THE DREADED FLEA INFESTATION!!!! PREPARING FOR BATTLE...

[ScarletSci]

So, as you may have guessed from the title, we are infested, nay, riddled, with fleas.

Beginning of Jan, I was visiting with folks (who have Jack, Pixie (Springer Spaniels) and my cat, Leo. Now, insects love to bite me. I've always known when the dogs have picked up a flea or two, because I'm the first to get bitten. I got a few bites, and hunted high and low on the dogs, with no trace of them all at. No itching or scratching from them, no signs of fleas when I searched their coats, nothing when I stood them on white paper to comb them. But with the winter mud, spotting flea dirt was impossible.

Then on the last night I was here, Pixie rolled over onto her back on the bed, I absent-mindedly rubbed her belly, then glanced, and FLEAS running on her belly. I'm guessing the heating going on caused an egg hatching explosion. I bathed both dogs with a flea shampoo, trying to drown as many of the little buggers as I could, then they got a dose of Frontline. I haven't had to battle fleas since before Pixie was born. Hoovered everywhere and everything, bedding stripped and hot wash and dryer, more and more hoovering.

Couple of days after treatment, still finding a few fleas.

Now my poor cat, who is allergic to flea saliva, began ripping out his fur. Went to vet today, steroid injection, and Advantage flea drops. Vet said that although Frontline has always been the recommended brand, it's been losing its effectiveness the last couple of years. We haven't had a problem with fleas for a long time using Frontline, but it ain't working now!

Dogs are due for treatment again, the vets is delivering Advantage for the dogs tomorrow. I want to bathe the dogs first, since that does seem to decrease the numbers a lot. But I also read somewhere to wait two days after bathing before using a topical back of the neck treatment? I assume that's because the treatments work with the oils in the dogs coat?

Shall I just use the Advantage tomorrow and forget the flea bath?

Also... treating the house... main living area for the dogs is the living room. I have a can of R.I.P flea, but there's a huge fishtank, and two parrots in there, and all living things would need to be cleared from the room for an hour at least. Can't move the fishtank! I'm considering using vinegar? Along with insanely OCD hoovering!

Help... I know that a flea infestation can be a bloomin' nightmare!

[Nettle]

Fleas are SUCH a problem! especially if you don't like putting strong chemicals on your animals or in your environment.

If you can stand the dust effect, diatomaceous earth in dog bedding and rubbed into coats does help. I have the hard shell dog beds and line them with newspaper (fleas dislike newsprint) on top of diatom earth, then layers of bedding and diatom. with a duvet on top.

Since I have given my dogs Dorwest's Garlic and Fenugreek pills all year round, I barely see a flea. It doesn't work so well for ticks, though. Mind you, maybe it puts some off, because that's something we can't tell. Dorwest does NOT pay me to say this, and by law they cannot advertise the flea-repellent qualities of this herb mix. There is also a herbal food additive called Billy No Mates made by CSJ that some of my gundoggy friends say works very well.

I would be very wary of using a chemical bath and a spot-on within such a short timescale. And it's a long time since Frontline has worked for people I know. It used to be very good but seems to have little effect now. My vet does not consider spot-ons all that good, and suggests with larger dogs that as well as the neck treatment they should have 'spot' halfway down the back and at the tail root too.

I'm afraid I have no knowledge that will help cats, but I'm sure other people here will have.

[JudyN]

I gave up on Frontline for cats years ago as it stopped working - since then I've used the Stronghold spot-on which works for me (or should I say works for my cat? ).

With Jasper I've resorted to Comfortis tabets. I'd rather avoid chemicals but more natural methods just weren't working, and he hates spot-ons with a vengeance . After puffing DE around I had a sore nose & throat for a couple of days and was rather worried about the effects of inhalation on me and the pets.

[Shalista]

we've never really had a problem with fleas O.o even when Ki and Bax got them no one in our family got bit and we sleep with our dogs. Bax has been infested with them twice, once when we first got him (he was brown with dirt and i could have started a circus with the fleas that washed off him on the first bath. 1 flea bath and a dot of advantage cleared it up) and then he had them again more recently (1 dot of advantage cleared it up)

are they really that much of a problem?

[ScarletSci]

Fleas are SUCH a problem! especially if you don't like putting strong chemicals on your animals or in your environment.

If you can stand the dust effect, diatomaceous earth in dog bedding and rubbed into coats does help. I have the hard shell dog beds and line them with newspaper (fleas dislike newsprint) on top of diatom earth, then layers of bedding and diatom. with a duvet on top.

Since I have given my dogs Dorwest's Garlic and Fenugreek pills all year round, I barely see a flea. It doesn't work so well for ticks, though. Mind you, maybe it puts some off, because that's something we can't tell. Dorwest does NOT pay me to say this, and by law they cannot advertise the flea-repellent qualities of this herb mix. There is also a herbal food additive called Billy No Mates made by CSJ that some of my gundoggy friends say works very well.

I would be very wary of using a chemical bath and a spot-on within such a short timescale. And it's a long time since Frontline has worked for people I know. It used to be very good but seems to have little effect now. My vet does not consider spot-ons all that good, and suggests with larger dogs that as well as the neck treatment they should have 'spot' halfway down the back and at the tail root too.

I'm afraid I have no knowledge that will help cats, but I'm sure other people here will have.

Argh, I wrote a long reply to all of you, then had to do a captcha thing, and it vanished! Thank you all, I will update when I have news

ETA: Thanks so much, Nettle! I love the idea of the garlic and fenugreek tablets, I'd have never have thought of that, since onion is no good for dogs, I'd have mentally ruled out garlic too. Jack has some arthritis already, and is having cold liver oil and something else that slips my mind, but I can imagine the anti-inflammatory properties of garlic can only help. Both dogs like to romp in the park with dogs we know, which I suspect is where they picked these up, so anything that helps avoid any 'little friends' coming home with us is a good thing!

Where do you find Diatomaceous earth? When I was searching for a natural way to clean my mattress, my mother recommended that, saying it always was the go to product for that, but I've never seen it for sale anywhere. Do you also use natural cleaning products where you can? I use a lot of biocarb of soda, distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, baking powder etc for cleaning. I find I get better results, and I feel better about using these products than branded chemical solutions.

[Erica]

If you do have to bugbomb the aquarium room, I think it has been done safely before. You do have to take the filter out for a few hours(keep it in tank water so the bacteria don't dry out and die) and make sure to get all the move-able stuff out of the room (eg siphon, net, water change bucket), but then you cover the tank with impervious plastic and tape the edges fully shut you may have an air-tight cover for it, so none of the pesticide gets in the water. You'd want to do more research but I believe it can be done!

[ScarletSci]

we've never really had a problem with fleas O.o even when Ki and Bax got them no one in our family got bit and we sleep with our dogs. Bax has been infested with them twice, once when we first got him (he was brown with dirt and i could have started a circus with the fleas that washed off him on the first bath. 1 flea bath and a dot of advantage cleared it up) and then he had them again more recently (1 dot of advantage cleared it up)

are they really that much of a problem?

oh honey, they can be a major problem! Aside from the poor cat having the reaction that makes him lick himself sore and rip out his own fur, fleas don't confine themselves to the dog. They lay eggs in furniture, carpet, in cracks of floorboards, even in the gaps beneath a skirting board. They can lie dormant for months. If you google, there are even cases where people have moved into a new place where they don't have pets themselves, but there were eggs in the carpets/floors, hatched when the heating went on, and can be a nightmare to be finally completely rid of them.

They make me mad though. Rubbing my poor dogs belly, and five or six fleas running and crawling through her fur makes me shudder. I have excema, so I can empathise with the unbearable itch, and I hate that these parasites are on my animals.

[ScarletSci]

I gave up on Frontline for cats years ago as it stopped working - since then I've used the Stronghold spot-on which works for me (or should I say works for my cat? ).

With Jasper I've resorted to Comfortis tabets. I'd rather avoid chemicals but more natural methods just weren't working, and he hates spot-ons with a vengeance . After puffing DE around I had a sore nose & throat for a couple of days and was rather worried about the effects of inhalation on me and the pets.

I'm glad you found one that worked for you and Jasper! I might switch to the oral tablet for Pixie at some point. The vets finally delivered the Advantage for dogs (they were out of stock when we went yesterday), and while usually the sound of a package opening or rustling has the dogs convinced there is FOOD, as soon as she heard that tear away strip, Pixie shot under the parrot cage and hid from me! My velcro dog suddenly hid from me She did come to me - looking a bit sorry for herself - when I called her, and let me treat her, but I do feel bad for her. I'm amazed she was able to distinguish that sound as impending stinky flea treatment though.

I'd worry about the potential inhalation from DE too... especially with the parrots, since they have such delicate respiratory systems. But I'm thinking I could use that to treat my room, and I'll give vinegar and repeated hoovering a go for the living room. The living room at least has hard floors and not carpet, so it may be easier to get that clean and keep on top of new hatchings.

Erica, thank you! I will certainly bear this in mind for future reference. The vet casually suggested moving the tank... clearly never had a fish tank! Yes, it's hypothetically possible to move a tank, but it's a huge, huge undertaking, and the platys and mollies are breeding at an unholy rate. There are so many tiny baby fish in there that wouldn't stand a chance. Moving the tank would be such a last resort, I think living with fleas might be preferable! Okay, maybe not that, but we'll try anything else before that. I'd also want to keep the parrots away for at least a week. It's just not worth risking with birds.

[JudyN]

I got my DE from Amazon. There's a good selection here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_ ... Caps%2C391 and that's just the pet section

Jasper only ever got one or two fleas but the cat, who is longhaired, has been badly infested a couple of times. Probably not helped by the fact that he lives in the airing cupboard He's an old boy, so I really didn't want to rub it into his fur and potentially upset his airways.

[Fundog]

we've never really had a problem with fleas O.o even when Ki and Bax got them no one in our family got bit and we sleep with our dogs. Bax has been infested with them twice, once when we first got him (he was brown with dirt and i could have started a circus with the fleas that washed off him on the first bath. 1 flea bath and a dot of advantage cleared it up) and then he had them again more recently (1 dot of advantage cleared it up)

are they really that much of a problem?

oh honey, they can be a major problem! Aside from the poor cat having the reaction that makes him lick himself sore and rip out his own fur, fleas don't confine themselves to the dog. They lay eggs in furniture, carpet, in cracks of floorboards, even in the gaps beneath a skirting board. They can lie dormant for months. If you google, there are even cases where people have moved into a new place where they don't have pets themselves, but there were eggs in the carpets/floors, hatched when the heating went on, and can be a nightmare to be finally completely rid of them.

They make me mad though. Rubbing my poor dogs belly, and five or six fleas running and crawling through her fur makes me shudder. I have excema, so I can empathise with the unbearable itch, and I hate that these parasites are on my animals.

Not to mention a flea infestation, or any other blood sucking parasite left untreated can cause anemia in the host animal. Fleas also carry roundworm eggs, another parasite you definitely do not want!

[Nettle]

One place it's useful to use chemicals is inside the vaccuum cleaner. I used to put a flea collar in the bag, so any little varmints vaccuumed up died right in there.

Otherwise I try not to use chemicals, and steer an uneasy path between cleaning properly and avoiding Armageddon by pharmacy. However, as I grew up in times when DDT was freely used, I'm probably a lost cause anyway.

[JudyN]

Staying on the subject of parasites and use of chemicals, so not too much off topic, Nettle, am I right in thinking you do use a chemical wormer? If so, can I ask why you don't use Wormcount? I've been using it for over a year now and so far all results have been negative. Of course, there is a risk it's giving false reports and Jasper is riddled with worms which could explain his appetite.....

[Nettle]

Yes I do use a chemical wormer, and I think Wormcount is a great idea that I would use in principle but have not got around to using in fact

[Fundog]

Supposedly, there are herbs you can use as a wormer also-- they don't actually kill the worms, but they make the host animal a one star restaurant, as opposed to a five star. In other words, the worms would rather dine/breed elsewhere, so they exit, and they are often found very much alive in the animal's stool. The company I mentioned in another thread sells a formula for this, recommended to use for just ten days every three months or so. It is worth noting, my vet also uses a chemical wormer on all animals he sees at their annual checkups.

[ScarletSci]

The good news is that since treating the animals with Advantage, I can't find a flea on any of them. They scratched a fair amount that night, I guess with the fleas in their dying throes, but nothing since then.

But... I woke up this morning with five or six bites all over the backs of my legs. Ouch! So I need to find some DE to treat my mattress. I was planning to replace the bed tomorrow, but will hold off until this is under control.