Flea problems this year

[Wayne02]

We have one little dog and a cat. The dog is mostly an inside dog, the cat is outside most of the day, but sleeps in the house. In years previous we have used Advantage or Frontline to treat the animals for fleas with great success, usually only taking one, two at the most applications for the year.

This year we cannot seem to get rid of them. The treatment only seems to last 2 weeks if even that, the dog is scratching so much it has skin irritations. Regular bathing with flea soap, use of flea collar in place of Advantage treatment, none of it seems to work.

Took the dog to the vet and they gave her a steroid shot to help with the skin irritation. They also suggested switching between the Advantage and Frontline as some animals develop a resistance to one or the other when repeatedly used. Finally, they said we probably need to treat the environment (the house). They were not too found of the evacuate the house, set off a flee bomb system. Instead they recommended this outfit:

http://fleabusters.com/

Looks like you can have them come to your home and do the treatment or you can purchase the product and do it yourself. Looks like you sprinkle the powder into the carpet, work it in with a broom, then vacuum it out after a period of time.

Does anybody have experience with this product, or other successful flea abatement strategies?

Thanks

[chris30523]

We have had the same problem this year.My poor little dog is finally growing back her hair.We used the flea bomb system twice, one kind(raid I think) then two weeks later used the other.I don't have carpet in the house so I am not sure where they were hiding.Then we used the front line .So far so good.

[Pink_Carnation]

I have had the best luck with borax. I sprinkled in on carpet and furniture and washed any clothing type items with it. I leave it as long as I can then vacuum it up.

[markjen2525]

I have 2 large dogs and this year the fleas are really hoppin'! I read that a tablespoon or 2 of vinegar in the drinking water helps get rid of the fleas. I've tried it for 2 weeks now and it does seem to help. Plus, my dogs seem to like the taste of it. My 02 pennies worth

[Spinner]

I was loosing the battle with fleas until I started putting soap flakes in the yard. I buy the biggest & cheapest boxes of laundry soap flakes I can find. Then toss it on the yard as if I was reseeding the yard. Repeat after a heavy rain. Fleas don't like the soap so they move away to find a more hospitable place to live.

I also use vinegar in the drinking water. In addition I add food grade DE to their food once a week.

[ttryin]

I know you said "fleas" and not "mange" but some places are treating flea allergy as the same as some forms of mange. The Itching and loosing hair seems to be similar.

Here is a website that talks about hydrogen peroxide and borax. (There is some talk about vinegar and borax but I have also read that the vinegar doesn't combine as well with borax as hydrogen peroxide.)
http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/dog_mange_cure.html

I've researched for hours and hours, changed and upgraded diet several times, supplemented diet, raw meat dieted, bathed, vinegared, powdered, collared, frontlined, and used a couple of other similar brands.... and so far the thing that has seems to be working is borax and hydrogen peroxide. I did one "light" treatment and waited a couple of weeks to try the next one (this weekend) as I feared even external borax and hydrogen perioxide could be too much for my depleted kitty. He's getting some hair back and itching less...and definitely has more energy now.

I have also been using homeopathy...just can't figure out which remedy has had an affect.

Good luck.

T

[kathy H]

When we moved into a house we bought 10 years ago we had fleas so bad they were horrible. We had a company like that come in and they were GREAT. Three days not a flea left...

[city_grown]

We had fleas real bad last year in the house as I brought the dogs in at night so I could sleep and they would stop barking. The best thing we found to get rid of them was one keep the dogs outside which we will do this year and somebody told the wife of a trick. Place a small bowl about that is about an inch high and put water and a little bit of soft soap in it and place a small light by the bowl. The fleas like the light and jump at it and then end up in the bowl. We must of had 100 fleas in th bowl the first night. It took a week or so to get control but it works great.

[oberhaslikid]

Smith &Foster has a treatment that is cheaper called Biospot and it works just as well as the pricy ones.You can also buy it now at Tractor Supply but not as cheap as Smith &Foster.

[ttryin]

Am very happy Biospot worked for you. Unfortunately for my kittens, it did not work. But neither did Frontline, so maybe time will reveal a reason that had nothing to do with the products. On the other hand, there's lots on the internet about Frontline, Biospot and others....they work some of the time but not all of the time. Between Biospot and Frontline, that was +$50 that didn't work!

T

[e.alleg]

Originally Posted by city_grown

We had fleas real bad last year in the house as I brought the dogs in at night so I could sleep and they would stop barking. The best thing we found to get rid of them was one keep the dogs outside which we will do this year and somebody told the wife of a trick. Place a small bowl about that is about an inch high and put water and a little bit of soft soap in it and place a small light by the bowl. The fleas like the light and jump at it and then end up in the bowl. We must of had 100 fleas in th bowl the first night. It took a week or so to get control but it works great.

I have had great success with the flea light also. I use a 9" pie dish and a gooseneck light so the light bulb is about 3" above the water/dishsoap solution.

[tickranch]

a few years ago i had a flea problem on my strictly inside cats. i have no idea how it happened i didn't have a dog or anything. oh well.

i had great success with DE. sprinkle it on your rugs and or carpet then brush it in with a broom so it really gets in there. wait as long as you can 4-24 hours, then vacuum. vacuum often, maybe 2 or three times a day. the noise and movement bring the fleas out. they can hibernate in your carpet for weeks. walk around in white socks scrapping your feet and see if you can see any on you ( they stand out better on the white socks ). repeat as ness. you might need to dust, my house was covered in a thin layer of white, but it worked great and no chems. oh ya, wash everything you can ,blankets, throw rugs, pillows, ect..., in hot water.

i have heard ( not tried ) that brewers yeast sprinkled on the food keeps the fleas away.

[dhaley]

We have four dogs in the house. 2 lg, 2 sm. I don't put anything on the carpet I just vacuum everyday. This removes a lot of them. Also giving the dogs a weekly bath with dawn dish liquid, then a spritz of tea tree oil works great.

I have never heard of the soap flakes in the yard but I am going to try that. It seems like we constantly battle fleas because the dogs go out and drag them righ back in. We don't have a big problem with our carpets, just mainly on the dogs during the warm months.

[Wayne02]

With regards to treating the outdoor areas, do the fleas live through the winter? Do you only treat during the warmer times of year? It's be below 20 here the last couple nights, I wonder if there are any fleas in the yard this time of year, maybe they go dormant?

[littlebitfarm]

I used this stuff. It worked great!! Applied it, when the house was new, to all the carpets. Didn't need to reapply it for 10 years. 6 dogs were flea free with no treatment to the dog.

Kathie

[stars01]

Fleabusters was the best product I've ever used. When we bought our house we could see the fleas jumping, it was disgusting. We had fleas last summer but it has been 11 years since we've used the product. Thanks for the link, I am going to buy some more for this summer.

Good luck!!

Paula

Paula