Im a faliure my dog has fleas, but why?

Question

Im gutted i dont want to seem over dramatic. But i give him flea drops on time every month, he gets regular baths so why has he gotten fleas! I buy (what i thought was good stuff) from the pet shop. And when i realised that every time you bathed him the effects of the drops where off i bought him a flea collar. Hes only had it on a week, but today i saw 1 flea! So i took him straight the vet were they gave me some stronger flea drops and some de-wormers!
Why have all other treatments failed, when they cost me good money i feel really cheated! Ill only ever buy from the vet again!

Answer 1

Excuse me...I have an announcement to make...The flea collar only works around the pets neck area! Thats right! The flea collar only works around the pets neck area! So where do the fleas migrate? Away from the neck to other parts of the body. Please, don't ever buy one again, and please tell everyone you know...thank you. Oh BTW: Flea Shampoos' can do more harm than good, so be careful. They only kill what fleas are on the pet, not protect them from future infestiations. And they (shampoo) can dry their skin out, creating more of a problem than there ever was. Please save your money for the drops. And now for some more useful info...Question: What brand of flea drops did the vet give you? Recommended: Frontline Plus. I what I have used for years. It is expensive,but truly worth every penny. Both of my dogs have never had an infestation. I have seen a flea on them every now and again, I pick it up and its already dead. Just by simply landing on the dog, they die as a result of the chemicals found in the drops. Frontline Plus is the only brand thats waterproof, and keeps working for an entire month or some say for more. I do have woods behind my house, and have to take the necessary steps in protecting my dogs, just as you will. I have posted a few links below for you...one big thing I like to bring up with the flea controlling challenged is to not bathe your dog for at least 24 hours after applying the drops. This gives it a chance to soak in to the natural oils of the skin. Because the flea life cycle can vary from 2 weeks to 6 months, it may take several monthly applications of the drops to break the flea life cycle that has been established in the pet's environment.
Therefore, you are required to use one full dose of the drops for 3 consecutive months on every cat and dog, 8 weeks of age and older, in the household (indoor and outdoor) to even give it a chance. This is the #1 biggest mistake many people make! They will simply complain that the drops didn't work, and are stuck in a never ending cycle (just as you are in) with battliing fleas. Now get ready...you've got sme work to do: You will have to bomb your home for fleas after you get your dog protected and under control. Make sure you buy one thats fabric friendly (and pet friendly) otherwise you have to cover up your furniture to keep it from getting stinky like the poisons and chemicals, which defeats the whole purpose of killing the fleas that are hiding in your chairs and couches. Find somewhere you and your dog can go (friend, relative,neighboor, ect.) for a while while the bomb works in your house. Obviously you wouldn't want to be in your house when it goes off...make sure you also wash your clothes regularly as this helps with all pet issues for obvious health reasons. Good Luck! Hope I was able to help! :)

Answer 2

As someone who has plenty of knowledge on the subject, I suggest picking up Frontline next time you're at the vet's office.

It'll kill the fleas and the eggs.

BUT you cant put it on your dogs skin til three days AFTER a bath. Your dogs coat must have the natural oils in it to help the medicine take effect.

One does should last about a month.

Also get some kind of flea treatment for your carpet. Sprinkle it on and follow the directions. Once you vacuum it up, get rid of the vacuum bag immediately, as fleas and the eggs can still live in that bag! There are sprays that you can use on your dogs bed and toys where eggs may be hidden.

Dont worry, it happens all the time. The good news is there are MANY ways to solve the problem.

Good luck sweetie.

Answer 3

There are products that you can put on your dog that will kill any flea that jumps on him immediately for 30 days. There are two that I can think of off hand that work great. Frontline is a liquid that you put on the neck and works strictly on fleas. It is around 10$-15$ each time, depending on the size of your dog. The other is called Revolution it works for all internal parasites as well as external, but costs a great deal more. This one is $60 and it is a pill.

Call your vet and see what they charge because they are usually cheaper than the pet store prices. Good luck.

Answer 4

Did the vet say anything about totally spraying your house. Some of the reason that your dog has fleas is that when you bring your animal to other places i.e. friends houses, the park, you and your dog can pick-up fleas. there are sprays that you can buy at your local pet shop that will fit the bill.
remember, spray the perimeter, inside and outside, bomb the house (take your dog to the groomers to maybe get a flea bath and dip) by this time the bombs will be finished. keep a regular sched of doing this and you shouldn't have a problem. also remember that when its humid(sept,oct,nov) indian summer fleas come out.

Answer 5

You aren't a failure. Flea eggs live in an environment for up to two years. The flea drops at the pet store usually aren't as effective as the ones from the vet. If you use Revolution, you can give as many baths as you need to. Revolution enters the body so its effectiveness doesn't depend on the skin. Don't give him too many baths, though, it will dry out his skin. Please don't use flea collars, they aren't terribly effective and have been known to make dogs sick. You could try vacuuming-- soak a bunch of cotton balls in flea spray and place them in th vacuum bag. That will kill the fleas you suck up. Vacuum at least every day for a few weeks, you'll be fine.

Answer 6

many flea products are now losing their effectiveness because the fleas have adapted. Try using a different product with different active ingredients. Also, fleas actually spend MOST of their time not on the dog but in other places like your yard, under the carpet, the dog's bed and other hidden areas. You must treat all of these areas to effectively eliminate the problem. Also, if you have neighbor dogs coming on to your property, they may be re-infesting your own dogs so talk with your neighbors about working together to battle the flea problem.

Answer 7

in many years of owning pets, we've found the flea drops (like Advantage, which has worked very well for us with two different dogs) to be the most effective.

Most flea treatments can take a month or two to be really effective, since basically what they do is to interrupt the flea reproductive cycle, so it can take a generation or two to kill all the fleas.

Sometimes you also need to do some work to reduce fleas in the environment the pet lives in. if it's an indoor dog, vaccuum regularly (every few days) for a month or two to help reduce fleas in the house in addition to using drops like Advantage on the dog.
In more extreme cases, you can try things like the indoor fogger products to kill fleas in the house, although read the directions, you often have to do 2 applications a few weeks apart, since basically flea eggs are exceedingly difficult to kill, so you need 2 applications to get rid of them. (first time to get all the current adults, second time to kill all the newly hatched fleas)

If it's an outdoor dog, cedar chips and similar things in areas that the dog spends a lot of time can help to reduce fleas in the yard.

Answer 8

I don't know what you got from the vet but frontline is one of the best. If you have carpet in your house and want an inexpensive an unharmful treatment in addition to the frontline, sprinkle salt over the carpet and leave it for a day or two, then vacuum to get the excess salt off. do the same under the couch cushions. Salt kills flea eggs, you can also put it around the yard although it can kill your plants if you use too much.

Answer 9

that's because store bought flea treatment are garbage. don't use flea collars if you can help it because they have pesticides in them then every time you pet the dog you get them on your hands. then you can ingest them real easily unless you are washing your hand after every time you pet your dog. continue to get your flea med from the vet. ask if they will cut you a break if you buy a 6 month supply. since you did find fleas on your dog ask the vet about what product you should use in your house. don't forget to spray your dogs bed area/ areas every month (maybe when you give him his flea meds)

Answer 10

If there are fleas in his enviroment you won't get rid of them. The babies keep hatching the drops just make the adults sterile. You can buy a carpet flea powder to put on you furniture, carpet and dop bedding that you leave on for about 30 minutes and vacuum up. They work pretty good, just remember after you vacuum you get rid of the vacuum cleaner bag or your defeating the purpose.