I am absolutely mortified.  In all my years owning dogs, this is the first time  we have ever had fleas. The pup wasn't settling last night so took her with us while another girl went to have blood tests. Vet checked her over and found a miniscule speck of flea dirt. What do I do now?

I have advocated the others, frontlined mum and pup, sprayed the house with indorex and have a huge pile of washing sitting on the kitchen floor. Pup's bedding has been washed daily with zoflora @ 60º.

However, I have checked every single dog and not found any hint of flea dirt or even a flea. I used a lice comb, parted the fur and even shook the long coat on a white towel so have no idea where the pup got it from.

I am now paranoid and keep itching. Can I bathe mum with insecticide shampoo safely? I also have an in season bitch so don't want to risk her picking anything up on her noo noo end.

I feel like I've been sent a letter home from the school nurse telling me my kids have headlice and have infected the entire school! Any advice appreciated please.

Frontline SPRAY is supposed to be safe from two days of age.

If you do Mum then they should be killed when she feeds them.

I would suggest you Do the house with Acclaim.

(move the pups and Mum for the time it takes to dry.

Is that better than indorex? Was given it at the vet. To be honest I just wanted to get home and douse the house as soon as. Do I need a prescription or can it be purchased over the counter?  Just dropped £203 at their reception for full thyroid panel test, 3 pipettes of advocate, 2 bottles of frontline and the spray. Hubby nearly had a heart attack.

P.s it is front line spray.

Sorry didn't read the whole post properly, see you have done the house already, I don't feel the frontline spot-on's will work as well as the Spray which would be all over the bitches body, so come in contact with the pups too.

Indorex  I belive is another of the ones with insect Growth regulator, as is RIP.

You need a prescription for Frontline Spray

Yes I did mum and pup with the frontline spray. Do I need to do it again anytime soon or is it similar to the normal spot ons? Monthly? I think I've done all I can for now but how do I make sure its dealt with in the long run? I have a feeling a rogue flea may have landed on pup's bedding as it was hung out. Him next door's a right to***r and doesn't keep on top of these things. Have been round to other neighbour and given them a heads up too.

The Spray is safe to repast sooner, but is said to be active for up to three months.

Vet nurse friend recommends Staykill for the house, it kills for up to 12 months.

Last night I found what looked like a little black thunder fly on the pup. Hubby squashed it before dropping it (prat). I have checked her over and over again. How long before I can calm down on the paranoia front? We were going to have a barbeque on sunday but have decided to cancel. I got up twice last night to reload the washing machine. Am I being silly?

Ok, whilst I would obviously treat for fleas if I had a problem, I don't think you need to panic over 1 speck of what hte vet declared to be flea dirt. if there is no flea how can you be sure its not just a bit of scurf? if the thunder flies are biting her the little bloody scab would look quite alike I should think.
Plus even if you did have fleas, try and remember that they are ONLY fleas and not the plague, can't see any reason to cancel your BBQ personally? Try and chill, sure what you have already done will deal with any problem :-)

I'm with agilabs reply.   It's easy to become paranoid about bugs, but again, one speck of what the vet said was flea DIRT?    Did he find a flea - no.   I'd certainly not be bathing mum with anything medicated while she's nursing week old puppies!!  

Agree, these are ONLY fleas ..... why would it be necessary to cancel social plans?    Actually if you've not seen fleas on any of your dogs, I'd hugely suspect this isn't what your vet thought he'd seen.  Exercise normal routine hygiene, change bedding in the whelping box/area regularly and just keep an eye on the puppies and adults for now.   I'd suggest you are more than ahead of shutting down all this, if there are fleas!!!

Thank you. It did look like a thunder fly. Jet black and long. It was crawling in the fur rather than jumping. I am washing everything at 90º now. I think I am behaving this way because I was bitten a number of times around my right ankle on sunday even though i was wearing wellies and my foot is still swollen to almost double the size of the other. I've been trying to be good but know I am scratching it in my sleep. Hubby has woken up and stopped me twice.

Do thunderflies bite? Would they leave something that looks like flea dirt? He wet it on tissue and crushed it so there was definitely blood there. Pup slept through the night and isn't griping this morning so maybe it was that?

Do thunderflies bite? Would they leave something that looks like flea dirt?

Oh yes they bite!! Amazingly hard as well, considering how tiny they are. My animals are always covered in them all summer, especially the pale coloured ones like the Papillons, and they get everywhere. Even INSIDE my computer monitor, and inside my framed pictures on the walls.  When they die they may look like flea dirt but there wouldn't be any blood from them.

Gosh marianne, if it were like here, i'd have been sectioned by now!

I've googled to the point where my device needs charging! Although it looked like a thunderfly I think I would be in denial. Am pretty sure it was a tiny flea. Pup seems happier today, not trying to crawl all over her bedding and hiding. Much quieter and settled. I am just hoping and praying it was a rogue one and we got it. I worry more with her being a singleton.

I know its irrational but have been known to scratch invisible itches until they bleed so you can imagine what sort of state I am in. Its my only 'thing', well that and clowns. Have had 5 showers since last night just to stopping the scratch cycle. Foot is still huge though.

I get targeted by biting beasties in the summer and have quite a strong reaction to them, you can get quite effective anti-itch cream in most Supermarkets, it doesn't have to be specifically for insect bites, just something to take the itch away.
Or you could try anti histamines
It can be maddening especially at night time.

As a stop-gap measure till you can get something else you can make a paste using ordinary Bicarb and a VERY small amount of water and plaster that on :-D

:) celli most of the time I itch for no reason. I just need to see an ant and I start. In the end a cool shower is the only thing that stops me. Everyone else finds it really comical when i suddenly snap and itch like I've got nits! People probably think I don't wash!

So I've treated the house but everything I've read says I need to do the back garden too. I have some diatom earth. Will a sprinkling of that work?

As for my foot, finally rang 111 as didn't want to waste an appointment. Been told to take the antihistamines and if no change to see the gp. Think they were a little concerned because of the diabetes but basically need to keep an eye on it.

Thanks tatty will try that. Last night I did turmeric and yoghurt paste which really helped to cool the itch but have a lovely yellow tan now!

If there are any in the back garden, the treatments on the dogs will kill them as soon as they hop on and if that doesn't do it, the spray in the house will!

Also one flea is not a sign of an infestation - dogs can pick up the odd flea and it never comes to more than that.  I have never, in 27 years of owning pets including a cat with severe flea bite allergy, had to treat the garden.

Thanks nikita, everyone here has helped calm me down. I haven't had to go for another shower and pup is settled so am finally beginning to chill.

Have memories - lot of years ago! - of being up at 3am with a 10mth old with chicken pox and putting her in a tepid bath with Bicarb in to stop the itching and let all of us get a couple of hours kip

I've found a tiny smear of Ibuleve gel has soothed itchy bites and taken the red marks away comparatively quickly. 

eta:  on humans - not dogs.

>Can I bathe mum with insecticide shampoo safely?

No.  You have already done what is needed.  Any flea that enters your house is signing his death warrant.

Haha @ death warrant.

I'm so tired. Pup is 1 and a half weeks old and I think I have forgotten what a solid nights sleep feels like. Last night I dreamt of dancing fleas wearing clown outfits.....*shudder*

A friend of mine recently bought a puppy who was alive with fleas. She bathed the puppy for 4 days running with Fairy liquid ( the original one.) Can add a small amount of Dettol as well. All sign of fleas gone in 4 days yet on the first day she had about 100. Seems like a harmless solution for young puppies.

I would be inclined to agree with those who have said don't panic, if there have been no sign of any fleas in other dogs or pups the vet could have got it wrong and it could have just been a speck of black dirt or dust that he sumized to be flea dirt as it is not uncommon for fleas and ear mites to be present in some litters, gosh if you've just spent all of that money on a speck of dirt......... :-(

Stop panicking now, enjoy your litter, doubt there is a flea to be found, especially after what you have done anyway now.

Reeeelax and just concentrate on rearing those pups. :-)

Just to update, pup is 3 weeks old today, and apart from that single bug there has been no other sign. On further investigation we discovered it was a grass flea that mum probably dropped in the vetbed after a quick break outside. I still have the odd paranoid scratch and then look beady eyed at the spot (if I can) to make absolutely sure!

Have kept the machine at 60º  for the pet bedding and steamed carpet with zoflora yesterday but thats just good housekeeping while pup is small.........she says, trying to sound convincing ;)

> there has been no other sign

Told you so.  :-)  :-)  :-)

:)

**Thumbs up** :-)