Help! fleas are sucking the life out of my collie!

[AinaWGSD]

Henny peeny, if you're happy with the trifexis you should probably consider sticking with that even once Novartis starts making Interceptor again (if they bring it back, part of the reason they are not producing it right now even though their plant is back up and getting started on other various products...including sentinel which is the interceptor plus program...is that they are working on a new product that they are probably planning to launch in January at the North American Vet conference). Trifexis is the exact same active ingredient as interceptor with comfortis added for flea control. The vet I work for is considering whether or not to carry interceptor again once the company finally starts producing it again, but she has decided not to carry the sentinel any longer and is replacing it with trifexis.

 

[Sylverfly]

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions everyone looks like I have some work ahead of me I ended up giving him a capstar tab that I bought at the local animal shelter and treating everything with borax. Not a long term solution but It will take a few days for anything ordered to get here. He has been sleeping like a baby and is back to his goofy happy self for the time being. I guess the front-line just wasn't working or was half working, it was so weird he was scratching for so long and I kept checking him and never found a flea, in any of the places I checked, no bugs, bites, or flea dirt, turns out they were all on this inner legs, feet, and stomach. He was covered in those places and not a stray flea (that I found) on the rest of his body, really weird. One more question until I can get anything to help with this long term should I give him the capstar every day (Says it can be given every 24 hours if needed) or every three days (I guess fleas hatch every three days in general) I want to give him the maximum relief from those blood suckers but I don't want to over medicate him if I don't have to. Thanks guys.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Give the capstar every day. Fleas may hatch every 3 days, but I guarantee you have staggered hatches laying in wait around your house. Even if you didn't, you still have adult fleas, larvae, and pupae in the environment that don't need 3 days to hatch. The adult fleas people see on their pets make up only about 5% of the total flea population, so the other 95% is lurking in the environment (your yard and house). Capstar is out of the system in 24 hours, so re-dosing daily until you can get some other form of flea control on board will be your best bet.

 

[Cheryl Card]

Found your post while searching for effective treatment for my rough collies who are allergic to fleas. Have tried multiple natural remedies, but these only seem to give relief for a short time. Haven't used any flea granule pesticides on the yard, because we have chickens and I didn't want them eating the pesticide. Haven't tried any flea spray for the year either, as am concerned about the safety. However, am getting desperate to find some relief for the two dogs. They are losing their hair and scratching maniacally.. Have you found an effective and safe treatment for fleas? I can't imagine that those spot on type controls would work, because the fleas have to bite the dog to be killed, and the flea bites are what are causing the allergic reaction in the dogs. Are there fleas in Alaska? We may have to move to where there are no fleas! By the way, I have contacted some breeders of rough collies, and one person said she uses a flea pill, but one vet I contacted said the pill they have is only good for 24 hours, another said the pill is only good for 48 hours, and one said they have a pill that is used once a month. It contains spinosad, which, when researched, seems to have caused no reaction in rough collies in a study that was done. The results of the study may be found here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20043790
I've read that Program has been discontinued.

 

[Mehjr10]

http://www.amazon.com/Monterey-LG6135-Contains-Spinosad-32-Ounce/dp/B002BP12LI\

Organic product works great.  Same active ingredient as in Comfortis.  Mix it and spray on or feed it with a bit of bread.

PM me if you have any questions.

This is what i treat Cats, Chickens and Dogs with... I believe the adverse reaction on some collies is if they are also taking ivermectin for heartworms, I have not looked at it any further than that since i do not have those breeds..

It keeps them in control and out of the house.. When you first treat for a big infestation, you can give the dog orally and I spray on topically. You also need to treat beading and carpets. Then retreat as you see new hatches around the house... The dogs i treat monthly until they are under control... then i treat when i start to see signs on the dogs again. Which may be several months.

I recently treated the cats and we have a new 5 mo old male that had not been treated or wormed before. Much to my surprise there were worms in the catbox the next morning , they appeared to be round worms.. Which makes sense.