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defiantbadgirl -> a rant (12/1/2009 8:45:46 AM)

We have a flea problem we can't get rid of. In the past I've had animals that had a few fleas. I simply gave them a flea bath and put a flea collar on. No big deal. I might have seen a few fleas here and there occasionaly for a few days, but then they disappeared. A couple of months ago, we bought a pug that had fleas. I used the same method I have in the past only to find it didn't work. Our whole house became infested with fleas. When I say infested, I mean they were jumping on us biting us and we couldn't even walk around the house wearing socks without fleas getting all over them. We bombed the house with bug bombs. That didn't work. So we took the dog to the vet to have him treated. The dog was given a Capstar pill to kill all the live fleas on him, bathed, and Frontline was applied. While the dog was being treated 3 ways to get rid of the fleas and boarded for 2 nights, we had a professional bug exterminator come in. At first, all the fleas seemed to be gone. When we we brought the dog home, I discovered he still had fleas so I shut him in the bathroom (the only room in our house with tile flooring) and put boric acid down in front of the bathroom doors. The very next day, fleas were all over our house again. The exterminating company we used guarantees their work for 3 months as long as Frontline is applied to all pets. But the dog still has fleas despite everything the vet did. I'm thinking the only way we will ever get rid of the fleas is to get rid of our dog. It really sucks because we are attached to him. Has anyone here ever been forced to get rid of a pet because of fleas that won't die?



SmokeSerpent -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 8:52:06 AM)

First, it will probably take more than 2 days for the dog's treatment and the house extermination to kill all the fleas. What you are probably experiencing now is eggs that were already present hatching. Most current pest control methods interrupt the insects' development, preventing maturity, rather than killing them outright.

You didn't mention whether or not you have a yard, and if that was treated, but if you do, it should be.



LaTigresse -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 8:55:35 AM)

Yes I have had flea problems, due to living in an area that was infested. No I did not have to get rid of the pets, just the fleas.

It required treating the house, lawn and animals simultaneously.........twice.



purepleasure -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 8:59:49 AM)

and vacum, every day, at least once a day, or twice if need be, for at least 3 weeks, and you MUST dispose of the vacum bag each time.  Expensive, but worth it.

I went to the dollar store and stocked up on vacum bags. 



defiantbadgirl -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 9:09:31 AM)

I just can't understand why the dog still had fleas. He was treated 3 ways by a vet. 3 ways!! Also, the exterminating company told me not to vaccuum after they came out and sprayed. That we should wait as long as possible before we vaccumed. 10 days if possible. The stuff they used is supposed to kill fleas and larvae. As soon as any eggs hatch the fleas are supposed to die. But they aren't dying. They are jumping all over.



LaTigresse -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 9:13:00 AM)

Did you treat the yard and surrounding areas???



GreedyTop -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 9:13:51 AM)

I've had better luck with advantage than frontline....

plus bomb the house no less than 3 times in as many days



defiantbadgirl -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 9:23:47 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

Did you treat the yard and surrounding areas???


No. We don't have alot of money and it was all we could do to afford having the house treated plus the vet bill. It's December anyway and Kansas does get cold in the winter. The dog won't potty in the yard anyway. He has to be taken on a 20-30 minute walk where he pees a little here and a little there and finally poops.



defiantbadgirl -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 9:27:54 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: GreedyTop

I've had better luck with advantage than frontline....

plus bomb the house no less than 3 times in as many days


Bombing the house every 2-3 days works better than a professional pest control company? Also, how many days did you have to bomb your house before all the fleas were dead?



angelikaJ -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 9:52:37 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl
The exterminating company we used guarantees their work for 3 months as long as Frontline is applied to all pets. But the dog still has fleas despite everything the vet did. I'm thinking the only way we will ever get rid of the fleas is to get rid of our dog. It really sucks because we are attached to him. Has anyone here ever been forced to get rid of a pet because of fleas that won't die?


I would think calling the exterminating company followed by a call to the vet to ask his/her advice would be in order.

Getting rid of the dog won't fix it; they are in your carpeting and furniture.
With them using an insect growth regulator as they surely have done, the flea life-cycle will be interupted.

The cold weather will help and perhaps over the winter you can discuss with your vet the best preventative measures as well as having your house treated every 3 months during warmer weather, beginning in the early spring.



LaTigresse -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 10:44:14 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl


quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

Did you treat the yard and surrounding areas???


No. We don't have alot of money and it was all we could do to afford having the house treated plus the vet bill. It's December anyway and Kansas does get cold in the winter. The dog won't potty in the yard anyway. He has to be taken on a 20-30 minute walk where he pees a little here and a little there and finally poops.


So, you have the money to purchase a purebred dog but not to provide proper care for it and your home?



Hillwilliam -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 12:24:01 PM)

OK, here is the secret.  First, you have to understand the life cycle of the flea.  The adults live on your dog or cat or you.  they have their meal of blood....or 2 or 3 or.... then the females hop OFF the host and lay eggs on the ground or carpet or bedding.  these eggs are highly resistant to any way you try to kill them.  after 3 to 4 weeks, depending on flea species and local conditions, the eggs hatch into nymphs (minature adults) which start looking for a new host.  This is why you are having a reoccurence of your fleas.  Adults are vulnerable to insecticides as are the young but the damn eggs are just sitting there waiting to repopulate your living room carpet.  You need to treat your pets, home and yard for a full month to get rid of the buggers.  the good news is, once they are gone, unless you get a reinfestation from the neighbor, you are probably good to go with just the frontline.
To treat the house.  Boric acid in the carpets and vacuum.  As a previous poster said, toss the bag every day.  When I lived in miami (flea capital) I used to treat the yard with malathion.  It's cheap and easy to use for a do it yourselfer.  All you need is a pump sprayer, water and a bottle of malathion.  Follow the directions on the back.
I hope this helps



defiantbadgirl -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 1:50:22 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse


So, you have the money to purchase a purebred dog but not to provide proper care for it and your home?



A co-worker sold us the dog for a one time $150. The vet and exterminator cost almost $300. As I said before, I've had animals in the past that had fleas. I shampooed them, put a flea collar on them, and the problem was solved. They didn't infest my entire home. I had no way of knowing this would happen or how expensive it would be.



defiantbadgirl -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 1:55:25 PM)

Thanks for the great advice. I will try the boric acid. So the exterminating company telling me not to vacuum for 10 days was bad advice? I called the exterminating company and they are coming back out next week. One of the first things they asked when I called was if I had vacuumed. I told them no that I had refrained from vacuuming as instructed. The vet said they wouldn't guarantee the dog was flea free but I can bring him back in for a free office visit.



Wolf2Bear -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 2:46:25 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

I just can't understand why the dog still had fleas. He was treated 3 ways by a vet. 3 ways!! Also, the exterminating company told me not to vaccuum after they came out and sprayed. That we should wait as long as possible before we vaccumed. 10 days if possible. The stuff they used is supposed to kill fleas and larvae. As soon as any eggs hatch the fleas are supposed to die. But they aren't dying. They are jumping all over.


If you research the life cycle of a flea, you'll see that the eggs can lay dormant for several months before they will hatch. It could be that your persistent problem is the eggs that were laid by the first infestations are now hatching which is causing a second or third infestation.

eta: The vet I take my furbaby to had explained that to be successful, I had to treat the fleas, the egs and any flea larva- thus it's a matter of attacking the adult fleas, the nits or larva and the unhatched eggs. 



windchymes -> RE: a rant (12/1/2009 3:20:39 PM)

It's also possible that a strain or species of flea has developed that is resistant to the chemical that is being used, and they're multiplying.  Maybe the exterminator can try another chemical???? 



NyDaddysGirl -> RE: a rant (12/2/2009 3:18:44 AM)

I took in a stray cat a few years ago that was horribly infested with fleas.  I got him to the vet within a few days and had him treated with Advantage.  The vet also sold me something called Knock Out.  It's an spray that you use to treat carpets, furniture and drapes/curtains.  I also bought a flea comb and spent a great deal of time grooming the cat.  Monthly Advantage treatments and one follow up with Knock Out seemed to do the trick.  He's an indoor cat and since you can track them in from the yard, I find 3 treatments of Advantage in the summer time keeps him and the house flea free.

I don't remember where I heard about this but I heard that if you grind up salt into a fine dust and sprinkle the carpets with it that it drys up the eggs laying in the carpet waiting to hatch, which kills the larvae before it hatches.  The article or show said that professionals use this (probably mixed with other stuff).  (Who wants to take the time to grind salt into a powder though?)

ETA:  Ohhh... the Knock Out, you can get either at your vet or on that pedmeds site.

Good luck.



tazzygirl -> RE: a rant (12/2/2009 3:46:12 AM)

Sevin dust is what we used. Highly successful, but you have to treat your animals, house and yard at the same time. Sevin dust comes in different strengths, so read up on it before you use. Also, do you have a crawl space under your house? Until we treated that space, we had constant fleas.

If you treat the house and not the yard, you wont ever be rid of them.

Good luck



wisdomtogive -> RE: a rant (12/2/2009 6:36:09 PM)

What you need to also do in combination of what was done is get rid of all stuff animals. Throw blankets, blankets, clothes laying out and in closet must all be washed. It takes persistent effort but yes you can get rid of the fleas, without getting rid of the dog.



LafayetteLady -> RE: a rant (12/2/2009 9:00:07 PM)

Other than making the exterminator come back as they gave you a warrantee, multiple bug bombing the house, you just have to stay on it. Yep, it can be a real pain in the tush. As wisdomtogive suggested, any stuffed animals in the house are probably offering them a nice warm home as well.

Constantly treating the dog at the vet will get expensive. Bathing the dog with Palmolive dish detergent will actually kill the fleas. Since you are having a problem, givng the pooch a bath a couple times a week is not a bad idea while you are getting control over the house. Another thing that I always used to use on my pets is Brewer's Yeast with Garlic pills. They can be purchased in any pet supply store and are pretty inexpensive. My animals used to line up in the morning to take them (at the time I had 3 dogs and a cat), they thought they were a great treat. You can use them along with the Front Line or Advantage.

I did have a problem once when I moved into an apartment. I did double the amount of recommended bombs for the square footage, vacuumed, then repeated the process a couple days later. It worked. Don't forget, fleas also love the warmth, so maybe turn your heat down some and wear a sweater while you are doing this.

I feel for ya, really. I have just one cat now, who is strictly indoors and she STILL got fleas over the summer. Turns out, since I live in an area where I get the occasional mouse, the mice were bringing them in. The cat was catching the mice, but then getting the fleas. Those little buggers breed like wildfire, so if there is any chance you have rodents, they could be helping to prevent you from resolving the problem. Good luck.



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