What to do when Frontline lets you down <wail>

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

I'm new to the doghouse so sorry if fleas have been done to death on this forum.

Last week we found out our greyhound was home to a thriving flea community . Cue panic, revulsion (I'm flea phobic), thorough going over with flea shampoo, Frontline, fog the house, wash all bedding, hoover etc.

Last night found another worryingly healthy looking flea on him. Cue me outside washing him AGAIN at 7pm while dinner burnt. Frontline again, kept him out of the garden, and fogged the house again this morning.

Had a rummage through his fur just now, and guess what. Yup. This time I drowned the fucker (flea not dog) but I hate hate hate touching them.

The dog is cleaner than he's ever been, and is looking thoroughly fed up.

What flea treatments actually worked for you?

Stronghold or, my preference, Advocate.
But do let them know you've frontlined him twice in a week.

Also you can ask them about the house sprays they have as depending on what you are using it may be worth swapping.

If you are trying to get on top of an infestation - all animals in the house must be done, all bedding should be hot washed and carpets/upholstery, most importantly dark cracks and crevices should be treated.
But do remember that they are not flea preventatives - if you have a garden or walk in an area that has a lot of parasites you may well see a live flea that will die as long as treatments are kept up.

It's a bugger though you have my sympathies.

I know this is not the thing to say on here, but I've never used Stronghold or Advocate on any of my dogs.

I make my own spray up and I've only ever found one single flea on one of my dogs.

Either it works or I am very, very lucky. Genuinely not sure which.

I use advocate monthly and so far we've never had a flea .

Can I just say that frontline does not stop a flea jumping on your dog it just kills those that feed off your dog. Isn't there a tablet that they can take that breaks the egg cycle. I seem to remember giving mine the tablet and frontline when we had an infestation. Gradually the fleas all went.

Some dogs are less prone and when we were regularly feeding garlic there was nary a one to be seen on any of them particularly the Dane with a short, tight and well oiled coat. So a bit of both.
The only issue I have with that style of management here is it doesn't stop them getting in to the house (on us as well as the odd dog) but mostly we need to be on op of mites (particularly ear mites) and have so many sheep ticks you could re-enact miniature star wars. I don't enjoy flinging the bed covers off to find a squadron crawling up the sheet and up my tasty, tasty legs.

Advocate also gives us the lung/heartworm protection we need as they have been confirmed in the area, and fluke. Manky gits.

Another vote for Advocate. Expensive, but sorted our greyhounds out (and is the only stuff that works on our stupidly hairy cat). Also the Indorex spray for the house - bastard fleas don't stand a chance with that stuff!

I give Hully milebax for lungworm treatment - if she ever gets fleas is straight onto advocate I think because I've always had Labs and no carpets I've stayed lucky using a stinky repellent.

Also chuck a flea collar in your Hoover drum/bag as that will kill any that get hoovered up. Cats seem to be the worst culprit for bringing fleas in the house.

I have to request a repeat prescription from my vet each time and that costs me £7.50 a time but it still works out cheaper paying that and ordering online.

If your dog has had that many fleas then your house will have them. So the eggs will be in the carpet and keep hatching and reinfest the dog. You need Indorax spray, I get it from amazon. It works better than any other spray. Spray, Hoover, spray, Hoover.

At least with a greyhound they have short hair. When my grey was infested I used to take her outside and get the fleas off by hand and squish them.

You talk about the dog being very clean. Are you aware that if you bath the dog in the 48 hours before or 48 hours after the frontline you make it ineffective. Plus from a flea jumping on to the pet it can take up to 24 hours to kill the fleas. So if you have a high flea burden you must treat the environment.
My plan would be:

1. Use advocate, stronghold or Seresto
2. Wash anything the dog sleeps on at 40.
3. Hover thoroughly throw hover bag away.
4. Spray house with product like Indorex or acclaim that kills adult fleas and has an insect growth regulatory to inhibit any eggs from developing.

It is really important to hover before you spray as the vibrations will wake up as many fleas as possible.

Thanks for the advice all. I did look into Indorex but we're going away tomorrow and I wanted to get it sorted before that, so didn't have time to wait for the delivery.

In the end I hovered, sprayed everything with Bob Martin, and bought tablets which I've given him today and yesterday (he gets them in peanut butter and can't quite believe his luck). Checked him today and found just one dead flea (yay).

Garlic? Tbh greyhound farts are bad enough as it is. I think if I did give him garlic, the farts would kill the fleas.

Hello my vet told me frontline is great for ticks and not so great for fleas and that advocate is great for fleas. Also hoovering and a bit of spray and keeping dogs clean etc. don't worry if you see the odd one they are naturally occurring and doesn't mean they will take hold as your dog could have picked this up outside but if your dog has been treated then flea may jump on them for a bit but not be able to stay or lay eggs etc good luck x

Second to use indorex. Sorry to scare you but only 5% of a flea population lives on the animal the remaining 95% live in the environment so concentrate on your home, particular corners of rooms and were the carpet and skirting board meet