# Fleas!



## petentialpete (Mar 9, 2015)

Advice needed please! Noticed a couple of fleas on Pippin a few weeks back and obviously the Fibronil spot on treatment is not doing the needful any more. Have fumigated the house and car with Indorex, bathed her in flea shampoo twice, washed all her bedding, towels and toys and bought an electric zapper plus a flea trap. Still the buggers are coming, in twos and threes only. Is there anything else we can do please? We will try Nexguard when she is next due a treatment but don't want to OD her. Although it is not a major infestation we really want to be rid of one of God's less happy creations ASAP. Are a few fleas just part of being a country dog? Thank you lovely people!


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

Found these instructions on the internet: 

Care should be taken to treat all carpets and rugs, skirting boards and tiles, paying particular attention to any cracks and crevices.
Regular vacuuming is important to ensure maximum effeciveness of the product
Indorex Household Spray will interupt the life cycle of the flea but you may see residual adult fleas appearing. This is because - like all insecticides - it is unable to kill off the pupa stage. Aggressive vacuum cleaning for 7 consecutive days will encourage the pupae to hatch and these can be physically removed by the vacuum cleaner.

So perhaps there are still some coming out of the pupa stage. Also says to vacuum really well. You'll soon have the cleanest house in town. I've been using Nexgard for fleas and ticks on Maggie with good results but then there don't seem to be any around us. Best of luck getting rid of the nasty little bugs.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

I was going to start a flea thread, not because we have them, but because we don't. At all. I only treat my two twice a year with Frontline as a safeguard, but was wondering if feeding dogs raw meat actually boosts their flea immunity.


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## petentialpete (Mar 9, 2015)

Fleas thread a great idea for they surelt are a pain and there are such a lot of products out there, some good and some not. It remains a mystery as to why some dogs suffer and some never do


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## Alinos (May 19, 2014)

Zorro's got a few fleas about 10 days ago which totally sent me on a tailspin. The frontline didn't work. So I sprinkled the house with Diatomaceous Earth. Vaccumed like crazy. That seemed to help and the last bit was Natural Care Plus spray. Sprayed Zorro and all carpet/bed. Oh also. Have been bathing him everyday for last 4 days with just warm water. 
Strangely enough, I think he likes being hosed down with warm water because for the first time, he went running to the bathroom when he saw me with his towels. 

Have seen fewer fleas on a daily basis. So am hoping it's working. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Fleas are going to be around - foxes, hedgehogs and even birds can carry fleas ... to say nothing of cats and dogs. This summer has been particularly bad for fleas because we had that incredibly hot and humid spell - incredibly hot and humid for most of the uk, that is.

I was talking to a vet associate about fleas and whether topical flea treatments are loosing their effectiveness and he was adamant that this was not the case. He said applied properly and regularly they are effective... well the ones advised by vets are, he was pretty scathing of some stocked by supermarkets etc. We have foxes and hedgehogs that use our garden and I do occasionally find a dopey flea - the advocate should mean that they cannot breed and should kill them within 24 hours. Must say that this year on the same vet's advice I sprayed everywhere before we went on holiday, particularly as we were then looking after a friend's dogs...
Have to say that at this time of year it is harvest mites that are my dogs main problem and super itchy toes.


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Oh goodness - In my naivety I have never heard of Harvest Mites - but with fields around me, perhaps i need to be extra vigilant so thanks for that Marzi. 
Is there anything we can do to protect our dogs against this??? I am assuming Advocate doesn't cover this?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Harvest mite season is just about over - farmer around us has muck spread  and ploughed back the stubble around us in the last week.
If you see harvest mites the best thing in my experience is frontline spray from the vet.

On the down side - now the stubble has been ploughed and it is raining - MUD


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Marzi said:


> Harvest mite season is just about over - farmer around us has muck spread  and ploughed back the stubble around us in the last week.
> If you see harvest mites the best thing in my experience is frontline spray from the vet.
> 
> On the down side - now the stubble has been ploughed and it is raining - MUD


Thank you Marzi. Oh yes, the mud..... Freddie got covered this morning as he is enjoying the freedom of now being trusted "off lead" - but, due to this, he gets a lot dirtier on his walks! I also took your advice from another posting and got him an Equafleece suit which was delivered yesterday.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

This thread always gets me itching even more than I already itch.  

All our pets get Revolution religiously, yet this year seems to be over the top for creepy crawlys of all types. People here say it is global warming bringing them further North each year. I don't know about the flea treatment losing efficacy but I do know there are definitely treatment resistant bedbugs taking over the planet.


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## petentialpete (Mar 9, 2015)

Thank you all for the useful tips as well as making me worry about harvest mites and giant, resitant bed bugs. I think, after a lot of work and expense, we have got the little darling on the run. For the record the eletric comb zapper does seem to work at all for my doggie.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

petentialpete said:


> For the record the eletric comb zapper does seem to work at all for my doggie.


Pete can you clarify this for me please. Did you leave out a "not" or accidentally throw in an "at all"?


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Nope my two have never had fleas and I use advocate, probably helps with the fact that I'm obsessive about hoovering and having wood floors downstairs is a plus! Hopefully you soon rid pippin of these little buggers , nothing worse in my opinion other than worms


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Ticks are pretty vile too....


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Marzi said:


> Ticks are pretty vile too....


Haven't seen a tick not in the flesh and I'm hoping it stays that way! I was obsessed by checking Molly and Sid, but not sure if I would ever find one on Molly until it had already done some damage.


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## petentialpete (Mar 9, 2015)

Sorry Fairlie, I did indeed leave out the NOT


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