Squirrels = Fleas?

[Richard Crowe]

We have never been bothered by fleas.  Once or twice a year Judy would find a flea on one of our dogs but, we figured that the flea got a ride on the dog someplace other than our home.  We got pretty complacent and weren't ready for this years flea infestation.

We have had an influx of squirrels on our property and we think that the fleas came from them!

We have never seen fleas like this.  Our poor barn cat had so many fleas that she has become anemic.  She is a feral cat and we were not able to get close to her until she wasn't feeling well.  She is a sick kitty and we hope she makes it.  She is in a pen isolated in our dining room until she gets to feel better.

All of our dogs, including the litter of puppies had fleas.

We had given our dogs Capstar but, that only kills the adult fleas. That did not stop an outbreak of new fleas.

Our vet recommended that we bathe our animals in a 1:1 solution of Dawn Dish Soap and water...  That kills thee fleas dead!  We also gave them (except the puppies) Comfortis internally + Frontline Plus.  We just bathed the pups in Dawn. Judy barges ten dogs today...

All of the dog bedding went into the wash.  Luckily, we have no carpets - just tile floors.  We scrubbed the floors with Dawn and Bleach.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Yikes. What an ordeal for you guys!

[Barbie]

I had the same problem 2 months ago - fleas were all over my house and jumping on me, and Zeus has been on K-9 Advantix for 5 years. I'd never had a flea problem at all. Thanks for sharing that your vet recommended Dawn. That's exactly what I used to get rid of them. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to get shunned for using anything but dog shampoo.

Anyway, I first salted all of the carpet and the hard floors (yes, table salt kills fleas). After 24 hours, I vacuumed up the salt, then mixed some Dawn in several bowls of water and placed them on the floor throughout my house (it's best to have a nightlight shining on the bowls). Every morning for a week, I emptied the dead fleas and refilled the bowls with a fresh Dawn/water mixture.

I then removed all of the bedding and washed it. Lastly, I mixed Dawn with Zeus' doggie shampoo and bathed him (always start with the ears because that's what the fleas crawl into if you start anywhere else on the body). I did Zeus last because the fleas that survived the salt and were too smart to dive into the Dawn swimming pools ended up on Zeus.

[Nancy & Echo]

I'm so sorry this is happening.

I know this is slightly off topic, but I'm sure you know to try to avoid contact with the squirrels if possible. 

They recently  (2015) discovered a new virus that is associated with squirrels that caused fatal encephalopathy in 3 older men in Germany who were friends and squirrel breeders. This particular squirrel (varigated squirrels) are endemic in Latin America, but I don't know if other squirrels or their vectors can carry the disease.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26154788  Of course, squirrels, or their vectors, can carry other diseases too, such as rabies, plague, lepto, tularemia, etc.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Oh, Richard.  Once when I was a kid and once as an adult, we have had serious flea problems.  We have been pretty lucky for the last few years. 

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

I feel for you Richard.  When Haley was a puppy we had a infestation of fleas and had to vacuum the house daily including all the soft furniture.  Since then we haven't had any fleas (or ticks) and use Frontline Plus monthly.