Dog flea control -- Sentry Natural Defense and/or flea traps?

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Anyone tried Sentry Natural Defense? My dog is currently on Interceptor, Frontline (and I alternate with Advantage) and I also wash/condition him every 1-2 weeks with a shampoo that doesn’t wash off topicals. I also vacuum every day, have hardwood floors and spray his bedding with flea/tick repellant. My dog STILL has fleas! Would love to add a natural topical too if that would help!

ETA: anyone try flea traps? Help at all? They aren’t very expensive, so would happily get a couple if they work!

ACK!! HELP!!

[camohn]

Frontline and Advantage are the only ones I have found to work and the Advantage was the better of those 2…
Had some luck withthe Garlic/Brewers yeast pills (liver flavor) for dogs from Springtime Inc. for herbal stuff.
http://www.springtimeinc.com/product/148/2

[wendy]

do not feed garlic to dogs. It’s toxic. Well-proven.

[fooler]

[QUOTE=fizzyfuzzybuzzy;4221905]
Anyone tried Sentry Natural Defense? My dog is currently on Interceptor, Frontline (and I alternate with Advantage) and I also wash/condition him every 1-2 weeks with a shampoo that doesn’t wash off topicals. I also vacuum every day, have hardwood floors and spray his bedding with flea/tick repellant. My dog STILL has fleas! Would love to add a natural topical too if that would help!

ETA: anyone try flea traps? Help at all? They aren’t very expensive, so would happily get a couple if they work!

ACK!! HELP!![/QUOTE]

I will post with spot on flea protection my vet gave me last year - much stronger than the Frontline.
Also the vet advised against bathing 2 weeks before & after spot on treatment. The spot-on works best with as much skin/coat oil as possible. So I stopped bathing mine w/fea & tick shampoo as often. She went from being a flea magnet with very little hair to a full shiny coat.
Also suggest Bengal fogger (not the spray). It kills all of the insects, no bad smell & you don’t have to wash down everything as you would with other foggers.

[Horsegal984]

It’s crap. It’s just as (non)effective as any of the other OTC spot on types are.

I would talk to your vet about Comfortis, it’s a chewable tablet that is essentially Capstar and lasts a month! No messy oils, no way it can wash off, and has a faster kill. If ticks are not a problem it really seems to be THE best flea prev. on the market right now. If ticks are an issue, either try K9Advantix or Vectra 3D, since Advantage doesn’t get ticks anyway. Or if your dog isn’t a big swimmer you can do Comfortis with a Preventik collar, they really are pretty darn effective at keeping ticks off.

Katherine
Vet Tech

[wotan]

Biospot!

[birdsong]

the Comfortis pill is really working for those here in SW Fl where the flea population is over the top!

The Vet even has said that it will work several months on some smaller breeds… and it has for my neighbors Fox Terrier. I haven’t put my poor suffering (from fleas) senior maltese on it though as he is on heart meds and I read that it has caused heart murmurs in a few dogs. Frontline, Advantage nor Revolution is working this season!:no:

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Biospot scares me, I’ve heard of dogs/cats having VERY severe reactions (read:fatal). I’m going to talk to my Dr about Comfortis, I’d rather give him his heartworm and flea meds orally, then I could wash him fairly frequently (he’s generally a gross farm dog, so he gets bathed often) without washing off a topical.

[movo]

Here’s another vote for Comfortis. Works great. I think our flea popultion had just gotten immune to everything else. AND of course, spray your house. Once and again in two weeks. We use a spray from Home Depot/Lowe’s that kills fleas. Very inexpensive (less than
$10.00 a gallon). We use two gallons for our large house.

[Horsegal984]

[QUOTE=wotan;4222195]
Biospot![/QUOTE]

Biosh#$ only works if you didn’t have fleas to begin with. And again, the OTC topicals, Hartz, Sargents, Biospot, Sentry, and whatever other name you can come up with are way more trouble than they’re worth. The stuff is pure crap, you might as well pour fly spray on your dog and call it flea prevention. While it’s true pyrethrins and permethrins DO repel critters, the OTC stuff is regulated by the EPA, not the FDA. Meaning since it’s not a ‘drug’ it doesn’t have to pass the strict safety regulations that products like Advantage, Frontline and veterinary products do.

Because quite frankly if they had to go through the FDA they would have been off the market long ago with the number of animals that have died as a direct result of the application.

Katherine
Vet Tech

[IFG]

When we moved into our house, it was infested with fleas. Nothing worked, we vacuumed, we sprayed, we bombed, we scratched, and we cried.

We finally got rid of them by pulling the carpets and applying this stuff:

http://www.fleabuster.com/

It was awesome. Now that we have a dog, we still use it in addition to advantix or frontline plus.

Good luck, you have my sympathies.

[fooler]

Flea magnet dog is treated with Promaris (sp?) spot-on monthly from spring thru fall. This is the new spot-on the vet gave us last year when she was just covered in fleas no matter what I did. This stuff really works but beware it has a very strong odor (not bad, just strong).
She also receives Heartworm pill every month (that is supposed also kill ticks & fleas), wears flea collar & I spray her house weekly with dog-dip solution & change straw bedding as needed.
So far she is ok and this is with her living outdoors!

[myhorsefaith]

@IFG;4222345

When we moved into our house, it was infested with fleas. Nothing worked, we vacuumed, we sprayed, we bombed, we scratched, and we cried.

We finally got rid of them by pulling the carpets and applying this stuff:

http://www.fleabuster.com/

It was awesome. Now that we have a dog, we still use it in addition to advantix or frontline plus.

Good luck, you have my sympathies.

same situation we had when we moved into an apartment a few years ago and it worked great for us too. We lived there for 2.5 years and had no problems post treatment.

[camohn]

Tried BioSpot here…did not work at all.

[appdream]

I use Frontline spray with good results.

In the house I use a mixture of five parts borax (Borateen laundry detergent) and one part salt. Sprinkle on carpets and upolstery, reapply after vacuuming.

You can make your own flea traps. Use a shallow dish or pan, add a 1/4 inch of water and add a few drops of dish detergent. Sit this on the floor, fleas jump in and cannot get out. Add a small night light above the dish, this really attract the fleas.

We have a small stream running through our yard and running water attracts fleas. For our first few years here it was a constant battle with fleas. I tried everything and nothing worked, I found this recipe and have not had infestations since.

[SLW]

Somehow you are not breaking the life cycle of the fleas and my hunch is your problem is the larvae stage. I would ditch the dogs bedding and get something new. Your vet should be able to order an excellent flea bomb product for you.

Once you have an infestation you can figure it will take several months to reach “flea free”.

[tle]

So… I just called my vet to see about getting the comfortis… they’ve never heard of it! Grrr. The only thing they have for dogs is Advantix. Is it worth doing? Teh problem I have with the spot on treatments is that they never seem to work for my extremly large, extremely hairy newfy! Granted the cattle dog is smaller and less hairy, but I don’t want to waste $$.

HELP!! It was confirmed that the issue we are having is indeed with fleas (I was skeptical because I hadn’t seen any, but another family member said she has… quite a few). Ugh. I hate fleas!!

[Nes]

Flea Comb.

Bucket of Soapy Water.

Sunny afternoon.

Go nuts!

I found that has worked best with our new little former-barn kitten. I’ve gotten 3 dozen off in the two days and she isn’t scratching any more. If you go at the fleas with the comb, removing as many as possible then apply something topical, I really think you’re going to have more luck.

I used baby shampoo in water instead of dishsoap because you do get a certain amount back on their coat. The purpose of the soap is to break up the surface tension of the water so you can drown the fleas - the baby shampoo worked very well! Just dip between each brush (and in the case of my cat I then wiped the comb dry).

Apps got the right idea with the flea traps - you can also use borax, vinegar or diatomeus earth on your carpets (and, except the borax, dog) and it will kill/repel the fleas.

Also you may need to do some work outside your house, he must be getting re-infested somehow :dead:.

GL!

[Horsegal984]

[QUOTE=tle;4265081]
So… I just called my vet to see about getting the comfortis… they’ve never heard of it! Grrr. The only thing they have for dogs is Advantix. Is it worth doing? Teh problem I have with the spot on treatments is that they never seem to work for my extremly large, extremely hairy newfy! Granted the cattle dog is smaller and less hairy, but I don’t want to waste $$.

HELP!! It was confirmed that the issue we are having is indeed with fleas (I was skeptical because I hadn’t seen any, but another family member said she has… quite a few). Ugh. I hate fleas!![/QUOTE]

It should still work for your newfy, IF you acutally get it down to the skin. With thier hair coat being so think you really have to put a lot of effort into getting the hair parted so you can apply directly to the skin. It also is a good idea to split the tube and apply at the neck, midway down the spine, and over the hips.

The other thing you can do is order it through Drs. Foster and Smith or KV Vet and they will fax your vet a prescription approval form. Comfortis is great, however it should not be used in dogs recieving high dosages of Ivermectin(Heartgard is fine!) or dogs with known seizure disorders.

Katherine
Vet Tech

[Hermein]

IF you acutally get it down to the skin.

I have to shave the fur on the back of the neck & between the shoulder blades to get the stuff in contact with the skin.