Dog Community

oh NO ! Fleas !!!!

Posted : 3/16/2007 8:28:33 AM

Prancer has been on Frontline Plus for 2 months (since I adopted her) and lately I've been getting these little bites on me. I figured it was just one of joys of living in Florida - more biting bugs then you can shake a stick at.
But today I found FLEAS on Prancer ! I've never had fleas before and I'm starting to panic. I found about 5 of them on her in just a few minutes of looking. '
I have hardwood floors and leather sofas so I don't think they're too much of a risk there but I do also have one of those overstuffed fabric chairs. And then of course there are the 5 dog beds (yeah, all for one dog - can you say SPOILED ??? actually its for me too - she lays down in a bed almost always, so she generally lays in the bed that's closest to me).
How do I get rid of the fleas on her (and make sure they don't come back) and how do I "treat" the overstuffed chair ? I'm assuming there's no need to do anything special to the sofas and floor, so please correct me if I'm wrong.
I can't believe I have fleas !!!!!!

rwbeagles

Posted : 3/16/2007 8:47:25 AM

Hmmm....is there a stray cat population or another animal she plays with that might be carrying them? Anyone visted that has animals?
I'd treat the dog with CAPSTAR...a pill that kills all fleas "ON" the animal in 30mins, retreat with Frontline and make sure the dose is right for weight, and it's applied correctly...then spray treat ALL the beds then wash them. You can spray around the house if you are comfortable with that....I don't know an effective spray since it's been so long since I've done that....and do a yard spray as well. That should get a handle on it...hopefully some can suggest a yard/premise spray and an indoor one as well.

JoAnnDe

Posted : 3/16/2007 9:10:08 AM

Oh - the stray cats ! I forgot about them. They seem to have made a home under one of my bushes and Prancer spends alot of time barking in that area - I guess they were close enough.
Is CAPSTAR something I get from the vet ?
I start doing a search on the web for an indoor spray while waiting for a suggestion here.
And then I have to do something re the cats - you'd think they'd try and find a quieter place to live with all the barking Prancer does at them !

rwbeagles

Posted : 3/16/2007 9:14:02 AM

Vet might be the quickest way...you can order it online as well...vetDepot had it....dog.com didn't unfortunately. Tablets are usually what $10 for two? something like that? I am pretty sure vet's usually sell it by the tablet.

rredbird

Posted : 3/16/2007 9:15:25 AM

Living in NE FL I have found Advantage seems to work better for me than Frontline (JMHO). I also use boric acid powder once a year in the carpets and under cushions in upholstery/mattresses, etc. It would probably seep into the cracks on hardwood but not on tile. Brush it in good and then vacuum up excess - I usually wear a painters mask when applying.

I haven't had any problems with fleas (knock on wood) but there are lots of biting gnats here - may not be fleas from her that are biting you.

Good luck.

timsdat

Posted : 3/16/2007 9:54:52 AM

We live in central Florida, sometimes I believe is a flea mecca. I had a problem with frontline, just seemed to stop working against fleas. What I have done is rotate between Frontline and Advantix switching each month. After that I have had no problems with fleas and ticks. It looks like Frontline works better on ticks and Advantix works better on fleas. I know a number of people that are using this same method and having no problems. As far as the house there are a number of sprays and foggers that work really well. I would treat both the floor and the furniture. You will probably have to do this several times several weeks apart to get all the critters.

rwbeagles

Posted : 3/16/2007 9:56:50 AM

tims...good idea...roaches are notorious for "adapting" to posions...wouldn't shock me if fleas could do the same. A few DON'T die then they reproduce and produce resistant offpsring, etc. The rotating would kinda make that difficult! I might have to try that!

timsdat

Posted : 3/16/2007 10:17:45 AM

We also have to worry about ticks. Most of the places were we do agility are livestock arenas so here come the ticks. Otherwise I would just use Advantix but Advantix doesn't seem to work that well against ticks.

rwbeagles

Posted : 3/16/2007 10:24:18 AM

gawd...ticks are....foul. I cannot imagine having to look for them in a shelties coat....much better to prevent...I totally agree!

JoAnnDe

Posted : 3/16/2007 10:49:49 AM

Steve -great idea on the rotating - I'm going to start doing that now also.

On the sprays - is there anything that you've used that seems to work better than another ?

I can actually deal with ticks ! I've had to pull quite a few of those off Michelle. The fleas have me panicing because (a) they're fast and (b) they can jump into almost anywhere to lay eggs ! The thought of flea eggs in the house is giving me a very bad case of the willies !!!

Second load of laudry will be ready to start in another 10 minutes or so - should be a 6 load day today !

Ixas_girl

Posted : 3/16/2007 11:42:02 AM

This gives a description of the flea life cycle and addresses hardwood floors:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:LbOcbocGYMsJ:www.lapublichealth.org/eh/progs/consumer/vectman/vcdocs/fleas.pdf+flea+life+cycle+hardwood+floors&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a

When I found fleas, I began vacuuming every few days, spraying inside and out every two weeks, doing massive laundry and mopping every week, bathing the dog every other week, and switching from revolution to frontline.

With hardwood floors, you have to be very careful to vacuum at the baseboards and in the cracks, then throw out the vaccum contents. At another member's suggestion, I stopped spraying inside, and use extra murphy's oil soap when I clean. Seems to be working fine.

For outside, I stopped using chemicals, and tried nematodes. I have lots of yard critters (possums, racoons, squirrels rats, and stray cats), so we keep getting new supplies of fleas ... I don't think the nematodes have worked, it's been pretty dry here and I wasn't good about going out and keeping the yard moist, maybe they died. Dunno, I may try another batch.

timsdat

Posted : 3/16/2007 12:23:27 PM

Finding ticks in sheltie coats is easy, you can feel for them. Pups like the massage also. Another way to find them in a long coat is to get out the metro hair drier. Parts the hair wonderfully. Problem is that it can blow the fleas around.

As far as sprays, I've used adams brand with good success. They have foggers, carpet and furniture sprays and foggers. Again I have to stress that you have to treat more than once inside. Takes a couple of treatments a couple of weeks apart to get everyting.

JoAnnDe

Posted : 3/16/2007 2:33:33 PM

Ok I'll get the Adam's - I saw some product reviews that also said it worked well. I also just bought some "Critter Oil" and mixed up a spray to keep on Prancer so hopefully new fleas won't decide to make her a home !

On the Murphy's - I was actually told specifically NOT to use it - I guess that's because I have engineered hardwood (not laminate, but the same theory, only with real wood). I'll vacuum more often and pay particular attention to the baseboard area - great info.

I'm also going to call my pest control company and see if they can treat the yard a couple of times.

This is WAR ! (gosh I really have the willies bad !!!! ~~~~~~~~~)

timsdat

Posted : 3/16/2007 3:11:37 PM

Joann.

I just noticed that you are in Clearwater. I live in Riverview. Don't know whether you use this in your yard or not but cypress mulch is a prime source of ticks. Make sure the yard company sprays that.

JoAnnDe

Posted : 3/16/2007 4:09:43 PM

I'm sure the fleas love the mulch too !
I called the pest company - of course flea treatment ISN"T included in my monthly service.
I've been vacuuming, mopping, laudering up the ying-yang today.
The pest company uses a chemical containing Bifenthrin. The inside spray would also include Precor (methoprene - insect growth inhibitor). I'm looking both of these up right now and I'm not all that thrilled. I'd need to leave the house for 4 hrs, and take the 2 parakeets with me. I'm at a loss as to what to do with the fish tank !!! (I'll go to my fish forum to ask about that one).
I think my number 1 task is to find and remove the stray cats .... I have NO idea how to do that - these cats are quite feral and never stay around when they see a human.