fleas on my dog, help!!!!!

[emma.lbarnes]

can someone please advise me, I have a yorkshire terrier 7 months old, we live in spain. Our vet advised us to use advantix for fleas etc, but after one week of application we started to notic the odd flea, so we shampooed him with flea shampoo. Its now two weeks & today he was covered so we have shampooed him again to remove all.
We spoke to out vet a few days ago & she sold us some product to spray on the furniture & terraces etc which we have done. She also said he could not have another application of advantix untill 3 weeks had passed, which is another week away!
I have had dogs before but always used frontline, not used advantix before, I feel it has let us down because I thought that any fleas jump on him should die, but they are not!

If anyone has any thoughts or advice on these products or what we should do I would be very grateful!!!!!!
I am wanting to put another advantix on him now but my husband is unsure, but I feel for some reason it obviously hasnt worked!

[moosmom]

There's a pill out, Capstar, that will kill all the fleas on the dog. You'll have to keep up with it with either Advantage or Revolution. As far as your residence is concerned, you'll have to flea bomb the place and spray under any and all furniture. If you treat your dog without getting rid of the fleas and flea eggs in your home, your totally defeating the purpose.

[Jessika]

Fleas do not just live on your dog, they live in the environment. So as well as putting your dog on a monthly flea preventative, you also need to treat your house and yard.

Also keep in mind, even after the fleas "go away", you should still keep him on a monthly flea preventative because... well, the best comparison I heard was this:

A group of vet students went to visit a patient about a flea infestation on a dog. The owner was a dentist. They had seen the dog a few months prior for fleas, suggested some products and sent the dog on his way. When they saw him the second time, the dog was absolutely covered in fleas. They were amazed and asked the guy why? The dentist said "Well, when I had him on it, the fleas went away, so I stopped using it." They were taken aback, and said "If it worked so well, why STOP using it?" and then made the comparison -- it's like a long-time patient who's always had perfect teeth coming in to see the dentist. His next visit he comes in and his teeth are covered in cavities. When asked why, the patient says "Well doc, brushing my teeth worked so well and I didn't have a single cavity, so I stopped!"

I paraphrased that, it isn't word-for-word, and the name of the man who told it completely escapes me now, but I think it's a really good reason why dogs should always stay on a monthly preventative year-round. Just because the infestation goes away on the dog does not mean he won't ever get them again, especially if they're in the environment

Capstar kills them quick, but you will still have to take care of the fleas in your house in yard. I would ask your vet about what is safe to use on the environment, but in addition I would keep him on Advantix or Advantage (or whichever flea preventative you prefer). Also keep in mind that you may still see a flea or two on your dog while he is on the preventative from time-to-time, but rest assured the product IS working. Most prevent the fleas from biting, so eventhough you may see a flea on your dog, it doesn't mean it's being bit

Another piece of advice is try not to bathe him too often; once a month should be fine, but any more can dry out and irritate his skin.

Good luck!

[emma.lbarnes]

thanks for all your replies. We have treated the house, & the our dog is always on a flea preperation, we were just surprised to see fleas on him after week one, getting worse by week 2!
Before we had a springer spaniel & we always used frontline & never saw any, so when you use a different product you are always weary!

I just dont want fleas!!!!!!!!!!!!

[boomersooner]

Also, after you get your house treated, you might want to make sure (if you haven't already) that your dog is on a really good dog food full of all of the different vitamins, brewers yeast, stuff like that. There are also supplements like The Missing Link for dogs which contain all of the supplements that are soooo good for your dog. You can sprinkle it on their food. Good luck! Fleas are a real pain.....We had them on our dog a couple of years ago,(luckily the house was spared) and I blamed them on the thousand squirrels that were always in our yard...Don't know if that was where they came from or not, but it sounded good!