Safe Flea bath shampoos?

[Zephyrpower]

OK guys, as you know my Pudges still has a problem with fleas. I was thinking about getting him so flea bath stuff but due to a recent scare involving Hartz, I decided perhaps I should come here and ask what brands are safe and have a good reputation for being effective as opposed to just picking up any brand from the nearest supermarket.

I found a brand called Zodiac at Kroger's but the directions on the back make it sound like I'm dealing with Toxic waste or something. So perhaps it is safe but I've also heard shampoos that contain Citronella (and maybe Tea Tree oils?) are supposed to be really good for getting rid of fleas, and also contain a lot less dangerous chemicals.

 

[misticaleclipse]

As far as I know any flea product you can get at the pet store is not good at all because they have so many toxic chemicals in them. Hertz is terrible.

Are you using a monthly preventative like frontline or revolution?

Part of the issue with fleas is that even if they are on a monthly thing and you get them in your house, they still try and get on the dog. The solution to this is thorough cleaning of everthing. Vacumming almost every day is a must (and then taking out the vacumm bag, putting it in the garbage and immediatly taking it to the trash, do not leave the bag in your home!)

There are also flea bombs I have heard people use, but you need to leave the home for along while afterwards. I do not know how safe they are.

 

[Saje]

Oooh just yesterday I used Nature's Specialties with citrus and melaleuca. It was wonderful. Totally organic and natural too. You can read the ingredient list AND understand it. Plus it's very concentrated so it seems to last quite awhile. Anyway. I liked it

 

[SalemWitchChild]

Hartz is a very bad product to use. I would not trust it.

The problem with all flea shampoo's are they do not cut the cycle. Flea's have a short life cycle but because they reproduce so much you just generate more and more fleas unless you break the cycle of birth. If you do not already have it, buy frontline or advantix. Then continue with a brand of flea shampoo you are comfortable with. (not hartz preferably or anything in the supermarket for that matter)

Natural ingredients like Tea Tree oil, De-Limoline, and cedar do help kill fleas but they will not completely rid you of fleas. So use shampoo's with your frontline treatment. Though it is nessessary to not give a bath right after the application of frontline. Wait at least 24 hrs to bathe after application.

You may also find it necessary to bomb your house. You can buy flea bombs at your vets office. Though you will have to organize a 24 hr trip away from home (including your pets).
Hope this helps.

Salem

 

[bubbatd]

Really , I believe if you use the right once a month treatment you don't need flea shampoo . I don't think they kill the eggs.

 

[Saje]

My vet told me last week that because we have such big dogs and they don't have much contact with other dogs the flea shampoo would be the best way to go. This is the first time mine have gotten fleas and I've used the shampoo and put diatomaceous earth in couches and stuff and that has drastically reduced the amount of fleas around. Almost eliminated them. Our vet said I'd probably need to shampoo twice for it to work completely and I plan on doing that. I love our new shampoo anyway

 

[bubbatd]

Saje ... do you not trust the once a month ?

 

[SalemWitchChild]

Really , I believe if you use the right once a month treatment you don't need flea shampoo . I don't think they kill the eggs.

No, frontline does not kill the fleas nor the eggs. They stop reproduction. Therefore when the adult fleas do die, they haven't laid any fertile eggs to replace the population. Therefore breaking the cycle as I discussed earlier.

 

[Zephyrpower]

No, frontline does not kill the fleas nor the eggs. They stop reproduction. Therefore when the adult fleas do die, they haven't laid any fertile eggs to replace the population. Therefore breaking the cycle as I discussed earlier.

He's been on Frontline for about a week now, but he is still itching a lot. I took a flea comb to him the other day and got 2 live fleas which I put in soapy water.
Right after I put on Frontline I cleaned the whole house with a vaccuum, followed by a Carpet Cleaning machine (that kind that sprays a cleaning solution then sucks it out of your carpet). After I that I found some Flea Killer stuff for the carpet cleaner so I used that for the rest of the house (all but one room) and did my room again. I guess it's been almost a week so it's probably time to do it again.

My vaccuum is bagless so I guess I should put something in the compartment that hold the dust before you put in the garbage can.

 

[SalemWitchChild]

In my experience Frontline takes about a month for the full effect. Keep up the vacuuming with the flea spray. It may not get all of them because the little things are very resilient. But it will cut down the population drastically. Also think about the yard. There are pesticides you can get to kill them. But it's no use to kill them in the house if your dog is replenishing them each time he goes outside.

 

[Zephyrpower]

In my experience Frontline takes about a month for the full effect. Keep up the vacuuming with the flea spray. It may not get all of them because the little things are very resilient. But it will cut down the population drastically. Also think about the yard. There are pesticides you can get to kill them. But it's no use to kill them in the house if your dog is replenishing them each time he goes outside.

Thanks for the suggestion! I don't own the carpet cleaning machine, I rented it for 2 days at $25 a day from Krogers and did as much as I could in that time. I don't if it would be safe to use the flea killer spray w/o the machine it's intended to be used with (although I was thinking of mixing some up in a spray bottle and spraying it around the carpet and then trying to vaccuum it up with the reg vaccuumer.

I have some pesticide stuff that I'm probably going to spray soon, perhaps today before I run errands which means I'll be able to keep Pudges out of the backyard until it dries.

 

[Saje]

Saje ... do you not trust the once a month ?

neither steve or I like to have a lot of chemicals in the house. Once it freezes outside the fleas will be gone and I'll just need to make sure they are gone in the house.