the collar alone and it really does not work too good. I am glad we have never had a problem with fleas. They are super tiny and really hard to see, aren't they? Kind of like lice?

 

Yesterday we took Trixie to get groomed. While she was gone, we bombed my room and all areas she has been. Hopefully the fleas are gone now.

 

Have you tried just using the frontline and skipping the collars then? I'm curious if the collars are worth using at all.

Ugh, yes! Sometimes they just look like dirt until you reach for it and it jumps.

 

Yeah they were jumping on me at one point and when I got in bed they would jump on the sheets. So far, zero fleas found after the bombing. I really hope this war is over.

 

I've never had to deal with fleas. I guess now I know what to look for! I have had to deal with lice on myself before and that is not fun at all!

 

An update on the flea situation. The dog stays in my room mostly, so we bombed it last weekend. Unfortunately, when my sister came home she stayed in her room that weekend. Guess which room we forgot to bomb. Sure enough, she has a few fleas on her. The fleas are mostly gone, but I am going to give her a very good bath this week and re-bomb my room and my sisters'.

 

I'm vouching you on Advantage. I totally agree with this one too. Bayer Advantage works perfectly for me. It was used to kill Buchi's mange back when he was a puppy and I have no other way to describe it except he experienced instant relief after they dropped it on his back.

We hate fleas. Fortunately, a 5-minute lather using the Bayer Tick and Flea soap kills most of them. It's quite surprising to see them fall to the ground and die eventually.

 

Our dog got fleas and was eating himself alive it was awful. We went to the vet and got advantage, but it didn't get rid of them completely, another vet gave him Revolution and that seemed to do the trick and also stop the itching. We were lucky though, the fleas stayed on our dog and were not all over the house. We have hardwood though, not carpet, so I am sure that helped a lot.

 

Hardwood floors DEFINITELY help a lot. We have them downstairs. Upstairs, however, we have carpet. That is why we're having such a hard time getting rid of them. I bathed her again today and she had two adult fleas and one or two smaller fleas, but they were all killed. The bombing of my room seems to have helped a lot, but we are doing my sisters' room tomorrow (the dog goes in there sometimes too).

 

My dogs had fleas really bad this year when we have never really had that problem before. I started to layer flea treatments, I use the flea shampoos, drops, collars and powder and I still see them from time to time. I hope we get a good freeze this winter to kill them all off outside.

 

I've used Frontline since 1997 and never had a problem. This year....they're awful. I just coated the pugs with Adams. Will ask the vet to try another med - it's just that Frontline has worked so well all these years

I have a good friend who calmly picks them off her dog (usually with a COUPLE of beers in the other hand) and squish them in her hands. All while sitting on the deck of her multimillion dollar home. Gotta love GA girls

I remember my mother putting blown out matchsticks to them and then tweezing them out. At least once a year.

 

I keep hearing the same thing from friends and relatives. Fleas are just downright bad this year. I've seen them in places where they have never been seen before, and for no reason. We seem to have the flea problem under control for now, but we are staying vigilant.

 

We spend so much on the care of our dogs already. To add the multi-layer flea treatment approach is just too much.