Fleas

[Guest StansMom]

Last night before bed, we noticed two fleas on our poor Stanley. In total, we found 7 adult fleas, 2 in the pupa stage and a bunch of eggs, so I think we caught it early.

Today we gave him Capstar and a bath with a natural flea shampoo. We sprayed down all of the beds and couches with natural flea bedding spray, washed the curtains, blankets, and all of the clothes in the house. We also applied food grade Diatomaceous Earth to the area rugs and vacuumed the entire house thoroughly. We plan on vacuuming daily for the next week or so.

Stan felt so much better after his bath. He ran around the yard like a nut. (Right through a dirt pile of course!) I just want to make sure we are doing everything possible to nip this in the bud.

So my question for all of you experienced hound moms and dads are: Is there anything I am missing? Anything else that I can do? Should we bomb the house? Can I continue giving him the Capstar each week? He is due for a Frontline Plus application this Friday. Can I give him both Capstar and frontline or should I choose one or the other?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts and recommendations!

[Walliered]

I have the Bayers flea collars on both of mine. They work for 8 months. No problems.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Capstar and Frontline Plus work differently, and you could give both. Capstar can be expected to kill fleas (thought not ticks) for about 24 hours; it should start killing within 30 minutes. Don't expect it to work for an entire week. (Capstar is often used at animal hospitals to deal with fleas on an incoming patient who can't be given a flea bath. It's also used by rescue groups sending a dog home with a new adopter. It's not really a flea preventative; it's just a short-term flea killer. And it's safe enough to use on puppies, which is not the case with a lot of other flea products.)

 

Frontline Plus could take a day or two to get up to speed. But you can safely give it now; you don't have to wait until Friday.

 

If you missed some of the eggs, expect another outbreak in about two months (as those eggs hatch). You might want to step up the vacuuming again about then and see if you can head it off. If there's a bag in your vacuum cleaner, be sure to toss the bag after you vacuum.

 

Don't bomb the house now until you're sure you've got a problem inside.

[Guest StansMom]

Thank you for the advice!

[JJNg]

Last night before bed, we noticed two fleas on our poor Stanley. In total, we found 7 adult fleas, 2 in the pupa stage and a bunch of eggs, so I think we caught it early.

 

Kathy already did a good job answering your question, but I have to ask... How and where did you find the pupa and eggs?? I'm a vet, and I've never seen flea pupa or eggs, other than in pictures. We did have a client find flea larva and bring them to the clinic, and I thought that was pretty cool. So I'm impressed! LOL

[Guest StansMom]

The pupa were very cool and super gross. I used the flea comb after his bath and found them in the longer hair by his hindquarters. They were very similar in size to the adult flea but completely white in color. The eggs are tiny tiny. We thought it was dandruff at first (and some of it was) but we took a magnifying glass to it and found some of them were perfectly round little eggs!

 

In hindsight, I should've taken a picture of the pupa but I had a bad case of the heebie jeebies!

[JJNg]

Wow, very cool, but a bit strange. I always learned that the eggs drop off the dog and develop into larva and pupa in the environment. The larva that my clients found were in their dog's bed (have a photo if anyone wants to see LOL). I wonder if your dog might have somehow sat in the pupa and got them stuck to him? I can't imagine (kinda grosses me out to even think about it), that the larva stayed on him through development...

[Guest StansMom]

I thought the same thing! I think the eggs that we found just hadn't been shaken off yet. Its possible that they were dandruff, but perfectly round? It's very possible that he sat in the pupa (ewwwwww). I really don't think it could've been anything else. They looked just like the pictures I had seen. We examined every inch of that boy.

[EllenEveBaz]

JJNg -- of course we want to see the flea larva picture!

 

For checking your house, various companies make versions of a flea trap: http://happyjackinc.com/product/flea-beacon/ You could put it down in various rooms and see if you need to go chemical.

[Guest StansMom]

I wish I took a picture! It was so gross I just dunked them in the vinegar! Thanks for the trap advice!

[JJNg]

Here ya go....flea larvae! LOL

 

[MP_the4pack]

okay. I just found fleas on my girls. 2 on Tanzi, one on Opal. This is the first time in owning greys I have fleas!!!

 

So anyway, I have wood floors. I am frontlining the dogs (Tanzi got the last one yesterday, so I have to pick up new today) What should I do to the house?

[sobesmom]

okay. I just found fleas on my girls. 2 on Tanzi, one on Opal. This is the first time in owning greys I have fleas!!!

 

So anyway, I have wood floors. I am frontlining the dogs (Tanzi got the last one yesterday, so I have to pick up new today) What should I do to the house?

Wash the bedding - yours and dogs' in hot water. Vacuum everything - wood floors, any rugs. Wash any throw rugs you can. Vacuum the furniture. Empty the vacuum bag in a trash bag, tie it and get it outside. If you're a little crazy like me - leave the vacuum outside (they could be stuck in the hose?) Repeat after a couple days.

 

I too found fleas on Diana a couple weeks ago - after not seeing a flea in YEARS. I freaked out a bit. Posted on here. I HATE FLEAS! They give me inordinate heebie-jeebies. I had a bad experience many years ago, so I'm a freak about them. I'm going to continue Advantix for then next several months, at least.

 

BTW - the buggers appear to be gone. I think I caught them early - and hit em hard. But - they can lie dormant for months and months, so I'm going to keep an eye out and continue the Advantix.

[tbhounds]

Sobesmon already gave good advice-vacuum, vacuum vacuum! Fleas only live on the dog a small percentage of the time-the majority of their lives are spent in the environment. I have a few frontlines left so, I'm finishing my supply but, we (our clinic) do not sell it any longer as it doesn't seem to be effective--we have switched to Activyl plus. Activyl seems to be very effective against fleas and ticks-usually, by this time of year we have clients complaining about ticks on their dogs---zero phone calls do far this season. The only neg is use can not use Activyl plus around kitties and it stays oily on the haircoat longer.

Virbac makes a line of products called Knockout-see recommend those to help "clean" your environment.

Fleas are the pits!

[MP_the4pack]

dammit. I used original Frontline on Tanzi last sunday. she still has fleas. I can't see any on Emma or Opal, but they had Frontline Plus. Also it is more difficult to see fleas on them. Opals has thicker fur and lots and lots of spots. Emma is black.

 

so. Can I use Adams Flea and Tick mist with "Sykillstop"? If so, when can I use it if I frontlined the girls last sunday and monday?

 

I already washed bedding. So I need to do it again?

[EnzaFerrari]

I just found one on Enza too (just one - no dust or eggs) and went a wee bit crazy cleaning the house and using the Adams Flea/Tick mist on the beds, rugs, sofa. The beds don't fit into my washer so will drag them all to the laundrymat this weekend. I had frontlined her two months and did do it this morning.

[Hubcitypam]

If I see a flea I wash everything, dose the dogs with Advantage which is WAY better than Frontline on fleas, and spray everything with the water based Adams. I'm able to use Advantage and not Frontline as there are almost no ticks in this long established neighborhood in the city - never seen one in 11 years. If you go north to the newer suburbs it's a different story.

[MP_the4pack]

I ended up giving my girls Comfortis. When they had their bath the next day they couldn't find any fleas, not even dead ones.

 

I have wooden floors and they've all been vacuumed and the beds washed. I haven't seen anything and am keeping my fingers crossed. I did get them before they got too bad, so that's a plus.

[DogGolden]

I'm going to revive this thread as I just found a flea on Atticus yesterday and I have a couple of questions.

 

I gave him 1 dose of Capstar and bathed him in flea shampoo. Some Advantix is coming on Wednesday so we'll start that then. He had been on Frontline Plus but I have to admit I let it lapse and he hadn't been treated since August. So I'm thinking this has been going on for two months max but who knows?

 

I only found 1 flea and a little dirt but he had so much dandruff I couldn't tell how many eggs there were. He was so excited yesterday (hates baths) that I didn't comb him super thoroughly and after the bath/Capstar it didn't seem necessary.

 

We laundered all of our bedding, his bedding, our most used throw blankets and most of our usual dirty laundry. Luckily we live in an apartment with hardwood so carpet isn't an issue. We vacuumed the couch and few rugs we have several times and mopped everything. I will probably treat the rugs with Borax and vacuum again.

 

Unfortunately though, our coin washer downstairs is currently broken so laundering is a bit of an issue. There are a handful of things we're taking to the laundromat today that I missed-- our bedskirt, a curtain that hangs near his bed, throw pillow covers from the couch, and some dirty towels.

 

Do I really need to wash EVERYTHING in the apartment? What about the clothes in our closets, dressers? ALL of the curtains? Even the ones the dog doesn't come into contact with? I know better safe than sorry, but this is a pretty big job. It was kind of funny because yesterday we'd already spent most of the day doing deep cleaning and were pretty proud of ourselves. Then we found the flea and had to clean for the rest of the day. Woof we are tired and we aren't even done!

 

On top of that I have this pre-Civil War wool blanket from my grandmother that I don't even know how to wash. It drapes over the back of the couch, so I have to do something to it. I've vacuumed it... but, It's a heavy double sided thing. Is there a way to de-flea it without washing? Could I pop it into the dryer for 10 minutes without damaging it? Would that even help?

 

It seems like we've caught this early but am I being naive?

[KF_in_Georgia]

Wool blanket: no washer, no dryer. Put cedar (or mothballs) in an airtight bag with the blanket and seal it well. Check it in a month or so to see if there's any animal life. You might want to bag the blanket anyway when moths are around (although you're probably safe through the winter). But wool shouldn't have water or agitation or heat--and especially not any combination of those things. The blanket might already be felted (rather than woven), but I'd be really careful with it.

 

Your clothes in closets and drawers are probably okay. But fleas (and moths) don't like cedar, so you might want to invest in cedar blocks for your closets and drawers. (As the aroma fades, just lightly sand the wood to expose fresh, scented wood.)

 

Some dogs and people can have allergies to cedar, but it's usually a contact allergy: as long as the dog's skin isn't actually on cedar shavings, there should not be a problem. But if you use mothballs, make absolutely certain there's no chance Atticus can get to them.

 

Put "FLEA TREATMENT" on your calendar. Even through cold weather, I'd still treat. The treatments are so much less trouble and expense than de-fleaing your home, and they'll be more comfortable for Atticus than the bites and itching.(I have my Google calendar set to send me an email each month.)

[DogGolden]

Many thanks, KF! I really was at a loss on what to do with that blanket.

[EnzaFerrari]

I would think spraying some of the items with a good flea spray with IGR (that stops their ability to reproduce) can take care of most of it. I also think that things that are above the floor should be good. I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the eggs etc fall off the dog so I can't imagine how they would get into your clothes at this point. But I could be wrong.

 

As for a spray, try ones by Virbac that you can get on amazon. My vet sells it and has the IGR in it.