Seriously!! Doesn’t matter if its the cheap stuff, or the expensive stuff,they just get “stunned”.
WHY???
Does anyone know???
Am I the only one???
ARRGGGHHHHH:mad::mad:
LBR
In addition to the bathing, you need to treat your animals living areas(indoors and outside) and have a monthly protocol of Comfortis or an oral flea IPM.
The best thing I ever did to banish fleas was to build a house without carpets. I never see one now, and have no need of poisons on my animals.
I know, I meant that it doesn’t kill them when used, not over time. I bathe the cat, and the fleas are STILL running around on the towel!!!
They get a spot-on, the house is treated, but I’m having a mini outbreak, so bath time!
LBR
I can’t WAIT to go CF!!! That is one of the main things I’m looking for in a new house. I HATE carpet, its gross no matter how many times a day I vacuum.
LBR
try Dawn dish soap. When I brought home my scrawny little reject kitten who was coated in fleas, that is what the vet recommended we use. Something about coating and killing them, we did have to bathe multiple times to kill them all.
Does it killl eggs and nymphs as well???
Thanx for the suggestion!
LBR
I just came here from a natural-flea-treatment web site and read there that Dawn doesn’t actually kill the fleas. Even if you leave it on for the recommended 10 minutes. Even for 20.
I can just imagine my kitties staying in the sink/tub for 20 minutes while the Dawn kills the fleas.
The web site said to add vinegar to the Dawn, or to use it in the rinse. Then after drying the cat, spray her with vinegar/water and let her air dry. It said that in time cats would come to appreciate the flea bath because it leaves them feeling clean and their coats soft.
Hmmmmmm…
Anyone ever spritzed their cat with a half-vinegar half-water solution?
I read that adding vinegar to cats’ drinking water can mess up their acid levels and can lead to health problems. What about licking their coat that’s been sprayed with vinegar water?
10 mins?? I have enough probs with the 5 for FS.
Don’t know about the vinegar, wonder if it works
LBR
I’ve never found a shampoo that actually killed fleas.
Best thing is to get a Capstar pill from the vet. One pill will kill the fleas on your cat for 24 hours. It won’t kill the eggs and larvae though, so you’d need to treat the rest of the house and most likely use a topical like Revolution.
I ended up with a bad flea infestation last year, and my cat doesn’t even go outside! It was a horrible year for them though, and they managed to get into the house by riding in on the dogs (who had been treated with Frontline, which apparently doesn’t work as well as it used to.)
The Advantage I got a few months from 1 cat’s vet didn’t work well last month; my vet (my other cat’s vet) said there is a new Advantage out now that works better. Advantage II. The receptionist said Frontline wasn’t working well this year.
used Frontline once last year – seemed to attract more than repel
You really need more than just shampoo and treating the house.
The flea eggs are wherever your pet(s) sleep and the fleas are ON your pets.
I can tell you’ve done your research since you are concerned about eggs and nymphs. The best thing for the eggs is lufenuron which is found in interceptor and program.
I am telling you, program is the shiz. I went to what we called the flea farm several years back and the fleas were so bad we had to put flea collars around our ankles to keep them from climbing up our legs in waves to get to the massive amounts of dogs on the property (animal collector). In 3-4 months of using program (lufenuron), the flea populations were considerably down.
The lufenuron inhibits chitin synthesis in the flea egg, and the baby fleas cannot actually hatch.
I use sentinel for the benefits of lufenuron and rarely see a flea. If I do see a flea, the dogs get a capstar and thats the end of it because that fleas eggs cannot hatch, it doesn’t really matter that I found a flea. Make sense?
I would recommend Program only because you probably already have heartworm preventative, therefore it would be an extra expense to get the sentinel (which is pricier than regular HW preventative).
To knock these kids out I’d do the following:
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Bath in Dawn ONCE and a few days later apply your reliable spot-on… DO NOT WASH the dogs again for a month or you WILL wash off the product and you will be washing your $$ down the drain. Utilizing the spot-on products properly is key.
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Incorporate lufenuron in the form of Program (tablets or injectable… this is a prescription product and it WORKS)
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Wash the pet(s) bedding frequently. That’s where the eggs and fleas are.
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Treat ALL the animals in the household. I don’t care if the cats don’t go outside (this is more for broad recommendations not singling you out, and this is the most common reaction I get when making this recommendation).
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Capstar is your friend.
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Throw away the household treatment products… waste of money, I promise.
Also… look into Comfortis, I have heard great things about it, but don’t know much about the product as I have been out of SA medicine since its really hit the market.
Dr. Dryden is the man when it comes to fleas and has done a ton of research on flea biology.
Also, a little factoid… if you are bathing outside with a “flea shampoo”, the products in those are degraded by UV light (the good ol sunshine) and therefore aren’t as effective! Same thing goes for fly sprays… which is why most fly sprays do not work for very long.
Thanx for the info Blu!
I shall put it to use!
I’m going to read that article too!
LBR
I have found that this stuff really DOES kill fleas:
http://www.petedge.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=44243
I have a small, white JRT and can literally see dead fleas as soon as I start rubbing the shampoo through her coat. FWIW, killing the adult fleas on the dog is just a small step in controlling a flea problem.
If you are going to try flea shampoo, put the shampoo around the pads, ears and rear end BEFORE you wet the dog. Once you put water on the dog, the fleas make a beeline for those areas and hide, making it next to impossible to kill them all with flea shampoo once you start to bathe the dog.
Read this in my local paper this week, I have not needed to try it, but thought I would share.
The writer said she used Equate Lice shampoo for humans, mixed with regular dog shampoo, to kill fleas, and that it worked.
Now, just for a fun mental image, you should buy it on the same day as you are getting the 3 tubes of K-Y for sheath cleaning!
Remember when flea dipping or using flea shampoo to make a ring of product around the animal’s head- fleas run for high ground and hide there while the rest of the body is submerged.
I hate fleas- my housemates and I ended up with an infestation last year and it was awful. Remember that in addition to treating the home initially (ideally the same time that you treat the pet, then isolate pet while home is finished) you need to vacuum daily to finish off the life cycle and treat the yard as well. Fleas don’t just ride in on animals, they ride in on people as well, and while they will come back to the yard, getting that under control will help with kicking the current infestation.
