# Dogs and Fleas



## Leeana (Aug 19, 2011)

I have a 4 year old shih tzu, I have never had any issues with fleas on her up until recent. We have always had a few wild barn cats that did not come anywhere up near the house. Our barn cat had kittens a few months ago and the kittens are very friendly and come up to the house, lay on the back patio with my shih tzu, Sassy, and I believe they are bringing flea's up to her. They "snuggle" and play with Sassy. I have tried a few different flea shampoo's and dips - they kill the fleas that are there but it seems that by the next day they are back. I'm going to give my vet a call in the morning to get some perscription strength, I'm hoping to try Frontline.......

What have you found works best? I really hate to get rid of the barn kittens (we have three spoiled friendly barn kittens) but I know that is where the fleas are coming from. But, my Sassy is a big higher on the "pet totem pole" around here....

Also, I found some small flea bite area's on her - is there anything I can put on the bites to help them heal? I have her hair trimmed very short right now (just a couple weeks back trimmed her with a #15 blade for her summer coat). I was thinking perhaps I could spot the bite area's with tripple antibiotic ointment.

Thank you


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## Ashley (Aug 19, 2011)

Wouldnt matter if you got rid of the cats or not the fleas will still be around. Have you bombed and cleaned the house? If you dont do that you will never get rid of them on the dog.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 19, 2011)

I used the oil on my little dog but it didn't agree with him. It's worth a try, though.

One flea will cause horrible crusty eruptions on my dog. I give him 1/2 Chlortab twice a day until the eruptions go away. Vet said to bathe him in my horse iodine shampoo. Also put cortizone cream on the eruption spots. And, of course, we have to have a tape worm pill!

I have a wild kitty once in a while. Also bunnies. I guess that is where he gets the flea. Luckily it doesn't happen but 2-3 times a year.


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## Leeana (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm going to put a flea bomb off in the house next week as I will be gone most of the next week. I actually have not seen any in the house, but being that Sassy is a house dog, I'm sure they are there. With it being summer and now that it is cooled off some and not 120 degrees anymore, mom has been leaving her outside with her (she goes outback on a leash off the patio) for a couple hours at a time, I'm going to try and get it to where she is just outside to potty and when I take her for a walk until we get the flea issue resolved.

I read up some, would you perfer Advtantage or Frontline? As it seems some perfer advantage.


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## Renee (Aug 20, 2011)

Walmart now carries Pet Armor Plus. It's exactly the same as Frontline, but 1/2 the price and it works great.


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## Just_Rena (Aug 20, 2011)

The only thing I have found that works is Comfortis (flea pill from vet). I had used Advtantage and Frontline, it didnt get rid of the fleas. The flea pill killed all the fleas on the dogs within 2 hours. I started giving the pill 3 months ago and havent seen a flea since. 5 dogs (poodle - inside, german shepherd - inside, mastiff -outside, doberman -outside, great pyrenesse - outside. The inside dogs spend alot of time outside also.


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## Jill (Aug 20, 2011)

Renee said:


> Walmart now carries Pet Armor Plus. It's exactly the same as Frontline, but 1/2 the price and it works great.


I didn't know that, thanks for the heads up! Frontline is what we've used in the past and it's supposed to be very safe.

Years ago, Hartz Blockade products killed a number of dogs and ever since reading about that happening, I've been really leary of what to try when the dogs have had fleas but settled on Frontline. They've not had issues often, but when it's "flared up", that stuff takes care of it right away.

Good luck, Leeana!


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## Marty (Aug 20, 2011)

Without a doubt, Comfortis! One pill a month. For my German Shepherd its $15.00 a month but a smaller dog wouldn't cost that much.

My dogs always had fleas no matter what I used. Frontline wouldn't even touch this mess I had and I was infested every summer. I was always flea shampooing and bombing my house. Now I use Comfortis and I have zero fleas on my dogs and in my house.


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## Sonya (Aug 20, 2011)

I like Frontline plus, never had any problems. Tried Trifexis(which is for heartworm and fleas)...didn't like that as it didn't protect against ticks and the collar that comes with it for ticks just plain ole sucked. So I went back to Frontline plus and heartgaurd for heartworms. I do like the idea of a pill instead of the chemical that sits on their back for a couple days like Frontline, but none of those protect against ticks. Comfortis also does not protect against ticks.

(if you use comfortis or trifexis make sure you give it to her after she eats or it could make her sick...I have read of dogs throwing up even if you give it after they eat, causes nausea)

I sure wish they'd come up with a once a month pill that protected for heartworm, fleas, and ticks...I'd definately try it.


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## little lady (Aug 20, 2011)

K9 Advantix II hands down!! This is what my vet recommended for my Shih Tzu. First he is a house dog but is outside all the time with me, he plays with the barn cats & kittens. He is all over the farm, in weeds, in the woods, you get the picture. He gets a bath every week so I needed something that would with stand all the bathing, and it does. We also seem to have and always have had an abundance of mosquitos(they carry heart worm)and it does well with repelling mosquitos. We also have our fair share of ticks. I am thrilled with the results. As with any of these preventive treatments one must use them on a very regular basis to achieve maximum results.

PS Leeana, I love the horse in your avatar!


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## LittleRibbie (Aug 20, 2011)

Comfortis fan as well!!

Almost works overnight...used frontline for years ( 10 yrs. ) and it appeared dogs got immuned to it..

house got infested w/fleas..bombarded the house and Comfortis for the dogs and fleas were gone in a day or 2.

good luck...fleas are such nasty little beggers


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## Matt73 (Aug 20, 2011)

Do you have Advantage Multi in the U.S.? It takes care of and prevents roundworms, hookworms, ticks, fleas, and heartworm. I use it monthly from around May to October/November on my dogs. My barn cat gets Revolution through those same months and Profender (takes care of tapeworms) early Spring and early Fall.


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## HGFarm (Aug 20, 2011)

Yeast and garlic pills for the cats and dogs!!! I tried many things with a cat that I got once and it came with 'free fleas'- horrible. Sprayed the house really well and fed yeast/garlic pills daily and the fleas dont like it apparently. Worked better than the chemical things I tried.


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## drmatthewtaylor (Aug 20, 2011)

Many good choices, I prefer Frontline, Comfortis, or Revolution.

What are not good choices are baths, dips, bombs, or collars. False sense of security and money poorly spent. There is a reason why the more expensive cost more, they work.

Dr Taylor


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## Leeana (Aug 20, 2011)

I was not able to give my vet a call today and they are not open agian until Monday, so will call him first thing on Monday....I think I want to try the Confortis....

I picked up some powder and shampoo today at the store to get us through the weekend though and keep the fleas at bay....

Could I just do the confortis pill during the spring/summer/fall "problem" months - as I don't think fleas are as much an issue in the winter for a house dog?


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## MyBarakah (Aug 20, 2011)

I've had a horrible problem with the fleas here the past couple of years.. I use to always use frontline plus.. and now it was like the fleas were immuned to them.. so the ONLY thing that works is Revalution you have to get it from the vets. It's a spot treatment. This is great stuff... it will get rid of the fleas!!


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## drmatthewtaylor (Aug 20, 2011)

I appreciate that none are 'cheap', but flea preventative year round will work better.

Dr Taylor


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## hersheesmom (Aug 20, 2011)

This is the first year we have been catless and used Revolution and knock on wood, also flea less! Our yard here is totally different to. No sand, real grass


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## Sonya (Aug 21, 2011)

I haven't had any problems w/immunity with the Frontline...been using it about 10 years. As Dr Taylor says year round is best, but in Michigan I stop in Dec/Jan/Feb, but my dogs (indoor but outside alot in summer with us because we camp/boat alot) are not around any other critters that have fleas. However, heartworm med I do all year round.


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## Jill (Aug 21, 2011)

We've only had fleas on our dogs a handful of times since we moved to our place in 1998. Right or wrong, I don't like to use pesticide (poison...) on our dogs unless they've got fleas. But when they do, I know the cheap stuff is worthless (and can even be dangerous). Yes to year round heartworm preventative, but if you do not have such an infrequent issue with fleas, I don't think it's actually the healthiest choice to keep a year round chemicals for fleas in or on your dogs. Just my two cents as an owner, not a vet.


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## drmatthewtaylor (Aug 21, 2011)

Jill said:


> We've only had fleas on our dogs a handful of times since we moved to our place in 1998. Right or wrong, I don't like to use pesticide (poison...) on our dogs unless they've got fleas. But when they do, I know the cheap stuff is worthless (and can even be dangerous). Yes to year round heartworm preventative, but if you do not have such an infrequent issue with fleas, I don't think it's actually the healthiest choice to keep a year round chemicals for fleas in or on your dogs. Just my two cents as an owner, not a vet.


Not an unreasonable position, but consider;

1) Frontline never enters the body and is so non-toxic that it can be sold OTC.

2) Revolution is selamectin which is an ivermectin derivative so its like giving heartgard year around already.

Dr Taylor


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## Jill (Aug 21, 2011)

Thank you, Dr. Taylor... but in the face of 3 flea "events" in 12 years, I think I'm going to continue to use those chemicals only when we actually need to




Plus, I don't know that the spot ons never enter the body under our "real life" situation of our little dogs wrestling and biting each other's necks when they rough house (?). If we did have an ongoing problem, though, I would feel much better about using it reading your post above. Thanks!


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## mydaddysjag (Aug 22, 2011)

My mom bred and showed dogs for years, and now that she is older and no longer breeding/showing, she still has 6 retired dogs. We used frontline for YEARS and always loved it, but in 2008 we got a very, very bad flea infestation. Im talking so bad they got into our house, and I ended up in the hospital in under 3 days because im allergic to flea bites and got red streaks going up my legs, NO FUN. A bit upset, because as you can imagine, frontline wasn't cheap for 6 dogs and 4 cats, all of which were house pets. Im not sure how the flea issue went from non existent to completely out of hand in a matter of friday - monday, but it did.

We bathed all animals in blue dawn dish soap and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes wet, put advantage on two days later (when the vet was open to pick it up), flea bombed our house, washed ALL of our clothes, bedding, curtains, etc. Got a spray from our vet that was sprayed on our upholstered things such as mattresses, couches, chairs, etc. We went around the exterior of our fence about 8" out from the fence with moth balls all around the area where our dogs go out to potty. Knock on wood, we haven't had a flea issue since. I think the fleas got resistant to the frontline from us using it for so long, and thats why switching to advantage worked.

My mom does only use flea preventative after the first thaw, and until about late October now. They live on a few acres, keep their yard meticulously cut, and have no other dogs in the area.

I moved out in 2009 but still live about 1/4 mile from my parents. I have neighbors who dont take basic care of their pets, so im sure they arent spending money on flea preventative, so I do keep my dog on preventative year round (theres just a bigger risk here)


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## Riverrose28 (Aug 22, 2011)

I worked for a small animal vet for over 20 years as a dog groomer, starting before topicals became popular, back in the day when we had to bath and dip. Hated it, was so gratful when frontline came along. That being said, fleas don't actually live on the pet, they live in the environment, for every flea you see on your pet there are a hundred in your house and yard. I have used frontline forever, until last year, I don't know if the fleas became immune or they diluted the product, but after spending a small fortune for it, I found it was not working and had to switch to Advantic, my cats and dogs didn't know what a flea was until last year. Had to treat the house, yard, and pets, and am still fighting a battle in the yard with squirrels bringing them in, as they bite me, but not the pets. Expensive products work, hartz doesn't. Don't waste your money on cheap products, thats not saying don't bath your pet, cause it will make them feel better but use a good reputable product.


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