My dog has had two Frontline treatments in less than a month and he still has fleas. What can we do now?

Question

My exhusband decided that he couldn't keep our Cocker Spaniel so he brought him to me, covered in fleas and skunk smell. I took him to the vet, got him frontline and then had him groomed. I waited the appropriate time from dipping at the groomers to apply the front line. Nothing seemed to happen. I called the vet who said that it may take a week or more to see improvement. Nothing after a week. He recommended a repeat treatment. i did that. Still no relief. Our house in now infested as is the dog. What can we do now?

Answer 1

Ok I foster dogs and other animals and this often happens to me. Frontline is kind've like a preventative treatment, to me instead of a cure.

You may have to kennel the dog overnight in a different facility for this to work.

First let me tell you about fleas. Fleas that you can see are the mature adults. As you know they are difficult to kill. But what most people don't know is inside your carpet is usually hundred of thousands of flea eggs and larva. They fall off the dog onto the carpet and then hatch. Once hatched they go under furniture or in dark corners or even under kitchen stuff. They mature and then when a warm body comes around they attach themselves.

So you see you can repeatedly kill as many mature fleas as you want but you need to kill eggs, larva, and mature fleas to get rid of the infestation. You need to get a bug bomb made for fleas and ticks. Make sure it says for all the stages of life. You may need to bomb twice. After the treatment, vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Under everything you can think of, in corners and on the edge of carpets. Dry clean furniture and wash bedding and clothes. Once the house is flea free the dog can become flea free as well.

Now through all of this your dog had to have been somewhere, outside or at the groomers or kennel.(this bomb stuff is poisonous if you breath it you know) He needs a complete flea dip and a thorough grooming. MAKE SURE YOU HOUSE AND DOG ARE BOTH FLEA FREE BEFORE YOU BRING HIM HOME OR THIS WILL START ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Use a frontline treatment before he gets home as well, just in case.

This should work. You need to get rid of these fleas. They are dangerous desiese carriers. They are not just gross parasites you know they caused the black plague.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, Your backyard needs a bug treatment as well. These vary according to where you are.

here are a couple of nice sites I just found.
http://www.alt4animals.com/flea.htm
http://www.fleascontrol.com/

Good luck and I hope I helped.

Answer 2

Revolution is your answer. I have been using Frontline for 8 years now, and in the past 1-2 years I have noticed that the fleas are worse than ever due to weather that is conducive to them thriving, and that they are now getting immune to Frontline. Revolution is a medicine as opposed to Frontline which is a pesticide, so it works somewhat differently even though you apply it the same way. Since where we live there is still the threat of ticks I use both. I double/triple checked with my vet to make sure that this is safe. She said that not only is it safe, it is what you need to prove you are doing when traveling abroad. Both of these products treat other parasites and pests besides fleas and ticks, and they each treat different ones. I use Revolution (and Interceptor) on the 1st of each month and Frontline on the 15th so it is easier for me to keep track of and make sure they are evenly spaced. While you don't have to apply them that far apart, you should not dose with both on the same day, at least 3-4 days apart. Since using Revolution, nary a flea in sight.

As for the fleas in your house, you can sprinkle borax all around the house and this kills fleas. Place a flea collar inside your vaccuum cleaner so that any live fleas you suck up will be killed. When you empty your bag or container, you should use a fresh collar. You can use the borax outside as well. If it rains, you will have to re-treat the yard. Friends of ours had an infestation of both home & yard, they rid themselves of the little @#$% this very way.

Good luck. I hate the little itchy bloodsuckers.

Answer 3

different treatments are going to work for different dogs, and everyone is going to have the best solution for fleas.
First, you need to have your house fogged, no matter how much frontline you put on , if they are in your carpets and drapes, they aren't going anywhere. Make sure you remove anything live from the house first, and follow the directions before bringing any people or animals back inside.
2 Frontline treatments in a month are fine, it won't poison your dog. Many vets believe that frontline in particular works best when applied every 3 weeks, not every month.
Personally, I would not use Revolution for dogs, it is pretty much useless for fleas and ticks, but ppl like it because it contains the heartworm medicine, so you don't have to buy both. (it works great for cats and bunnies though)
I use K9 Advantix, it works in a matter of hours, not days. Also, this sounds dumb, but make sure you are getting the correct dosage for the weight of your dog. And, if your dog weighs 25lbs for example, go ahead and get the dosage for 26-50 lbs instead of the like 15-25 lbs, just to make sure you don't run out before you get to your dogs butt.
I know this sounds aweful, but you might just have to get him shaved down and then do the treatments . That is what we had to do for our cocker. They have so much hair, it is difficult for the medicine to spread through out. It will grow back fairly quickly, and the treatments will have time to work. Good luck!

Answer 4

Not only do you have to treat the dog you have to treat the inside and outside of your house call a local Pest Control and tell them your problem they have many products also professionals that can come out so that you get rid of pesky fleas also make sure that when you use front line you are not getting the dog wet or petting the spot where it was applied for at least one day that can cause it not to work also I would suggest instead of front line use advantix this works better. I used front line on my huskey and she never got rid of fleas or ticks also advantix also repels mosquitos consider also going to another groomer or even have a vet do the flea treatment. Good luck with your pup.

Answer 5

woah there. You applied 2 frontline treatments in a month? Jesus! You could have poisoned your dog! Frontline takes at least 24 hours to work, and the fleas simply come in contact with the skin and they die. Did you apply it directly to the skin, because its possible that you could have just squirted it in the hair and not gotten down into the skin, therefore it was a waste of money for you. And did you use the regular frontline or the frontline plus? The plus is waterproof and needs a whole day to soak in before you wash your dog. Dipping the dog only kills what fleas are on them, and does not work as a preventitive like frontline does. And it can be harmful to your dog as the chemiclas that your dog is going into can dry the skin out very badly. I use to work at a vet and a groomers. (check out my profile and you'll see) We would have to wear glves up to our elbows because that stuff we dipped dogs in was so toxic. And they put peoples dogs in it? I just don't know....anyway, where I groomed at, they stopped dipping dogs becasue it was so toxic to us, aggrevatd their skin and coats from multiple dippings, and just used regular flea shampoos which only killed what was on them as well, but wasn't as toxic. Now roll up your sleeves, becasue you are going to have some work to do to your house. First get your dog treated and protected. then go get a flea bomb, carpet and upholstery spray, and a wet vac if you don't have one. I heard you can pour some of the carpet flea spray right into the vac. and use it in the house. Spray down all you furniture, and any cloth stuff in your house. Then after that set off the bomb, and leave the house with your dog and go somewhere for a while like your neighboors, becasue you are going to have to be out of the house for however long the product requires. Don't forget to cover your furniture and stuff with plastic as the bomb will make it stink like it does. Also you might want to treat your car(s) too as fleas can hop off in there too. Wash all you clothes and dog bedding too. The war on fleas has begun... Good Luck! :)

Answer 6

Something is not right. When I moved into my new house with 4 dogs and 4 cats, the place was infested and they became infested real quick. Frontline Plus put an end to the problem right away along with a very good vacuuming.

Answer 7

ok first of all not to be mean but you could kill your dog this way frontline overdoses send dogs in to deadly seizures. stop the frontline it wont work with a major infestation. you need to get your dog dipped kill all of the fleas then you need to treat your yard it is probably infested just as bad as your dog. then you need to do the inside of your house. if you do all this and then apply frontline Once a month you will solve your problem.
make sure you get problem areas inside bedding anywhere your dog likes to lay and hang around alot.

Answer 8

You have to get rid of the fleas in your home before you can expect your dog to be flea free. My dogs picked up fleas at the dog park and we had to bomb the house (picked up the products at PetCo) and then we applied the FrontLine after we did these. It got rid of the fleas. Be sure to read the complete directions on the flea bomb. We used Zodiac brand then washed all of our bedding, the dogs' bedding, the couch cover, vacuumed, then shampooed the dogs with flea shampoo. Hope it helps!

Answer 9

Yu must not be applying it correctly as frontline is the No. 1 flea control for dogs. I have been using it for 10 years and never have any fleas or ticks

Answer 10

You need to get your house treated for fleas this can sometimes take two treatments depending on what product the pest control company uses. After the house is treated you will need to treat your dog again otherwise you will never get rid of them the same goes for ticks.