Ridding a dog of fleas without needing to shave him?

[bcnewe2]

Does the seresto collar have an oder? I still smell the Adams color smell on dew (hairy girl). Its not bad per say but chemically.

 

Vectra didn't do squat for us. Vet said I'm the first person that complained. Really?

Comfortis is is our savior but I have a feeling it's area specific.

[Beach BCs]

I've used Comfortis for years on my own dogs and on my fosters. As long as I've fed it with a good meal none have had any stomach upset and I've never noticed any diarrhea. Since I started using it on the dogs I have never seen another flea. I do suggest washing all the bedding and vacuuming the carpets. Comfortis is not cheap but it works so I'm happy to pay for it. I buy the largest size and cut the pills accordingly to curb the cost.

[Liz P]

It takes a minimum of 3 MONTHS for any flea produce to really get the problem under control. I do think Comfortis is one of the better products for a rapid flea kill.

 

Call your vet about a dose for an antihistamine. It will help with the itch.

[Sue R]

I don't notice a smell with Seresto.

 

I've used Comfortis (also Trifexis a few times) and never had any digestive issues. Feed with a good meal.

[GoodbyeHalcyonDays]

It takes a minimum of 3 MONTHS for any flea produce to really get the problem under control. I do think Comfortis is one of the better products for a rapid flea kill.

 

Call your vet about a dose for an antihistamine. It will help with the itch.

Caleb has been on Revolution for about three months now (started on May 11th if I remember right), and I still have three months supply left. Should I just shell out the $110 for the Comfortis instead?

[Liz P]

You are fighting a losing battle if not all the pets in the household are on flea control (dogs, cats and other mammals).

 

BTW, you can use Comfortis and Revolution at the same time. But, you really need to have this conversation with your vet. Among other things, you should not use a product containing spinosad if your pet has a history of epilepsy/seizures or is on high dose ivermectin.

 

When I have had flea problems, which thankfully has not been for a very long time, I also steam clean the carpets, wash all bedding and otherwise clean the house thoroughly.

[bcnewe2]

Liz I'm not at home and can't research it. Is comfortis a spinosad?

TIA

[Sue R]

Comfortis is spinosad. So is Trifexis, with other active ingredients.

 

An update on our experience with Seresto collars - this month is the fifth month we've had the collars on, nice and snug. After applying them early in the summer, I found two ticks on the dogs. One was dead and one was dying. We did not have another tick all summer and neither did we experience any fleas, but we usually don't here where I live. The collars are supposed to last eight months without bathing or swimming, and five months if the dog is bathed or swims at least once a month. My dogs are not bathed but they do cool down in a stock tank so the collars may have been at the end of their effective lives.

 

We just spent a week in eastern NC. One dog, who has occasional seasonal allergies, was mildly scratching when we left home. While we were there, within just a day or two, all dogs were doing some scratching. I thought I spotted a flea on one but missed catching it and getting a positive identification. We were not sure if the dogs had fleas (I became more sure on a daily basis, just by observing how they were scratching and biting) and know that some dogs can get itchy from the salt water and/or local beach grasses. If it was the water and saw grass, I would have expected a reduction in scratching by this time since their last time in the water and grass was Friday morning.

 

We've been home less than 24 hours and I found and killed a flea on one dog. I'm off to get some Comfortis as soon as I can this morning. I've seen positive and negative reviews of Seresto and its effects on flea control but with my experience so far, I don't know that I'd rely on it in the future or maybe only for a shorter period of time than it is labelled for.

[rushdoggie]

I am struggling with fleas this year as well. Previously I used Frontline and even for my dog who had flea allergies it seemed to work.

 

Currently, despite 3 months of dutifully applying Frontline and vacuuming and washing beds weekly, my dogs all have fleas. I put the Frontline on 2 weeks ago and washed at least a dozen fleas off one of my Papillons yesterday.

 

I suspect my yard is infested, we have a ton of squirrels and stray cats and possums that wander through, and I see the squirrels scratching all the time. I also saw one of my neighbors dogs poop in my front yard the other day, and when I went to clean it up it had tapeworm segments in it...I'm sure her dogs (who wander all over the culdesac) have fleas too.

 

Any ideas for killing fleas in my back yard that is safe when you have pets?

[Sue R]

Maybe the fleas in your neighborhood are resistant to Frontline. We had that happen a few years back - when we first used Frontline quite some time ago, it was like a miracle. We don't treat for fleas unless we have fleas so we often don't have to treat at all or only treat if we are going visiting where we might find them.

 

So, when neighbors moved in across the way and our dogs started having fleas, I used Frontline once again and the problem was solved - that year. Next year, when fleas appeared, I used Frontline and the fleas seemed only deterred for a few days after application. So I used Advantage and they were gone - for that year.

 

After a few years, neither product would work for us and I started using Comfortis, which our daughter in NC was finding to be very effective. And it has worked excellently for us, again, only using it when we feel a need.

 

I had high hopes for the Seresto since we were getting some ticks for almost the first time ever, and felt it was a good buy if it was effective for both ticks and fleas, even if that was only for the shorter, five-month period. While I haven't found a tick on one of the dogs since the first week after we applied them, it may still be effective for those but it does not seem to be helping for the fleas. Or maybe it is but it is taking a few bites before it kills the fleas. Or maybe they were just picking up new fleas daily while we were at the beach (neighbor dogs, wooded areas, wildlife?) and that was enough biting (every flea needs at least one bite) to cause issues.

 

I had also wondered if the problem was not fleas but the mosquitoes down there but, since I found a flea on Celt down there (missed catching the little bugger) and then the one on Megan this morning, I know that fleas are at least a part of the problem.

 

Celt is the kind of dog that gets quite itchy with just a single flea and he seems to be a flea magnet compared to any other of the dogs we have had. He lets me know when there is a problem brewing on the biting parasite front.

[GentleLake]

I also saw one of my neighbors dogs poop in my front yard the other day, and when I went to clean it up it had tapeworm segments in it...

 

You could call the ACO and report it.

 

I'd guess at this point it could be considered a human health risk as well as violation of dog laws.

[Sue R]

I also saw one of my neighbors dogs poop in my front yard the other day, and when I went to clean it up it had tapeworm segments in it...I'm sure her dogs...have fleas too.

 

I have found the same in our yard, poop that wasn't ours and has tapeworm segments. Since the neighbor dogs like to relieve themselves *here* when their young man is jogging with them and we don't have other neighborhood loose dogs around our place, it's pretty easy to know who and from where. Meanwhile, I told him one day when I saw him about the tapeworm segments but they will probably use something from the feed store or Wal-Mart which won't be very effective...

We have never had fleas here before the neighbors and their multiple (4 or 5?) dogs moved in across the way, and then we had them several years in a row. Not recently, though, so either they are treating their dogs or maybe just not letting them run around like they used to do. Our current flea problem (which is being solved now) was from our trip to NC.

[Sue R]

Perhaps the Seresto collar is doing some good. When I got home, I checked the seat cover in my car, which had been washed and put clean into the car the day we took off for NC, to see if there were any dead fleas from my giving Celt his Comfortis a couple of hours earlier on our way to town. Nope, didn't see any dead fleas (although I am quite convinced he is scratching less already) but I did find a small dead tick. Apparently one of the dogs picked at least one up on the trip and it did the trick, killing the tick before it engorged. Hooray! I have heard that this collar may be more effective against ticks than fleas. If so, it has value alone for that purpose.

[rushdoggie]

You could call the ACO and report it.

 

I'd guess at this point it could be considered a human health risk as well as violation of dog laws.

 

I could, but the neighbor is elderly, hard of hearing and otherwise kind of nice, so like everyone else we just pick up the poop and get on with our day. Plus, my entire county has 2 ACOs and even if I did make a complaint it would be pretty low on their priority list.

[Kelleybean]

We have fleas and ticks to deal with. I'd always used Frontline in the past, but it stopped working and we had a flea infestation last Spring--totally freaked me out! I gave the dogs a Capstar, switched the flea control to Comfortis, bombed the house, sprinkled borax on all the floors, checked the pets into the boarder and left for the beach for 5 days. Came home, vacuumed up the borax, brought the pets home an all is good now. No more Frontline for us!

[rushdoggie]

I decided to try Comfortis last week. My Border Collie had scabs on his flanks from scratching and I was getting bit. My dogs all tolerated it fine and it seems to have worked. I picked a few dead fleas off of Jasper the next day and have not seen many since.

 

I have to decide to keep them on it or try Advantage next month.

 

The price was exorbitant ($17 per pill per dog).

[Tommy Coyote]

This stuff is really expensive - especially if you have more than one dog.

 

I just paid $139 for a 6 month supply of Trifexis - which will last 2 months for my 3 dogs.

 

Would I risk it and go without it? Not on your life. Not in this part of the country.

 

I don't think I saw a single flea this summer. That Trifexis really works.

[brady's mom]

I am struggling with fleas this year as well. Previously I used Frontline and even for my dog who had flea allergies it seemed to work.

 

Currently, despite 3 months of dutifully applying Frontline and vacuuming and washing beds weekly, my dogs all have fleas. I put the Frontline on 2 weeks ago and washed at least a dozen fleas off one of my Papillons yesterday.

 

I suspect my yard is infested, we have a ton of squirrels and stray cats and possums that wander through, and I see the squirrels scratching all the time. I also saw one of my neighbors dogs poop in my front yard the other day, and when I went to clean it up it had tapeworm segments in it...I'm sure her dogs (who wander all over the culdesac) have fleas too.

 

Any ideas for killing fleas in my back yard that is safe when you have pets?

 

Sorry to dredge up an old post guys!

 

Hi rush! If you're still in the Vancouver-Portland area, my parents treat their front and backyard with a flea and tick yard treatment. They do it once a year and get the bags from Home Depot. I'm not entirely sure of its cost, name, or how effective it is, but when we stay during the summer fleas are never a problem with Brady (paired with topical treatment of course).

[rushdoggie]

Sorry to dredge up an old post guys!

 

Hi rush! If you're still in the Vancouver-Portland area, my parents treat their front and backyard with a flea and tick yard treatment. They do it once a year and get the bags from Home Depot. I'm not entirely sure of its cost, name, or how effective it is, but when we stay during the summer fleas are never a problem with Brady (paired with topical treatment of course).

 

Thanks Brady's Mom,

 

I hate hate hate poisoning the backyard because it kills all the good bugs as well as the fleas, but we even did that. The dogs still got fleas.

 

I gave them Comfortis and it seems to be working (knock on wood) as 6 weeks in the fleas seem to be gone. We have had an (extended! miserable! ridiculous!) hard freeze and hopefully we will be good until spring now.

[Jenny and Charlie]

If you don't mind chemicals, there is a Raid flea killer carpet spray that worked wonders when we had flea-infested kittens. It was the only thing that completely rid them, and the house, of the fleas.