My Dogs Have Fleas

Oh hey....I just remembered. You can sit a bowl of 1/2 dawn and 1/2 water on the floor and the fleas jump in. Just make sure you put it where Fido doesn't think it's a drink.
WOW....I remember.....from science class. Who says I have drug damage?!?!
 
If you have carpet don't use a flea bomb. Treat your carpet with non toxic diatomaceous earth. It's very cheap. Kills fleas in minutes and lasts for several year.

That's what I've been doing. DE is great. I give it to the animals daily as a preventative for internal worms/parasites and have had it on them since we realized they had fleas. I also put a bunch in the vacuum bag to dry up any eggs/larva I hoovered up. I find it takes a bit to kill them (it cuts their exoskeletons and they dehydrate) but it works. Anyone interested in it here's a link for tons of info: Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth for Mites, Parasites & Morgellons

Always make sure it's FOOD GRADE DE, not the stuff used for swimming pools.
 
So in the midst of all that happened the past six weeks (in addition to all the deaths, we had one month to get all my parents stuff out of their place, July 10 is the last day, plus I got very sick 6/21-6/27) the dogs never did get their flea med ... so we now have fleas!! Damnit!! :mad: Frontlined both dogs Tues, both cats Thurs, DE them daily, as well as the carpeting, sofas, dog bed. Vacuuming daily (yeah, yeah I should do that anyway huh?). Poor Penny, she has a super thick undercoat and was just gnawing away ... her skin in places is nearly bruised from chewing so much. Put cortizone on those spots yesterday .... relief! Got two fleas off of Dio (one yesterday), two fleas off of Shadow (old cat) yesterday. How long before Frontline kills them all? DE takes a few days as it dehydrates them. I am concerned about any eggs that may be lurking. This is all a first for us. Cripes, like this is what we needed.

Frontline sucks. A waste of money

Revolution is very affective. Not only does it kill fleas and eggs, it repells them and prevents and kills ear mites

Hey, thanks for this. Hadn't heard of Revolution will look into it. FL has worked for us (as a preventative) in the past. Never experienced fleas so am taking it one step at a time. I think everything is working ... but we'll see.

Still seeing live fleas one week after FL and DE applied, cleaning like crazy. Picked five or six live fleas off of the dogs last night. But I can get them, they're not jumping around so I think it is all working. We likely had fleas in here for a few weeks so eggs are still hatching and all.

Also, poor old Shadow cat has ear mites (which we thought the itching and scratching was strictly flea related). His fur is nearly all out in places. I put ear mite drops in his ears last night ... immediate relief. Will be eradicating them as well.

When it rains it pours!
 
Katzen is on the right track and its true the bomb won't work. But what works better than diatomaceous earth and is way cheaper is Twenty Mule Team Borax. Its also easier to get.

Borax is made of mined boron which is a naturally occurring desiccant. It works by breaking down the exoskeleton of insects. If you have ticks, spiders, cockroaches, ants, etc, it will also kill them. Best of all, and this is the reason why bombs and poisons do not work, it kills all phases of the insect's life. If you dip for fleas/ticks, it will kill the pests that are on the animal at that moment but more will hatch. Not only that, you have put your pet and your family at risk because of the poison.

Buy a box of Twenty Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle. When you get home, vacuum really well. Put maybe a half cup of the borax into the vac bag and remove the bag from the house completely.

Run a narrow but solid line of borax along all of your walls. In addition, scatter it freely on CARPETED closet floors, on the animals' bedding, on carpeted areas where the animals lay. You can also scatter it in between couch cushions and similar places.

Important: DO NOT put it directly on any of the animals and DO NOT scatter it on bare floors. If you do put it on the animals, its possible it could cause the skin to break down. On bare floors, its very slippery.

In the future, you can clean as usual and replace the thin and solid line of borax along your baseboards -OR - you can be a bit lazy and not disturb the borax, cleaning more completely in the center areas of each room.

When you vacuum, remove the bag from from the house and put a fresh bag in every time you vacuum.

Continue to use Frontline but your fleas will be gone in a few weeks.

The borax is non-toxic and cheap. And, it really does work.


This is essentially what diatomaceous earth (DE) does and what I've been doing. The Borax may not be safe if ingested and since we've got two cats and the dogs licking/biting where the fleas get them, we're using the DE. I use Borax in the wash ... hard water and no phosphates means the detergent needs a booster. Thanks for the info, Luddly.
 
Katzen is on the right track and its true the bomb won't work. But what works better than diatomaceous earth and is way cheaper is Twenty Mule Team Borax. Its also easier to get.

Borax is made of mined boron which is a naturally occurring desiccant. It works by breaking down the exoskeleton of insects. If you have ticks, spiders, cockroaches, ants, etc, it will also kill them. Best of all, and this is the reason why bombs and poisons do not work, it kills all phases of the insect's life. If you dip for fleas/ticks, it will kill the pests that are on the animal at that moment but more will hatch. Not only that, you have put your pet and your family at risk because of the poison.

Buy a box of Twenty Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle. When you get home, vacuum really well. Put maybe a half cup of the borax into the vac bag and remove the bag from the house completely.

Run a narrow but solid line of borax along all of your walls. In addition, scatter it freely on CARPETED closet floors, on the animals' bedding, on carpeted areas where the animals lay. You can also scatter it in between couch cushions and similar places.

Important: DO NOT put it directly on any of the animals and DO NOT scatter it on bare floors. If you do put it on the animals, its possible it could cause the skin to break down. On bare floors, its very slippery.

In the future, you can clean as usual and replace the thin and solid line of borax along your baseboards -OR - you can be a bit lazy and not disturb the borax, cleaning more completely in the center areas of each room.

When you vacuum, remove the bag from from the house and put a fresh bag in every time you vacuum.

Continue to use Frontline but your fleas will be gone in a few weeks.

The borax is non-toxic and cheap. And, it really does work.

It does not have to be that complicated.
 
Well Zoom I'm happy you've survived this long.

You may want to use this flyer as a template for the ones you'll put up around the neighborhood

SBH0376.jpg
 
I freaking hate fleas.

I had an infestation about 20 years ago that gave me PTSD. I didn't even have carpets, and it was a NIGHTMARE. We got them from coyotes and god knows what else around our house..which was out in the middle of wheat fields, across from a subirrigated cow pasture...Once we got them they were hard to get rid of because the minute you stepped outside, they were waiting and all over you. I'd walk across my front yard and there would be 10 of them sticking to my booties above my tennis shoes.

I fogged, and waited 3 weeks, and fogged, and waited 3 weeks, and fogged, and ... you get the idea.

The eggs survive for 3 weeks...and fleas can last I don't know how long without food...and they don't have to have blood they can live off the grunge and crap on your floors...old skin, stuff like that..they're nasty.

Then one bites you, lays 1000 eggs and you're off again.

Lay waste, and elminate them. They carry not only the plague but also TAPEWORMS, which spend a part of their lifestyle inside fleas...which are then accidentally ingested and guess what? You have a big old tape worm.
 
Katzen is on the right track and its true the bomb won't work. But what works better than diatomaceous earth and is way cheaper is Twenty Mule Team Borax. Its also easier to get.

Borax is made of mined boron which is a naturally occurring desiccant. It works by breaking down the exoskeleton of insects. If you have ticks, spiders, cockroaches, ants, etc, it will also kill them. Best of all, and this is the reason why bombs and poisons do not work, it kills all phases of the insect's life. If you dip for fleas/ticks, it will kill the pests that are on the animal at that moment but more will hatch. Not only that, you have put your pet and your family at risk because of the poison.

Buy a box of Twenty Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle. When you get home, vacuum really well. Put maybe a half cup of the borax into the vac bag and remove the bag from the house completely.

Run a narrow but solid line of borax along all of your walls. In addition, scatter it freely on CARPETED closet floors, on the animals' bedding, on carpeted areas where the animals lay. You can also scatter it in between couch cushions and similar places.

Important: DO NOT put it directly on any of the animals and DO NOT scatter it on bare floors. If you do put it on the animals, its possible it could cause the skin to break down. On bare floors, its very slippery.

In the future, you can clean as usual and replace the thin and solid line of borax along your baseboards -OR - you can be a bit lazy and not disturb the borax, cleaning more completely in the center areas of each room.

When you vacuum, remove the bag from from the house and put a fresh bag in every time you vacuum.

Continue to use Frontline but your fleas will be gone in a few weeks.

The borax is non-toxic and cheap. And, it really does work.


This is essentially what diatomaceous earth (DE) does and what I've been doing. The Borax may not be safe if ingested and since we've got two cats and the dogs licking/biting where the fleas get them, we're using the DE. I use Borax in the wash ... hard water and no phosphates means the detergent needs a booster. Thanks for the info, Luddly.

Boron is non-toxic and much safer to ingest than the silicon dioxide in diatomaceous earth. If you want to know more about any possible toxicity of boron, there's an 800 number on the side of the box. Call and ask to talk to the toxicologist. They will tell you the absolute truth, including the LD-50 and Draize results. Ask them.

(When I was doing non-animal testing of boron, I happened on my 2-3yo grand daughter with a small container of it in her hand and the white powder on her lips. The toxicologist told me she would have to eat several cups of it to have any effect and that the only thing I would likely notice would be that her stool would have a greenish cast to it.)

Some people would actually put either or both on their animal but that will cause extreme skin irritation that will be very hard to get rid of. The poor animals will be biting and chewing at themselves and you would be setting the up for long term and very expensive problems. The original irritation very quickly becomes a bacterial/fungal infection of the skin which you'll have to treat. (Does the dog have an odor to his skin? Its especially noticeable when he first comes in from outside. Skin on back is flaky? Skin on belly red and inflamed?) If you don't get rid of the fleas, that skin irritation will just get worse and the cycle becomes very difficult to treat.

If you put a strong desiccant like either boron or DE directly on the skin, it will begin to break down the skin. That's how it works on the pests.

Note that both DE and boron remain effective unless and until they become wet. Don't put either outside - its just a waste. Don't use spray poisons outside - they don't work.

Nothing I have described is particularly "complicated" but you do have to make a commitment to deal with the problem and it sounds like you have done that.

By all means, if you wish, go ahead and use the DE as I have described though. Its a lot more expensive and it will take longer to work but it works the same way - eg - its a desiccant. The biggest difference is that silicon dioxide is toxic.

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/4081fact.pdf

Diatomaceous Earth General Fact Sheet

A human health risk assessment of bo... [Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 1995] - PubMed - NCBI

The Borax Conspiracy: Big Pharma's Latest Ploy to Outlaw a Natural Cure for Arthritis, Osteoporosis and Tooth Decay (July 6, 2012)

I've used boron for more than 30 years with 100% success and never one problem. But, please don't take my word for this. Do your own research.
 
and if nothing else works .....I suggest the OP to get some professional Pest Control quotes choose one and let them do it.

May be it'll be worth in the end. :dunno:
 
So in the midst of all that happened the past six weeks (in addition to all the deaths, we had one month to get all my parents stuff out of their place, July 10 is the last day, plus I got very sick 6/21-6/27) the dogs never did get their flea med ... so we now have fleas!! Damnit!! :mad: Frontlined both dogs Tues, both cats Thurs, DE them daily, as well as the carpeting, sofas, dog bed. Vacuuming daily (yeah, yeah I should do that anyway huh?). Poor Penny, she has a super thick undercoat and was just gnawing away ... her skin in places is nearly bruised from chewing so much. Put cortizone on those spots yesterday .... relief! Got two fleas off of Dio (one yesterday), two fleas off of Shadow (old cat) yesterday. How long before Frontline kills them all? DE takes a few days as it dehydrates them. I am concerned about any eggs that may be lurking. This is all a first for us. Cripes, like this is what we needed.
-

And, you have to do the carpets, dog bedding, even your bedding to. The flea life cycle included laying eggs off the animals.. If you don't treat the surroundings, they come right back.

Been there, done that. And seen friends that didn't and never got rid of them.

I litterally pushed all the furnature to the sidea of the room, used a big sprayer with gallons of spray, did the center, moved furnature to the center, did the edges, put everything back. Then spray outside the perimeter, strip in the garage, spray cloths, wash.

The little f'ers are nasty. Some people are natural attracters, something in their blood. Friend ended up in hospital with an intercellular infection from a bite.

IT'S WAR!!!!! AND FLEAS ARE THE ENEMY Little f'ers..
 
So in the midst of all that happened the past six weeks (in addition to all the deaths, we had one month to get all my parents stuff out of their place, July 10 is the last day, plus I got very sick 6/21-6/27) the dogs never did get their flea med ... so we now have fleas!! Damnit!! :mad: Frontlined both dogs Tues, both cats Thurs, DE them daily, as well as the carpeting, sofas, dog bed. Vacuuming daily (yeah, yeah I should do that anyway huh?). Poor Penny, she has a super thick undercoat and was just gnawing away ... her skin in places is nearly bruised from chewing so much. Put cortizone on those spots yesterday .... relief! Got two fleas off of Dio (one yesterday), two fleas off of Shadow (old cat) yesterday. How long before Frontline kills them all? DE takes a few days as it dehydrates them. I am concerned about any eggs that may be lurking. This is all a first for us. Cripes, like this is what we needed.
-

And, you have to do the carpets, dog bedding, even your bedding to. The flea life cycle included laying eggs off the animals.. If you don't treat the surroundings, they come right back.

Been there, done that. And seen friends that didn't and never got rid of them.

I litterally pushed all the furnature to the sidea of the room, used a big sprayer with gallons of spray, did the center, moved furnature to the center, did the edges, put everything back. Then spray outside the perimeter, strip in the garage, spray cloths, wash.

The little f'ers are nasty. Some people are natural attracters, something in their blood. Friend ended up in hospital with an intercellular infection from a bite.

IT'S WAR!!!!! AND FLEAS ARE THE ENEMY Little f'ers..


im with you.... it is a war. I am one of the people blood suckers LOVE..... so when my pets have fleas.... so do i!
 
I also agree that its a war but, mark my words, you can soak your home and your pets with poison and the fleas (ticks, cockroaches) will laugh at you.

Been there, done that, learned what works and what does not.

When you find that the fleas have won, try my way. Stick to it, don't give up. It will take you a couple of months. Or, put it another way, at least 3 life cycles.

I use borax based ant killer.

And it WORKS.

There's a commercial preparation called Roach Pruf that is nothing more than boric acid (boron) and bait. If you want to go cheap and easy, make it yourself.

Just buy boric acid at the drugstore and mix it with bait. The ratio isn't critical, make it 60-40 or so but don't worry about it. The bait can be anything edible - sugar, flour, etc. Mix it up and store it in a jar.

Collect jar lids. Wide, flat lids like from mayo jars or whatever it handy. Put a spoon full of your mixture into the lids and put them anyplace you would expect to find cockroaches. Under the sinks, in the food cupboards and so on. As long as it stays dry, it works. And because roaches like to cuddle, if one walks through your homemade roach killing powder, he'll snuggle with as many as 250 more that night. And, they all die because the desiccant breaks down the hard waxy coating on the exoskeleton. Kills the egg cases as well.

The biggest problem with these remedies is that you don't get to see the &*(^&$%#$&*%^ critters, belly up in the middle of the kitchen floor.

But, they work, they're non-toxic and they're cheap.
 
"I also agree that its a war but, mark my words, you can soak your home and your pets with poison and the fleas (ticks, cockroaches) will laugh at you. "

Always worked for me.

The borax, even baking soda, apperently, is suppose to clog their pores. They breath through their shell.

I think everyone agrees. You have to treat your whole environment, whatever your choice of treatment.
 
So in the midst of all that happened the past six weeks (in addition to all the deaths, we had one month to get all my parents stuff out of their place, July 10 is the last day, plus I got very sick 6/21-6/27) the dogs never did get their flea med ... so we now have fleas!! Damnit!! :mad: Frontlined both dogs Tues, both cats Thurs, DE them daily, as well as the carpeting, sofas, dog bed. Vacuuming daily (yeah, yeah I should do that anyway huh?). Poor Penny, she has a super thick undercoat and was just gnawing away ... her skin in places is nearly bruised from chewing so much. Put cortizone on those spots yesterday .... relief! Got two fleas off of Dio (one yesterday), two fleas off of Shadow (old cat) yesterday. How long before Frontline kills them all? DE takes a few days as it dehydrates them. I am concerned about any eggs that may be lurking. This is all a first for us. Cripes, like this is what we needed.
-

And, you have to do the carpets, dog bedding, even your bedding to. The flea life cycle included laying eggs off the animals.. If you don't treat the surroundings, they come right back.

Been there, done that. And seen friends that didn't and never got rid of them.

I litterally pushed all the furnature to the sidea of the room, used a big sprayer with gallons of spray, did the center, moved furnature to the center, did the edges, put everything back. Then spray outside the perimeter, strip in the garage, spray cloths, wash.

The little f'ers are nasty. Some people are natural attracters, something in their blood. Friend ended up in hospital with an intercellular infection from a bite.

IT'S WAR!!!!! AND FLEAS ARE THE ENEMY Little f'ers..


Did all that. Even sprinkled DE on the bedcovers after stripping, washing, hot dryer, etc everything. Bedroom doors closed to keep pets out. Oldest needs to clean her room because the animals have been in there. She'd better get on that. :mad: Carpets have been getting treated w/DE as well. Vacuuming everyday.

Found about 4 buggers on the youngest cat's face this morning. :mad: Called vet to ask about Capstar ... waiting for them to call me back. May just get that on my own.

Problem is I didn't prevent the fleas so getting it under control will take some time. It isn't a horrendous outbreak but ... we. have. fleas.

Anyone have any suggestions for something natural to give my old cat to calm him down some? He's 15 and the whole flea thing has his nerves on edge. He's exhausted from bathing/licking/scratching at the fleas. I do notice that when I powder the animals w/DE, it seems to completely calm down the itch cycle and they rest. Hmmm ...
 
Katzen is on the right track and its true the bomb won't work. But what works better than diatomaceous earth and is way cheaper is Twenty Mule Team Borax. Its also easier to get.

Borax is made of mined boron which is a naturally occurring desiccant. It works by breaking down the exoskeleton of insects. If you have ticks, spiders, cockroaches, ants, etc, it will also kill them. Best of all, and this is the reason why bombs and poisons do not work, it kills all phases of the insect's life. If you dip for fleas/ticks, it will kill the pests that are on the animal at that moment but more will hatch. Not only that, you have put your pet and your family at risk because of the poison.

Buy a box of Twenty Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle. When you get home, vacuum really well. Put maybe a half cup of the borax into the vac bag and remove the bag from the house completely.

Run a narrow but solid line of borax along all of your walls. In addition, scatter it freely on CARPETED closet floors, on the animals' bedding, on carpeted areas where the animals lay. You can also scatter it in between couch cushions and similar places.

Important: DO NOT put it directly on any of the animals and DO NOT scatter it on bare floors. If you do put it on the animals, its possible it could cause the skin to break down. On bare floors, its very slippery.

In the future, you can clean as usual and replace the thin and solid line of borax along your baseboards -OR - you can be a bit lazy and not disturb the borax, cleaning more completely in the center areas of each room.

When you vacuum, remove the bag from from the house and put a fresh bag in every time you vacuum.

Continue to use Frontline but your fleas will be gone in a few weeks.

The borax is non-toxic and cheap. And, it really does work.


This is essentially what diatomaceous earth (DE) does and what I've been doing. The Borax may not be safe if ingested and since we've got two cats and the dogs licking/biting where the fleas get them, we're using the DE. I use Borax in the wash ... hard water and no phosphates means the detergent needs a booster. Thanks for the info, Luddly.

Boron is non-toxic and much safer to ingest than the silicon dioxide in diatomaceous earth. If you want to know more about any possible toxicity of boron, there's an 800 number on the side of the box. Call and ask to talk to the toxicologist. They will tell you the absolute truth, including the LD-50 and Draize results. Ask them.

(When I was doing non-animal testing of boron, I happened on my 2-3yo grand daughter with a small container of it in her hand and the white powder on her lips. The toxicologist told me she would have to eat several cups of it to have any effect and that the only thing I would likely notice would be that her stool would have a greenish cast to it.)

Some people would actually put either or both on their animal but that will cause extreme skin irritation that will be very hard to get rid of. The poor animals will be biting and chewing at themselves and you would be setting the up for long term and very expensive problems. The original irritation very quickly becomes a bacterial/fungal infection of the skin which you'll have to treat. (Does the dog have an odor to his skin? Its especially noticeable when he first comes in from outside. Skin on back is flaky? Skin on belly red and inflamed?) If you don't get rid of the fleas, that skin irritation will just get worse and the cycle becomes very difficult to treat.

If you put a strong desiccant like either boron or DE directly on the skin, it will begin to break down the skin. That's how it works on the pests.

Note that both DE and boron remain effective unless and until they become wet. Don't put either outside - its just a waste. Don't use spray poisons outside - they don't work.

Nothing I have described is particularly "complicated" but you do have to make a commitment to deal with the problem and it sounds like you have done that.

By all means, if you wish, go ahead and use the DE as I have described though. Its a lot more expensive and it will take longer to work but it works the same way - eg - its a desiccant. The biggest difference is that silicon dioxide is toxic.

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/4081fact.pdf

Diatomaceous Earth General Fact Sheet

A human health risk assessment of bo... [Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 1995] - PubMed - NCBI

The Borax Conspiracy: Big Pharma's Latest Ploy to Outlaw a Natural Cure for Arthritis, Osteoporosis and Tooth Decay (July 6, 2012)

I've used boron for more than 30 years with 100% success and never one problem. But, please don't take my word for this. Do your own research.

DE is also non-toxic and perfectly safe to ingest and has health benefits for animals and humans. If I didn't already have a bunch of it I'd be using the Borax.

Here's info on DE. Diatomaceous Earth - Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth Health Benefits
 

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