Fleas - help!

[EmmalinaC]

Our dog has been treated twice now with Frontline (from the vet) and is still scratching. The pesky blighters are driving him mad. Even worse, I and our two DDs have also started being bitten We have a cat (presumably the source of the fleas) who is Frontlined at the same time as the dog and doesn't seem to be suffering too much.

I assume our next step is to treat the carpets but I'm really reluctant to cover the house in some nasty insecticide, especially with small children around.

We've never had this problem before.

Any tips?

Thanks!

[hephaestus]

Frontline isn't always effective any more, my vet said he's encountered a number of 'pockets of resistance'.

Advocate spot-on is excellent and kills all worms/fleas/ticks/mites. Do both animals monthly and hoover regularly - unable to feed on the animals, they will die off soon enough without having to resort to pesticides on the carpet.

[Happymm]

We use advocate too, as am to lazy to worm and flea it does both in one go :)

[Marne]

We have them too (poor dd1 has been bitten all over), i have treated the cat and dog twice but we still have them, i have just ordered some spray for the house from Amazon (it has great reviews) here, i think you need to treat the carpets, rugs, sofa ect... to get rid of them as most of them wont be living on the pets.

[mymumdom]

I also have anecdotal evidence of frontline resistance and have changed a few of my clients onto Advocate which seems to have done the trick.
Out of interest, have you treated monthly all year around or did you cease treatment over the winter?
Animal fleas don't like humans, we taste bad to them, but if they are desperate they will bite us. The fleas you see on your pet represent only 5% of the fleas in your environment. So if you see 5, there are another 95 growing and developing in your pet's environment-their bedding, your carpets, your sofa- anywhere the animal lies or sleeps.
If you see fleas on your pet, and a human is getting bitten, you will need to treat your environment with something decent.
'Something decent' means a household spray that includes an IRG. This stands for Insect Growth Regulator and acts like a flea contraceptive, stopping eggs and larvae in the environment from developing any further.
Unfortunately, nothing can touch the fleas that are already in the pupal stage. These will need to hatch before they can be killed.
For this reason your environmental spray should also contain an adulticide, which will kill any emerging adults for a week or so.
If you hoover energetically before you spray, this will encourage some pupae to hatch ( pupae hatch in response to vibration giving them the best chance of jumping on to a passing animal) and you'll kill a few more fleas with the spray.
Once you've sprayed, daily hoovering will encourage as many pupaes to hatch as possible before the adult flea killer loses effectiveness.
Most people find that they get no more fleas emerging 3 weeks after treatment but occasionally people need to treat a second time.
Decent environmental sprays do not contain anything harmful to humans such as Organophosphates and include Indorex, Acclaim and Staykil
HTH

[alice15]

Agree 100% with mymumdom. The only thing Frontline will treat that Advocate won't is ticks, so unless they are a big problem for you it's a no-brainer IMO!

[EmmalinaC]

Thanks very much for this. I will get us all off to the vet this morning to ask about Advocate (I assume I can only get it from the vet?) and something to treat the house.

I've just picked a flea off DD1's cheek as she was having her breakfast (eeeeuwwwww!) so it's not before time!

Thanks again

[chickchickchicken]

i always use frontline and worm with drontal but am thinking i should change to advocate. do you need a prescription for advocate?

mymumdom - you asked OP if she ceased treatment over the winter, is it more effective to cease treatment then or should we treat all year round?

[chickchickchicken]

emma - eewww at picking flea off dd1's cheek. poor you.

[EmmalinaC]

chickchick I've just called the vet and he said you can get Advocate without a consultation providing they have seen the dog within the last 12 months. If they haven't they offer a reduced price 'flea consultation' of £14.

We don't treat all year round - just in the summer or when Basil seems a bit scratchy. Probably 3-4 times a year. Up until this summer (Basil is 7 now) this has always seems adequate. mymumdom should we be doing it all year? (I've always assumed this was the vets way of making me buy more Frontline - which isn't cheap!)

I told DD it was a mosquito on her cheek - didn't want her going to school saying she had a flea bite . It is utterly gross, isn't it ? A friend popped round for coffee earlier with her LO and I had to send her away!

[mymumdom]

Ohhh- questions for me! Sorry, I have only just seen them. The manufacturers of all flea treatments 'recommend' you treat monthly, and this will be the first thing they query if you try to tell them that FL isn't working. I suggest that my clients treat monthly from the last frost to the first, if they have been treating regularly, there won't be any fleas in the house and you are unlikely to get adults emerging from outside. If you are treating 3-4 times a year, it's better to make it 3-4 months in a row rather than every 3-4 months. I don't think this is enough if you have a cat though, You need to treat for at least 6-9 months a year.
After an outbreak I'd treat both cat and dog consistently for a year to make sure it doesn't happen again.
HTH

[chickchickchicken]

thanks for info emma and mymum

[mymumdom]

Dilemma, good point. Because we were talking about fleas I was assuming that worming was going on as per normal.
Milbemax and drontal both good for tapeworms, if you can't get tablets down them try droncit drops on back of neck.
In a perfect world you'd worm everything every 3 months, if your flea control is good and your pet is not a hunter, then every 6 months is probably ok.

[EmmalinaC]

We got the Bovril-type worm thing from the vet when we got the Advocate so hopefully that will deal with any tapeworms? Basil aint no hunter!

We also got a household insecticide but I am so wary about using it on his bedding, which I have subjected to a 90 degree wash.

As far as ticks go, we live in London, so apart from an occasional run in Richmond Park or weekend with the in-laws in Somerset, he doesn't get exposed to many... SHould we be treating him more?

And thankyou mymumdom and dilemma... I can't tell you how much your advice is appreciated

[EmmalinaC]

You don't sound grumpy! You sound knowledgable (SP?). Are you a vet?

I hope I haven't mixed any of the drugs you mentioned?!

Thanks for your help.