Hello everyone, looking for some advice about flea treatment. I don't routinely flea treat my dogs as I haven't had fleas for years, brushing my girl last night, who is visiting a stud this Wednesday, I noticed a flea, 10 mins later I saw either the same flea or a different one, I don't know where she's picked them up from. Anyway I called the vet and she said it's ok to use frontline spot on, I'm not sure whether to take her advice or not as my friend who shows her poodles had a bad experience with frontline on one of her pregnant bitches. I'm tempted to just bath her in a natural flea treatment shampoo? Not used flea shampoos before so I'm wondering if they actually work and whether they're safe to use on her? Your thoughts on this would be really appreciated.x

The problem is if you have seen one there will be more in the environment.
If I had a flea problem I would use Frontline. I would not use an off the shelf remedy myself.
I don't know what  problem your friend had but are you sure it was the Frontline?
What ever happens you will have to deal with the fleas in the house. No point just sorting out the dog.

Yep I plan on using a spray my vet recommended for the home, my friend had 3 pups stillborn and she's adamant it was the frontline, I'm not sure of the facts exactly and can't comment on whether it actually was the frontline but it's just worrying when you hear something like that.x

If it was something to do with frount line and your worried you can get other spot on' s from your vet like advantage, advocate ect don't know if diffrent one's have diffrent ingredients or not.

Puggylee
I would advise not to use spot on.  I have a toy breed, and found a flea on a pregnant bitch ages ago.  I know it's prescription only, but I would recommend Frontline spray.  I used it safely on my pregnant girl and there were no problems at all with her whelping.  I think the lady whose girl had 3 dead pups, was just bad luck. 

I would happily recommend the Frontline spray as safe, tried and tested.  And I don't work for the manufacturers!  :-)

> I would happily recommend the Frontline spray as safe, tried and tested.  And I don't work for the manufacturers!

While I haven't found a single flea on my dogs for nearly 3 years (since the sad loss of my cat, who did tend to bring them in), my flea regime was/is Acclaim to treat the house with, at least once a year, whether you have seen fleas or not - it prevents them breeding - and for any occasional fleas seen, a quick squirt of Frontline spray.

There is no need to use the spot-ons, and every reason to question the ethics of putting chemicals on your dogs' skin on a monthly basis. The Frontline spray will work, because the fleas have not gained resistance to the deluge of spot-ons.

It also happens to be the most cost-effective form of flea preventative, a huge saving on the cost of individual monthly treatments for each animal in the home. You need to be registered with a vet to get the Frontline spray, which costs around £25-£30 (but will last a year or more and is safe on cats and dogs - also ferrets). Acclaim household spray can be bought from most branches of Boots and is circa £14 which is enough for 1-2 house treatments, per 6months/year. Compare that with the cost of spot-ons for each of your dogs (and cats if you have any) and you can see how simple it can be to keep on top of fleas.

I will definitely use the frontline spray in that case, thank you all very much for your helpful replies x

I would wait for a 2nd, or 3rd flea before taking any action at all.  There are some fleas that are host specific (hedgehog fleas) and, whilst they may hop onto your dog, can't actually survive and reproduce on them.

It's worth also doing the trick with wet kitchen roll to see whether there is any sign of flea dirt which would indicate a bigger problem.

There is no need to use the spot-ons,

Indeed. My daughter, who has two very hairy dogs and walks them a lot among other dogs, brought in ONE flea to my house on one of her dogs a few weeks ago. We found it when bathing the bitch, instantly caught the flea and killed it. Needless to say I was VERY worried about getting fleas on all my lot (in particular the cats), and yes I had a pregnant bitch. So I went straight to the vet and got some Frontline spray and sprayed all the dogs and some of the cats -not all. (Concentrated on the biggest coats!) I did not even use the recommended amount of pumps per dog/cat, it was just a quick spray of each. We did not get as much as one single flea. But we don't have carpets!

One possible way to get rid of fleas on an animal without using any chemicals is to flea comb it whilst in the bath, or next to a bowl of water, and drop each found flea into the water to drown it. Then flush them down the toilet. ANY bath will help, whether it is flea shampoo used or not.

My daughter had to de flea her indoor cat when she looked after a friend's cat which had  fleas.   She knew speed was the key to avoiding an infestation, so googled emergency flea treatments (night-time, all pet shops shut)

The one she tried was Fairy liquid, starting with a ring around the neck.  She did both cats that night,  lathered them and waited 10 minutes before rinsing thoroughly.  She said the fleas just fell out of the coat.   She washed them down the drain followed by boiling water when she was finished.    Next morning, she went and got the house treatment.   

She hasn't seen a flea since.

Her arms and chest are healing nicely :-)

Her arms and chest are healing nicely :-)

ROFL

been there done similar............2 people and gauntlets to frontline one small cat..........2 people to fish same cat out of fishpond when he pounced on dragonfly at edge of pond........then found he couldn't stop in time...
All black - 1/2 Siamese - with attitude!!