Fleas

I’ve started vacuuming a bit of diatomaceous earth into my vacuum cleaner in the hope that it kills any creepy crawlies that are vacuumed up. I’ve stopped trying to get rid of the cellar spiders that seem to be everywhere in my house: I’ve realised that they’re my friends in the the fight against bugs.

I spray with indorex before I go away once or twice a year and Lily is ok with the monthly tablets the vet provides. Agree that it's a good idea to put something that kills fleas, or even moth killer, in the bag of the vacuum cleaner so they can't hide in there. We found the flea spray also stopped a clothes/,carpet moth infestation as well.

Thisismyname flags up a good point about itching and allergies. Chicken can be a problem but as with people, dogs react differently.
My young lab gets itchy and scratchy in august - it’s grass.

One of our dogs was constantly scratching. They are both treated for fleas regularly but there were no fleas present but the scratching continued. We took her to the vet who said she was probably allergic to her food . We changed all the food and treats to hypoallergenic and she no longer scratches .

Some flea treatment kills the fleas when they bite. But some make the flea infertile therefore stopping them from breeding. They all work in different ways. The one I used on my dog was a spot on that killed any flea or tick that bit my dog. It was called Advantix. I only used it twice because she was so distressed when I applied it. I’m always worried about the tablets because I’ve heard of whippets that have had seizures after taking them.

I got fleas while on holiday. The three little bites in a line, known as breakfast, lunch and dinner. The bites itch like billyo for days if not weeks and one of the patches on my back still itches sporadically 18 months later. Holiday souvenir.

If you've given the flea tablets from the vets they take a short while to work. The fleas then should not jump on the dog and starve.
Treat your dog to a honey and oatmeal shampoo, he's probably still a bit itchy bless.
No need for exterminators/bombs unless you have other pets

A really good way of seeing if you have a flea problem is to almost fill a shallow dish with warm water then stir in a squirt of washing up liquid. Place in a room under a table or at the side of the room so you don’t kick it over. After a few hours you can see if there are fleas in the dish. If not move to another area of the room. I find it really addictive ! Putting in washing up liquid makes the water more difficult for the fleas to move around in and they die. Add the washing up liquid after the water and stir in gently, you don’t want bubbles.

Dont forget to do the car if your dog travels in it. Cats are more likely to bring fleas into the property. Indorex spray is very good for house.

Oh I know what you are going through. I spent weeks trying to get rid of my dogs fleas. I hoovered daily sprayed everything daily washed all bedding bathed the dog daily, and used flea repellant tablets that I got on line. The only thing that worked was Bravecto from my vet. Wishing you luck. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

3dognight

Whitewavemark2

Yes I thought of hoovering more often but twice a day😮😮. My hoover probably needs replacing too as it isn’t terribly powerful.

I’ve traded power for lightness, so might need to go for more weight,……. but, but but.

Nightmare!

You need a ‘Shark’!
Light but super suction.
(Other vacuum cleaners are available)

Which Shark vacuum cleaner is light? The last one I tried I could barely move it, I ended up with GTech which is great and the lightest I coud find. But I do fancy a Shark.

Another vote for 'bombs' - although they are not smoke bombs, they are 'foggers'. They are essentially small aerosols and you just depress the plunger until it clicks, retreat and close the door for 2 hours. Rooms need airing for half an hour afterwards. My daughter tells me that the fashion shops fog the premises every few months for moths and fleas. I fog my house every 6 months, and that has worked very well. You can get packs of 4 from Amazon. I use 6 to do the whole house. The cat also gets monthly Broadline drops on the back of his neck. No problem since.

We had a flea infestation from our cat a few years ago and the house spray and the stuff you put on the back of their neck cleared it all up quite quickly. (From the vet) After that we used the spot treatment monthly.

These days I use Bravecto, a 3-month tablet that protects against fleas and ticks. It’s very effective, and never a flea in the house.

I don’t know if you can still get flea powder? Years ago when we had two dogs and a cat I used to put flea powder in the hoover bag and hoover regularly, including their bedding. The Jack Russell actually enjoyed me hoovering him, using the suction nozzle!

It seemed to do the trick. When I found it hard to get powder I put a cat-flea collar in the bag instead. I don’t know how well it worked as by then it was just preventative as there were good products to use on the animals themselves.

My vet told me last week that he's seen an increase in fleas recently. Probably because they're coming in from the cold IMO! He recommended Stronghold or Advantage for our cats and dogs, both of which, along with Indorex spray, we use anyway. He said there are many flea treatments available that no longer work as well as they used to, if at all! I think they just become less effective over time, just like head lice treatments on people.

My dog had fleas once I used a spot on treatment from the vet on the dog vacuumed round every day and at night used a flea lamp it was brilliant it coaxed the little blighters out and trapped them on a sticky pad. Bought it from amazon its a handy thing to have.

I got RIP from the vets but it can be bought online from Pets Drugs Online. . It lasts for 12 months. Before I go away for a couple of weeks I’m going to spray my house. I haven’t wanted to in case the grandchildren came round. I spray it in the porch in case we bring any ticks in after our walks. I recently thought to myself that my weevil infestation was actually worse than fleas but have decided I need to be proactive about them too. When me and the dog had a tick on us the other year people started posting on Facebook about how many ticks there were so it seems to me that if several people are mentioning it there is an upsurge in them. I used to us a spray called Nuvan Top when I had several cats and a dog years ago but I have a horrible feeling hat it’s carcinogenic ( I don’t want to know, though..it certainly smelled pretty toxic). I remember going to the vets one day and people were queuing up to get flea treatment.

Our dog got fleas. We tried absolutely everything, for weeks and weeks. But the little devils remained. In the end we got some tablets from the vets. They worked instantly.

Don’t waste your time with stuff from pet shops, and spraying your house. We tried all that and more.

Yes as grandtanteJE65 says sounds like the flea treatment may not have worked.
That's what happened to vet gave our dog frontline twice and when that didn't work he was given the Bravecto tablet as he hadn't had that before. Worked really quickly.
Hope you get it under control soon.

Wash all your floors in hot soapy water, or in water with salamoniac added.

If the dog is still scratching, it is likely that whatever flea treatment your vet gave you is not working because the fleas have become resistant to it, so ask the vet for a different flea repellant.

Spray okay, if you only have a dog. If you have cats, cage birds et. the sprays are lethal to them and NEVER use the so called flea bombs. They can cause serious allergies both to animals and humans.

Have you bathed the dog before giving him the flea treatment?

Maybe if the flea treatment is making him scratch you could give him an anti histamine but you’d need to check with the vet first….

This is very worrying because I read on Facebook the other day that there were a lot of fleas around. Because Winnie was so distressed when I last gave her a tick/flea spot on treatment I’ve tried to use natural repellents recently and I panic a bit if she starts scratching. She’s going to my partners for a few days so I’m going to spray around with some flea spray I’ve got but it’s very old and I can’t see an expiry date on it. It’s called RIP and it does protect the home for 12 months. I’ve also got diatomaceous earth from when I had the infestation. You spread it around the edges of room where they hide and it kills them by drying them out.One can of RIP covers a 3-4 bedroom house. You need a flea treatment that kills any flea that’s on the dog; some just make the flea infertile if it bites the dog. With my weevil/flour mite infestation I’m convinced that this strange weather we have now is causing problems. Especially with all the talk about bed bugs, too.

Sally97

When our dog got fleas we tried all sorts to get rid.
Finally got a Bravecto tablet from vets for him and a spray called Inderex for the house. (names might mot be quite right). Tablet worked within 20 mins and spray finally cleared the house.
Good luck

That is exactly what we have done, but dog is still scratching - maybe a reaction? We will see.

I will continue to hoover and steam though.

When our dog got fleas we tried all sorts to get rid.
Finally got a Bravecto tablet from vets for him and a spray called Inderex for the house. (names might mot be quite right). Tablet worked within 20 mins and spray finally cleared the house.
Good luck