Anybody got any helpful hints???? Little Gracie has been bathed, treated with the drops and has a collar on and only spends a few hours a day outside but she still has fleas - i have no idea what to do next:shock:
You would need to treat your yard as well for ticks and fleas. At least where the dog goes potty. Sheri
For real:shock: In all the years i had Mayan, treating her was all it took - how in the world do you treat your whole back yard:?:
I would go to Lowes and ask, it's what my dad does, I don't do it. I don't have problems with flea's at all with my pugs using frontline. He uses frontline and treats the yard. He has one cat that goes in and out and this is why he does it. The other 3 cats don't go out. Sheri
I used Dawn diswashing liquid on one of my cats (rescued and she was COVERED!:shock: + she needed a serious bath, she's mostly white and had been living outside) It killed them without pesticides, she was so weak I was afraid to put anything harsh on her, but I couldn't leave her in the house with them on her. I can't remember where I heard that tip, but it did work. I think it would work on a dog too, but it is pretty drying for their skin. I know they make dog conditioner too. I agree with treating the yard, we had to do that for ticks, because we had a real problem with them when we first moved in. The dog would be out for 5 minutes and get them. EWWWW!
See that is what is confusing me, i use the Frontline on her and give her the flea baths but she still has fleas:shock: We have a privacy fence in our backyard and i am trying to figure out how in the world anyone can treat their entire yard for fleas:?
Haven't had a problem with ticks, thanks goodness and when i bathe her they are all gone but they come back within a couple of days. Mayan did not have the problem and our other dog, Blue, doesn't either. i just cannot figure out why little Gracie does:?
They just like some dog's body chemistry better than others. When I was growing up, we had two dogs. An inside cocker spaniel, and an outside mutt. The spaniel was always a problem, the mutt never had one. Go figure!
You will need to treat your house asap too kaci. Fleas lay eggs so getting rid of just the fleas on her will only do you good till the eggs that drop hatch. Wash everything that you can (sheets, beds, rugs) vacuum (steam clean if ya got one) and go see your vet for the carpet and furniture spray to kill the little buggers. Then vacuum daily! As for the yard, be sure to concentrate on the warm and wet areas as well as wherever your gal spends most of her time outside. Go to Lowe's and ask a yard person (if you can find one) and they will know precisely where to guide you. Good luck.
It's probably an old wives tale but I have heard that ticks and fleas do not like peppermint. Get a peppermint plant and rub it on the dog, or plant it where it lay. Never tried it, but I did plant peppermint around the house and didn't haven any problems.
How long has she had the front line on her? You don't need to treat the whole yard, just where the dog goes...but remember we humans can bring them in as well. Do you have carpet? Sheri
Yep, got carpet but i vacuum every day but have been contemplating setting off a flea bomb to be on the safe side. She was treated with the Frontline for the second time 5 days ago.
You do need to treat your yard as well as put the frontline on the dog monthly. Also consider treating your house. For our yard, we treat it every 3 months with this spray we get from Lowes. I cant remember the name of it but it is made by Bayer and you screw the bottle onto your water hose then spray your grass, shrubbery, straw and up into the trees as far as the spray will reach. It kills fleas, ticks, spiders, grubs, and etc.... You will need to keep your dog out of the treated area for 6-8 hours after you spray. There is something that you can put in your house to kill fleas that is non chemical, I think it is either Baking Soda or Mule Team Borax (I think Zookeeper knows about it) If anyone has any info on the inside treatment please share it, I have forgotten exactly what it is.
OMG:shock: What in the world would it cost to treat your entire yard???? As for the non chemical treatment for the house, i would be very interested in that as we have parrots, ferrets, etc.
The bottled stuff you can buy at Lowes and screw to the hose, they go a long ways. DH treats our whole yard with one bottle, another thing is Sevin Dust.. buy a big bag and empty it into a spreader, and then just roll it over the whole yard. DHs parents covered everything including the dogs & goats with Sevin Dust, seriously, they say its fine for the animals. If it were me... I'd sevin dust or spray the yard, bomb the house, and just stay on top of Gracies Frontline applications. When we bomb the house, we make sure to shut off the HVAC, we close one room off where the reptiles are (we shove a towel under the door so that no fumes get in), put the cats either outdoors, or on the screened porch. Then we go to the movies, come home and air it all out! (we do close off the kitchen as well, not so worried about the fleas in there and don't want to have to go through and wash everything!)
They're all right, Kaci. We used to Sevin our yard, bomb the house, and treat the cats. In a bad summer, we'd do the yard twice in a 3 month period, but that was all. It took doing all three kind of at the same time to get rid of everything. If she was full of fleas, you have eggs in your house, baby! Frogger
Jean found a couple of fleas on Mattie one time and we FREAKED out! Went directly to PetsMart got "Adams" shampoo for both of them, bomed the house Shelby got a bath and flea treatment as well. Haven't seen another one. A little worried out here because of the "natrual area" in the back yard. LOTS of pine straw. ON my list today is to shave Shelby,. give her a bath and put her flea treatment on her, Mattie too.
OK Kaci, here's a fairly simple solution for you. NONE of my critters ( all long-haired) wear flea collars, nor do they use frontline or ANY other chemical - we have a doggie door, and a wooded lot next door to us and have no problems with fleas whatsoever. INTERNALLY - Get some minced garlic - either fresh and you mince it, or get the stuff in the jar already prepared and at EVERY meal place about 1/8 tsp - for a dog under 25 lbs .... 1/4 tsp if they are between 25 and 60 lbs....and 1/2 tsp if they are over 60 lbs. . .YOU DO NOT have to worry about exact amount - it's just to give you an idea of how much you need - a little more won't hurt your dog. Just mix it in with their food. Add about double the above amountI mentioned for garlic of BREWERS YEAST to each meal - you can get tablets or powder. . .from drug store, healthfood store etc. . . .human grade stuff. The Brewers Yeast and Garlic will make your dog less desireable to fleas and ticks and they will stay off of them. YOUR HOME - Go to the grocery store and in the laundry aisle near the fabric softeners (usually tucked on the bottom shelf) "20 Mule Team Borax" been around since 1891. . .a natural laundry booster with dozens of practical applications from cleaning fine china, to helping launder clothes with hard water, to killing odors in humidifiers to KILLING fleas! Who would have thought something NON TOXIC could kill fleas? All you do is take an old coffee container- or similar type and poke holes in the plastic top - pplace the 20 Mule Team miracle in the container and shake it onto carpets, hard floors, furniture, pet bedding, etc. . . like you would a carpet fresh product. Wait 30 minutes and sweep the hard surfaces and vacuum the carpet upholstry. . .you will see a bunch of dear fleas when you sweep that stuff up - be sure to empty your vacuum bag - wait three days and repeat. . .then wait two weeks and you'll get any eggs that were laid and hatched. We never have fleas - because of the dogs. . .but my hubby brings them in on his socks from work a lot so I usually just do my carpets once a month in the spring/summer and like I said - they are never an issue. It is safe for the critters to get it on them if some is left in their bedding - it is non-toxic. It can also be sprinkeled in litter boxes and left there to kill fleas that jump off the kitty. As far as flea bombs - they are no more effective than 20 M T Borax, they smell, they are poison and you have to cover half the items in your kitchen. . . plus leave while it's doing it's thing.
Zoo, would garlic and brewer's yeast work for cats too? I wonder if they would eat it. I spend $720 per year (YIKES I just figured it out!) on chemical protection, and I hate putting the chemicals on the dogs and cats, and exposing us to them. I think I saw you say somewhere else once that you still get heartworm protection from the vet, is that right?
YES, it works for cats too - just use a small amount - like 1/8 tap in the cats food when fleas are present for indoor cats . . .then once or twice a week after the problem is gone. My cats don't mind it at all. Just think about this - ANY chemical that will KILL fleas and ticks by you placing it between your pets shoulders and is absorbed into their bodies so it can continue to KILL fleas and ticks for 1 - 3 months afterwards, is likely, over time, to have some NEGATIVE effect on that pet. . .it's a TOXIN for goodness sake! I don't want that stuff rubbed into my carpet, onto my bed, OR on my beloved critters - not when I've found a natural alternative SAFE for all of us. Yes, Heartworm preventative - I use it monthly - the tablet kind - anything negative that may be caused by it outweighs the dog dieing from heartworm disease.
