Fleas

[KLN]

I swear I saw a post on this the other day but cannot find it so I'm sorry if I am being repetitive.  We have fleas and I am just beside myself over it.  I do everything right...I am extremely diligent about giving both of my dogs their revolution (on the exact day it's due) and we get frequent baths.  But somehow we have managed to get fleas.  My vet says it's from the weather we had and that the outside animals like rats and racoons are bringing them into my backyard and that if you are not on a very strong dose of the flea prevention that in high flea times it just won't cut it.  So now I have a flea infestation on my poor puppies who are scratching like crazy, my house, my backyard, and of course me because they sleep in bed with me.  So here's the plan of attack...I have had them come and spray my yard once and we will do it another three times, two weeks a part (I hate doing this and putting insecticide in my yard/house but my vet says there's not another way, otherwise I will never get rid of them).  I'm also using a combination of their revolution and comfortis (the revolution then in two weeks the comfortis, then two weeks the revolution, etc for three months).  My vet says between that and spraying they will eventually die after three months. 

 

Here's my question...have any of yall ever had an issue with fleas (so gross, I know, I promise I have a really clean house and puppies!) and what have you done?  I am really concerned about giving them this comfortis but I just don't know if I have another option?  Do ya'll have any experience with this?

 

Any advice that ya'll can give me I would greatly appreciate! 

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

We started Brewer's Yeast, nutional store recommended it over nutritional yeast?  I'm not sure I've seen a whole lot of improvement yet BUT my girls love it?  They are gobbling up their food without any extras (egg/yogurt/etc) and licking their bowls dishwasher clean!  Not sure how long it'll last but I'm riding the wave right now.  We haven't bombed yet, concerned about them licking paws and/or everything in the house they consume that the residue will be a problem (especially with Sassy's heart murmur not sure how strong an immune system she has)?  We vacuum three times a week and bath twice.  We sprinkled diatomaceous earth into the carpet and left it a few days.  Things are improving but not as quickly as I'd like! 

Recent news clip recommended the following:

Boric Acid - sprinkle on carpet leave 2-3 hours then vacuum

for yard - half water half bleach in sprayer.  Spray yard twice a month?  (wouldn't that kill the grass though?)

Add pure lavendar to dogs shampoo - fleas supposedly hate the smell?

Keep groomed / bathed

Vacuum regularly

outline yard / garden with cedar chips

 

Called vet and they were absolutely no help?

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/nutriti...

[KLN]

Really? That's awful, sorry, the vet should have been more helpful! My vet gave me an entire plan (and its working!). I haven't seen a flea since the day after I started this regime (crossing my fingers it stays that way!). I put down below the steps we are taking (in case you want to try them). ;0)

1. Spray the yard...my vet said it needs to be done professionally and every two weeks for two months. After the yard is sprayed (I only did the outside of the house, not the inside because my fleas hadn't spread yet) wait 6-8 hours before letting the dogs on the grass. I aired on the side of neurotic and waited 24 hours. ;0)

2. I'm using a rotation of revolution and comfortis every two weeks. My vet said that after week two, the flea prevention starts to lose its effect and when the fleas are as bad as they are this year, they just need more medicine.

This has worked like a charm. One thing I didn't plan for (but realized a big "duh" when it happened) was worms. They get worms from eating a flea and of course with the medicine killing them on their bodies, they are bound to get one in their mouth, and of course they did so then we had to treat for worms...sigh...it was an endless cycle! But that was just a pill and they were gone.

I haven't seem one on them and they have stopped itching so I assume they are gone. I didn't want to have to resort to medicine but none of the natural remedies I tried worked.

Good luck!!!

[Pat and Traveler]

KLN, sounds like you have the flea situation under control--such a relief!    We had a horrid infestation a while back--the fleas were everywhere and nothing seemed to help!  The were in the carpets---yuk, yuk, yuk!  I was constantly doing laundry and vacuuming, trying every flea stuff I could find--I really, really didn't want to spray the yard, and anyhow--they were in the house!

What finally worked was Comfortis for Trav and a premise spray for the house.  I got the premise spray at the vet's office--just sprayed a room, let it dry and moved on.  Of course, laundering all the bedding and stuff one more time.  But it worked!  I hope never to go through that again!  I did sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the yard and house somewhere in the middle of the various remedies I was trying, and maybe it helped, but it's really messy, and you should wear a mask when you sprinkle it.