HEEEEEEELP! We've been taken over by fleas!

[Daddas1Punkin]

Our poor dogs have been on edge since they got a case of the fleas, they keep fighting. I keep getting bit and so does my grandma! We gave them a flea bath yesterday night, they have flea collars, we spray a natural flea spray all over. (the furniture, carpet, beds, etc...) We are going to go right now to get some more, but we are going nuts! I keep catching them on the dogs' bellies, and I squish the as hard between my fingers as hard as I can and them they jump out of my hand when I look to see if I killed them! STUPIDEST CREATURE EVER MADE! Why God? Why did you make fleas?!?!?

Any suggestions?

 

[Stumpy]

It's important to treat everything; bedding, flooring, yard, dogs themselves, etc. I used a variety of things over the years, but until we discovered Flea Busters, it was a continuing battle. It works mechanically, not with poison. It may seem expensive, but it's worth it. When you have a bad infestation, I also suggest getting some Capstar tablets from the vet. When you are going through the process of eradicating fleas from your place, these tablets are handy because they cause all of the fleas to die and fall off of the dogs. Check out Flea Busters on the internet. (BTW, no affiliation.)

 

[cafarmgirl]

You need a longer acting treatment then bathing and flea collars are just about worthless. If the natural stuff obviously isn't working then I would apply a topical, spot on treatment like Frontline Plus which will kill the larva as well and keep it up every month. You will also need to treat the premesis, the yards, the dogs beds. the house, everything and plan to keep doing it on a regular basis until you get control and stop the hatch cycle. Vacuum like crazy and keep retreating pets, house and yard.

 

[Daddas1Punkin]

It's important to treat everything; bedding, flooring, yard, dogs themselves, etc. I used a variety of things over the years, but until we discovered Flea Busters, it was a continuing battle. It works mechanically, not with poison. It may seem expensive, but it's worth it. When you have a bad infestation, I also suggest getting some Capstar tablets from the vet. When you are going through the process of eradicating fleas from your place, these tablets are handy because they cause all of the fleas to die and fall off of the dogs. Check out Flea Busters on the internet. (BTW, no affiliation.)

Cool! & it's safe? I looked it up, but is it safe? just double checking, we've had some SERIOUS safety panics lately.

You need a longer acting treatment then bathing and flea collars are just about worthless. If the natural stuff obviously isn't working then I would apply a topical, spot on treatment like Frontline Plus which will kill the larva as well and keep it up every month. You will also need to treat the premesis, the yards, the dogs beds. the house, everything and plan to keep doing it on a regular basis until you get control and stop the hatch cycle. Vacuum like crazy and keep retreating pets, house and yard.

Thanks, we are on a tight budget as far as Frontline and such products right now. We are going to petsmart right now to see what all they have. We will vacuum a lot. we're kinda bad about that...

Thanks to you both!

 

[justbugged]

Frontline or Advantage is cheaper than trying to get rid of fleas that are in your homes carpets. The cheapest way to buy any of these treatments, is too buy the biggest dose you can. As is buy the dose recommended for the biggest dog. I also know that Frontline is the same product for both cats and dogs. Then pick syringes, and a couple of needles at the feed store, and create the right dosages for each pet. Treat all the pets indoor and outdoor if the pets mingle at all. Otherwise you are just reinvesting the treated animal.

The cheapest thing you can do it to keep the animals out of your house, and keep them as healthy as you possibly can. If you can't afford to take care of the pets you own, then you need to make some hard choices. Part of caring for a pet is keeping parasites off of them, and keeping up their vaccinations and heart-worm medications. When you can't afford to do this, then you may need to either find more income, or own fewer pets.

Getting fleas out of the house even when all the animals have been removed can be difficult without expensive chemicals. You will need to wash all the bedding that any animal has been on. (I would do so every 2 to 3 days for the first week, and at least twice week for another month.) Then you will need to vacuum all the carpets, with a real working vacuum. (Many people do not own a vacuum that will doing anything but make noise, let alone one that will suck up a flea.) But vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Did I mention vacuuming daily? Vacuum the pets if they will let you. Don't forget to empty the vacuum, daily if you can. Put it outside if you can't. You now get to do this for at least the next month.

The reproductive cycle of the flea is about a month. You should notice a difference right away, if the vacuum is any good. You need to clean all the way to the edges too. So pick up anything laying around, every soft surface needs to be vacuumed. This means chairs, sofas, beds and toys. Fleas will hang around as long as there is a food source. You are a food source. Getting rid of all the pets, can often make a flea infestation worse.

I know that I have contradicted myself in saying that one should think about the number of pets in a home, and now I am saying don't get rid of all the pets in the home. It's is about finding a balance to what you can afford, and what your heart wants. (of course at the moment it's currently about what the fleas want vs. what humans prefer.) lol

I hope that this helps some, as for the correct dosages of Frontline, check online sources. I have often found sellers of Frontline products on the E*ay web site often mention the correct dosage per pound of the animal. For some reason I seem to have to look this info up every time.

Even if you buy the stuff at your local vets office, it's much cheaper to buy the big dog dosage package make smaller doses of the stuff, than it is to buy different packages of the stuff in it's recommended size dosage packaging. I can say that it is a great marketing tool for the company that makes the stuff. It is also designed that we are less likely to get any of it on ourselves too.

 

[Kaitie09]

Sadly, we had a small flea issue but our one dog is highly sensitive to the bites, so she was going nuts. We have a cleaning lady come every week and spot clean between that, so that may have helped keep the problem down. We tried to treat with what the vet gave us but they must have been in the carpets. We eventually made the decision to rip up the carpeting and replace it with hardwood. Ehrlich came in in between the carpet ripped up and a floor guys and treating the sub floor. We washed all the linens and furniture, and had to treat all the cats too just in case. Its been almost 2 months and when we went it for a follow-up, she said she didn't find any fleas.

It looks like you have little dogs. Our vet recommended K9 Advantix II. Petco sells it for $47 for 4 months. Really that only works out to around $10 a month, which I think is awesome compared to the $8,000 it took us to replace everything.

 

[bamachicks8]

Buy a capstar 5 dollars then at least 3 months of comfortis 60 dollars then Adams flea and yard spray to do bedding and yard 30 dollars best 100 dollars ever the prices will vary according to your local vets source kennel manager at vets office for 3 years

 

[Mattemma]

We took in a pup that had fleas. I got drops for all dogs and cats,and hoped for the best that 1. the fleas would all die off,and 2. none of the pets have reactions to the medication.I keep giving monthly drops.You should too.

I gave the pup a few baths and used flea shampoo(then a comb) at the start.No fleas on us.Figured they would go on the pets,and the chemicals on the pets would kill them off over time.Good luck!

 

[MamaRoo]

After vacuuming (and be sure to put the vacuum bag outside as soon as you're done), sprinkle Borax in your carpet and under all your seat cushions. You don't need a lot, especially if you're vacuuming daily, but it will kill fleas it contacts and help keep the population down. I did this with my cats and none of them had a problem with it. If you're worried about dog, or human sensitivity you could sprinkle the carpet and close of the room for a few hours. Just vacuum when you need the room (great for bedrooms that are empty all day, or the LR over night).

 

[Daddas1Punkin]

Frontline or Advantage is cheaper than trying to get rid of fleas that are in your homes carpets. The cheapest way to buy any of these treatments, is too buy the biggest dose you can. As is buy the dose recommended for the biggest dog. I also know that Frontline is the same product for both cats and dogs. Then pick syringes, and a couple of needles at the feed store, and create the right dosages for each pet. Treat all the pets indoor and outdoor if the pets mingle at all. Otherwise you are just reinvesting the treated animal.

The cheapest thing you can do it to keep the animals out of your house, and keep them as healthy as you possibly can. If you can't afford to take care of the pets you own, then you need to make some hard choices. Part of caring for a pet is keeping parasites off of them, and keeping up their vaccinations and heart-worm medications. When you can't afford to do this, then you may need to either find more income, or own fewer pets.

Getting fleas out of the house even when all the animals have been removed can be difficult without expensive chemicals. You will need to wash all the bedding that any animal has been on. (I would do so every 2 to 3 days for the first week, and at least twice week for another month.) Then you will need to vacuum all the carpets, with a real working vacuum. (Many people do not own a vacuum that will doing anything but make noise, let alone one that will suck up a flea.) But vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Did I mention vacuuming daily? Vacuum the pets if they will let you. Don't forget to empty the vacuum, daily if you can. Put it outside if you can't. You now get to do this for at least the next month.

The reproductive cycle of the flea is about a month. You should notice a difference right away, if the vacuum is any good. You need to clean all the way to the edges too. So pick up anything laying around, every soft surface needs to be vacuumed. This means chairs, sofas, beds and toys. Fleas will hang around as long as there is a food source. You are a food source. Getting rid of all the pets, can often make a flea infestation worse.

I know that I have contradicted myself in saying that one should think about the number of pets in a home, and now I am saying don't get rid of all the pets in the home. It's is about finding a balance to what you can afford, and what your heart wants. (of course at the moment it's currently about what the fleas want vs. what humans prefer.) lol

I hope that this helps some, as for the correct dosages of Frontline, check online sources. I have often found sellers of Frontline products on the E*ay web site often mention the correct dosage per pound of the animal. For some reason I seem to have to look this info up every time.

Even if you buy the stuff at your local vets office, it's much cheaper to buy the big dog dosage package make smaller doses of the stuff, than it is to buy different packages of the stuff in it's recommended size dosage packaging. I can say that it is a great marketing tool for the company that makes the stuff. It is also designed that we are less likely to get any of it on ourselves too.

Thanks, we are trying one more thing.

Sadly, we had a small flea issue but our one dog is highly sensitive to the bites, so she was going nuts. We have a cleaning lady come every week and spot clean between that, so that may have helped keep the problem down. We tried to treat with what the vet gave us but they must have been in the carpets. We eventually made the decision to rip up the carpeting and replace it with hardwood. Ehrlich came in in between the carpet ripped up and a floor guys and treating the sub floor. We washed all the linens and furniture, and had to treat all the cats too just in case. Its been almost 2 months and when we went it for a follow-up, she said she didn't find any fleas.

It looks like you have little dogs. Our vet recommended K9 Advantix II. Petco sells it for $47 for 4 months. Really that only works out to around $10 a month, which I think is awesome compared to the $8,000 it took us to replace everything.

Wow! Like I said above, we are trying one more thing first, thanks! Sorry you went through that!

Buy a capstar 5 dollars then at least 3 months of comfortis 60 dollars then Adams flea and yard spray to do bedding and yard 30 dollars best 100 dollars ever the prices will vary according to your local vets source kennel manager at vets office for 3 years

We are moving SOON so I think we'll just treat the furniture and pets before taking them to the new house.

We took in a pup that had fleas. I got drops for all dogs and cats,and hoped for the best that 1. the fleas would all die off,and 2. none of the pets have reactions to the medication.I keep giving monthly drops.You should too.

I gave the pup a few baths and used flea shampoo(then a comb) at the start.No fleas on us.Figured they would go on the pets,and the chemicals on the pets would kill them off over time.Good luck!

Thanks!

After vacuuming (and be sure to put the vacuum bag outside as soon as you're done), sprinkle Borax in your carpet and under all your seat cushions. You don't need a lot, especially if you're vacuuming daily, but it will kill fleas it contacts and help keep the population down. I did this with my cats and none of them had a problem with it. If you're worried about dog, or human sensitivity you could sprinkle the carpet and close of the room for a few hours. Just vacuum when you need the room (great for bedrooms that are empty all day, or the LR over night).

Yea, but we have a canister vacuum. What should we do then? Just take it out and shake it into the trash can?