ugh fleas!

[SunnyNJazzy]

What are some things I can do to get rid of fleas? I've been finding fleas and flea dirt on my dogs - only a few but more than I want! We bathed and then treated them last week so to be finding them now is surprising to me.. but what can I do to get rid of them? I've sprayed the carpets/soft surfaces with flea spray, washed all bedding/blankets but am continuing to find them on the dogs... Is there anything I can add to their food to help? Should I give them flea baths or wait in hopes of their spot treatments to work...?

I've never had flea problems help!

 

[momto8]

We got fleas this yr too ugh! Hate fleas lol!! We used frontline plus, going on our 2nd month now. We treated the house and yard, add borax to our mop water daily to mop the floors and wipe out any dog crates, wash the dog bedding a few times a week and vacuum the couches and carpets daily, dumping everything immediately. We treated the yard with Seven Dust (not sure if thats how you spell it) and treated the house with the Knockout spray from our vet. Shampoo's did absolutely nothing for us. As for adding stuff to the food, we have done garlic and ACV in the past..but it did nothing this yr.

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

What is ACV? How much of garlic & ACV do you put in the food? (all the dogs are around 20lbs) Figure it's worth a shot... I will look into the seven dust for the yard thanks for the tips!

 

[Ivy]

Dawn dish soap worked for me when a foster had fleas. I would give her frequent baths with it and eventually there were none.
That and obviously cleaning like crazy around the house and disposing of the dirt right away.

 

[Kat09Tails]

The trouble with spot treatments is that you have to wait a couple weeks for most of the fleas to hatch - bite the dog for them to work.

To get rid of them faster, get a household spray - pretty much all of them work well in this regard. Treat places they like to relax like rugs and couches. Wash all bedding in hot water - spray mattresses. Vac daily. Put a line of soap along the base of doorways. A light water trap at night works well.

I wouldn't bathe frequently unless you notice they're particularly infested. I also wouldn't use garlic - it's bad for your dog and really doesn't work.

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

Diotomaceous earth is the bomb. You can put it everywhere (wear a mask while spreading because the dust isn't good for your lungs) and then vaccuum. I put it in the dogs brushes and brush it through their hair and on the couches with a rag (dry) then vacuum that off too. Give in a day, no more fleas. You can sprinkle it in your back yard as well!!! Also, make sure that it is food grade... Here's the e bay seller I use for it, hasn't failed me yet, not that we have fleas very often:

32 oz FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth Perma-Guard 2 pounds Kills Fleas & Bed Bugs | eBay

Wait a week and a half to two weeks and retreat to kill hatchlings, and you're good.

 

[AussieAshley]

This has been a bad year for fleas. Radar picked them up (or came with them?) a vet tech friend recommended Johnsons baby shampoo because we where leery of using flea shampoos and preventatives on a puppy. It took a couple of washes (because of unhatched eggs) but it worked well, killed adult fleas on contact. Without bothering his skin.

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

Thank you guys! With you're tips seems like we have them under control for now!

 

[Zoom]

Also keep in mind that many fleas seem to be developing resistance to Frontline, Advantage, Advanitx. One year I had a huge issue with fleas (my roommate's dog brought them in) and nothing was working until I used a couple doses of Vectra3D and vaccumed borax powder into my carpets.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I added tea tree oil to the dog's shampoo and spend a good long time soaping them up. Dripping a little water on them, more sudsing. We're having an issue, but this is killing adult fleas. They are dropping off with lots of liberal soaping, and then lots of water to rinse.. Some hang on for dear life.

After a bath I look at stomach and genitals. I've found a few no longer living fleas trapped there.

A lot of spot on treatments are less and less effective as said..

You may also have to treat your house repeatedly. Eggs and flea dirt fall off your pet, what you see on them is only a tiny representation of what they've been up to. Stats are like 50-80 eggs a day per flea (ewwww). In the pupae stage they are apparently impervious to insecticides and sprays, DE should still work though.

Also, sadly don't think the worst is over and become complacent. You may have just killed the current fleas. More may hatch even with sprays and vacuuming. Ours was improving, college was kicking my @ss.. and now I have issues again. I need to vacuum more often and be checking the dogs daily for dirt signs and bathing them if I find any.

I gave up and ordered some capstar yesterday. Sadly, being Canadian decent flea stuff shouldn't be Rx, but it is. So I have a 8-10 day shipping wait for it to get here.

 

[Giny]

Fleas has been a real pain in my area this year. I've concocted my own mix of shampoo for my dogs, using neem oil (which is a natural repellent) and some patchouli oil (to add a nicer sent, you can use lavender or any other floral oil for sent) because neem oil smells awful, and add it to an unscented dog shampoo.