Fleas!!!!!! Help me!!!!!

[AdoreMyDogs]

I have worked as a vet assistant for over 6 years, so I have narrowed my flea tirade down to my standard 'flea speech'.


Start of 'flea speech'

By the time a person notices fleas jumping on them in their houses or biting the family you already have a very, very bad flea problem. To prevent that keep a careful eye on your pet looking for fleas. Fleas can either be identified by actually seeing the adult flea, or by seeing little black specks the size of a pin head close to the skin (those are flea droppings, yuck). A cheap flea comb from any pet store will help with this especially if your pet has dark or long hair. On cats fleas are more typically found around the head/neck area. On dogs they are usually found along the spine near the tail, or on the belly.

A single female flea lays about 2,000 eggs in her lifetime! Out of the flea population ONLY 5% is visable as adult fleas. So for every five fleas you see, there are 95% more microscopic immature flea larva/eggs that you can't see. Immature fleas can live inside carpets, pet bedding, etc for up to 2 YEARS before hatching. Fleas can even manage to reproduce in homes with only hardwood flooring in cracks and crevices.

Frontline PLUS is a liquid you put on the back of your cats neck on the skin. It soaks in and attatches to the oils in your cat and circulates over the whole body. Within 24 hours it goes to work. It is important not to bathe your pet for 2 days before and 2 days after using Frontline PLUS, as bathing washes the oil out of their skin and make it hard for the product to circulate properly. However after that 2 day period if you want to bathe your pet, go ahead, it's in your pets skin and is waterproof.

Frontline PLUS works at fleas 2 ways...

1. Fleas are killed upon contact with a pet with Frontline PLUS. Fleas do NOT have to bite the pet for it to kill the flea. It kills the flea before it's had a blood meal (which is required for reproduction).

2. It also contains a 'growth regulator' that as your pet sheds hair/dandruf, it carries the PLUS part of the ingredients down into your carpets, pet bedding etc. This messes up the life cycle of the larva so they never hatch into adult fleas. This part of the process takes patience, however it is the most important part.

Regular and long term use (1-2 years without missing a month), will eliminate the need for messy/expensive flea bombs, sprays, powders, dips, collars etc. It is important not to stop using Fronline PLUS once the flea problem seems to be slowing down or gone, those flea larva may still be lurking in your house for up to a year yet!

Frontline PLUS is somewhat expensive, until you realize how much money has been spent on all the other things that don't work, not to mention the dangerous chemicals, it is def. more cost saving to use Frontline PLUS. The main ingredient of Frontline PLUS (fipronil) has been used in fruit orchards in the US since the 1980's and ONLY affects the system of an insect, not mammals, so it's a safe product.

Many OTC flea products contain more risky ingredients like pyretherins/phenothrins which are not only unsafe, (EPA about Hartz flea and tick drops) but also don't work well. Most OTC flea products only kill the existing adult fleas on your pet at that moment. So you can bathe away in a chemical laden bath and the moment you set your pet back on the floor...whamo, you've got fleas again. Also since the pyretherins have been used for so many years many fleas have become immune to the effects of them resulting in poor perfomance of the product.

End of standard 'flea speech'. LOL

As my standard disclaimer goes.....
I do not work for Merial (maker of Frontline) I do not recieve any compensation for recommending this product, and I only personally recommend products I trust to be safe and are effective.

Ok, yeah it was Frontline that I used, not Frontline Plus. I will have to start saving my money. I'm just going to stop buying all the crap that we've been buying because it's just a total waste of money and I hate to be around all the chemicals.

This is great advice, everyone. I really appreciate it. I'm going to first treat the dogs, especially Boone, who is just so miserable. He USED to be such a gorgeous GSD, and now I'm embarresed to walk him because I feel like a terrible owner since he has so much hair loss and bald spots and hot spots

I thank you all for such good advice. I never thought I'd ever have this kind of problem You are all wonderful!!!!!

[Catlady711]

Ok, yeah it was Frontline that I used, not Frontline Plus. I will have to start saving my money. I'm just going to stop buying all the crap that we've been buying because it's just a total waste of money and I hate to be around all the chemicals.

This is great advice, everyone. I really appreciate it. I'm going to first treat the dogs, especially Boone, who is just so miserable. He USED to be such a gorgeous GSD, and now I'm embarresed to walk him because I feel like a terrible owner since he has so much hair loss and bald spots and hot spots

I thank you all for such good advice. I never thought I'd ever have this kind of problem You are all wonderful!!!!!

Yes there is a plain Fronline product, it was the first of the line produced and only killed the adult fleas (remember that's only 5% of your flea problem). The Fronline PLUS has the additional ingredient.

If at all possible treat all animals in the house at the same time, othewise you'll just get fleas feeding on the untreated animals and laying those 2,000 eggs making fighting the problem take so much longer.

Flea problems aren't just for people that don't care about their pets, they also happen to caring pet owners. It sometimes depends on the area you live in, how good your pet tastes to fleas (sometimes they prefer one pet over another), and weather conditions. Where I live some years we see very few flea infestations, and other years people who have never had a problem suddenly find themselves infested.

Good luck and hope your critters get relief very soon. It's no fun to be itchy.

[Cinder & Smoke]

I'm going to first treat the dogs, especially Boone, who is just so miserable.

Hmmmm ... you might want to re-think that thought ...

Once the Fleas figure out who's packin the Flea-Zap, and who's NOT ...
the Fleas might just carry off a Kat and have a banquet!

Paint ALL the critters, and they'll sort of mutually protect one another.

Wonder if it's safe to use on Quinn??

[crow_noir]

By this post something in my head clicked. Wouldn't it then be better to forgo vacuuming a little longer than usual? Like maybe a week or so. Or three weeks if you can tolerate that.

I have worked as a vet assistant for over 6 years, so I have narrowed my flea tirade down to my standard 'flea speech'.

Start of 'flea speech'

By the time a person notices fleas jumping on them in their houses or biting the family you already have a very, very bad flea problem. To prevent that keep a careful eye on your pet looking for fleas. Fleas can either be identified by actually seeing the adult flea, or by seeing little black specks the size of a pin head close to the skin (those are flea droppings, yuck). A cheap flea comb from any pet store will help with this especially if your pet has dark or long hair. On cats fleas are more typically found around the head/neck area. On dogs they are usually found along the spine near the tail, or on the belly.

A single female flea lays about 2,000 eggs in her lifetime! Out of the flea population ONLY 5% is visable as adult fleas. So for every five fleas you see, there are 95% more microscopic immature flea larva/eggs that you can't see. Immature fleas can live inside carpets, pet bedding, etc for up to 2 YEARS before hatching. Fleas can even manage to reproduce in homes with only hardwood flooring in cracks and crevices.

Frontline PLUS is a liquid you put on the back of your cats neck on the skin. It soaks in and attatches to the oils in your cat and circulates over the whole body. Within 24 hours it goes to work. It is important not to bathe your pet for 2 days before and 2 days after using Frontline PLUS, as bathing washes the oil out of their skin and make it hard for the product to circulate properly. However after that 2 day period if you want to bathe your pet, go ahead, it's in your pets skin and is waterproof.

Frontline PLUS works at fleas 2 ways...

1. Fleas are killed upon contact with a pet with Frontline PLUS. Fleas do NOT have to bite the pet for it to kill the flea. It kills the flea before it's had a blood meal (which is required for reproduction).

2. It also contains a 'growth regulator' that as your pet sheds hair/dandruf, it carries the PLUS part of the ingredients down into your carpets, pet bedding etc. This messes up the life cycle of the larva so they never hatch into adult fleas. This part of the process takes patience, however it is the most important part.

Regular and long term use (1-2 years without missing a month), will eliminate the need for messy/expensive flea bombs, sprays, powders, dips, collars etc. It is important not to stop using Fronline PLUS once the flea problem seems to be slowing down or gone, those flea larva may still be lurking in your house for up to a year yet!

Frontline PLUS is somewhat expensive, until you realize how much money has been spent on all the other things that don't work, not to mention the dangerous chemicals, it is def. more cost saving to use Frontline PLUS. The main ingredient of Frontline PLUS (fipronil) has been used in fruit orchards in the US since the 1980's and ONLY affects the system of an insect, not mammals, so it's a safe product.

Many OTC flea products contain more risky ingredients like pyretherins/phenothrins which are not only unsafe, (EPA about Hartz flea and tick drops) but also don't work well. Most OTC flea products only kill the existing adult fleas on your pet at that moment. So you can bathe away in a chemical laden bath and the moment you set your pet back on the floor...whamo, you've got fleas again. Also since the pyretherins have been used for so many years many fleas have become immune to the effects of them resulting in poor perfomance of the product.

End of standard 'flea speech'. LOL

As my standard disclaimer goes.....
I do not work for Merial (maker of Frontline) I do not recieve any compensation for recommending this product, and I only personally recommend products I trust to be safe and are effective.

[crow_noir]

Yeah, when we first rescued King almost his whole back half was bald except for his legs and end of his tail. Not only was it bald, but it was pretty much one big oozing scab. He too had a severe flea allergy. I'm against chemicals, but going natural just wasn't worth the risk for this poor baby. We had had him for about three years. It was getting into the late spring (here in MI) and we hadn't got around to putting the Frontline P on him yet. He started having episodes of itching like crazy and going bald again. One flea bite is all it takes.

Those scabs can't heal if the itching continues. That's why the vet gave him a cortisone shot. So that he could have immediate relief for a few days. It was plenty of time to get the itching to go away. (We had to give him two the first time i got him.)

I highly recommend trying it over steroids for now. Steroids are great for food or seasonal allergies.

It did take a few months for the scab to entirely heal. If Boone scabs up please do your best NOT to pick at it. It will scab over a few times. And yes, the hair should grow back in fully with quality feed. (I recommend raw eggs and fish oil too if you can spare it.)

(If you haven't noticed <---- King was a GSD too. That's why i thought his case might be relevant for you.)

Ok, yeah it was Frontline that I used, not Frontline Plus. I will have to start saving my money. I'm just going to stop buying all the crap that we've been buying because it's just a total waste of money and I hate to be around all the chemicals.

This is great advice, everyone. I really appreciate it. I'm going to first treat the dogs, especially Boone, who is just so miserable. He USED to be such a gorgeous GSD, and now I'm embarresed to walk him because I feel like a terrible owner since he has so much hair loss and bald spots and hot spots

I thank you all for such good advice. I never thought I'd ever have this kind of problem You are all wonderful!!!!!

[Hellow]

Ok, i am seeing a problem. What you need to do is take all of your carpeted or furry stuff out of your house, wash it. Before you bring it back in, get down on your knees and check the area where the wall and the floor meet for ANY cracks
which could allow a flee into or out of the wall. If you find one, get some flea chemical and spray the entrance of the crack with it. Then spray under anything that has a solid bottom (like the entertainment centers on the market). Then bomb the place then bring your stuff back in. If you still find fleas then i dont know what to do. Also, do you have a attic or basement?

[shais_mom]

Ok, i am seeing a problem. What you need to do is take all of your carpeted or furry stuff out of your house, wash it. Before you bring it back in, get down on your knees and check the area where the wall and the floor meet for ANY cracks
which could allow a flee into or out of the wall. If you find one, get some flea chemical and spray the entrance of the crack with it. Then spray under anything that has a solid bottom (like the entertainment centers on the market). Then bomb the place then bring your stuff back in. If you still find fleas then i dont know what to do. Also, do you have a attic or basement?

she's already said she doesn't have carpet.

[Hellow]

Well, where the hardwood floor and the wall meet. And i ment things like rugs.

[AdoreMyDogs]

Well, where the hardwood floor and the wall meet. And i ment things like rugs.

Yeah, I've even fogged the entire house, even though we don't have carpet. I also wash the bathroom rugs and the rug we have in the bedroom.

[AdoreMyDogs]

So.........
step 1: save some money
step 2: buy frontline PLUS for the doggers and kittens
step 3: take Boone for a cortazone shot, poor baby
step 4: pray, pray, pray and pray

PT is the best! I really, really hope the Frontline Plus works. It'll be awhile before I can afford it as it's very expensive and we have 4 pets, two of which are big ol' doggers. It hurt us to have me quit work, but being home with Quinn is worth all the sacrifices, even if we have to live with fleas for a little longer.

You guys are the best. Thanks so much

[crow_noir]

Would you mind if the rest of us skip right to step 4 for you?

Money saving tips for Frontline Plus. (Mind you some people will advise against these.) 1). If you have a dog that is near the border of the weight categories choose the lower weight package. Our vet said that there is no harm in doing so. (Now putting a Chihuahua's script on a Grate Dane is another matter.)(Also you'd never want to overdose.) 2.) Also, if you have a large dog and a small dog and you've seen how much you have to give each out of the standard package, and the large dog is on the border of the two weight categories buy the larger weight package. Apply most of the application to the large dog and save the appropriate amount for the smaller dog. This is ONLY if you are ABSOLUTELY certain of the proper dosing. 3.) I don't know how well this would work in your situation, but under NORMAL circumstances you actually only have to apply Frontline Plus every three months. NOT every month. (I think though due to your situation you have to apply it every month... something to do with the breeding cycle of the fleas and how long certain ingredients last for.) After you get the situation under control though it is something to consider. Maybe you could extend it by a week rather than applying it on the month on the dot, or at a month and a half. It's not like this stuff magically leaves their system.

I'm still curious on what would happen if you sprinkled garlic powder in one of the rooms (that the kitties aren't allowed in.) *slightly amused feeling.* *wonders where she can get a bag of fleas and a labratory at* (Well i at least have the answer to one of those questions. :-/ )

So.........
step 1: save some money
step 2: buy frontline PLUS for the doggers and kittens
step 3: take Boone for a cortazone shot, poor baby
step 4: pray, pray, pray and pray

PT is the best! I really, really hope the Frontline Plus works. It'll be awhile before I can afford it as it's very expensive and we have 4 pets, two of which are big ol' doggers. It hurt us to have me quit work, but being home with Quinn is worth all the sacrifices, even if we have to live with fleas for a little longer.

You guys are the best. Thanks so much

[Dot]

All those suggestions are good. One more thing you can do that may help, and doesn't cost a thing except time:

Take some time to examine your floors VERY closely and VERY carefully, and you will learn to identify the flea egg cocoons that are doubtless there. Once you do, take the time to scrape them loose (thereby killing them) and vacuum them up, and you should dramatically slow down the hatching of new fleas. This will help you get in control of the situation much faster.

We also have hardwood floors, but one year we still had an infestation of fleas that just would not quit! I finally discovered that in the grooves between the boards, the flea cocoons were lined up just waiting to hatch. They are white and look like small grains of rice. They attach themselves to the wood and a vacuum will not pull them loose. It is necessary to take a sharp tool to smash them and drag them out. A table knife will work, or a letter opener is good, too.

You will doubtless find, as I did, that the with activity in the house, the eggs that fall off your dog get brushed to the side where they spin their cocoons and attach to the floor. Typical places to look are under the sofa, under tables, and around the perimeter of the room -- especially up close to the baseboards.

I have a home organ with full pedal board, and once when I pulled the pedals away, I was shocked to see flea cocoons lined up between all the hardwood boards in the floor. Then I knew why all my vacuuming and dog washing had been for naught! Since learning where to look for the flea cocoons and destroy them, I've had no more infestations.

Hope this helps!

Dottie

[AdoreMyDogs]

Would you mind if the rest of us skip right to step 4 for you?

Money saving tips for Frontline Plus. (Mind you some people will advise against these.) 1). If you have a dog that is near the border of the weight categories choose the lower weight package. Our vet said that there is no harm in doing so. (Now putting a Chihuahua's script on a Grate Dane is another matter.)(Also you'd never want to overdose.) 2.) Also, if you have a large dog and a small dog and you've seen how much you have to give each out of the standard package, and the large dog is on the border of the two weight categories buy the larger weight package.

Yes, please...skip to step 4 for me

I wish I had small dogs, it would sure save me $$. Both my puppers are 80 pounds, so I think that may be the very most expensive box I also have 2 kitties, so this should cost darn near a house payment to get them all the treatments they need to clear out this problem. *ouch*

[AdoreMyDogs]

All those suggestions are good. One more thing you can do that may help, and doesn't cost a thing except time:

Take some time to examine your floors VERY closely and VERY carefully, and you will learn to identify the flea egg cocoons that are doubtless there. Once you do, take the time to scrape them loose (thereby killing them) and vacuum them up, and you should dramatically slow down the hatching of new fleas. This will help you get in control of the situation much faster.

We also have hardwood floors, but one year we still had an infestation of fleas that just would not quit! I finally discovered that in the grooves between the boards, the flea cocoons were lined up just waiting to hatch. They are white and look like small grains of rice. They attach themselves to the wood and a vacuum will not pull them loose. It is necessary to take a sharp tool to smash them and drag them out. A table knife will work, or a letter opener is good, too.

You will doubtless find, as I did, that the with activity in the house, the eggs that fall off your dog get brushed to the side where they spin their cocoons and attach to the floor. Typical places to look are under the sofa, under tables, and around the perimeter of the room -- especially up close to the baseboards.

I have a home organ with full pedal board, and once when I pulled the pedals away, I was shocked to see flea cocoons lined up between all the hardwood boards in the floor. Then I knew why all my vacuuming and dog washing had been for naught! Since learning where to look for the flea cocoons and destroy them, I've had no more infestations.

Hope this helps!

Dottie

The floors were done very recentlly and our friend did the floors. He put an extra coat of sealant (or whatever it's called) and there are no cracks in the floor. He filled in all the cracks there were with this wood filler stuff, so they're all smooth, and since they were done so recentlly, the cracks have not formed again. It probablly wouldn't hurt to fog the house again though, once I get the Frontline Plus. I bet there may be some eggs/cocoons on/in the furniture and under it and such. Blasted, nasty bugs from hell!

Thanks again for the help, everyone. One thing I'm going to do is put a cut up flea collar in the vaccum for when I vaccum the hardwood and furniture. That'll probablly help. I didn't think of that, so thanks so much for that idea, it was good! I am also starting to save a little bit from every paycheck to eventually buy the Frontline Plus I need for all 4 critters....man do I ever need to win the lotto!

[crow_noir]

I suppose your dogs haven't learned the shrink commend yet? No. Darn. (Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.)

I sure wish i had magic shrinking dust for when it's bath time for the dogs!