# Fleas...OH MY!



## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

How in the heck do you catch these little monsters? Central, OR, no problem...on the coast for 5 minutes, never in the grass and we have FLEAS!!! 

I have been on flea patrol since last night and its crazy! My poor babies had to sleep in the crate last night and they were not happy.

I have water & dawn to put them in, but some of them hop off of the flea comb before I can get them into the cup...what am I doing wrong?

I have DE & cedar oil spray and no help whatsoever. I'm at a loss and feeling like the next 6 days are going to be wasted chasing fleas :angry: We are headed for natural flea shampoo baths next 

Advice needed desperately!


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

I catch them with a tweezers... keep them on your lap as you are doing it. But the key to FLEAS is checking each and every day or 3 times a day for flea dirt.. you will spot flea dirt way before you know they have fleas...


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

I definitely am, my husband is calling me a crazy lady! Bayleigh has already been bitten  Of course she's allergic...I'm losing my mind!


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## littlefluffbabies (Apr 17, 2013)

It might be easier to remove them while your pups are in a sink bath rather than trying to get the flea from dog to cup. I always fill the second sink with water and rinse the comb in that one while shampooing in the other. They are much easier to see when your pup is wet and you're rinsing back and forth with the spray nozzle as well. I wouldn't be able to capture them with tweezers. I'd likely end up pinching skin rather than grabbing a flea. Lol. I also get a box of regular table salt and sprinkle on carpeted areas and leave for a few days to kill eggs. Then vacuum up. There was a post with all natural spray somewhere
http://www.wondercide.com/

I haven't tried it but there are a lot of good reviews


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

Oh I hate those things!! The only thing worse is the tick!!!! Since Dewey's incident, I'm afraid to put anything on mine. I'm hoping that the tick he had on him was from one of the rest stops 
that he picked up on our trip . Hope that you catch them all!!!!


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Oh NO?!!! I have no clue what to do...Just totally understand the 'going crazy ' part!

I was gonna take Dolce up to Vegas to Superzoo...now I am scared to with all the big dogs that'll be there...and possibly fleas

Good luck Lydia!


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Use Comfortis! We never have fleas, and we only give it to them a few times a year.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

The best way to catch them is in a bath when they are wet. The fleas cannot jump when wet and soapy. I crush them between my nails. Some people say that Dawn dishwashing liquid kills them and to use this in place of shampoo to bathe them. A drop of tea tree oil on your finger will kill the flea on contact. But if there are a lot of fleas I would not want to use that much of tea tree oil.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

I had a terrible time with fleas last year after a grooming disaster! I would bath them starting from head because the fleas tend to run towards the head and face first. Then I would be sure to leave soap on them for at least 5-8 min while fleas die off. I was bathing Lacie every other day if not every day until they were gone. I also dusted with DE. It did make her coat very dry and stiff but it helped a bit.
I feel bad...nothing is worse than fleas and ticks!


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

No worries in Vegas Hedy, as long as you don't have direct contact with dogs at the show...we don't have fleas. I'm loving Vegas more and more, lol!

Ok, baths done, it WAS easier to grab them wet. They rinsed right out of Bayleigh, but stuck to Georgie like glue...even wet and soapy. Found a few more on Georgie and chased them around with the blow dryer as they were so fast I couldn't catch em, ARGH! I am using the flea comb and dipped in dawn water does help some, but definitely not fool proof.

Vacuumed the coach, DE'd all the carpets, washed all the bedding and hubby sprayed my friend's patio and around the coach. Both are in the soft pen with pee pads. Georgie went, but Bayleigh says "no way"...hmmm. Xpen outside with DE. Don't know what else to do. Can't use toxic stuff on Bayleigh and don't really want to on Georgie either...


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## Daisy's Mommie (Sep 24, 2012)

The key is to leave the Dawn on the fur baby for at least 8 to 10 minutes. They die and when you rinse the baby, they wash off into the sink/tub. I hate them too. 
We bring them in on out pants legs, socks, etc. Anything that they can hitch a ride on. This goes for fleas and ticks!! I don't think that Noah REALLY meant to bring those critters on the ark. I think they were stow-aways!!


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

ahhh Lydia ...you are covering all the bases! Hope you can find time to rest after all this!

Yeah...if I take Dolce with me == I could always visit all the booths that have their Flea treatments and try them out or just let their sales team de-flea her! ...haha...

I am picturing you chasing them with a blow dryer == they probably thought it was a new fun game to play...totally cute picture in my mind!!! It is great you are able to do this without any toxic chemicals! I had no idea Dawn worked on fleas


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

Thanks Abby! Will try that next time for sure. I didn't realize they hitched a ride, yikes! 

The shampoo I used has all kinds of good stuff in it, all oils peppermint, rosemary, and a bunch I can't remember. It did seem to work some, had to leave in for 5 minutes, but I think I did longer.

The blow dryer was pretty funny Hedy! I'd have to turn it off with the flea under my finger and the monster would run off again before I could grab it with the comb. No rest today, just cleaning, I'm exhausted!


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## StevieB (Feb 2, 2012)

Gah fleas! I use Frontline Trifexis on my guy, we are in Texas so prevention is the key. The stuff works b/c we just got back from Arkansas and there was not a flea or tick on him! I hope you got them all! They are so frustrating.


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## Summergirl73 (Sep 18, 2011)

There's a trick about putting dawn dish soap in a dish under an outlet/light at night. The fleas are apparently drawn to that light and will then end up in the soap (which kills them). You might want to Google that. Lots of salt is said to help too. I think folks put it in furniture cushions, floors, under beds etc. Oh and don't forget to tightly knot up all trash and vacuum bags and dispose of them WAY away for your residence! Good luck!


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

Hi Lydia, Just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you last night!! Check them today really carefully and if you see any specs of dirt you know you didn't get them all. Plus you need to keep bathing them to make sure if any new eggs were laid that you wash them out. You will know you are home free when there is no flea dirt. It may take a few baths .. I did it once a day for a week when I had Chardy. I salute you for doing this!! Hugs!


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

Oh boy, Carol...I'm tired already! We're getting ready for our morning flea hunt now. Only 5 more days here, but then onto Yachats for another week before we head home where we can eradicate these pests for good, lol! Loving the desert more and more...


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Hopefully you can rest today after your morning hunt! ...Here's to hoping you FIND NOTHING in your morning search!!!


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Ok, so no judgement here but I can't imagine chasing fleas off my dog. Honestly, after the boys got infested with baby ticks a couple months ago when we went down south to visit the family-I just don't see how anyone does it in warmer climates without some kind of medicinal control. What a nightmare!

I really don't believe in many of the homeopathic 'remedies' I have heard of. This oil or that oil-please don't find that offensive-as I also have never tried them so maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about!  

We take the boys out a lot, they go into the woods, into fields, they get to enjoy the outdoors-I say-though we haven't been on an outing in weeks  If I didn't use something I would lose my mind!

We used to use topicals-and I agree, they can be dangerous. We are putting pesticide on our dogs-and I have seen some pictures of some bad reactions. Rocky hated the topicals, and some he couldn't use-they would make him itch like crazy.

We are currently using a pill. Nex Guard for fleas and ticks-which we are only using in the warmer weather as they are only an issue about half the year here. (And our vet agrees) We use Sentinel for heartworm and it also does some stuff for fleas as well. These are both tablets instead of topicals. They work great for us.

Please don't think I'm pushing anyone to use anything-if you feel that heart worm or flea and tick meds are not the way to go, I totally respect that opinion. I just feel for anyone who has to chase fleas or worry about getting them out of carpets and such.


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

Shel, it's not about wanting to do it that way... no one wants to chase fleas around and panic and all ... it's about loosing a dog to an autoimmune disease where their immune system cannot tolerate the toxic drugs that keep the fleas off. Not all dogs have weak immune systems.. but I rather chase fleas then go through what I did loosing Chardy.. It was not proven that flea, tick, HW med, and over vaccination was part of why her immune system failed -- maybe it was a combo of bad genes and all... but I will avoid doing what I can control.. and I can control fleas- I can control ticks and I can control HW and I can control over vaccinating-- It is worth the effort for me to do this-- 

I did not take this personally... and you did not offend me...:wub:


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Chardy said:


> Shel, it's not about wanting to do it that way... no one wants to chase fleas around and panic and all ... it's about loosing a dog to an autoimmune disease where their immune system cannot tolerate the toxic drugs that keep the fleas off. Not all dogs have weak immune systems.. but I rather chase fleas then go through what I did loosing Chardy.. It was not proven that flea, tick, HW med, and over vaccination was part of why her immune system failed -- maybe it was a combo of bad genes and all... but I will avoid doing what I can control.. and I can control fleas- I can control ticks and I can control HW and I can control over vaccinating-- It is worth the effort for me to do this--
> 
> I did not take this personally... and you did not offend me...:wub:


Thanks, I often offend people without meaning to.  I guess it's just the way I word things. I can completely understand why you wouldn't want to use the topicals or the pills. I've also read some about the theory that over vaccination can lead to autoimmune in our pups-it's really frustrating that there isn't more research on the subject. I feel like it makes it very difficult to know what is the best course of action.


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

I didn't take offense either Shelly, we all do what we can. Bayleigh does have vaccine induce d autoimmune issues, and has had previous, severe, reactions to flea and heart worm meds, so I don't really have a choice. 

Hubby did spray chemicals all around the coach and my friend's patio, and the dogs are on coach arrest except for going out to potty, so hopefully we're keeping a re-infestation at bay! The traps have caught nothing as of yet.

I'm happy to report only a minute amount of flea dirt on Bayleigh and 4 fleas today, none on Georgie. Staying vigilant, but not as freaked out as yesterday. Will check again later and bathe again tomorrow. I'm still spraying with my concoction of oils, and the few I found today were much slower moving, so I'm hopeful.


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Hey Lydia === hope you had some time to relax as it sounds like you are on top of things with the fleas!

I was looking through some of the hundreds of vendors that will be in Vegas for Superzoo and one of them peaked my interest! i will try and visit their booth to learn more, but thought I'd send a link as i am trying to learn more myself! Sounds like natural remedy...similar to what you are already doing actually (with the natural ingredients in the shampoo that you are using) 

Fleas on Dogs | Problems / Solutions | Natural Chemistry

I'm gonna try and pick up a bottle of the spray and shampoo while I'm up there!...some groomers where saying it'll take at least 3-4 days to visit every booth there! YIKES!!!

Anyhow ...hope you enjoyed the day...beach right?




UH OH>>>>Lydia...I was reading up after i wrote this and some reviewers say this stuff turns their dog fur yellow....sorry...not good...i won't be visiting their booth after all...sigh...


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

No yellow fur, yuk! Enjoy the show, wish I could join you...can't wait to hear all about it


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

Flea baths, vacuuming, DE dusting, laundry done again...going to go play now, whew! 10 today vs 4 dozen last time, thinking we're doing ok. They sure don't want to come off of Georgie, I have to scrape them off with my fingernail after they die. I'll sure be glad when this is over.


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## Ann Mother (Dec 18, 2013)

I got some puppy flea shampoo that you leave on for 10 minutes-from my vet to use if he got fleas. The vet said the preventive stuff is too toxic for these dogs. Wash them on the porch or outside. Use a tin wash basin. Sorry but you are going to have to wash all the dog bedding too. At the beach most probably sand fleas. If dogs not outside then the house or apartment must be infested? If that's the case then the whole house needs treated and you need to reside in a hotel for a couple of days. Want do it natural use salt. Life cycle is three days so put down salt & vacumn every three days for nine days.


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