So my dog is on the monthly flea n tick stuff, but today i saw one flea on her. does that mean she has fleas or is that flea about to die. I really dont want the carpet of my place infested with fleas

6/12/2009 3:47:48 PM

which monthly stuff? if it's the hartz crap, she probably has fleas because that stuff not only doesn't work, but can harm your dog

if it's the name brand stuff (i always get the names confused...frontline?) and it's within the better part of 30-day life of the application, i'd say it was a random thing

however, do realize that fleas can feed of humans, too, and that flea eggs are waterproof and are viable for something like 200 days, even if you use the bug bombs on your house

6/12/2009 3:51:04 PM

If you really want to keep your dog and house free of fleas then try the oral medication Comfortis. It's expensive (~$80 for 6 month supply) but I've found it works 100x better than any other flea prevention product.

6/12/2009 5:03:37 PM

Plus, I don't care what they tell you, it is pretty easy to wash off topical flea/tick treatments. If you bathe your dog more than once a month of if the dog plays around water, it is highly likely that it is just washing off the medicine

6/12/2009 6:59:34 PM

It's also pretty easy to wash off fleas with the right shampoo. Before we treat our dogs, we usually wash them a couple times to give them a semi-fresh start.

I see an occasional flea with the medication, though. My dogs are in and out through the doggy door all the time.

6/12/2009 7:02:26 PM

I just took my dog to the vet on Tuesday and my vet actually told me not to put him on any of the topical flea medications. Since we don't live near water or any other animals, he is really low risk anyway.

6/12/2009 7:17:33 PM

Quote :

"If you really want to keep your dog and house free of fleas then try the oral medication Comfortis. It's expensive (~$80 for 6 month supply) but I've found it works 100x better than any other flea prevention product."

i've never used it, but i've heard good things (and it has good reviews, http://www.1800petmeds.com/Comfortis-prod11039.html)

but, really, if you check http://www.1800petmeds.com/, frontline is actually more expensive by $2 for the same dosage (http://www.1800petmeds.com/Frontline+Plus-prod10459.html)...maybe i'll try the comfortis (but it requires a prescription whereas frontline doesn't)

you can almost always find a 5-10% off coupon for 1800petmeds if you check online, so ~$12/dose isn't that bad (i got my frontline on sale with a coupon for $10/dose)

[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 7:25 PM. Reason : links]

6/12/2009 7:23:20 PM

Quote :

"Before we treat our dogs, we usually wash them a couple times to give them a semi-fresh start."

One of my wife's friends is a vet school grad and was over here yesterday and told us Frontline and other topical treatments spread through their skin via the oils and that you shouldn't wash 2 days before the treatment either. This was news to me.

6/12/2009 7:28:01 PM

I want to say that the comfortis is prescription, but I might be wrong

6/12/2009 7:28:34 PM

^ no, you're right...i mentioned it in my post 2 above yours

6/12/2009 7:29:59 PM

^^^ I've heard that as well. We usually wash a couple days in advance, hence the "semi-fresh" start.
That's good to point out though, and I wasn't really clear about it.

We've had good success with Frontline, but I've only heard good things about the oral medication as well. I guess that's Comfortis. I haven't heard it specifically by name.


[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 7:34 PM. Reason : k]

6/12/2009 7:30:08 PM

I'm just fortunate that I live where I do. We keep the dogs in a huge fenced in area, and they are only ever around each other. No other pets brought into the mix, and with the fence all the other wild animals stay out for the most part. My vet said that it is almost like a quarantine type of situation. The chances of them ever getting fleas is slim to none.

We do however keep them on heartworm preventative year round.

[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 7:40 PM. Reason : a]

6/12/2009 7:39:40 PM

i definitely cheat with flea meds. but it works. i get the 6 month supply of frontline for my kitty but i apply it every other month so it stretches for a year and no outbreaks. my cat is an indoor only cat.

i will never not put flea medicine on her regularly again though. she got fleas from staying at my boyfriend's parents house while i was on vacation. they have a million cats and some are indoor/outdoor. so she got the fleas. i "combed" them off of her with the flea comb but it was too late. it turned into an outbreak. she ate a flea/flea dander/eggs/whatever i guess which gave her worms which messed up her digestive junk and then she got hemorrhoids. seriously. HUGE vet bill.

and i had to fumigate (or whatever) my condo and vacuum/wash EVERYTHING because i didn't know what had flea and worm eggs on it and what didn't. it was bad. i didn't know pets could get worms from eating fleas (or A flea).

so anyway, my recommendation to the OP is if you see a flea and they are on good meds, then maybe don't panic. its summer, its hot, if it goes outside it is bound to pick up a flea here and there. but if you aren't using frontline or some other "real" medicine (ie: NOT the stuff you can buy at walmart, the hartz stuff) then i would start using that.

edit: i know this is about a cat, but i'm just saying. animals can get worms if they eat fleas so preventing flea outbreaks is sooooo worth it.

[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 11:44 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2009 11:43:22 PM

my dog has a really bad flea allergy so i have to be very careful about fleas. for all 6 years of her life until now, frontline has worked fine. about a week and a half ago i put frontline on her (from drsfostersmith.com, not a fake one on ebay or something)...and today i noticed she was covered in fleas & flea larvae. she spent the week w/ my parents while i was on my honeymoon. before that, i had started doing frontline every 3 weeks bc it just couldn't keep up.

i have to find something new that works better. i like the idea of comfortis, but what about ticks? i'd rather not have to buy a 3rd pest medicine (flea, tic, & heartworm)...esp since comfortis isn't cheaper. the frontline still seems to work fine for ticks, although i dont have many in my yard, but they go to my parents' frequently and they live out in the country.

suggestions?

6/14/2009 11:10:01 PM

It's my understanding that the most likely reason you saw a flea crawling around on your dog, is because the flea actually has to contact your pet's skin in order to contact the medication. If you've got a really furry dog or the flea had just jumped on board, the meds likely had not had a chance to take effect yet. If you are applying the medication on time every month you should be ok. In fact I believe frontline plus is actually supposed to protect against fleas for up to 6 weeks and ticks for 4. They also guarantee total flea extermination with 18 hours and ticks within 24 hours of jumping or attaching to your pet.

Other medications you can use if you don't think frontline plus is working anymore...which happens with some pets are Advantix, a lot of people claim this is the BEST flea and tick prevention you can use (don't use if you have cats). Advantage Multi-won't protect against ticks, but does fleas, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and heartrms (be sure you have a heartworm negative dog first). Also, Revolution is a good product to try and will keep your pet protected against fleas, the dog tick, heartworms and ear mites (so especially great for outdoor cats). Promeris prevents and controls fleas and the 4 main ticks species pets can get, it's also used against mange.

6/15/2009 9:34:55 AM

One thing I forgot. When using monthly topicals, NEVER use more than one at a time without consulting your vet first as drug reactions/overdose can occur. For example, if you want to use Adavantage Multi to protect against fleas and heartworms, don't also apply Frontline or Promeris to get ticks. Another thing to be sure of is to remove flea collars if you use them from any pet you are also giving monthly prevention to...despite collars having very little efficacy, it also leaves potential for drug reaction/overdose.

BUT if you are using a chewable or oral heartworm preventative and a topical agent for fleas and ticks that is alright, since they have different routes of administration.

6/15/2009 9:42:57 AM

Quote :

"It's my understanding that the most likely reason you saw a flea crawling around on your dog, is because the flea actually has to contact your pet's skin in order to contact the medication. If you've got a really furry dog or the flea had just jumped on board, the meds likely had not had a chance to take effect yet. If you are applying the medication on time every month you should be ok. In fact I believe frontline plus is actually supposed to protect against fleas for up to 6 weeks and ticks for 4. They also guarantee total flea extermination with 18 hours and ticks within 24 hours of jumping or attaching to your pet."

it wasn't just one flea, it was a bunch plus flea larvae, which i have never seen on her before. it's slowly been losing its effectiveness over the last year, it didn't just happen last week (that's just the worst it's been so far). she's not really furry, has medium length hair and virtually no undercoat. the meds had plenty of time to take effect, like i said it's been a week and a half now and we've been using it every 3 weeks instead of 4.

Quote :

"Other medications you can use if you don't think frontline plus is working anymore...which happens with some pets are Advantix, a lot of people claim this is the BEST flea and tick prevention you can use (don't use if you have cats). Advantage Multi-won't protect against ticks, but does fleas, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and heartrms (be sure you have a heartworm negative dog first). Also, Revolution is a good product to try and will keep your pet protected against fleas, the dog tick, heartworms and ear mites (so especially great for outdoor cats). Promeris prevents and controls fleas and the 4 main ticks species pets can get, it's also used against mange."

i've tried advantix, even though i have cats (i administered and left the dogs outside all day), and it leaves the nastiest crusty junk on their fur. i didn't really want to try it again. i don't know where i read that promeris was flea only, maybe i had looked it up for cats at the time. i guess we'll try that.

6/15/2009 9:51:06 AM

My vet also told me that it's good to switch back and forth between brands every month. He said that fleas can build up an immunity to one, so it's a good idea not to use the same one over and over again.

6/15/2009 10:33:50 AM

The one flea thing was actually in response to the initial post on this topic.

Yea try Promeris. You could also give her a dose of oral capstar to kill the adults and use promeris or frontline to manage your larvae and eggs. Also make sure you're vacuuming daily if you've got a flea problem. You can decrease the egg and larvae load in your house by more than 60% doing this.

6/15/2009 1:27:35 PM

i havent noticed any in the house, that doesn't mean they're not there, i just haven't seen any. my house is all hardwoods or tile so they'd have a hard time hiding.

6/15/2009 2:07:57 PM

^ i thought that too because i have hardwoods. but they can hide in furniture and mattresses, pet bedding, area rugs, etc. carpet is definitely the prime spot but when my cat had a bad outbreak they were obviously finding places in my house to jump around or whatever they do. i washed all my couch cushions, throw pillows, all of my bedding, all of my towels, all of my area rugs and i vacuumed what i couldn't wash (hardwood floors, under all the furniture AND then i vacuumed the furniture).

you can use the sprays/powder things that you put on furniture and floors and vacuum over, but my vet said that vacuuming was the main key. and vacuuming frequently. even after the fleas seem to be under control.

^^yes. oops i guess i didn't read. seachel had already said vacuuming. but i will just reiterate since my experience was horrible! i didn't think they were in my house either (i have all hardwoods/tile). but i was obviously wrong because my dumb cat doesn't go outside so they were definitely there, somewhere.

6/15/2009 4:00:59 PM

i really think it's my parents' yard's fault. the dogs stayed out w/ them the last week while we were away and it was the worst it's ever been, they were never even in my house. i was still planning on getting the flea powder stuff anyway since i like the smell.

6/15/2009 4:15:56 PM