| Moderated by: Steve Adkins | Topic closed | |
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Steve Adkins Member 
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My very dear cocker spaniel, Hayley, aged 5, has a case of fleas that we absolutely cannot get rid of. Therefore she has been banished out of the house, which she can't understand. To date, we have dipped several times at the groomer, used the high priced frontline drops, used the high priced spray from PetSmart, used Sevin dust..........and she's still scratching. Even got the Heartgard stuff that supposedly repels fleas. Frankly, the fleas don't bother me, but they sure nail my wife every chance they get. Does anybody out there have ANY other suggestions? Any secret "grandma" type recipes? |
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DToney Member 
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Granny used to say feed them garlic! I know it sounds strange, but when it gets into their system, it actually repels the fleas and anything else that may try to get on board! I actually found a holistic pet website! They advertise natural garlic supplements for pets... might be worth a try! Last edited on May 17th, 2006 12:40 pm by DToney |
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wepete Member
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Steve... once upon a time I managed a vet clinic and have fought that battle my self so I have some lay knowledge. Be very careful. Flea products use pesticides Frequent or excessive use can cause a fatal buildup or at least organ damage. Talk to your vet on the use. I know of both dogs and cats that have been killed trying to cure fleas. Also, you have to get rid of the little so-n-sos. We had a problem so bad an inside cat nearly died from flea anemia. We also had dried flea droppings everywhere (looks like blood spots on sinks etc and is a real mess). When the spot on products came on the scene we were finally successful and have not seen a flea in years despite having 4 or 5 cats and three dogs. But you have to stay with it for a while. Eggs and larva can live for a long time without becoming fleas you can easily kill. A program that includes frequent vacuuming will succeed (put the bag out side or add some flea powder to it every so often to keep a hatch from filling your closet.) Also take care of outside areas. I like 5% seven dust. Again, be very careful, insecticides are accumulative and take a long time to leave the body. They can get into you and the family. Good luck! It can be a Jobe like test of will. |
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Steve Adkins Member
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Thanks Bill I neglected to mention above, but Cockers are prone to seizures. Seems like all the chemical treatments have thrown her into a seizure, which I am not willing to witness again. Too rough on her. I already read up on the internet about the vacuuming, will try that route. My wife & I had also talked about good old fashioned Sevin Dust. Guess we'll keep trying. Thanks for the suggestions. |
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wepete Member
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Steve Adkins wrote: I neglected to mention above, but Cockers are prone to seizures. Seems like all the chemical treatments have thrown her into a seizure, which I am not willing to witness again. Too rough on her. I may have obfuscated my point: Contact your vet. Excessive treatments can kill or cripple |
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Kate Member 
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Capstar, which is a pill given orally kills all the fleas on a dog in about 5 minutes. You can purchase it from your Vet. However, all the rest of the fleas that have been tormenting Hayley, (and your wife! ) have been laying eggs in your house and in your yard. They will continue hatching ( and biting and reproducing) so the house and the yard will need to be treated too. Every 3 weeks, ( which is I think the time of the hatching cycle) - possibly up to 3 times. We use Frontline plus on our dogs. It kills the adult fleas plus renders the hatchlings sterile so they don't keep perpetuating the cycle. It also kills ticks, including those which transmit Lyme disease. We use a spray in the house. It covers 1,000 sq feet and is the most effective I've ever found. I would have to dig it out of one of our moving boxes to tell you the name of it, which escapes me at the moment. It too was purchased from our Vet for ..oh.... around $13.00? I'll see if I can find it tomorrow. Sevin dust for the yard has worked well for us too. It does take some vigilance and repeat treatment to rid yourself of fleasl once they've become problematic. Ain't no quick or easy one time fix, in my experience. I am not a Vet, nor do I work for one, nor have I ever had any seizure prone dogs-soit would be a good idea to check with yours. Vet that is ;-) Best wishes for Hayley .. and your wife. I too am ultra sensitive to fleas, and can't live with the lil boogers, which is why I've learned this much about getting rid of them. :-) Regards, Kate |
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Steve Adkins Member
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Kate wrote: We use a spray in the house. It covers 1,000 sq feet and is the most effective I've ever found. I would have to dig it out of one of our moving boxes to tell you the name of it, which escapes me at the moment. It too was purchased from our Vet for ..oh.... around $13.00? I'll see if I can find it tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback We've been doing all the things you mention and things are getting better. I'll be interested in knowing the spray you mention above for inside the house. Folks keep telling us about fogging the house, I've never done it before, a spray sounds like a cleaner solution. |
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Kate Member
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Hi Steve; Glad to hear your flea infestation is improving. The name of the spray that we’ve used in the house is Siphotrol Plus II Premise Spray. A 16 oz. aerosol can covers 2,000 sq. (rather than a thousand sq. feet.) It kills adult fleas and larvae and keeps eggs from hatching for up to 7 weeks. If your Vet doesn’t carry it, it can be ordered online for under $15.00. I just checked. I like it better than foggers or bombs --- first, because it’s more cost effective ( you have to do a fogger or bomb per each room to get good get results, in my experience) and second, because you can control the direction of the can of aerosol spray and get it into every nook and cranny that you’re aiming for. Under couch cushions, furniture etc… places that bombs or foggers are hard pressed to reach or effectively cover. They make a pump spray, too but I like the aerosol better. Covers a bigger area and again is more cost effective. They also make a yard spray but I’ve never used it. I would definitely try it if I needed it now that I know there is one. I’m not affiliated with this product – my Vet recommended it when we had a flea problem and I found it the best thing we have ever used---and believe me I'm a veteran of the flea wars, various products, dips, bombs, foggers and sprays.  I think it took us a total of two treatments ( under $30.00) to get rid of all the fleas in the house and by keeping Frontline plus on the dogs from about April to Nov, ... knock on wood.. we haven't had any more problems. Biospot, btw, is a much less costly flea/ tick application for a dog than Frontline- but having tried both, we bite the bullet and pay the additional cost because I really think the Frontline works better. Just my personal opinion. Others are happy with Biospot. Regards, Kate |
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Cracker Jax Member 
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Welcome to the forum Kate!
Sorry I didn't greet you before now! Been a little under the weather lately. Looks like you've had some luck getting rid of those pesky fleas. Thanks for helping out our SMS Steve!! |
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Kate Member
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Thanks for the hearty and colorful welcome, Cracker Jax. Love your graphics! I've read a lot of your posts in the NW Observer online forums. I lurked for a while and read through past threads before I worked up the nerve to post. <Grin> Looks like you're a longtime contributor and integral part of the online community here. Hope you're feelin' better real soon! Happy to help with them thar pesky fleas.  Kate |
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Cracker Jax Member
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Awwww Kate... you made me blush! Might be the fever though!! Glad you got up your nerve to post. Hopefully others will follow suit. The more the merrier!!! |
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Steve Adkins Member
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Thank You Kate I am well on my way to free-dom from flea-dom |
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Alicia C. Member 
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Hi Steve, It looks like you're getting some great advice here. Treating for fleas definitely requires multi-tasking (yard, house and animal). I used to work for a vet and every year it was the same thing. One tip that I don't think I've seen listed here: Even after you're on top of the flea situation, get into the habit of putting a mothball or a piece of a flea collar inside your new vacuum bag each time you replace the full one. This will kill any stray fleas that might get carried into your house. If you don't the mothball smell every time you tidy up, go for the flea collar. You can buy a cheap one, cut it into thirds, and store the unused portions in a zip-top freezer bag until you need them. Frankly, this is the best use of flea collars I've ever found. They're not terribly effective on the dogs/cats, but in an enclosed space (such as a vacuum cleaner bag) they work wonders. Be careful about using garlic supplements. I saw a report from the ASPCA (I think; will have to go research that) stating that garlic can cause a toxic reaction. Of course, my dog -- Gomez, the Chihuahua-shaped vacuum cleaner that sucks up everything that hits the kitchen floor--has managed to slurp down whole garlic cloves without suffering mishap, so I'm wondering just how much brings about a toxic reaction. |
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Steve Adkins Member
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Thank You Alicia Had never heard the flea collar in the vacuum cleaner idea......that's a good one. You probably read my above comments about Hayley's sensitivity, I wasn't going to pursue the garlic. Not going to chance anything that is an unknown and may lead to another seizure. Seems alot of folks have walked the free-dom to flea-dom road. |
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Alicia C. Member
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Fleas are part of living in the South, I'm afraid. Once you get on top of them, you're okay. But the process is tedious. Possibly amusing anecdote: While I was working in a large vet hospital in Charlotte, a new client came in with a zip-top bag containing four or five dead fleas. She was mystified as to what they were! She was from Denver, CO, and said she had never seen a flea in her life. She was absolutely mortified. A client who had moved up to NC from Florida harumphed and said, "You should never go to Florida, then. We had fleas down there that could darn near carry away our kids." I thought the Denver transplant was going to pass out. |
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