Just wanted to pass on the fact that i've discovered fleas on my little Buddy. Spotted 3 of the dammed things when i was grooming him at tea time. Because i've never seen them before and he's not had them i began to wonder if i would knew what to look for etc. Well now i know what they look like and i was horrified. The thing is he was treated with Stronghold drop on less than a month ago. I treat him monthly without fail so can't understand why he got them. I used Frontline drop on untill a few months ago without any fleas appearing. Is Frontline better than Stronghold.
Needless to say i've spent the evening hoovering and washing what i can and sprayed everything with Virbac spray from the vet which i might add was VERY expensive. Anyone out there suggest any cheaper for spraying the house but effective.
I can't stop checking the little fella now.
Budmag

Hi Budmag, at least he didnt jump off the table :D Know that feeling from the dreaded nits and Im itching in sympathy already!

Unfortunately they are well expensive, personally I do prefer frontline, but as long as your treatment is from the vet (prescription only) it must be the good stuff! The house sprays are just as important - if not more so, than the animal treatment. Adult fleas in and around the house may breed prior to biting your dog, even though he is protected by his treatment the adult form can still be seen on the dog at times especially if you use a product like programme which requires the flea to bite before being made sterile. But this wont stop breeding and egg laying prior to this. This time of year can be a nightmare because as the heating comes on, dormant eggs layed back in the summer will hatch and start the life cycle again. My advise is keep doing what your doing with emphasis on the environment, dont be tempted to buy Bob Martins from the local supermarket!! Its useless.
Hope this helps.
Sarah

I would say the best thing for the house is to get a steamer unless you have one already and steam them, it kills any eggs instantly. We did have a cat at the time and cats go everywhere sadly we had to rehome him, due to a flea allergy with our GSD, when he left (i tried all the flea products from vets for the cat) i bought just about everything from the vets and shops and nothing worked, we still had bites and the dog still had fleas because there where still in the house. So we bought a steamer and blasted every corner skirting boards stairs and espiecally under central heating. I paid around £100 and prolly spent twice as much on flea products and the only thing that worked was the steamer to do the whole house took about a day and that was about 5yrs ago and have not had a flea since.

Cordelia

So now you can change your name to Bugmad! :D :D

I don't like using chemical sprays so I just hoover a lot :( and give Bess Brewers Yeast, garlic, and a drop of cider vinegar in her water. I also put a drop or two of essential oil on her collar.

Kath.

I use program tablets one a month, seems to do the trick, and the cats have an injection at the vets once every 6 months, works fine for me. Haven't had to use anything for the house for a few years but when I did it was something from the vets, the steamer sounds a good idea though.
K