DOG FLEAS - merged

Curious_George_2

sorry but no,
my OH came out with this crap too... WRONG! :rolleyes:
i got bitten to death thanks to his theory (if there is anything that bites... it will go for me!)

get some treatment for the furnishings and carpet, spray til your dizzy then go out til everythings gotta be dead... then get him to hoover!

Kimitatsu

No the fleas only jump onto the animals or you when they want to feed! The rest of the time they live in your carpets and soft furnishings.

Now I can hear the Eeeeew from here :rotfl: , so a quick and money saving way to get rid of them is to shut the dogs out of the room(s) one night and spread table salt over the floor and soft furnishing, go to bed, and hoover as soon as you get up in the morning.

The salt dessicates the fleas and the eggs and is much cheaper and with no nasty side effects than the chemical sprays that the vet will give you. This year has been bad for fleas so it may be that he picked it up somewhere else, there was a case some years ago of several large offices in central London having to call in the exterminators because people had picked them up whilst out in the park at lunchtime.

We also feed our dogs garlic as the fleas dont like the taste, and so dont tend to bite them.

*zippy*

Thank you both I thought he was wrong.

Should I be able to see them if they are on our dogs? I did wonder if it was from his work.

I was worried about the cost and chemicals so salt sounds good.

Our house is quite large, please can you give me some tips of things not to forget to do. What about beds, and does a good hot wash kill them off blankets? They have teddies and the kids do too, whats best to do with them...Freezer or wash perhaps? Could they be in the curtains? Eeewww Yuk :eek:

Kimitatsu

Sometimes you can see them on the dogs, usually its on their underbelly they are most obvious, and even then only if they have an infestation. But you can pick up fleas anywhere where there is grass so they are just as likely to hitch a ride on you as the dogs.

Another good one for the dogs is to put a lemon in a pint of boiling water and leave it to steep. When it is cold you can spray the dogs with it and that gets rid of the fleas as well. Frontline only works when the fleas bite the dog.

Blankets a good hot wash seems to do the trick, they tend to like warm places where they can bury themselvs and lay the eggs so think of pile carpets, between cushions that sort of thing. Curtains unless they are really thick I think you will be ok with, and again with teddies unless they are outside a lot or the dogs sleep next to them you should be fine. You would soon know if you had fleas in your beds etc as you would be bitten whilst you slept. The freezer though is another great one provided you leave them for 24 hours.

Pay special attention to cracks and crevices so the bottom of the skirting boards, bits where the carpets meet etc.

To be honest though if you are not all getting bitten and the dogs are not scratching then it is unlikely that you are infested, which you would probably have to be to have a flea sit on hubbys coat all the way to work. Might be an idea to give the cars a good hoover out as well though.

This is prime flea season so I really wouldnt worry about it too much

walwin

Kimitatsu said:

Frontline only works when the fleas bite the dog


According to the Frontline pack, it's non-systemic, which I take to mean they don't have to bite to get zapped. It's going on the dog that does it as the Frontline works it's way over the skin

nealallen

I get Frontline off this eBayer seller http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZnoahpetsQQssPageNameZSTRKQ3aMEFSQ3aMESOI

Never had a problem with them.

Ladygrim

Another way to get rid of fleas is to use a carpet shampooer. But instead of using carpet cleaner, use dog shampoo. Make sure to get into the corners and the edges of the carpet. This has three bonuses.
1. you kill the fleas
2. you hoover up the bodies
3. you clean the carpet!
Workds like a dream
LG

blossomsuz

in my exeprience the best way to get rid of fleas is use Acclaim from the vets. Its a huge can of spray that kills the lil !!!!!!s. I use advantage on the cats and Acclaim in the house and never see a flea

peachespeaches

Borax didnt work for me, neither did one of the Sprays. I am waiting delivery of one of the Vet sprays (Indorex ) and a steam cleaner. Last night I sprinkled salt all over the bedroom floor and we didnt have a prob in the night. The cat has been treated with frontline but he wont come in the house! We are getting pretty fed up with the little b*gg*rs. Our youngest has been diagnosed with infantile eczema and so is quite itchy, the last thing she needs is flea bites.

peachespeaches

BTW boots sell borax, its near the sensitive washing up liquid.