Help!! Fleas keep coming back no matter what!!
@DixieSweetheart (30)
United States
July 15, 2009 11:23am CST
Hi everyone. I need some suggestions please! I have 12 dogs, 7 which are puppies and are getting ready to go to new homes. My problem is fleas. The yard has been sprayed and I have put Frontline on my adult dogs, and bathe the puppies in puppy flea and tick shampoo because the puppies are too young for the Frontline. The fleas keep coming back, and someone told me to sprinkle brewer's yeast on their food and that helps keep them off. One problem there. The brewer's yeast upset the stomach of one of the puppies so I quit putting that on their food because one can imagine the mess I was having to clean up. We feed all of our dogs puppy food out of one pan because it is rather difficult to keep the adult dogs out of the puppy food and vice versa. Can anyone please give me more suggestions as what to try next in addition to the bathing, Frontline, and spraying the yard? Someone else had suggested sprinkling garlic powder on their food instead of brewer's yeast, but I am afraid that once again the same puppy will have an upset stomach. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.
5 responses
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
16 Jul 09
Hello, I live in the Missouri Ozarks and we are being told that this is the worst year in twenty years for fleas.
We have a Great Dane, a Huskey, and a chihuahua. We also have two mama cats and five kittens between them.
We use to let them in the house, but not this year....we are fighting fleas in the house...and with a pack of little rug rats that is very difficult.
We got frontline for all of them....no help. We've used Dawn...a whole bottle on the Dane, no help.
We are now trying a product from Natural Chemistry, a flea and tick spray that has natural botanical extracts but it only lasts up to one week after each treatment. It has cinnamon, cedar, clove, and vanilla in it. It does seem to give them some relief. I spray their bedding and their coats.
I'm going to try the garlic in the food and the white vinegar in the water too.
Great discussion!
1 person likes this
@OpinionatedLady (5965)
• United States
16 Jul 09
Wow. Huskies have such thick fur it must be impossible to get them them off. We are in the Appalachians and I have to sat last year was far worse then this year , knock on wood, the creek behind our house just breeds them and last year I couldn't even let the kids go back there because they would come back with them and ticks all over.
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I bet it is harder to get them off of huskies, I can't imagine what you go through with that. All of mine but 2 are short haired and even at that I am still having a hard time getting them off and keeping them at bay. I honestly believe that living near woods and creeks certainly dont help and with the weather being so crazy, that's no help either.
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I live in West Tennessee, so we aren't too far from each other and I agree with you on this is the worst year for them. On the flea and tick spray, I have had good luck with Adam's. It is a little pricey but has been worth it until now. I am thinking too that between trying the Dawn for bathing and garlic on their food, and a little white vinegar that I just may be able to get a handle on this. I don't know, it sounds like it's a little much...lol. But there again, maybe if I do this all at one time I may see an improvement.
@spank_me_not2003 (17)
• United States
15 Jul 09
If you are trying to get rid of the fleas on the puppies wash them in Dawn dish soap. It kills the fleas. Alot of Vets will use this on puppies because it is safe. And I have found that for the older dogs try getting Bio-Spot you can order this online at bio-spot.com and they have it for puppies. I use this product all the time on my dogs. I have so far had no problems with fleas. Hope this will help you out some. Good Luck!!!!!
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I will definitely try the Dawn. I just bought some a day or two ago as a matter of fact. That would have been the last thing I would have ever thought of to use to kill them. I will look into the Bio-Spot as well and see about that. Thank you so much for the suggestion.
@peedielyn (1207)
• United States
16 Jul 09
White Vinegar in the drinking water helps too. You may even rinse their coats in it. I just did this yesterday--my cat hates me-after i lathered her up for 5 minutes. Most of them just rinsed right out. Good luck!!!
1 person likes this
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
White vinegar is a new one to me too...lol. You are soooo brave bathing your cat. I wouldn't even know where to begin on bathing them. The time thing too is something that I need to work on. Trying to entertain an animal for 5 minutes that is forever trying to get out of the tub is challenging.
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
15 Jul 09
I will look for that when we go back to the store. I didn't realize that they carried those drops. Thanks for telling me.
@okkidokitokki (1736)
• United States
15 Jul 09
I would try the garlic. It should not have the same effect as the yeast because it will not ferment in the puppy's stomach like I would think the yeast would.
I have a dog that has serious allergies and I put garlic on her food because we cannot always find the flea and tick shampoo that she is not allergic to.
1 person likes this
@okkidokitokki (1736)
• United States
16 Jul 09
do not feel bad about that, as puppy parents we learn as we go. (Kinda like people parents only they will not spend that 10 years hating us) :)
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I know but I am like the world's worst when it comes to them and I do something that upsets them. Hubby says I am nuts (and I tend to agree sometimes:)but they are my children) and there's a first for everything. We have had dogs for years and several breeds, but this is the first time I have even heard of or tried brewer's yeast.
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I will try that and see what happens. I didn't think about the yeast fermenting on their tummies. It makes me feel bad that I didn't think of it. On my adult dogs, I usually use Adams flea and tick shampoo. It is has been really good until we moved to where we are and it has not been as good. I think it's because we live around woods and has been harder to keep the fleas away from that. I did however speak with the vet today and they told me that the diarrhea could be from the puppy worms that they are born with, so we got some medicine to try for that too.
@OpinionatedLady (5965)
• United States
16 Jul 09
We too are having some issues with the fleas on our puppies. Our leave tomorrow and I have been bathing them everyday with Dawn dish soap. It kills the fleas that are on them immediately, but it is the rest of the house I am having a problem. As soon as they are out of the tub the bugs are on them again. The frontline seems to only work a little on the big dogs but our Momma had an allergic reaction to it. She lost all of the hair where we put it on and the hair on her back has thinned out from it. Because of this I am scared to put it on the puppies. Our vet said that since she had a reaction the puppies could get pretty sick so to wait until they are 3-4 months old.
@OpinionatedLady (5965)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I have one from Hartz and I hate the smell of it. I will go look for the one you are using. We have tried an old time remedy where you leave a lamp next to a tub with soapy water in it over night. Supposedly the fleas will jump towards the light and they will drown in the soapy water. We did get a good amount of them but it didn't seem to do enough.
@DixieSweetheart (30)
• United States
16 Jul 09
That too is something I battle with especially on my furniture. I have found a spray that is made by sargent's that is orange scented and I spray it on my furniture and it seems to work pretty well. Also it doubles as an insect spray for flies, spiders, etc. I got it at Wal-Mart and it's in a green and white can.
