I haven't had fleas on my dogs for years. However I have just found several on one dog. I had my daughters dog to stay for a few days a couple of months ago and she called me recently to ask about flea treating him so I guess he brought some visitors with him. Just wondered what people are finding the most effective treatment at the moment. I have heard that frontline is not working as well as it did. Is it still a good option or should I look at something else?

I use advocate personally, it's not cheap but it works.  I also bath them in teatree about once a month a bit before I use it.

I would use Capstar and Programme. They are oral meds, not spot-ons containing pesticides.  Capstar will kill all existing adult fleas and Programme you give monthly to nuke any eggs.  Keep giving the Programme monthly for 4-6 mnths.

I would always advocate treating the house with something like Acclaim that stops them breeding (as fleas don't live on the dog just hop on for meals) and use a knock down treatment on the dogs and especially cats.

These days I use and insecticidal shampoo for their infrequent baths and treat the House and have not had fleas in over 20 years.

I did use Frontline regularly when my 1992 born bitch was alive as she was flea sensitive and got hot spots if the odd ones got her.

I had a dog in to groom about 2 weeks ago and he was jumping with fleas - first time ever and I've been grooming him since I first started.  His owners were horrified, but lets face it they all get them sooner or later.

I knew that I'd lost some (fleas) in the workshop where I groom and had visions of the place jumping with fleas and my own dogs catching them so off to PAH we went for some house treatment.   All the treatments contained pyrethrums and/or permethrin which my one dog is highly allergic to so we can't use them.   But then we found one treatment with NO PESTICIDES!

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Bob-Martin-All-in-One-Flea-Spray-300ml/productinfo/FLEASPALL/

We bought it thinking if it didn't work then we'd have to bite the bullet and use something else, but 2 very warm weeks later and there's nothing, nichts, nada!   It seems to work in a similar way to the new headlice treatments.  

Will let you know if we stay flea free :-D

Programme and Capstar are also pesticide-free and provide ongoing protection, in case of eggs left in carpets and furniture etc....

Excuse me if they kill fleas they are pesticides, and the idea of internal pesticides as opposed to ones on the outside of the dog scare me far more.

Sorry, I should have said - they are pesticide-free to humans.  They will only affect the treated animals, not every living organism in the environment surrounding the product.

I'd still rather not have pesticide inside my animal feeling the risks (for them) are less with external exposure.

I also baulk at the idea of feeding my dogs pesticides, if they will kill the fleas and ticks through feeding on the dog's blood then some kind of pesticide is IN my dog' blood!

I feed them garlic granules in their dinner to help repel fleas/ticks.

Apparently the ingredient in the pesticide free treatments is dimeticone - same stuff as is in hair serums

Out of curiousity, I had a look at Capstar flea treatment and found the side effects - quite a list!

What are the side effects: Side effects that may occur in dogs include Lethargy/depression, vomiting, itching, decreased appetite, diarrhea, hyperactivity, incoordination, trembling, seizures, panting, allergic reactions including hives, vocalization, salivation, fever, and nervousness. Side effects that may occur in cats include Hyperactivity, panting, lethargy, itching, vocalization, vomiting, fever, decreased appetite, nervousness, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, salivation, incoordination, seizures, pupil dilation, increased heart rate, and trembling. There are no known drug or food interactions

Can be seen here http://www.1800petmeds.com/Capstar+Flea+Treatment+Tablets-prod10325.html

Side effects of Program
What are the side effects: Adverse reactions which have been reported include vomiting, depression/lethargy, itching, hives, diarrhea, loss of appetite and skin congestion (red skin).

can be seen here http://www.1800petmeds.com/Program+Tablets-prod10018.html

The side effects of Capstar are pretty much what happened to my oldest bitch when treated with Pyrethrins in a flea powder at 20 weeks -  panting, salivation,  incoordination, trembling, pupil dilation and increased heart rate.  Basically she collapsed about 5 minutes after putting  the powder on, staggered about then keeled over.  I gave her Piriton liquid - an adult dose by syringe - and bathed her immediately to remove the powder, then kept her warm and phoned the vet.  I was very lucky to have liquid Piriton in the house.

I've also seen the effects of an allergy to Frontline +   - not nice, three show dogs all had what looked like burns where the Frontline was applied, then over the next few days all three dogs went bald in huge patches     It was 6 months before their coats grew back!

I think in our search for the perfect flea treatment, we need to keep in mind whether the possible side effects are in proportion to the flea problem.

> I think in our search for the perfect flea treatment, we need to keep in mind whether the possible side effects are in proportion to the flea problem.

Which is why I prefer to treat the environment as my first course of action, and nowadays (AFTER ADVERSE REACTION TO FRONLINE SPOT ON) do not routinely treat the dogs themselves.  Have enver ahd an issue with Frontline spray which is more dilute than the spot on and you spray more of it all over.

Thankfully had no issues with pyrethrum in flea shampoo, which is what I use, as baths are infrequent.

ANYTHING which effectively kills fleas is going to have potential side-effects - of course. 

Out of interest, have you ever tried reading the side-effects on a packet of Nurofen or Aspirin??  Here we go:  Sickness (possibly with blood), diarrhoea (sometimes with blood and mucous), stomach pain, stomach ulcers, bleeding in the stomach...sore mouth, allergic reactions, blood in the urine, severe blisters and bleeding of the skin, nose and mouth, jaundice, fits (convulsions), altered vision... and so on...

God, we would never take or give any drug if we looked at the side effects and believed the worst case scenario was going to happen... 

However at least with oral meds, only the treated animal experiences the medication - not the entire world around it!

Changed to raw about four months ago, & skin issues were showing a really good improvement
Then one evening in came Otto with a flea on his face (since found out that we have a juvenile hedgehog in the garden), neither dog has had fleas or been treated for close to five years. Had some frontline combo in the cupboard which I stupidly used for the sake of not wasting. Since then both have been suffering from hot itchy skin as they haven't had for years - I can't say it is due to the frontline but they were doing so well, never again.

>Out of curiousity, I had a look at Capstar flea treatment and found the side effects - quite a list!

>What are the side effects: Side effects that may occur in dogs include Lethargy/depression, vomiting, itching, decreased appetite, diarrhea, hyperactivity, incoordination, trembling, >seizures, panting, allergic reactions including hives, vocalization, salivation, fever, and nervousness. Side effects that may occur in cats include Hyperactivity, panting, lethargy, ?>itching, vocalization, vomiting, fever, decreased appetite, nervousness, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, salivation, incoordination, seizures, pupil dilation, increased heart rate, and >trembling. There are no known drug or food interactions

I did order some capstar as it seemed like a good idea to be able to just give a pill and solve the problem. but then I got to thinking about how it can't be a good idea to feed my dogs a chemical which will cause fleas to drop off dead within 20 minutes. It hasn't come yet so have time to decided whether or not to give it to them. I have treated the house with acclaim and will give them all a bath with insecticidal shampoo today. I haven't seen fleas on anyone else but If one has them I am sure the others will too.

You could try a flea comb and a jug of boiling water :-D

I used this with a Burmese kitten I bought.  The breeder had treated the mother but had been afraid to treat the kittens - guess who was jumping? 

Spent the first few hours combing fleas out and dipping the comb in boiling water - very effective!

Keep the boiling water away from the dog/pup though - obviously!

I think using Capstar without Programme alongside is not going to be effective - Capstar kills only all adult fleas at that moment, it doesn't kill eggs or undeveloped fleas.  For that, you need Programme.  Since flea eggs can lie dormant for some time in carpets and furniture, hatching when warm, you need Programme to continue for a few months so that they die and no further fleas come along.

Not sure why it is so bad to have something in the blood which kills fleas on the dog at that time, though?  It is no different than worming for tape or round worm - which kills all worms in the intestine at that time.  All drugs circulate in the blood - whether wormers or flea drugs. 

Anything which addresses only adult fleas (ie flea comb - since it's so easy to miss a few eggs and that's all it takes) isn't going to be effective either.

Anything which addresses only adult fleas (ie flea comb - since it's so easy to miss a few eggs and that's all it takes) isn't going to be effective either.

Maybe not, but combined with a spray for the house it would be very effective :)

Except if you are spraying your whole house with something, you can be sure it is a pesticide which everyone is going to inhale...

That is why ti si a god idea to do it just before you leave the house, and air the rooms.  Once it has dried unless your going to be licking the carpets and walls etc, your going to have minimal contact.

Presumably you're going to be sitting on your sofa, touching it, moving chairs - then biting your finger nails or eating food?

Well I bathed the dogs yesterday in insecticidal shampoo and sprayed with a flea spray. I have sprayed the house with acclaim. then 2 hours later found ANOTHER flea on my dog. I guess it will be a case of keep doing this until they have completely gon. I think I will try the capstar when it arrives. Just thinking about this makes me all itchy

What temperature does bedding need to be washed at to ensure eggs and larvae are killed? thanks

60° should kill adult fleas and possibly larvae but won't kill the eggs.

You need to give the sprays 24 - 48 hours to work re killing the fleas. 

New fleas in the environment (where they live) will hop on, come in contact with the poison, and die, but they do need to come in contact first.

I use Fleehh used to be called skoosh a silicone based enviro treatment that remains sticky to all stages of flea life cycle for upto 9 wks, Kills straight away eggs right thru the adult fleas causes no problems for other animals - keep reptiles so can't risk pesiticde based treatments.

Spot on, then flea collars on cats and in vaccum bags, lots of combing with nit comb and vaccuming then emptying bags straight away to rid house of eggs, fleas etc - took me a wk to sort out the house, 2 cats and 5 dogs 1 can of skoosh and all sorted.