fleas

sparklylime

My poor dog (lab) has fleas

I noticed him scratching a lot about a week and a half ago and thought it must be fleas so I took him to the vets to check. The vet looked all through his coat and said definitely no fleas but inflamed skin was causing irritation and the scratching had made it worse. So I paid for a jab to soothe the itching a weeks worth of tablets to clear the skin up.

Went back for a check up a week later as the dog is still scratching all the time and after much umming and ahhing and £110:eek: the vet said he might have fleas afterall. So forked out for another jab to stop the itching and a bottle of frontline spray.

I sprayed the dog yesterday and I've thrown his bed away and bought a new one.

I'm panicking a bit now though as today I've seen a few live fleas on the floor. I've been and bought a household spray so I'm gonna blitz the house with that. I only have carpets in 2 rooms - the rest of the house is polished wooden floorboards - do I need to treat these? What about the sofa and my bed? He isn't supposed to jump up on these but sometimes manages to sneak into other rooms when I'm out and I return to find him having a cheeky nap on the sofa or on the bed. I've washed all my bedding on a 95 degree wash but the flea spray says not to use on human bed areas so I don't know if washing is enough.

I've never heard of frontline in a spray before, has anyone else used it? How long should it take before all the fleas are dead? Will it stop the poor boy from scratching himself?

I don't think I've been bitten but just the thought of fleas is making me itch all over!

I don't even know how he has caught them as he never really has contact with any other dogs. This is the first time he has had anything wrong and I am worried sick so any help greatly appreciated.

Oh and sorry for such a long post!

HappyMJ

Wow you've really gone all out. Washing is enough and you only need to wash on minimum temp to make any difference. Wash carpets if you can but daily vaccuuming will do the same. You don't need to treat solid floors but do mop them. Fleas live outside in grass he'll get them from there. At this time of year it's getting cold out and they go dormant throughout the winter so if you get rid of them inside he won't get them again till next summer. If you can let your house go cold overnight it'll keep them dormant inside as well. Spray's do work but cleaning and vaccuuming is much more effective. They die straight away but the eggs will hatch and they'll be back within a week.

It won't stop him scratching he'll still scratch.

Kinski

Treat all your soft furnishing with the spray it's the best way to get the little blighter's, the vacuum will get some of them but if it doesn't pick up all the eggs then your going to be back to square one, remember and do your curtains as well.

EmptyPockets

It sounds like you're doing all the right things and I'm sure you'll be on top of the problem in no time - however, keep in mind that the vacuum cleaner will be your very best friend in combating the problem

Vacuum everyday, everywhere - in all the knooks and crannies, around all the edges of a room, and inbetween cushions on any sofas. If your hoover is bagless, empty it straight into the wheelie bin after every hoover. If it isn't, pop a flea collar in the bag, or hoover up a small pile of flea powder so any fleas inside the vacuum will be zapped.

Another tip is, if you can, to put a large-ish bowl of water in a corner of each room. You'll be amazed at how many hop in and drown themselves

BitterAndTwisted

For every adult flea in the house there could be a hundred eggs, several hundred larvae and hundreds and hundreds of pupae lying dormant in the carpets and soft furnishings. The pupae are the really difficult blighters to deal with because no insecticide has been developed which can kill them safely tucked away and they can lay dormant for up to six months. The object of the vacuuming is to encourage them to emerge (because they react to the vibration) so that the Frontline on the pet and the environmental spray can do their work. I believe that the Frontline will render any emerging adults unable to breed, thus breaking the life-cycle.

So, just because you continue to see young adult fleas for a while does not mean that the treatments aren't working. They are but it might take a while. You just need to ensure that your pet continues to be protected. I'd reapply the Frontline for the next few months just to be on the safe side while you vacuum like your life depended on it.

rita-rabbit

good luck with that - I found it easier to just treat cats monthly (having neither the space or time 2 continually treat the flat continually).

sparklylime

Thanks for the replies - to make it all worse my hoover has just broke so I guess its off to town tomorrow for a new one - a very cheap new one after all the money I've spent at the vets this week. The annoying thing is I treat my dog with a flea treatment every month as it is - just the last two months I'd switched to the wilkinsons one as money has been particularly tight - that'll teach me a lesson!

Greatgimp

Don't forget to spray the inside of your car too!

pigpen

Well I've found frontline to be completely ineffective for the last 3 or 4 years.. we got other stuff from the vet (advocat for the moggies) and acclaim for the house..

Constant vacuuming and spraying is the only thing that keeps on top of ours.. and I have 6 cats and 2 bunnies!

I washed all the cushion covers and my curtains as they are floor length.. sofas are leather so didn't get done.. but I had all the childrens beds to do as they will insist on taking cats to bed!

gettingready

I only use frontline spray on very young kittens and one can not use the spot on drops on them - not quite sure ehy your vet recommended that/sold you that for a grown up dog? Spot on would have been so much easier to apply......

Hope your dog feel better soon....

Last kitty got in was totally flea infested (I saw fleas on him when getting him but felt sorry and got him anyway) and as it was a weekend.. by Monday I had to treat the whole flat, all 4 kittens and the dog.. Yes, poor thing had so many fleas....

Treated the kittens with Frontline spray, flat with some household spray from the vets and the dog with a spot on.....

Empty Pockets is spot on (LOL) with the water bowl - fleas can not swim and will drawn...

lucyq

If you treat dogs like humans you'll get the same reaction, we don't regulary douse our children in headlice chemicals so why do the same to our dogs? if you treat the household washing everything your dog has come into contact with and spraying everything else there isn't an issue in over 11yrs of owning and breeding our dogs we've had an infestation twice (seriously)