Fleas!!

[ash6605]

Have just been bathing my two dogs and have found a few fleas,about six on one and just two on the other.I also have a cat who won't stay still for long enough to let me check him!!

I normally flea all pets with Frontline on a monthly basis and they have never had fleas before but was told by vet last time that 3 monthly should be sufficient during the winter months,so lo and behold they seem to have caught fleas!!

Am going to pop down the vets to get some more Frontline,I'll do all 3 pets obviously but do you think I should get something to treat the house with too?What about the sheets and bedding too? I really don't want to end up with a full blown infestation!!

If I were you I would ask the Vet while you are getting the front-line. even if you treat the areas where the animals usually lie.

Apparently with central heating being so good now, flea continue surviving throughout the winter months too. They can survive in bedding, mattresses, walls, skirtings etc.

ash, i would get something to treat the house - indorex is a good product and safe with children (they must not be around for an hour afterwards). A one off treatment should be fine, as hidden icon said they can survive quite happily in the winter and thrive in bedding mattresses etc. To get rid from the bedding you can boil wash (if possible) and you can steam iron your mattress too. Remember to treat all the cracks and crannies.

Tell me, do you use frontline or frontline combo - frontline combo is much more efficient for treating the fleas in the environment. Do keep up with the FL every two months. I would be inclined to worm the dogs too as fleas can carry worms.

what's frontline ?
I have spent the best part of thirty pounds on the bob martin products to get rid of fleas my dog picked up whilst at the dog groomers. They are driving me mad as she is still scratching !

thanks both of you!

lucy.. Not sure which one actually i have never noticed but i'll certainly ask when I go down and try to get the combo. will do the worming too,used to use Drontal monthly but,again vet said this was too often for the dogs.

It's strange,coz although they say fleas can live away from the host,when I washed bath out there were a few dead fleas in the bath and some of the ones I found on the dogs were dead,but surely the water wouldn't have killed them??!!

My god,my jaw nearly hit the floor when my vet said £59 for the treatment which i've never paid in the past so I gave another vet a call who said £22.thats for the 3 Frontline combo treatments and 3 Drontal worming pills.Needless to say,I went with the one that said £22!!

Sorry LILYLOO,just saw your msge.
Frontline is available from the vets(or sometimes they use Advantage,they are equally good)it is much more effective than the likes of Bob Martin and other treatments you can buy at petstores(not sure exactly why but its kinda like going to the doctors for a prescription of strong painkillers rather than just getting paracetamol at the chemist!!) The same goes with worm treatments,the ones at the vets are much better,Drontal tends to be the preffered brand.

Come to think of it,I used a different groomers a couple of weeks ago as,at this time of year my usual one gets very busy and I'm sure it's there that they've managed to pick up fleas.Or maybe it's just a coincidence that,in three years they've never had them but they get them when we use a different groomers!

yes ash, £59 definately too much for frontline! What a rip off. Depending on weight it should be between about £16 and £27 for six months supply.

It sounds to me like the frontline was still working because you are right, the fleas would not be killed by water. So maybe all you need to do is top up on the frontline as they could have picked these ones up that were hitching a lift inside. You shouldnt apply the frontline 48 hours after or 48 hours before a bath or a swim as the protein it binds too is washed out of the fur by bathing, after 48 hrs is ok though

As for the Drontal, you only need to worm every 3 months in an adult dog, every month until six months old, but i always advise worming following a flea outbreak. The drontal only stays in the system about 24 hours i think so no chance of OD but not necessary.

Lillyloo, sorry to tell you this but bob martin = total waste of money IMO. Frontline is very effective and can be purchased in chemists now, and pet world i think. Frontline combo is still a prescription only medicine. Frontline attacks the nervous system of the fleas and does not affect the dog in any way, it works by binding to the keratin in the dogs fur, you just put a spot behind the neck and your covered. It is very effective, i have never ever known any other products as good.

lucy,are you a vet I'm wondering??!!
Too late,I've flead(is that a word?) them,just before I read your post what now?

You can buy Frontline online now - much cheaper

Thanks all will call at vets tom wish i had seen this pre the £30 i have spent. My dog will never go to that groomers again!

not a vet, used to be a vet nurse. Its up to you really, you bathed them today or yesterday? As the fleas you said you saw were dead then maybe you could just wait and see and re do them in a months time, or just watch and wait. Give it a week maybe and do the brushing onto white paper thing, brush them onto damp white paper, if the little black spots go a reddish brown that is flea shit! Then you will know you need to re flea them. Im not sure if flead is a word either If you are treating the environment anyway you should be OK.

It was just this morning I bathed them,thats when I noticed the fleas.
They are Bichons and I'm very surprised I missed them,they should've stood out a mile-brown fleas against white so I don't think they've had them long,it's only a couple of days since I gave them a good brush so I'm hoping I've caught them early on.
The vet said that because I was using the Frontline combi that I wouldn't need to treat the environment.I've still had a good hoover,and washed the dog beds though.Hope thats enough!

im sure thats enough I would change the hoover bag though, fleas like it in there! Sorry, i keep adding additional gloom!

Not at all,appreciate the advice!! thanx