Flea Medication

[Guest dauphinelaura]

Mouth has fleas, which means that Oni has fleas. Mouth is easier to deal with, we gave him a flea bath, and I know we can't do that with Oni. They have both consistently been on Frontline, but I get the fleas were too persistent! I believe there is a pill that you can give them that will kill all the fleas within a matter of hours. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it grey safe? I trust my vet but I just wanted another grey owners opinion. I am going to see if I can get the pill, and then take EVERYTHING in the house that the dogs were on and wash them thoroughly, sprinkle flea carpet stuff on the floor and leave it for a few hours while me and the dogs are gone. But back to my original question...any experience with the flea pills?

[silverfish]

Yes, what you need is Capstar. It's wonderful. That and Program is all I ever use for fleas and all I've ever needed for thirteen plus years.

 

Program is a birth control pill for fleas, that you feed to your dog. The active ingredient is inactive for dogs, but prevents the flea larvae from producing chitin, which is needed for the exoskeleton.

 

Capstar is a knock-down flea killer which, again, you feed to the dog and the flea gets the dose when it bites the dog. One dose of Capstar will kill all the fleas feeding on your dog within a few hours. I think it remains active in the bloodstream for 24 hours. Capstar is also non-toxic to dogs, but is a nerve poison to insects.

 

Here's the product leaflet

 

Capstar

 

You may need to dose again every few days for up to three weeks to get the whole life cycle, but used in conjunction with Program it is VERY effective.

 

The trainers at our local track use it if a dog with fleas has been brought to the races. They'll give the dog a Capstar on leaving the kennels and walk the dog around in the car park for fifteen minutes until the fleas begin dropping off. That way they don't take home an infestation.

 

Just want to add - you need to be careful what you sprinkle on your carpets. Organo-phosphate flea killers are not grey-safe, and it's pretty nearly impossible to vacuum up ALL of the powder from your carpet.

 

Personally, I wouldn't bother too much about the carpets, just use the Program/Capstar combination. Program may be called something else in the US.

[Guest dauphinelaura]

I'll rethink the carpet stuff then, good thing I still have the receipt! I feel so bad about the fleas, Mouth has been miserable !

[Guest CindiLuvsGreys]

We have been having a really hard time with fleas this year. I can't believe they are still alive in February in PA. We have used Capstar a couple of time with no problems. The dog are on Frontline plus all year round and we still have fleas. Might be time to try something else.