We have fleas! Help!?

Question

We spend a lot of time outside with the dogs, so we're sure that's how they got in. We just applied Frontline as soon as we saw the fleas. We are giving all of the animals a bath today also. After one of our cats baths, we looked her over and she still had fleas on her! We used soap too.
My sister said she saw one in the living room.
My mom is FREAKING! I'm afraid she'll say we have to get rid of the animals. I doubt it but it's a possibility.
What can we do!

Answer 1

Frontline is a very effective product if used correctly. Although it takes 8-12 hours to kill the fleas, it prevents them very well. If you want a quick solution got to a vet and get Capstar it is a tablet taken orally that will kill fleas within 10-15 minutes. I would still use frontline because capstar only works for an hour. Also I would treat your house as well. Siphotrol is a good brand. You can get it at a vets office. I would not recommend flea sprays, flea collars, bombs or flea shampoos. Most of these solutions are ineffective and some can be toxin to your animals. I work at an animal hospital. I've seen flea collar toxicity it's not pretty. Treating your yard professionally can help as well but if you have frontline it will prevent/kill the fleas that jump on your animals

PS. Don't forget to treat all the animals with frontline!

Answer 2

We brought a poor unfortunate cat in from our local barn. She had 4 kittens and they had fleas. We had two dogs and three other cats at the time. When we realized the kittens had fleas, we bathed them with a dish soap bath, rinsing well, and towel drying. None of our other animals ended up getting fleas, and we did not keep the animals separated. I believe we may have bathed the kittens one more time due to the fact that any eggs will hatch in a few days, but that wasn't necessary for all of them. We carefully used a flea comb on their faces after the bath, because the really quick ones run for cover on the dry face and head. It is easy to use the flea comb and it works. The dish soap kills the fleas, and if you have a cup of soapy water while you do the faces, you can dip the flea comb into it, to kill the captured fleas. The kittens were placed in good homes and all ended well. If the bath you already did was using dish soap, do it again, but make certain to saturate all the fur right to the skin, and then let it set on the animal for perhaps 4 or 5 minutes. Don't get any in the eyes or on the head or you won't be able to do it again (your pet will freak).

Answer 3

Bathing will remove a lot of the Frontline, so reapply it if its been two weeks. You have to give it time to work, as the eggs in the environment may take several weeks to hatch out and the new fleas to be killed. The company says you can apply the Frontline or Advantage every 2 weeks for a few doses. It's non-toxic and very safe. You have to put it on all the animals or else you'll never get rid of the fleas. Both products don't repel, but take up to 24 hours to actually kill the flea. Tell you mom to not freak out..fleas are disgusting but not the end of the world.

Answer 4

The fleas lay eggs all over the house. Be sure you wash everything the animals come in contact with, especially their beds and blankets. It is probably also a good idea to get a flea bomb or spray to use on your carpets. I had to do this when my cats got fleas. The medication will not immediately work, so give it some time. Also those little flea combs work great. Get a small bowl of soapy water, run the flea comb through your pets fur, and then put the fleas that are caught into the soapy water (much easier than trying to smash them because they have a hard body). Some flea medications do not kill eggs or other stages of flea larvae. I'm not sure about Frontline because I use a different brand. Make sure it kills all stages. Good luck.

Answer 5

You can get professional flea treatments from your local vet or you can order then from TV commercials or from stores such as Pet Smart. Some only get the adult flees and not the eggs, others get all aged flees and continues to eliminate fleas that the pets may come in contact with after the treatments. They treatments need to be used as often as the directions or the vet says. Everywhere your pets have gone in the house has now been invaded with fleas. I recommend flea and bug bombs, with a thorough vacuuming of the entire house following. I would also advise spray pesticides that are available for furniture for removing fleas on other parts of the house. The only sure way I know of ridding the house and the animals from flees is waiting for freezing weather. Freezing weather kills flea infestations.

Answer 6

Well, first things first. You should bathe the animals with a flea shampoo BEFORE you apply the Frontline. when you apply it afterwards you just wash it off and need to re=apply.

You will need to flea bath your animals, then put the flea preventive of your choice on them AND probably get an exterminator to spray your house, now and again in two weeks to get rid of all the fleas.
(The first go with the exterminator kills all live fleas, the second time kills any that may have hatched in the meantime.)

Answer 7

You can continue to do all of the things that you're doing. One product that I have found to be invaluable is Raid spray for fleas in the purple can. It's not cheap, like $7-8.00, but it's really good stuff. You spray all your furniture and rugs, also, spray the backs of couches and tilt them up and spray the bottoms too. You may need more than one can. Use a flea shampoo on the animals, not just any old soap. Unfortunately, it can get a little costly, but it's worth it. Good luck.

Answer 8

The URL below is all you need. Its a shampoo for both dogs AND cats and it really works! My cat had fleas like crazy and nothing worked. This was like the last thing that we tried and it seriously worked! She has never had any fleas ever again! And you can see the results, all the dead fleas in the water. The just come right out!! Its awesome!

Good Luck!
Im sure your mom wont get that upset.

Answer 9

EVERYTHING needs to be treated with a veterinary purchased flea powder. Vacuum the entire house and put the powder in the vacuum bag also. IMMEDIATELY following the vacuum
Tx remove the used bag and take it out of the house to the garbage. Flea eggs are the menace here, and they can live and hatch much later.

Answer 10

Spray the yard for fleas!
Spary inside of house for Fleas!
Fumigate inside of house with Raid concentrated fogger!
Wash pets with Flea and tick soap. Barring that in tub with a solution of Pine Sol and Clorox bleach.
use Flea and tick powder on pet.
Wash all linen in washing machine and spray beds, sofas chairs for Fleas.
You can also buy flea powder you can sprinkle on your carpet as well.