SOMEWHAT URGENT NEED HELP.....

[Carol]

Help!!!  My mom & dad and their dog went to Kentucky to visit my grandfather.  Fritzee (their dog) is given Frontline and received it 4 days before their trip.  However, the fleas down there are monster fleas on a vengance......my grandfather's 2 dogs were covered even though they are on Frontline.  Fritzee came back covered despite baths, an oral med the vet gave that started with a C?? and garlic in her water, Fritzee is still covered.  My mom got some spray Frontline after calling the company; they told her to use this is addition to her regular dose of frontline.....no luck she is still covered......They live 5 min. from me and I can't have my dogs near her.  She visited last week thinking all was well and then tonight my mom found tons on her again.  All my dogs have had baths and thank God I have found none.  Can anyone recommend anything.....they are at witts end.  My grandfather has had the house professionally bombed for fleas and still their dogs have them.  The poor little poodle even had them in his ears!!

[Louisa]

I'd book the soonest groomer appointment (explain the urgency) and get her a good flea dip, she may need follow up flea dips for a couple weeks. I'd be worried about her skin with too many regular baths, I guess that's a tough situation to be in, hope her skin doesn't get irritated but I'd rather have her rid of fleas,yuck. We haven't seen one so far this summer thank heavens. I also wouldn't want to do a dip on my own, very strong stuff. I'd go professional at this point. Hope they are successful.

[TherapyGolden]

With a major flea infestation, you need to make sure you get everything which means the house, the car, the yard, the pets, and clothing and bedding. The problem is often not so much the fleas on the dogs as the eggs they lay in carpets, upholstery, bedding etc which allow them to "come back" even after the pets have been bathed and sprayed.
One thing that is often overlooked when cleaning is the vacuum cleaner. Fleas and eggs can live in the vacuum cleaner/bag and reinfest the house.

One product I've had good luck with is a natural product called De Flea Pet and Area Spray and it kills adult fleas/eggs/larvae/etc. However you have to spray all surfaces because it kills by coming into contact with the fleas.

[Marge]

Just a word of advise.  They have to be sure that all the products used on the dog and it's environment are compatible otherwise they risk poisoning the dog due to interactions between the products. 

Typically a good bath with any type of shampoo (it doesn't need to be a flea/tick shampoo) will get rid of the fleas on the dog as long as care is taken to make sure they don't all rush to the dogs head (so start bathing at the head work up a good lather fully around the dogs neck including under the chin, then proceed down to the rest of the body).  The dog usually become reinfested due to fleas in the environment.  It's bedding or other areas that the dog spends time both indoors and out.

So in addition to treating the dog the environment needs to be treated.  Thoroughly cleaning or replacing bedding, etc if necessary.  But again care must be taken that the products used in the environment are compatible with those used on the dog.  You shouldn't mix families of products even though one is used on the dog and the other on the environment.

And even if the same family/class of product is used they have to be careful of over exposure to the dog through use on the dog and in the environment.

Marge

[Louisa]

Thats definitley true -- the one year my sister had fleas on Katy, she would bath her and she'd be fresh and flea free, then the minute she went out to the yard to do her business, she'd have fleas re-infesting her again. It took a little while to figure out that she was getting them in the yard.  I'd look there maybe as the cause?

[Carol]

o.k. I passed on the information.  Wow Marge didn't think about crossing products and potential poisoning.  Glad I asked.  I saw on the internet that spraying the dog with Apple Cider Vinegar 3x a day and putting garlic in their water can help.  I passed on the info.  Hope we don't get them.  It has been so dry; I think that has something to do with it.  Hubby is a fanatic about the sprinkler and both neighbors have sprinkler systems so maybe that will help keep us flea free.

[Carol]

WARNING: my mom took Fritzee into the vet and the vet said there is a bumper crop of fleas and they are thriving because it is so dry.  Apparently Fritzee got them in Kentucky but would have gotten them here anyway.  Hubby is obsessed with the sprinkler (he's italian ) so our grass is pretty green.  My parents have been vacationing and their lawn is very dry.  That's the only difference I can see so water those lawns in the Midwest people-keep the fleas at bay.