Fleas Are Out of Control!!!!! Help!!!

a friend of ours has been giving his dogs 1 brewers yeast pill every day and it has been working. and also when you bath them use dawn dish soap that will also help!!! and to get them out of your yard use seven dust. good luck!!!! they say that this is the worst the fleas have ever been!!!!

Hey K.,
I worked at a vets office for about 7 years, and helped many people with this same problem. It is something that is going to get better with time, not overnight. Here is what I would do:

1) Plan on having your house/yard professionally (if possible) sprayed
Most places in the price that they charge return in 2 wks to respray reason it takes about 2 wks for the flea eggs to hatch.

2) Give your dogs a capstar. It is a pill that will start killing all fleas that your dog has on it within 30 min.

3) Give your dog a bath in some time of anti-itch or skin soothing shampoo. This will help with relieve the itching.

4) When they are completely dry, apply frontline plus to them (I feel frontline works better, because it is the only one that is waterproof and the only one that kills all stages of the flea cycle. Check with your vet, but Merial, the company that makes frontline says that it is safe to apply every 2-3 weeks when you have a bad problem like you say you do. Make for sure that the dogs dont get wet for 72 hours after applying the frontline and also make sure to use a gentle shampoo (anti itch or oatmeal)when bathing them inbetween frontline applications. If you use a flea shampoo or something like that it strips the frontline off.

5) Wash all bedding that is possible to wash in hot water. Vacumn daily and after each time you vacumn empty your vacumn bag outside in the trash. If you dont empty the bag, the fleas can still get back into the house.

6) Dont give up! To get rid of the fleas, you have to break the flea cycle. Continue the frontline even if you are not seeing any fleas. Just because you are not seeing adult fleas, it doesnt mean that their may not be eggs waiting to hatch. I would reccommend to use the frontline year round (once monthly after the problem is resolved) to prevent having this problem again. I hope this helps, and if you have any ?'s just ask me if I can help.

Hello K.,
sinds you used so many treatments already these fleas are resistant now to all that stuff, and the dogs skin is probably damaged too from all tat scratching, I work a small home based business with naural products and know for sure that we can help you too get rid of these fleas, and make you and your dogs happy again, feel free to contact me amd i tell you what to do.
M.

K.,
This is what I would recommend:
1) Treat your yard.
You can purchase the product for this at a farm supply or large home improvement warehouse like Lowes or Home Depot. You can use a liquid that connects to your hose or granules that you sprinkle with a fertilizer spreader.
2) Watch your pets for hot spots. If they are itching and scratching so much they could actually be scratching open sores on the skin which can easily become infected with staph or other infections. If you find a hot spot be sure and coat it liberally with a triple antibiotoc ointment before any further bathing to coat and protect the wound.
3) Try adding brewers yeast to the pet food. This is a natural flea killer and is easier on your pet and the environment.

Hope this helps,
L. G

We put seven dust in our yard, and we bought Revolution from our vet. It is a little on the expensive side ($70.00) a box . But we have never seen fleas on our dogs. This medication also prevents heartworm, and intestinal parasites. It really works great. It is a topical treatment you put behind their shoulder blades monthly. Try it and see if it helps!

You might try putting 7 dust in your carpets,fleas will lay and hatch in carpets, Sprinkle it on let stay for several minutes than vacuum.

I had a beagle with really bad fleas...took him to the vet and they gave him a shot for the fleas. The shot kills the fleas from the inside out. We never had another flea after the shot.

This is a tip I got from a newsletter I belong to. I haven't tried it but it is worth a shot.

Fleas. To rid your dogs and cats of fleas, shampoo them with blue Dawn. Apply, lather, leave in for five minutes and then rinse well. It acts as a safe pesticide and is very gentle on the animal’s skin. You’ll see this is true as you wash all those dead fleas down the drain.

K.,
I also have pets, 1 puppy(4months) and 2 cats(both under 18 months) and fleas can be really bad. All the diseases can be horrifying especially when you have kids(like I do). I want to tell you that I got them under control by using a multipurpose soap that is safe, effective and inexpensive. I used this weekly and religiously because it gives my pets a shiny coat and kills fleas and ticks on contact. It is called Bella Bar. It is $5.95 a bar and is worth every penny, and it is twice the size of a regular bar of soap. If you are interested please go to my website: www.candles4alltimes.com and click on the bath products and you will find the soap.If you need more info please call me at ###-###-####. I guarantee you will love this product.(P.S. It also heals eczema and acne and is great for people and is all natural so it is safe for all ages. Let me know what you think. C.

Well, are you sure that fleas are the problem? Because some dogs have skin alergies. And the way that they build houses here on old cotton fields (just think of all those chemicals they spray them with!) just makes them worse. My dog itches and she has no fleas- she jsut has dry skin. And all of the things you are doing to their skin could be making the problem much much worse. I got allergy pills from the vet and it fixed our problem..good luck!

Hi K.,
We fought the flea battle just recently and we won! I had tried everything also and my poor Buddy looked like he had the mange... go to Walmart in the garden section and get (eleminater) Sevin dust 10% for the yard, and get a canister of the Sevin-5 (5%) dust for the dogs(about $6.00)..... you can dust them once a week with it.... after the second dusting my buddy's not scratching like crazy anymore.... Good Luck... I hope this works for you, it did us....
C.

Have you tried Capstar? It's a pill you give them every other day for a certain period, a week or so. It starts killing the fleas within 30min. Once you get all of the fleas on them killed then do the Advantix or Frontline to keep them away. There is just probably too many fleas and eggs for the flea killers to overcome.

Dear Flea Lady
We also have a min pin and sentinal works for us. It is a once a month pill that makes it so when the fleas and ticks bite they die. Soon all the fleas and ticks will die because they will have nothing to feed on. You can get it at the vets office, it is a little expensive but WORTH it.

Good Luck
C.

I am thinking that there are fleas or flea eggs in your carpet, even if you don't see them. If you boarded your doggies at the kennel for a night, you and your family would most likely be the ones up all night scratching! I know, this has happened to me with 2 bassets. We got back from a trip, and were eaten up from the fleas jumping out of the carpet -- they were going for us since the dogs were gone. You've done the yard, but you are going to have to do the house, too. You can have it done professionally, but we have used those foggers like you can get at the grocery store with success. You'll have to stay out of your house, and you'll smell the insecticide when you come back home, but it works. Also, talk with the vet, make sure you are using the Frontline properly for it to work (I'm sure you are), I bet the reason you are having so much trouble is there are flea eggs hatching in the carpet.

Best wishes!
B.

I am having the same problem with the fleas. I asked my vet yesterday about it and she said I should give them a capstar pill once a week for a few weeks. She said that should knock it out. I think the pill is only about 4 dollars (at least that is what she told me). I think I will start trying it this week.
S.

Your dogs may have flea allergies. As far as how to get rid of the buggers, we used a combination of Frontline and flea traps (placed near where the dogs sleep-you can find them on Amazon.com). Also, Hartz makes a hydrocortisone shampoo that may give your dogs some relief. There are also versions of this that you can get from the vet which will help if they have developed skin infections from the fleas. Our dog needed the stronger stuff for his flea bites. Good luck!

L.

Your poor dogs! I hope you can get rid of those fleas soon!

There are some ideas on this site, maybe there are some you have not tried: http://www.ehow.com/how_2439_get-rid-fleas.html

Also, have you talked to your vet about flea & heartworm combination pills, such as Sentinel? A flea population is 50 percent eggs, 35 percent larvae, 10 percent pupae and 5 percent adults. These pills kill all of these except adults, meaning it kills 95% of the fleas. If your dogs are taking this pill, it will prevent any current adults from reproducing. So once you take care of those adults, you shouldn't have any fleas. Perhaps this can help you!

Also, dogs can be allergic to fleas, which makes the problem worse. My parents have a dog that is allergic to them. He will scratch and bite and chew at his skin until he has pulled out patches of his fur and sometimes bleeds. One flea could drive him nuts! They have to give him benadryl when he starts itching & scratching.

Good luck! I hope you find something that works!

We are having the same problem. The fleas are not bothering our cat, just the dog and he is miserable. We've followed the same measures that you have. If you do find a solution...please, please, please share.

thanks
KC