To be horrified that my dog is riddled with fleas

[BadTitan]

We're recently back from holidays, left our springer with my in-laws who have three dogs. Yesterday I took her to the groomer who phoned me shortly afterwards to tell me that she was absolutely covered in fleas.
She got as many off as she could but there were still a few left. I came home, vacuumed and sprayed all the carpets, threw out the dog's bedding, gave her a flea tablet and scrubbed her with anti-flea shampoo. And warned the in-laws, but they say they checked theirs earlier in the week and they don't have fleas.
I've been going to this groomer for a long time and she says she's never seen fleas on my dogs before. But that they can pick them up from grass and the hot weather is very conducive to fleas.
I've never encountered fleas before -is this enough to get rid of them? any advice on what works is gratefully received!
Right now, I'm googling what diseases can be carried by fleas... Apart from the plague!

Do not use flea collars they are useless and release chemicals constantly around your house, kids, dog etc.

Use proper prescription strength flea treatment prescribed by a vet. Once you treat the animal correctly it will treat your house because the host animal spreads the poison.

You don't need to do anything else just treat properly. You won't get diseased. Don't be hyperbolic.

People here often have little understanding. The chemicals used break their lifecycle so more can appear if you have a large infestation until those have cycled out as well. You need to look for the early signs and check your own dog.

I've registered my cats on the Animed site and downloaded the app. I get Frontline Plus and have no problems at all. It's cheaper than anywhere else.
I also regularly comb them, with one of those plastic nit combs, which thankfully, they both love.
Had a horrible flea problem in spring, but it was all sorted quickly enough with drops, Indorex and washing and vaccing everything.
My friend is going through the same at the moment! Don't be too horrified, it happens to the best of us! Fleas can jump an incredible distance! And I wasn't aware until a few years ago that they can survive on the ground until a host passes and they can hop on! 😬

Bravecto is great - we have it on automatic shipment/order every 3 months and never got fleas since starting it - previously we were on a monthly flea treatment ( think it was frontline?) and she still got fleas - it was terrible - we treated her with a really strong flea killer ( something she could only take for a few days) and then we flea bombed each room she had been in and washed EVERYTHING and hovered over and over - it was so traumatizing that we swopped to bravecto years ago and never had an issue since we changed to it

As soon as you start medication the fleas die almost immediately. Just get the tablets now. Why would you not have your dog on flea and tick prevention meds in the first place. This is on you

Interesting, thank you. I won’t get another then although, as they’re so expensive and my dog is fine with them, we will finish the life of this one. I’ll also forward that article to our vet and their wider group (five practices in the local area) for comment. Thank you 🙂🐶🐶🙂

I’m really surprised how many people are using spot ons still. Personal choice, I won’t use them. Had a horrific reaction in one dog once. I use natural preventatives and have never had a case of fleas except for when I moved into a house that already had them. So once lot in nearly 30 years (and seven dogs).

Id really surprised people dont routinely treat their dogs for fleas

But that’s like saying you won’t use <insert medication> because one person had a bad reaction. There are risks with everything and yes, some pets will unfortunately have issues - which are usually mild. So, so many people use prescribed spot on flea treatments with their cats and dogs with no issues whatsoever, you just hear about the bad stuff.

monthly stuff from the vet is the best. Just set an alarm on your phone

I assumed everyone did monthly treatments. I'm quite horrified to be honest.

You need the proper treatment from the vet. My cat had a bit of an issue last summer and I spent a small fortune on frontline and indorex. Nothing worked.

Treat the pet with a monthly tablet and the house will sort itself out, the fleas will jump on the host and die. I saw 2 live fleas in the first 3 months and nothing for over a year.

Most dogs have cat fleas. Please treat your cats as well. 🐈 🐕

If your dog is a swimmer even the prescription strength spot ons don’t work in my experience. Bravecto is great it lasts three months or nexguard is good but only monthly.

I’m another Bravecto customer. However I only use it twice per year, beginning of April and August, which covers tick season where I am. He’s never had fleas.
Bravecto is still effective well after 3 months, so 3 times per year should be adequate and save the cost of 1 tablet.
My vet told me soon the Bravecto company will release a once per year injection.

Latest advice is not to treat prwentatively but only for animals that are affected. This is due to the damage that the pesticides do to the environment and also due to the fact that continued use builds up resistance and we end up with fleas that can't be treated..
I only treat monthly for animals with a flea allergy now.

Yeah, if you’re not treating them and you leave them with someone else, they’ll get fleas. I do two thing:

1. monthly flea tablets
2. never ever leave them anywhere unless I’m certain dogs in the household are also treated properly for fleas.

This is really interesting and I’ll look into it. We swapped to tablets recently as they’re less harmful to the wider environment. 🙏🏻

Keep checking if you are only doing every four months. We did three and a half months this time and my dog had a tick in his ear last week. The first one I have ever dealt with!

Agreed. Maybe as my dog is 20kg and the tablet covers up to 25kg. I used to start at Easter, but in the last 10 years the ticks are getting earlier and earlier.

Bravecto doesn't prevent ticks attaching, just kills them once they've attached.