Flea treatment

CookieMonster.x

Almost 2 weeks ago, I noticed that my dog had fleas (another dog was over so that may be where he got them). There were maybe 2 or 3 actual fleas that looked like tiny flies and then black specks that looked like dirt. I washed him with salt and vinegar and dog shampoo and gave him flea treatment after that. I had to get it in Supervalu though and it wasn't a well known brand, Gulliver's I think, and it only lasts 4 weeks. I also hoovered the area where he sleeps (put flea powder, salt and bread soda down first) twice aswell. I also put the flea powder on him around 3/4 days after the spot on and brushed it out.
My question is, after a week and a half there are still those black specks (have looked it up and have seen it's flea poo) on him but I don't see any actual fleas. He doesn't seem to be scratching. What do I do now? I am going to give him another bath tomorrow. Is it safe to reapply the spot on or is there any need? I'm not really sure of what to do.
Thanks for any info.

mymo

The salt, vinegar and bread soda won't do a thing.
You washed the dog with flea shampoo, used spot on and then flea powder, I think any fleas should be well and truly dead.
Wash any bedding, sprinkle flea powder on carpets etc, leave overnight, and hoover well. Thats all you can do really. I definitely wouldn't put more spot-on on the dog until the 4 weeks are up, maybe get a better brand from the vet (no need to bring dog in for a consultation, just ask for a flea treatment over the counter, they will advise).
If the dog isn't scratching the fleas are probably gone, sometimes the dirt can be seen for a while. You can get flea combs (or use the kids headlice ones) and comb the dog, common sites for fleas are base of the tail and around the neck.

comongethappy

One of my cats came back covered in fleas after being neutered at the local vets I tried a Bob Martin flea spray from Tesco... seemed to kill all the insects in the house except the fleas, tried one of the spot ons at the vets... It worked on my female for two weeks, my male showed no sign of the fleas dying. It look ages, but what I found eventually worked use using flea control that contains an insect growth regulator (IGR) to kill the eggs / larvae rather than killing the adult flea. It's more like a birth control for fleas - the adults won't die, can still feed, but you break the life cycle so they eventually will all die off, it just takes a while to get rid of them completely.
Some brands are Program (I bought this first from the states, it's very dear to get it delivered here, it's a monthly oral solution), Johnson's 4 fleas, or Bob Martin Vet Care (both of these are spot on treatments that last for 3 months. I have used these and find they worked very well. These are available from UK/NI pet websites, see link http://www.petconnection.ie/acatalog/copy_of_Flea_Treatments.html )

As the adult fleas don't die, you can use the normal frontline or advantage in combination with this (i'm not a fan of them, I think they are a bit too toxic, but the packaging on the IGR spot on says it's okay), or you could buy one of the 4 fleas tablets to kill the adult fleas on your pet. They are a low dose of the active ingredient to kill adult fleas.

They are only 100% effective for 24 hrs, so if there are fleas in your home, your pet will still be bitten. It can take a year for all the larvae to hatch. Since the spray did not work for me, I used to vaccum every other day, disposing of the bag each time, and go over my cats with a flea comb having a bowl of soapy water to drown the fleas in when I found them. However, if you look at above link, the 4 fleas brand have a flea spray that has an ingredient to kill adult fleas as well as an IGR for the eggs/larvae, so it may be worth a try. I have not tried this product, as at the time I ordered from a website in England that said it could not ship araesols. Good luck in getting rid of the little pests!

dan_d

Can I hijack this thread??

I've posted about this elsewhere, but you guys probably know more. I recently (a few weeks ago) felt that I was being bitten by something. The scratching was driving me mad, and I eventually got to a chemist the other day who said it was probably dust mites. I've narrowed it down to fleas and I'm pretty sure they are in the bedroom (the only room in the house with a carpet:mad:).I'm fairly positive I've seen a couple

Anyway, our cat died a few weeks ago, and she did tend to go in and out from under our bed, so I'm guessing they were living on her and now she's not around anymore...well, they're living on us-well, me.

We also just got 2 new cats - they've been wormed, treated etc, but the last thing I want is them getting the fleas too.

So first question - please,please, please tell me how to get them out of the bedroom...I'm being driven demented with the itching and I'm becoming totally paranoid.What do I need to do??

Second question...how often should I treat a cat for fleas, regardless of whether they have them or not?

Thanks

yungwan

Wow I pity you, I would go insane with fleas in my bedroom!!

I would say to get a flea powder like the poster said above and spinkle it all over your carpet. Leave for 24 hours and then hoover thoroughly. Remove all soft furnishings and strip the bed clothes. Hoover the bed thoroughly including the pillows, headrest(is that what its called?) etc (wash pillows if possible)

As for your cats,use a spot treatment (which will stop them getting anything as well as killing anythin existing for 4 weeks).

mymo

Some years ago my dad had a stray cat coming in(unknown to him) and his house was infested with fleas.
We ended up using flea spray on the beds(matress and base) and sofa, and flea powder on the carpets etc, air everything really well after and wash all the surfaces and bedding etc.
Its awful I know, but they can be got rid of. Steam cleaners work to, but you have to do the entire room really well, and all soft furnishings.

We used a yard brush, the type with hard bristles to rub the flea powder deep into the carpet, then hoovered well a day or so later.

dan_d

Excellent thanks guys.

Thankfully the bed only consists of a mattress and a timber frame, with a timber headrest......cuts way down on the amount of soft furnishing scrubbing as everything is timber. So mattress, carpet and bedding.

Great advice.Crap job, but thanks a million.

mymo

Don't forget to do behind and under any wardrobe or other furniture, just to be sure;)
We were a bit on the paranoid side about it, but it did the trick;)

comongethappy

+1 for the steaming, forgot about it but it really seemed to help, all fabrics should be washed at 90 degrees to ensure that larvae/ eggs are killed as they are resilient little buggers! Washing the carpets also helps a bit.

I used to also bathe my cats in a flea repellent shampoo... not sure if many people are up to wrestling with a wet cat

dan_d

Okay, well carpet and mattress are powdered and EVERYTHING is being run through the hottest cycle possible in the washing machine...

Crossing my fingers...

MickeyD

Any luck in getting rid of them? I think I brought some fleas back with me from camping (no pets in the house) - legs, feet and ankles are in bits from bites. I've noticed some tiny black insects in my bedroom that are pretty hard to kill and tend to hop around when disturbed, but im not 100% they're fleas. It could be bedbugs but most of the bites are around my ankles so I assume these tiny black yokes are the problem.

Would putting sheets and clothes in the drier kill them off? Any particular product recommended for getting rid of them/

mymo

Follow the advice above, get flea powder/spray, dowse the whole room, including under beds etc, and wash everything on a hot wash.
They're a bugger to get rid of once in a house, just do it all at once and get it over with.
It sounds like fleas but could be something else, but the flea powder/spray will kill them anyway.

MickeyD

What about stuff like computers, guitars etc. Would fleas get into those and stay there? Is it safe to spray/powder your mattress?

Rancid

Just in case any of you still suspect there are fleas in the house, you can get INDOREX SPRAY from your vet. It's active on adult fleas, larvae and eggs.

I had to use it several years ago when we had a huge problem despite using Advantage on our cats regularly. In the end, the cats were totally flea-free but the carpets were full of them.
I hoovered diligently twice a day for a couple of weeks after spraying just as a precaution but I'm pretty certain they were gone within a day.

I hate to kill anything, flies or bugs or any life forms at all, but faced with a house full of (biting) fleas, I really could see no alternative. :eek:

CookieMonster.x

Thanks for the replies and sorry I haven't replied sooner.
He has fleas again! He had the black specks and then today I saw a flea. He's due his flea stuff today so I'm going down to get a good one from the vets. I'm going to give him a bath later and then give him the flea treatment. Also going to hoover where he usually lies and sprinkle flea powder (Bob Martin) on.
Is there anything else I can do? I have shampoo for dogs but it's not a flea treatment one and I'd rather not buy one. Any tips for getting rid of them?
Thanks again.

golden8

Found flea shampoo no good best bet get either advantage flea killer or frontline you should be able to get them in the vets. If you suspect fleas in the house you could get a flea bomb. If you wash your dog you have to wait three days for the oils to come back onto the skin to allow frontline do its job. Once you see flea dirt you can always assume that there are fleas unfortunately.

mymo

As above Frontline or advantage, both will kill any fleas on the dog over a couple of days, then protect them for 5 or 6 weeks.
I buy a flea shampoo from my vet for about €4, you dilute it to use it and it lasts for ages, I have a bottle for over 6 months and loads left.(I have 2 dogs and wash them a lot as they like to roll in stinky stuff:o)
Just do as before, wash everything, hoover like mad and sprinkle the powder.

planetX

It's a really bad year for them. I use Frontline on my cats, and I'm still finding flea dirt on them. Worst of all I think they've got into some of my childs toy animals in his bed - I can't spray them, and the washing machine will ruin them.... what to do?

goat2

a great tip i got when one of my children got lice on head while at school, put clothes and pillows and anything that can fit in freezer, it will kill everything, this tip is great for asthma sufferers also, just put pillows in freezer for a few days, put the clothes and pillows in a black bin bag before you put it in freezer, wash as usual afterwards

planetX

sounds good but my freezer is just a drawer. I'm vacuuming the toy animals.... son still getting bitten. Is a 40 degree wash hot enough?
Also does anyone know - should you still find the odd live flea on a cat a week after using Frontline. I'm wondering if I didn't get it onto the skin properly - cat knows what the little plastic pouch means and starts to fight back now:(

TaraR

I was told by a vet that flee shampoos are no good . Advantage is best .
You can get household flee killer in most petshops.

^ Maybe try a hotter wash 60* or 90*

mymo

Do you have a dryer?
The freezer thing works in reverse, put all the stuff in the dryer (dry no need to wash first)on hot and leave for a while, let them cool in the machine. Should be enough to kill them, they only lay eggs on stuff like that and can't live on it.
When you put the heating on in the autumn it always seems worse as the warmth hatches the eggs.
Just keep up the powder and flea treatments for another couple of weeks and all should be sorted.

If the flea's are in the house or garden the cat or dog will pick them up again, but the frontline will kill them fairly quick so don't panic, its still working.

BARNEYDUD

F.Y.I.
On-line you can buy a product called barrier - sold mainly to vets only by vets suppliers.

Sprinkle liberally around the house - especially on furnishings such as carpets, suite and beds.

Did the job for us.

Hope this helps

MickeyD

I bagged all my clothes and bedding and washed and dried them gradually. I sprayed the carpets and skirting boards with indorex and hoovered the house a few times after. Seems to have gotten rid of the feckers.

CookieMonster.x

Thanks everyone.
Used frontline last Saturday and I think it has gotten rid of them (saw one on maybe Sunday but not since) although he was scratching on Friday I think. Didn't give him a bath before or after.
How do I get rid of the black specks? If I gave him a bath would I have to reapply it?
Also, when I got the frontline from the vet she said it lasts 3 months but when I looked it up on the website it said reapply each month, but I thought it would be 3 months. Anyone one? It's the biggest one for golden retrievers.
Thanks again.

planetX

no way - unless it's v different from the cat version. 6 weeks for fleas - about 4 for ticks:(

mymo

Cookiemonster, I usually reapply every 6 weeks or so, but haven't done ours this time(were due 26th sept), as the weather is getting colder, so flea season is near the end.
I keep a check on the cats, and dogs during the winter, the dogs get a wash about every month in flea shampoo(dilute-able one from the vet) and that does the job until about april. I also keep a spare dose each of frontline just encase.
Just keep the bedding clean and keep some powder or spray handy.
The best way to get rid of the flea dirt is to wash the dog, but I wouldn't worry its just dirt. Unless the dog really needs a wash leave him be.