hi all ,
i am just posting as it is too late to call the vet and i cant get up there ~ thought you may be able to shed some opinions.
My 14 wk Newf is runing alive with fleas ! i've only just discovered this.She was frontlined at 6 weeks before we got her ~ at about this time i did my 3 cats.I also sprayed all over the house.Can anyone recomend certain products for combating this , at least when the cats get fleas they seem to fair better than she is.
I know Program works when adultfleas are not on the dog .. how often should i be frontlineing her ??
Any help/comments welcomed
Zoe and devil dog

?

Hi Zoe

I think you need to use Frontline once per month, especially in winter when the heating is on. I use it once a month on Saffy and my two cats and dare I say it have only ever seen one flea!

Fiona and Saffy

excellent ! i wasnt sure how often i could use it , esp on a puppy.
I only saw the dreaded today on her whilst brushing other wise i would have been straight up the vets ! she really does have loads though , i cant imagine where they have all come from.I'll spray the house tomorrow when the kids are at school , then ill get some frontline for cats and dog ! i hope it works , she seems a little run down allready .. and i cant stop itching since ive seen them !!

good heavens, -rather you than me :D,--all that big puppy coat-the fleas must think theyve gone to heaven
several folk i know have ongoing probs with the dogs having fleas-cos they have cats!!! are the cats wearing flea collars, -you need to do the house-car-kennels etc too,
good luck,

Now its odd , cos I was told (by a Vet - many moons ago) that cats have cat fleas n dogs have dog fleas and never the twain shall meet :D

(I always wondered how the fleas *knew* which they landed on)

:D

Melody

i think your right that there are different fleas preferring different hosts, but i think the dog/cat one arent too fussy, -they bite people too

I was told that the majority of fleas found on dogs are cat fleas!! It seems you can't win.

Cat and dog fleas are different - but can live on each other - they bite humans but can't live on us for long - thank god. Ebbie was the same - frontline just doesn't work on her for some reason - and as she has a reaction to flea bites - i program her (stops em breeding) and advantage her (kill em dead) - i do have 3 cats and they are probably the ones bring them in - although they are advantaged and flea collared.

Nikki xx

Ps this is my one and only big hate with pets - the fleas - i go mad when i see one.

so if i frontline her and then program her when they are dead .. treat cats too , and house / car etc then give cats flea colars to boot...i may survive this !!

Hi Zoe,
I know I'm a bit late to add to this thread, but for my hairy dog ( :) ) I use the spot on treatments from the vet, either Frontline or Stronghold, as the latter worms them too. I find it a lot easier than trying to get a spray down to his skin to kill the fleas! Good Luck on your anti flea quest. :D
Grace

Hi all , well i successfully bought £55 worth of flea treatment today ( Frontline for cats frontline for dogs , flea colars,house spray,and even garlic tablets ~ supposendly fleas wont live on a dog that eats these !?)
Expensive little critters thoses fleas !

I might be wrong - but don't you have to be careful using flea collars at the same time as flea treatment? Can you not overdose on chemicals?

LIke I say - could be wrong, but might be worth checking

No , you are right , i wanted to buy them to have in the cupboard just in case !! i HATE fleas !!
You have to take the cloars off 7 days before treating with anything else

Put one of the flea collars in the bag or dust canister of your hoover. Chances are that you will hoover up fleas and flea eggs from the carpets and floors. The flea collar in the hoover makes sure they any fleas do not hop out and leap onto the first furry creature they meet!

Stacey

I have a dyson wit a cylinder .. will it still work ? ( excellent idea by the way !!!)
I can use progeam on Ella once we have killed the dreaded live adult demon fleas.I used to use it on my Bernese , always worked a treat..then again,i didnt have the 3 cats back then .. .or as i call them "the bringers of evil!"
Zoe x

It should work, when you remove the cylinder to empty it just plop the flea collar in before place it back on the Dyson.

I can't take credit for the idea, but happy to pass it along.

Stacey

It should work, when you remove the cylinder to empty it just plop the flea collar in before place it back on the Dyson.

I can't take credit for the idea, but happy to pass it along.

Stacey

I hate fleas too - I know just how you feel. My old dally had them occasionally (usually after catching a rabbit) and it was *such* a pain in the backside having to do the whole house, and the dogs. At least i could see them on the white easily, although they used to hide in the black spots (crafty little devils).

hi,
also make sure your worming is upto date, if the dog is infested with fleas, they probably will need worming a bit more regular, regards tina

Zoe...

As well as treating the animal for fleas...it is really worth giving your home the once over with a fax. My cat and last dog got fleas when I looked after someone else's cat for a few weeks. I found that even though I treated the cat and dog for fleas, when the hot weather came the fleas re-surfaced. So I used a VAX machine on the carpet (which is a kinda shampoo and deep hoover)...this got rid of the eggs that may have been there..and also washed all the curtains, seat covers and any materials lying around i.e. pet bedding,cushions, blankets...
Both pets were again treated and the cat is dosed with 'Program' every six weeks which is about £25 for a 6 month supply from the vet. Our new pup thankfully doesn't have fleas and our home has been flea-free for years.
Thats the bad thing about fleas...their reproductive cycle will keep the eggs around. 'Program' which I'm not sure can be used on dogs but there is an equivalent stops the fleas cycle..a kinda flea contraceptive!
Good luck...
Francy

Just been reading all the posts on fleas and wondered about opinions on frontline and advantage about which was best.One of my dogs has bad reactions to frontline i've tried the spray and the drops and the stuff sends him barmy he scratches to the point i think he,s not going to have any coat left.So i was wondering how people got on with advantage and is it like frontline in respect of being a spray or drops. And on the subject of fleas i was talking to one of the assistants in my local pet shop and she said it's been a really bad season for fleas she,s never seen so many flea products sold and it makes you wonder whether the little beasties are getting immune to the products on sale at the moment.

Hi all, well here`s my input on F/line & Advantage. When I used to use to use them it was on a regular basis & I did have to alternate between the 2 because after a while they became less effective, the vet told me he`d noticed it as well & adviced his clients to do this. Stronghold then came on the market & this appeared v effective but it is v toxic. The last time I used Advantage was a few wks back on a dog who had been lost & was in my care for a while & I can tell you he still had fleas a few days later. The last time I used F/line was last summer on my own dogs & 3 of them had a reaction on the skin down their back, it was the spot on as I don`t like the spray type cos it does go on your skin & I think you inhale it when you do the dogs. Since I have been feeding a raw diet I have only had that one time when they had fleas & it`s going on 18mths now, so I can only come to the conlusion that the way I feed my dogs plays a major part in keeping the blighters away. I always add a clove of crushed garlic per dog in their food.
Christine, Spain.

I was told that too Jeangenie:) I haven't seen one on Kassie (touch wood)- yet:o But my cat has had them before and infested the whole bloody house- it was awful:( Neither Sean, Kane or myself got bit but poor Shannon (7yr) was ate alive:o I now use frontline for both of them! I'm leaving this thread now because it's making me scratch and itch:o Good luck;)

Stacey x x x

Garlic capsules for dog and cats

i have DENES garlic tablets for cats and dogs ~ says that its for respiratory and digestive disorders though!!!

Just read this thread, I'm itching all over;)

Just wondered does garlic have an effect on worms ie:prevent or kill if present, I think I've read it somewhere can't remember where so was just wondering.

Alison

Hi alison

I dont know about the worms though every one who feeds the barf diet and adds garlic or garlic capsules seems to agree that the garlic keeps the fleas at bay.

Mick

A large bowl of water with a floating candle left in the middle of the room over night, will tell you if you have fleas in the carpets. The candle draws them in and they drown. Not effective in ridding them,but useful test to determine dustmites or fleas. If you have 'em, you'll find a few floating corpses in the morning. Obviously, if you do leave a burning candle overnight, lock the animals away!:D
Take A Break Tips here I come :D

When we had a cat flea infestation many years ago I was told to do something similar ...take a large white tin plate (the sort you take camping) ..put into it several squirts of washing up liquid plus a little bit of water ..enough so that the thick mixture covers the bottom - just.

Put the plate in the centre of the living room or which ever room has the fleas.

In the morning you will find loads of fleas stuck to the gooey mixture ..they are attracted to the light shape in the middle of the room

It works :)

Melody

Thanks you 2 :) Really good tips, have to try them if I ever think we have the little blighters!
Christine, Spain.