Fleas/Frontline question...

There_Goes_Trouble

I treated my two cats and one dog with Frontline last Saturday, last night I found fleas on one cat and the dog, and also had a few jump on me off the carpet!

Today I have vacuumed and moved all the furniture and sprayed downstairs with Acclaim. I'll do upstairs later but needed a break!!

But, what can I do about the animals?

Obviously I can't treat them with Frontline again as it's too soon, but I can't leave them either. Is there a decent insecticide shampoo I could buy to bath them in? (my cats have never been bathed.... that could be interesting!)

Any other thoughts/ideas?

~Chameleon~

I'm afraid you're just going to have to sit it out until the products take effect. You can't apply any other product to your animals within 4 weeks of the last treatment.

JulieM

As stated above, you have to wait for the Frontline to get into the system, from my experience with cats it's usually a few days before all the fleas go. It could be that the eggs were already in the fur and have recently hatched out, as far as I know the fleas have to bite the animal first before they die. In the meantime you could try using a flea comb to round up the stragglers.

hr_money

There_Goes_Trouble wrote: »

I treated my two cats and one dog with Frontline last Saturday, last night I found fleas on one cat and the dog, and also had a few jump on me off the carpet!

Today I have vacuumed and moved all the furniture and sprayed downstairs with Acclaim. I'll do upstairs later but needed a break!!

But, what can I do about the animals?

Obviously I can't treat them with Frontline again as it's too soon, but I can't leave them either. Is there a decent insecticide shampoo I could buy to bath them in? (my cats have never been bathed.... that could be interesting!)

Any other thoughts/ideas?

I work in pest control. You will need to Hoover as much of your house as possible and empty the contents of the Hoover bag into your dustbin. This will remove as many of the adult fleas, larvae and eggs as possible. If badly infested, you will probably need your house spraying by a pest contractor or your local authority may offer a service otherwise your pets and house will keep reinfesting each other. Just to note the shell of a flea egg is impervious and they are only killed off as they hatch and come into contact with the residue of any pesticide. This process usually takes two weeks after treatment. Hope that helps.

Fire_Fox

There is resistance in the flea population to Frontline unfortunately, maybe flea comb all the animals daily for the next few weeks then get a more effective product from your vet.

~Chameleon~

Fire_Fox wrote: »

There is resistance in the flea population to Frontline unfortunately, maybe flea comb all the animals daily for the next few weeks then get a more effective product from your vet.

It's nothing to do with the product being ineffective. The OP applied treatment to her animals but failed to treat the house at the same time so all the fleas living in the home continued to jump on on the animals to feed, hence why she is still seeing them.

Now she has actually sprayed the home it will only be a short time until all the adults have been killed off. She may still see the odd one appearing as fleas in the pupal stage cannot be killed with insecticidal spray but regular hoovering should take care of the majority of these.

cavework

If you hoover too soon after spraying , you might as well not bother at all.
hr money is spot on (sorry) ..treat the animals first and keep on treating them .. treat the home but be prepared to do this more than once.An on going battle which you will win
We have had a couple of years where animal fleas have not been too bad, this year it is really now becoming rife.

There_Goes_Trouble

Thanks for the tips.

I have hoovered thoroughly, under furniture etc. I have sprayed the carpet and soft furnishings thoroughly (even turned the sofa upside down to spray the base!), and have done all the carpeted rooms in the house. Tomorrow I will mop the hard floors with bleach. I won't hoover again until Monday, but then I will hoover every day until I'm sure they're all gone. Reassuringly, when I looked at the dirt that came off the carpet (I have a Dyson and the dirt collection bit is clear) I didn't see a single flea in there, so hopefully I've caught is before it's a major infestation. I emptied the dirt into a bin bag and sprayed Acclaim in there too, and sprayed Acclaim inside the dirt collection bit as well just for good measure.

My routine is usually Frontline for all animals monthly in the summer and bi-monthly in the winter (unless it's a mild winter). I spray the house annually, it was due to be done in September. This is the first flea outbreak I've had in 14 years of dog ownership so my routine seems pretty reliable until now.

I guess it's just a case now then, of waiting to see if I've dealt with them all or if I need to re-spray. Better go and order some more Acclaim, just in case!

Thanks for the advice!

There_Goes_Trouble

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

It's nothing to do with the product being ineffective. The OP applied treatment to her animals but failed to treat the house at the same time so all the fleas living in the home continued to jump on on the animals to feed, hence why she is still seeing them.

I didn't know I had fleas in the home when I did the animals regular treatments last week. I don't spray my home every month when I use Frontline, the can states that annually is sufficient and it has been for the 14 years I've owned dogs, until now.

~Chameleon~

There_Goes_Trouble wrote: »

I didn't know I had fleas in the home when I did the animals regular treatments last week. I don't spray my home every month when I use Frontline, the can states that annually is sufficient and it has been for the 14 years I've owned dogs, until now.

Apologies, I didn't mean to imply you'd been neglectful. Yes, the household spray should usually give protection for around 12mths. Unfortunately, this year (probably due to extreme weather conditions) there appear to be more fleas around than usual and people are suffering higher rates of infestations. I've even had to give my own cats an extra treatment this summer. Good luck and hope you get on top of it very soon

There_Goes_Trouble

This is awful!

I've just picked about 10 fleas off my dog and she's still scratching. One cat is scratching although the other doesn't appear to be. My dog is so patient bless her, she'll stand or lie still for ages while I go through her coat and catch fleas. The cats though just wriggle and it's nigh on impossible to hold them still with one hand and flea pick with the other. I've found loads of eggs in the dogs coat and her skin is very dry and flaky.... I really feel that she needs a bath to clear it but don't want to interfere with the frontline. The flea comb isn't shifting the eggs. I also had a flea jump on my foot in my bedroom last night....I sprayed everywhere on Saturday afternoon/evening. I will hoover again shortly, but I'm sensing an absolute nightmare ahead.