Help with dog fleas and treatment?

Question

hi my poor pouch has got fleas for the first time . had him to the vet who give him frontline hooverd sprayed the house washed everything in site, my house has never been so clean.
What i wanted to know was that it has been 24hrs now and he is still scartching and so am i , i sprayed his bed should i also wash it and when can i shampoo him i noticed he has flea dirt on him ,should i use flea shampoo from now on to bath him he has a sensitive skin .and should he also be wormed been about a year since i last wormed him.
could anyone tell me off natural prevention treatment i hate to use all thsese chemical preperations, i read somewhere that using garlic in his food could help.

sorry for going on a bit but been on the internet looking at pics of fleas for the past 24hrs yuch!
how often should i treat him ,thought it was just a summer thing
i also think he got them from the neighbours cat who is infested with them does frontline work preventing them as well

thanks holee for the reply but it dosent answer my questions.
have been to the vet and i have sprayed the house

whats borax?
have already sprayed with gentrix r.i.p.
how often is it safe to give garlic and should it be raw or cooked .
read somewhere garlic can be toxic
but would rater be using that then pesticides.
if i wash my dogs bed today do i need to respray it
thanks for all the replys hate to see my dog unhappy

Answer 1

Take your dog to the vet.
While he is there getting deflead, have a pest control company come to your house and do the same thing to your house, It doesn't matter if you just treat the dog, you have to treat his environment or the cycle will continue

Answer 2

Do NOT combine flea products and do NOT over treat your home or pets.Stop using sprays on his bed,.this can make your pet ill. Frontline is a pretty safe product and it works very well.It also doesn't go into the dogs system but rather stays in oil glands and hair folicles. If you've had a severe flea infestation it can take 3-4 months to get rid of them even with proper treatment and cleaning.
When you vaccumn empty and replace the bag after every session.Put contents in an outside trash container. Same if you have a bagless vac empty contents in outside trash container. Vacumn your cars too. As long as there are fleas in the enviornment they will get in your house and on your pets..yes you have treated (actually over treated) your house but the yard and other places can be contributing to the problem. You can bring home fleas & eggs from other places.

Garlic may help it has never been actually proven, however it needs to be small amounts only. Do NOT ever feed onions!!

Do Not use flea shampoos. They are too harsh and they also, like all OTC flea products, can be very dangerous to your pet.
The itching will subside. It won't disappear right away no matter what you use. The skin needs time to calm down.

Answer 3

Do not bath an animal 3 days before or 3 days after treatment with frontline or advantage.

Feed him garlic and onions. He will probably turn his nose up at first, but mix them in his food really good. It may take him two or three days before he decides to eat this 'new food'. That is OK. It won't hurt him.

Bath him with sensitive skin shampoo. (hint: use cheap baby shampoo) Use vinegar as a final rinse to help keep the fleas away. Do not use flea shampoo as it is to harsh. He only needs a bath every now and again. (spring and fall are good times) Brush him several times a week to keep his skin and coat in good shape. Brushing removes dirt.

It sounds as though you have done a good job of cleaning, but here's a couple of things you need to do. Change the vaccum bag, as the flea eggs will hatch and you will still have the problem. Next wash all your poor-babie-dogs bedding in the hottest water possible. Use vinegar right in the wash and again in the rinse. One cup for each cycle should suffice.

If possible - treat the neighbors cat. You can ask if they mind. Could be they are short of money right now and your kind offer would be appreciated. Just be tackful when you ask.

Frontline prevents actually breaks the life cycle of the fleas. It prevents them from laying eggs, so yes it works at preventing your pet from a reinfestation. It only lasts about 30 days though, so your pup will need to be retreated.

Your dog should be on heartguard and that will take care of worms. If he isn't, talk to your vet about it. It is extremely important, as dogs with heart worms die a miserable death. Over the counter worm control (Hartz, etc) is a waste of money. Better to get it from your vet.

Borax and Dawn dish detergent are myths, so don't waste your money on either one.

I sure hope I have answered your questions and this helps get you and the pooch on the right track again. :)

Answer 4

Oh God - not Borax or garlic, are people on here ever going to stop with that? Yes, garlic can be toxic. You can feed it in suitably small amounts to be safe, but then it's seriously unlikely enough would be excreted through the skin to repel fleas - even if indeed garlic does repel fleas, which is doubtful!

Borax is a kind of boric acid used in detergents, and I believe it says on the label to keep away from animals.

You might have a tough problem here. Ignore people's suggestions of 'home remedies' like Borax, salt, garlic, Dawn dish soap, all the usual crud, they're not helpful at the best of times.

Fleas are not just a summer thing. They like the warmth so they are more prevalent outside in summer - but thanks to our modern, centrally heated homes they thrive well in winter so you have to treat the year round. Frontline does prevent fleas, for at least a month on dog - you have to use it about every 6-8 weeks for flea treatment. HOWEVER it only kills adult fleas and keeps them off your dog, it does not deal with the eggs and pupae which will be on him and of course, in your home. Frontline Plus however does kill the eggs and pupae too, you might consider switching to this when you next buy some.

I'm not sure how good Genitrix is. One thing's for sure, you often have to spray the whole house twice, about two weeks apart, to get the remaining eggs that have hatched out. You need to spray everywhere, including tiled/laminate floors, all soft furnishings including sofas and even curtains, and even the car if your dog goes in it.

You can wash the dog 48 hours after applying Frontline. I wouldn't bother with a flea shampoo since they do nothing to treat fleas, get something that's going to be kind on his skin, you only want to wash off the flea dirts.

Continue with the Frontline, making sure you get it on his skin when you apply it, and spray your house again in a couple of weeks. I also recommend Program tablets since they sterilise any remaining fleas, they are a good backup plan!

It takes Frontline 24 hours to spread through the skin, so don't worry if you haven't yet seen results.

Chalice

Answer 5

Give the frontline at least 48 hours to work. Don't bathe him right yet. The frontline needs a couple of days to get all over him. If you give him a bath too soon all the frontline will be gone. Give it a couple of days, if no improvement wash him in Dawn dish detergent. leave the dawn on him for about 5 minutes and then rinse him. I always brush mine afterward and pick all the fleas off of him. Good Luck!!

Answer 6

Hi there, my dog once used to have fleas, it was a large infestation, they were everywhere. She was uncomfortable. They came from a cat that we were looking after for a weekend. Fleas found on dogs are nearly always from the cat flea. I started by fronlining her once every three months, as a quick, liquid application, under the fur and inbetween the shoulder blades. after about 72 hours there should be a difference. Most of the fleas should be dead, and after that they shouldn't be able to attach themselves to your dog. Frontline is powerful stuff, it should work. If it does'nt take him to the vet. Problem is that you may need to keep frontlining him as hes gonna be around the cat all the time. Esier to get your neighbour to frontline their cat and then you wouldn't need to use this powerful stuff on you pouch.

Answer 7

The frontline will work, give it more time. Clean routinely with borax, it kills fleas and other bugs. You should be able to wash and brush him good and the frontline will keep working. Keep using frontline once a month and you shouldn't have probs. Ask
vet about worming and sensitive skin. If pooch is on heartworm med once a month, it should kill all worms. Brushing, not overbathing should help his skin.

Answer 8

I think you did everything good, you will only have to continue with the cleaning for a while as you have to break the flea cycle.You should either washing the dog's bedding or get rid off it... it probably also has flea dirt and flea eggs on it...
I also wouldnt wash him just yet, give frontline time to work...

Answer 9

if you have put anything on him to control the fleas it is usually a 30 day treatment. i think that you can use a non detergent shampoo like baby shampoo to clean him with out removing the treatment.
for you home.... get some 20 mule team Borax. put it all over your floors, under your beds, in his bed, under your couch cushions, etc. ... let it sit for a couple of hours, and then vacuum it all up! your fleas will dissappear. I would also put it outside where ever he goes.... this will really knock the fleas down. then call a professional pest control person to treat your house an yard on a bi-monthly schedule. garlic, garlic, garlic....it does really work! just use the powder. i dont know if you let yuor dog eat table scraps, but this is the easiest way to get them to eat garlic. try it with chicken fat and broth with some rice. good luck.
ps the new flea dirt is from fleas that are probably dead now... it takes a couple of hours for the poison to kill them.

Answer 10

We've been fighting a flea problem (on indoor cats, would you believe?) now for 6 weeks. On our second doses of Frontline (it is effective for up to a month if you don't wash it off) and keep a water trap going all day and night to keep account of diminishing hatchings.
We were catching up to 30 newly-hatched fleas a night to start, now down to about 5, so we are winning.-, I hope!
Even though they never go out, they will be wearing flea collars once we've got this sorted.

Answer 11

If you put frontline on him, wait a few days before bathing. Do not use flea shampoo. Frontline should be used once a month and you put it between the shoulder blades.