Poor pup with indestructible fleas

lushlifesaver

We have a shih tzu pup (a little over 18months old) who my partner has had since he was a baby and we've never had any problems with him until now...

Pup has no contact with other dogs apart from bfs mum's two bichon frise, gets a couple of long walks with me a week and a few shorter ones but is happiest lapping our garden and snuggling on the sofa!

In Sep I started watching a tot (just turned 1) who's parents have an akita who doesn't get walked (shame as he's a huge dog and only lives in their small yard, I'm sure he doesn't get enough exercise but that's another matter) not long after i started watching him (just a few days in fact) our pup began to get aggressive and didn't want any contact etc. We couldn't work out what it was until I saw something crawling under his fur (queue girly squeels in shock). We have now worked out that the only possible source for the fleas is the tot.

Now he gets done with frontline every thirty days and has never had fleas but now he definitely has them.

He was booked in to the groomers on the Tuesday and we confirmed fleas on the Saturday so we bathed him, brushed as many as possible out then treated him with a flea tablet. This seemed to eradicate them. He got groomed and now his fur is really really short.

Get to Wednesday when I have tot and by wednesday night we find a few more fleas on pup. We treat him again and they go, none seen until the next day I have tot! Asked tot's mum to check their's and she fobbed me off saying she had and he was clear but (and i know this sounds awful) i doubt she did check him.

Our poor pup is now in a cycle of being flea free until tot comes and nothing seems to prevent him getting them!

So long story short, what are our options for keeping him flea free? Are any treatment methods particularly effective? He is much more himself now but still getting the odd two or three fleas

I will no longer be looking after tot in four weeks time so I'm hoping they don't come back after that but any help would be greatly appreciated!

krlyr

I've heard so many people this year say Frontline hasn't worked. I personally use Advocate for my dogs, though this is more for the benefit of keeping them free of lungworm. Can't say I've ever had a dog that's had fleas, never even seen just the one, whether they've been treated recently or not.

It may be worth bearing in mind that fleas will lay eggs around the household and many treatments won't kill all lifestages though, so it may just be a coincidence that the fleas are coming back when you're babysitting. Have you treated the house, as well as the dog?

moggymutt

Frontline spot on only lasts 4 weeks, Frontline Spray 2 months- for breaking the cycle of fleas we always use the spray- more messy, but more effective,

You must do your house as well with something like RIP Flea.

lushlifesaver

We've done the whole house (luckily it's only a small bungalow so not much to treat!)

Sorry I got confused he gets done with frontline every 30 days - the three months was something different entirely, I'll edit my post to correct myself.

Maybe the way forward is to treat everything again I'd hate people to think we weren't responsible dog owners - this is the first thing to have happened to him! and he is really well looked after!

krlyr

It might be worth speaking to your vet and perhaps trialling an alternative product. It's a bit like headlouse products, the headlice eventually get resistant to certain chemicals. I've heard mixed views on whether Frontline is getting less effective or whether it's just not always used properly (house not treated, dog allowed to swim/bathed too soon after treatment, incorrect dose, counterfeit products being bought cheaply online, etc) but people definately seem to be having more issues with it this year from all the posts I've seen about it on various forums.

gill5blue

Hi,
Try sprinkling garlic powder on his dinner!!, he will love the new taste and the fleas won't like him at all.
Tried, tested and succeeded
hope that helps
cheers
gill5blue

Nicola_A_newman

Hi there
I hope that I will be able to answer your query about fleas and also the many other questions about flea products. I am a qualified SQP/Animal health advisor and advise people daily. In order to understand what is happening I will have to just quickly tell you about the flea life cycle.

• 95% of the life cycle takes place off the animal so the problem is mainly environmental. The stage you see is the adult on the animal. The eggs from the adult are slippy and fall into the environment- These eggs hatch to larva which then turn into pupae. The pupa then hatch as adults and jump back onto the animal. The problem is the pupae. They are indestructible and there is not a spray that will kill them. If you check your spray can it will only say adult, egg and larva-NOT pupa. These pupae can remain dormant for up to a year waiting to hatch.

Once an infestation has occurred it is important to follow the following advice

1. Spray the house with a good quality spray- like Indorex. This has Insect growth regulators which prevent any eggs or larvae from getting to an adult stage.It will also remain active for 1 year
2. Use a good quality flea treatment- Effipro, frontline, advantage. This product must be applied at the base of the neck and must be put on the skin not the fur. The product travels in the fatty skin cells and will cover the whole animal very quickly. The products mentioned are so good that a flea jumping on the animals die on contact and do not need a blood meal
3. The reason people say the product is not working is because the indestructible pupae are continuing to hatch out . To stop the infestation these pupa must hatch out and should be encouraged to do so. As they land into the protected environment or onto the animal they will die. Your protected pet will act like a vacuum cleaner so should be allowed access to all the areas it has previously been allowed to visit.
4. Using a spray will break the cycle, treating the animal will help kill the fleas emerging from pupa but you must be patient. It will take three months before the situation is completely under control.

Other Flea facts

• Any animal can get fleas if they are not protected as they hatch from the environment
• Fleas remain on the host animal and do not jump from one to another, but if you visit a house where the dog/cat has fleas the fleas will not jump off that animal onto yours-however the pupae in the environment will hatch and land on your animal.
• Encourage pupae to hatch -warmth-turn up heating, vibration-lots of vacuuming, CO2-breathe from your animal

• If your pet has fleas you should treat it for worms as invariably they will also have tape worm as the flea larvae feed on tapeworm eggs and the flea becomes the intermediate host for the tape worm. Good products include Endogard and Drontal

So to answer your question. The baby fleas you are seeing are hatching from the pupae in your environment. They will NOT be coming from the tot so please be reassured. Keep your pet protected, Use a good environmental spray and be patient. It will take time for them to all hatch out.

Good luck and I hope that the above helps everyone who is confused about their products not working

If you need advice or need to buy your products it would be great if you could buy from a site where the products sold profit abused and injured animals. Just google rspca-halifaxandhuddersfield.org.uk Thats where I get my on line veterinary products from and its great to have a more personal service.

Fire_Fox

Dogs can easily catch fleas from being out walking where other dogs have been, or you can walk flea eggs into the house on your shoes, it doesn't have to be the child.

Do your whole house again and car if you have one, all the hard floors and carpets, move all the furniture. Acclaim or Indorex are supposed to be better than most sprays. And do the puppy with a prescription product from the vet - be sure to worm him too as fleas can transmit the eggs. Don't feel bad, you have been treating and weren't to know there are so many problems with Frontline.

marlasinger

How about Stronghold - that is pretty effective, and it is a wormer too albeit not a complete one. You will need to get it from the vet and it's not particularly cheap but I find it to be quite effective.

ka7e

Program oral suspension can be added to food for another level of protection. It "sterilises" any flea that bites the treated animal so breaks the breeding cycle. I use it with Advantage to treat my allergy-prone cat.

CFC

Maybe you should Front Line the tot....!