Ugh, fleas!

MadameD517

I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem....

We give Bretta (our bulldog) Frontline every month. Have since she was a puppy and haven't ever had a problem with fleas. Just this past week H and I noticed a flea on her, then on Friday I pulled 3 off of her. She's scratching like crazy. So we took her to the vet for her annual shots yesterday and the vet tells us to give her Frontline twice a month if we notice the fleas being extra bad. Well we did that yesterday and now I just found another one on her! The poor girl is miserable and we are at a loss as for what to do now. We're going to call the vet tomorrow but I'm just wondering- is anyone else having a bad time with fleas this year? The vet said it's happening because it's been such a wet year. But yikes, 2 doses of Frontline, a few baths this month and she still has fleas?!

tonic

I have not had this problem, but I'm wondering where the fleas are coming from?

Does your dog spend a lot of time outside? Or do you think they are inside your house?

Maybe you could try Advantage? We use Frontline Plus which should be the same as what you are using. 

MadameD517

I have not had this problem, but I'm wondering where the fleas are coming from? Our backyard has grass, and on the other side of our fence is a chicken coop, I'm thinking that they may attract the fleas and our grass just provides a good home for them.

 

Does your dog spend a lot of time outside? Or do you think they are inside your house? I don't think they're in our house because neither H or I have had any bites, so I'm assuming they're coming from outside. The back yard and on walks are the only time she's outside so it's not like she's running loose in brush or something.

Maybe you could try Advantage? We use Frontline Plus which should be the same as what you are using. Our vet doesn't like Advantage, so we've been using the Frontline Plus.

torylynn1

My dogs get them from the park, and the last time I went to the vet I asked about flea protection, and needed a refill on Heartworm preventative. The Vet had just been at a convention where they found out none of the regular heartworms meds actually worked-they still found the worms. The only one they recommended tht was proven to work was Advantage multi (we always used Heartgard before). It goes on Topically between the shoulder blades and it's flea preventative and heartwrom preventative in one.

The reason I knew they weren't just trying to hock the expensive product is that it's actually cheaper for me to get that medicine then it would have been to get flea prev and heartworm prev separately. Plus my family has gone to this vet since 1975 so I trust them.

MadameD517

torylynn1:

My dogs get them from the park, and the last time I went to the vet I asked about flea protection, and needed a refill on Heartworm preventative. The Vet had just been at a convention where they found out none of the regular heartworms meds actually worked-they still found the worms. The only one they recommended tht was proven to work was Advantage multi (we always used Heartgard before). It goes on Topically between the shoulder blades and it's flea preventative and heartwrom preventative in one.

The reason I knew they weren't just trying to hock the expensive product is that it's actually cheaper for me to get that medicine then it would have been to get flea prev and heartworm prev separately. Plus my family has gone to this vet since 1975 so I trust them.

Good to know! I may put in a call to our family vet for a second opinion, thanks!

Passanie

Wow, that's really strange. That stuff usually works. Do you suppose it's time to bomb the house? Not to be gross, but the live ones could have laid eggs inside. But if you've treated that many times, you would have gotten successive generations. It is spring.

Structenggal

We started having a flea problem with our dog about a year ago.  We switched to Comfortis and haven't had a problem since.  Every so often when we come home from MIL's house we'll find fleas on her (I think from their dog), but it never escalates.  Comfortis is ingested rather than put on topically, but it works REALLY fast and works for the entire month.  I really really like it.  

MadameD517

Passanie:

Wow, that's really strange. That stuff usually works. Do you suppose it's time to bomb the house? Not to be gross, but the live ones could have laid eggs inside. But if you've treated that many times, you would have gotten successive generations. It is spring.

I'm thinking we're going to have to treat the house somehow at this point. Bombing it is not the route I want to go with LO on the way shortly but that may be what we end up doing. Stupid fleas!

MadameD517

Structenggal:

We started having a flea problem with our dog about a year ago.  We switched to Comfortis and haven't had a problem since.  Every so often when we come home from MIL's house we'll find fleas on her (I think from their dog), but it never escalates.  Comfortis is ingested rather than put on topically, but it works REALLY fast and works for the entire month.  I really really like it.  

Thanks for the rec, I'll look into that!

Passanie

I used a powder once you put on the carpet and then vacuum it up. It worked. I agree, bombing is pretty drastic, particularly when you're expecting.

leolyns

Fleas are also carried into your house by your shoes and clothing too. Sometime last year, our two cats (strictly indoor) came down with fleas and we had no idea how, my MIL said that they come in on your shoes and clothing especially if you come from hiking in hills or a grassy area. Good luck and hope your dog gets rid of the fleas.

annaandersen

When and how often are you washing her? You are supposed to apply the medication 2-3 days after a bath so the oils on her skin can help the medication spread around her body. If you are washing her too much, you may be washing the medication off.

Good luck!

MadameD517

annaandersen:

When and how often are you washing her? You are supposed to apply the medication 2-3 days after a bath so the oils on her skin can help the medication spread around her body. If you are washing her too much, you may be washing the medication off.

Good luck!

Thanks, we make sure not to wash her 3 days before/after putting on the medication so that it can work. I wish that was our problem!

MadameD517

Passanie:

I used a powder once you put on the carpet and then vacuum it up. It worked. I agree, bombing is pretty drastic, particularly when you're expecting.

So true. Today H found some bombs that he's going to do tomorrow since we'll be out of the house most of the day. He's going to spray outside first, set the bombs and then leave. At this point we want to make sure we get everything, furniture, etc. so that we don't have a flea problem and a newborn. I read up on the more holistic approaches but we've pretty much done them all so we're going to the big guns. Boo fleas, boo!

lunabeam

Passanie:

I used a powder once you put on the carpet and then vacuum it up. It worked. I agree, bombing is pretty drastic, particularly when you're expecting.

I moved into an apartment once and my indoor-only cat suddenly got fleas. I reasoned they must have been there from the previous tenant. Anyway, I went out and got some of this powder at the vet's rec; it was supposed to be safe (enough) to still have my cat around. It worked really well, and my cat never got fleas again as long as we lived there.

GL! I'd really want to avoid the bombs too.