Guest nerak254 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 For those of you who have kids will remember or have the joy of looking forward to the "head lice" letter from school. Thank doG I never had to use that shampoo and stuff, anyway that is how I feel right now; I am totally grossed out. I took Aruba to one of the vet's on the list to see what they thought about her growth. I can't even say that money is tight..it's worse than that and no one will give me a ball park estimate for surgery without seeing her. I don't have $50 per vet to have them tell me the same thing. I know it needs to get taken care of and I have to figure out how to pay for it. Anyway, when the Dr. came into the exam room. He kind if dived at Aruba's head and said, "I'll get that guy". I'm saying what? Turns out she had a FLEA on her head! I've never seen one before and didn't know what he was chasing around on her head. He said she could have picked it up there when she came in. Well, this afternoon, I saw another one on her head in basically the same place and caught it. Haven't seen any more and need to know what to do. I want to do what has to be done, but need to keep the dollars in mind. Advice needed. Right now I'm thinking I'll take them both to Petco tomorrow and bath them and don't know what else needs to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest longdogs Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Give her a Capstar, usually that does the trick in an hour or so. If fleas keep coming back you need to move onto your choice of Advantage, Revolution or Frontline. Capstar lasts for a day, the others for a month. Capstar is so good it's the only one I always keep to hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nik Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 First, don't be grossed out. Fleas are beautiful and very clever creatures. As are head lice. I used to be a biologist, by the way. All dogs (and cats) get fleas, just as all kids get headlice. And these are just the parasites that we can see, that affect us and that we can treat. Dogs and humans live their whole lives riddled with parasites that we cannot see and that never trouble us. When I bought my first house, the previous owners ahd cats. I had the whole place cleaned after they left and the carpets shampood and Scotchguarded. Well, it takes around nine days for fleas to mature from hatching. Nin days afeter I moved in, they started to make themselves noticed. I would sit in my living room in the evenings, with my legs bare and a glass of water in my hands. Every couple of minutes I would look down and pick the fleas off my legs and drown them in the water - the easiest way to kill one you have caught. I find Frontline works reliabley for my dog and my cats, but you can only get it from a vet in this country and it's not cheap. Others will be along with suggestions soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snowberry Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Wash the dogs, wash the bedding, lots of vacuuming. I don't know if you can get it in the US, but there's something called diatomaceous earth that you can sprinkle on the floor, and it's not expensive over here - it gets into fleas' joints and dries them up or something. Personally I'm a Frontline fan, which you can buy online more cheaply than from the vets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest caro Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 All dogs (and cats) get fleas, just as all kids get headlice. ...uhhh I never got head lice when I was a kid... hmmm Anyway, I use Frontline. If there are only a few fleas the Frontline should take care of it. When I got my first grey, many many years ago, he had fleas pretty bad... as did my roommates dog. After a tapeworm incident (even more freaky than finding a flea on the head... ) Sentinal had just been approved for greys. I immediately put him on it... but roomie did not. After about a month both dogs were flea free. That was pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest savvyprchick Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 All dogs (and cats) get fleas, just as all kids get headlice. ...uhhh I never got head lice when I was a kid... hmmm Neither did my brother or I... guess we were lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nik Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 All dogs (and cats) get fleas, just as all kids get headlice. ...uhhh I never got head lice when I was a kid... hmmm You sure? Most people show no symptoms... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfish Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 (edited) All dogs (and cats) get fleas, just as all kids get headlice. ...uhhh I never got head lice when I was a kid... hmmm You sure? Most people show no symptoms... Yep. None of my family had them while I was growing up. We had the 'nit nurse' who came around the schools to check. My own children had them once or twice, other families we knew did not. My father was an entomologist. There is absolutely no doubt that he'd have spotted the little suckers. As to the original question, I use Capstar too, which is brilliant. For an ongoing problem you can use Program in conjunction with Capstar. Program is a flea 'birth control pill' and stops them breeding. If you like you can just use Program and wait for the adults to die naturally - about three to four weeks, IIRC. Edited October 15, 2007 by silverfish Quote The plural of anecdote is not dataBrambleberry Greyhounds My Etsy Shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tigonie Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 I'm sure you've already dealt with the issue already since it's been several days, but just for future reference... I've read on this board that the human shampoo Pert is gentile on dogs and will kill fleas. If you think it's gross to touch/bathe the dog with fleas, you can always buy a package of disposable gloves, like the kind they use at the doctor. They sell them in the cleaning aisle. If it's warm enough to bathe outside, that would be better, since that way any fleas that jump off will be in the yard rather than in your house. The grand total for shampoo and glove expense is under $5. You might also pick up a flea comb in the pet aisle, or some vets will give you one for free. Of course, if the fleas have gotten to be an infestation, you'll probably want to Frontline/Advantage your pets, but if you're just going the bath route, shampoo and gloves are probably the cheapest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CyndiW Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Frontline is a great long term solution. We just use the regular (not plus) and only apply it to our boys every 3 months (instead of every month). We never have fleas on any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greensleeves Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 We have had enormous good luck with fleas here (knock wood). With ten dogs, things could easily get out of hand. I have, in six years with this pack, only seen three fleas. When that's happened, I've *immediately* washed every blanket, slipcover, and bed in the house, on HOT, twice. (I've heard you can add Borax to the wash, and that will kill the fleas, but I can never find any. Then I put a flea collar in my vacuum bag, and vacuum the entire house. Repeat. All the dogs get Frontline. Then I wash my yard--I put half a bottle of Ivory dish soap in a hose spray bottle attachment (like for Miracle Grow), and hose down all the grass and shrubs, and about 3 feet up the house, tree trunks, and fences. I can't say for certain what, exactly (if anything) about this routine works... but I know we've had bad years for fleas here (b/c my vets tell me so), and we've miraculously escaped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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