Hey folks,Ineed to know how to get rid of fleas.My dog and cats are always covered.?

Question

My two cats and my dog keep picking up fleas.Then my kids beds become infested.Iknow there are countless options,but none that work well for me.PLEEEESE HELP....thanks...

Answer 1

Flea treatment can be inexpensive but there are several things you must do. The longer the infestation, the more longer it takes to get
rid of fleas.

1) TO TREAT DOGS:

-a- shampoo dogs with Dawn Liquid Dish Soap (leave it on a while as it drowns the fleas) -or- use a flea shampoo (not Hartz). Rinse well.

-b- if the infestion is really bad, you can follow up the shampoo with Kennel Dip, which is inexpensive. You mix a little in a large amount of water to wet the dog down after shampoo & rinse is over. Let the Kennel Dip dry on the dog.

-c- comb the dog with a doggie flea comb to remove dead fleas and egg casings.

-d- start the dogs on Frontline Plus, Advantage, K-9 Advantix , or Revolution so you don't get this problem back.


2) TO TREAT CATS:

-a- shampoo cats with Dawn Liquid Dish Soap (leave it on a while as it drowns the fleas). Rinse well.

-b- comb the cat with a cat flea comb to remove the dead fleas and egg casings.

-c- start the cat on good flea prevention drops like Frontline Plus or Advantage (not Hartz) so problem doesn't recur.


3) WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
-a- cheap flea collars from the stores
-b- cheap flea drops from the stores


4) TREAT YOUR HOME:

Bug bomb the house MULTIPLE TIMES! Most flea treatments only kill live fleas and you need to kill new babies as the eggs hatch. The chemicals dissipate from treatment before the eggs hatch.

When you bomb, you put away all open food products, set off the bombs and you and all pets must leave for 4-6 hours. Return home; open windows; allow chemicals & odor to dissipate.

1st Bombing: use more bug bombs than recommended
Subsequent bombings: use the # of bug bombs recommended.
Repetition: Repeat every 4 days for multiple times!
How many repeats???
2-4 for minor infestations. 4-6 times for bad infestations.

NOTE: if you have a basement, set off bug bombs THERE TOO!


5) TREAT YOUR YARD:

To kill fleas in your yard so they don't jump on your dog or you outside & come back inside, sprinkle Diazanon granules all over the yard. This kills fleas & ticks, as well as getting rid of nematodes and other unwanted pests.



- IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO CHEMICAL TREATMENTS -

Below are websites that will tell you NATURAL ways to control fleas and ticks on dogs and cats.

I've seen comments from people who have used Borax & state that this works fine.

I also saw comments on lemon soaps and that sounded good. I don't know which detergent is a lemon detergent but that sounded like it had good potential.

Vacuuming doesn't work. It doesn't kill the fleas. It simply removes the dead bodies.

Good Luck. It takes time when the infestation is as bad as you have!

Answer 2

Frontline Plus Provides Your Dog or Cat With The Most Complete Spot-on Flea And Tick Protection Available. In Addition To Killing 98-100% Of Adult Fleas On Your Pet Within 24 Hours, Frontline Plus Contains A Special Ingredient That Kills Flea Eggs And Larvae, Too And Keeps All Stages Of Fleas From Developing. By Effectively Stopping The Development Of New Fleas, Frontline Plus Completely Breaks The Flea Life Cycle And, Kills All Stages Of 4 Major Ticks Including Those That May Transmit Lyme Disease And Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Kills chewing lice. It's Completely Waterproof. For Use on Pets 8 Weeks Old or Older.

Answer 3

Yes there are countless options - you can rule out any that come from a pet store right away. Pet store flea treatments do NOT work. Pet stores aren't licensed to sell the proper chemicals for flea treatment - anything you find in store is just going to be a basic pesticide that you can't expect to work.

You can find proper flea treatment from a vets: basically Frontline, Revolution, Advantage or Advocate. These are all spot-ons, liquids you apply to the skin on the back of your animal's neck. They kill all fleas within 24 hours, and keep the animals protected for at least a month. There are also pills available called Capstar that deal with the immediate problem - they will kill fleas within a few hours, but do not prevent reinfestation.

You will probably have to spray your house as well, since this is where most of the fleas are living. Again, get something from a vets, not a pet store. You may have to spray your house twice, 10 days apart, to get any newly hatched eggs.

So get some Frontline or something from a vets (you don't have to take the animals in to get Frontline), maybe some Capstars for them, and spray for your house. Sorted.

Chalice

Answer 4

I used Frontline on my cats but it didn't seem to take care of the fleas. I switched to Advantage w/ much better results but now I use Revolution on my cat and dog - no fleas, no mites, no ticks, no worms, no problem. I buy Revolution from a vet in Australia, they had the best price I could find at deadfleaz.com at a little over $7/treatment. It will take a while to come in - I think it was a few weeks for me so you can get your first treatment from your vet then order more online. At $7/month per pet I think it is more than worth it not to have fleas on you, your pets or in your home.
When I was dealing with a home infestation I treated the animals, then bug bombed the house, vacuumed (make sure to empty the vacuum afterwards), sprayed with Raid flea spray for good measure and washed the bedding to take care of the current fleas. A hassle but the drops stopped new infestations.

Answer 5

Give baths with baby shampoo. The more you bathe the more fleas get washed away. Use a flea or tick comb. If you use drops on their back make sure that it is a couple of days after the last bath and wait a couple of days before bathing again.

Wash infested items with as hot of water as you can. Use bleach if possible.

Put baby powder down on the carpets at night and then vacuume up in the morning. Chemical powders can be harmful to your pets and kids. Make sure that you change the vacuume bag or canister often as fleas can breed in there and then get back out. If you cut up a flea collar you can put a few of the pieces into the bag or canister.

Good luck, fleas are a real pain in the patooty.

Answer 6

The treatments you can buy over the counter tend to be no good because they often dont protect from everything. You need to get your dogs treated at the vet for Fleas and Ticks, get your house sprayed to kill off the fleas and eggs, wash all bedding etc, and keep getting your pets treated regularly.

Answer 7

I have used Advantage for years and it has always worked well. It needs to be applied every 4 weeks for 3-5 months for it to totally rid your environment of all fleas though.

Answer 8

Try Frontline Plus. This kills fleas and ticks. If you have fleas in your house, you may want to call the extermintator to make sure they are out of your house, (they may want to spray the yard too if they are in your yard). Then give your animals a bath with fast acting flea shampoo. This will kill all of the fleas on contact. Good Luck! :)

Answer 9

A very eays way to quickly relieve their fleas: dawn soap. I used it on my pugs and the fleas literally fell off of them down the drain. However, if the area you are releasing them back into is still infested, then the bath wont help much.

Answer 10

You didn't say what you tried.

Get advantage, frontline, or revolution and keep them on it year round. These can be gotten from the vet. If you can't afford that, consider "thinning the herd" of pets you have.

Flea collars and pet store remedies are horrible.