My dogs have been suffering lately as we appear to have a lage influx of fleas this year, I've never seen it so bad. Ive been giving them flea baths several days a week and it seems to help temporarily I think I need to spray outside or call an exterminator.
Anyone here have a similar problem or suggest ways to reduce the problem?
Had the same problem last year. I had used Frontline plus for years but last year it had zero effect on the little buggers. I switched to seresto collars and have not had a problem since.
Had that problem a few years back. The fleas were getting on my legs outside and riding inside on me to get to the pets. Treated the yard and house, problem solved.
3 dogs (only two in the house) and 2 cats, one of which goes outside...we use Advantix on them all monthly, no problems with fleas or ticks. When I had coon hounds and running hounds I washed them down twice a year, spring and mid summer with stuff, forget the name, that's all it took.
Look for a product with Bifenthrin as the active ingredient like 'Talstar' P/L granular or one of the generics to treat your yard and dog pen. Use a broadcast spreader and be careful about the application rate on the label because the stuff is about a $1.00 per pound. Always read that whole BORING label and especially the precautionary statements about fish ponds, pastures, runoff, etc. Note that P/L granular products activate when it rains and can last up to 6 months. You didn't mention where you live but, if you're in a dry climate, you will need to water it in to get it to activate. Also note that each time it rains, it reactivates and this stuff works great on ticks, fire ants,roaches and other pests.
Inside look for a productlike 'Precor' or 'Alpine' in an aerosol can that has a growth regulator and, again READ THE LABEL because you are using it in your living space. Note that fleas have a 14 day growth cycle and you are only killing the live fleas. That's why you're using the growth regulator in the house and on the dog. The eggs that hatch and the larvae that emerge in 14 days will get into the growth regulator cannot reproduce(even though they can still bite)
Thankfully I have tile floors throughout the house. Carpet would be horrible.
A can of "Raid" indoor spray will take care of carpets...follow the directions...make sure the active ingredient is "pyrethrin".....finid a similar concentrate for outdoor spraying. Wash the indoor pets and your problems will be history...
I raise beagles and am in a constant battle with fleas and ticks, my dogs are constantly exposed to them when they hunt. If you only have a couple of dogs, get some Seresto flea and tick collars. They are expensive, but they work as good or better than anything else on the market. I have too many dogs for them to be economical for me, but I know a lot of guys with 1-3 dogs and they all swear by them. Depending how big your dogs are, you might be able to use one collar for two dogs. Get the biggest size they make and cut it in half. You'll have to determine how big the necks are on your dogs. I've tried everything that is on the market and if I only had a couple of dogs, the Seresto collars is what I would be using.
Shop around for the best price. Sometimes they can be had on ebay for a good deal.
What the borax is doing is etching into the skin of the fleas and being a desiccant it is drying the fleas from the inside out. This will not only kill the fleas,but their larvae as well. Borax will kill fleas in all stages of its life cycle. There are not many other products than can claim that and for the price you can’t beat it.
My dogs have been suffering lately as we appear to have a lage influx of fleas this year, I've never seen it so bad. Ive been giving them flea baths several days a week and it seems to help temporarily I think I need to spray outside or call an exterminator.
Anyone here have a similar problem or suggest ways to reduce the problem?
I'm living in Gridley now and have been dealing with the same thing. Here's a recent thread that has a lot of good info.
I raise beagles and am in a constant battle with fleas and ticks, my dogs are constantly exposed to them when they hunt. If you only have a couple of dogs, get some Seresto flea and tick collars. They are expensive, but they work as good or better than anything else on the market. I have too many dogs for them to be economical for me, but I know a lot of guys with 1-3 dogs and they all swear by them. Depending how big your dogs are, you might be able to use one collar for two dogs. Get the biggest size they make and cut it in half. You'll have to determine how big the necks are on your dogs. I've tried everything that is on the market and if I only had a couple of dogs, the Seresto collars is what I would be using.
Shop around for the best price. Sometimes they can be had on ebay for a good deal.
Couldn't disagree more, especially for smaller dogs for numerous reasons. First of all if you read the negative reviews on the very link you put up, there are numerous accounts posted in just the last week of negative reactions from incessant scratching, to lethargy and seizures. I would not recommend it for small dogs as it has a long 8 month time release and reports of toxicity in smaller dogs is all too common. I knew that about Seresto a long time ago without reading the negative reviews in the link you put up.
For larger dogs like full size hounds I never heard of any issues and it seems to work fine overall, but that brings up the second point you made in your own post. It isn't cheap.
Permethrin works very well and is cheap. I can buy Freedom Spot on 45 packaged for dogs which lasts 1 month per dose, and treat a 33-66 lb dog for $2.30 per month. I buy it packaged for horses (which is the exact same stuff just comes in bigger tubes) I can treat a dog over 66 lbs for $2.60 per month using the dog dosage listed on the dog packs, a dog 33-66 lbs for $1.30 per month, and a dog under 33 lbs for a little over .65 cents per month.
I've been doing this for yrs with dogs of all sizes, and to date I have 1 dog that hovers around the 33 lb mark that will rub like a cat at times for the first couple days after giving it, it must make him somewhat itchy, other than that no side affects I've ever seen with any dogs and any ticks I ever find which are few, are dead. I never see fleas on my dogs.
Where do you live, Salmonella? Flea infestations are not created equal! The gulf coast states have much more severe problems and require a waaaay more aggressive approach. For most other folks there are lots of good options. Saresto collars are great as are many of the newer generation topical and oral products. I've unfortunately seen numerous breaks in protection with Frontline. It is a 25 yr old product and I think the fleas have figured out a way to defeat it. Ditto for the OTC pyrethrin stuff like Sargent's, etc. Also, I'd be very cautious about using anything in an extra label fashion. Pyrethrins and permethrins can cause seizures if over dosed.
For the money, I like Activyl. It is a once a month topical that kills both fleas and ticks. If ticks and Lyme disease are a big deal in your area it is OK to get a regular flea collar and double down on tick protection.
If your house is infested you need to make sure ALL the mammalian pets are treated for fleas. THAT MEANS THE FRIGGIN' CAT THAT NEVER GOES OUTDOORS,TOO. You'll have to treat all pets throughout the flea season to avoid relapses. Also, daily vacuuming of the house helps remove flea eggs and larvae. Be sure to empty the vacuum outdoors so the eggs don't hatch in the Hoover. Be sure to wash pet beds in hot water and dry them in the dryer to kill any eggs. 20 mule team Borax does help dry out the larvae and eggs.
Finally, if you must, buy some flea bombs that contain IGR (insect growth regulator) for a rapid knock down of the adults. If you go this route, all the pets and people (excluding th emother-in-law ) must be out of the house. Any fish tanks must be sealed with saran wrap. Close all windows and shut off all fans to avoid blowing the mist away from a given area. After 4 hours, open the windows and allow 1 hour before bring the pets back indoors. If you have pet birds, I'd wait a day before reintroducing them to the house.
Comfortis always worked for me before I discovered the many benefits of an all raw meat, organ, and bone diet for dogs. Since then the fleas have zero interest in my dogs' blood. Not sweet enough for them. Dogs fed on commercial dog foods have sweet blood that fleas love. A natural canine diet, on the other hand, doesn't make their blood sweet, so fleas can't sustain themselves on it.
I raise beagles and am in a constant battle with fleas and ticks, my dogs are constantly exposed to them when they hunt. If you only have a couple of dogs, get some Seresto flea and tick collars. They are expensive, but they work as good or better than anything else on the market. I have too many dogs for them to be economical for me, but I know a lot of guys with 1-3 dogs and they all swear by them. Depending how big your dogs are, you might be able to use one collar for two dogs. Get the biggest size they make and cut it in half. You'll have to determine how big the necks are on your dogs. I've tried everything that is on the market and if I only had a couple of dogs, the Seresto collars is what I would be using.
Shop around for the best price. Sometimes they can be had on ebay for a good deal.
WD-40.....it works. Spray your dogs down with it and then just rub it into their coats. Within 30 seconds you'll see fleas come to the surface of their coat and then presto, they fall over dead. Also makes their coat nice and shiny. Another advantage of it is the residue stays on the coat for a couple of weeks. Try it - your dogs will appreciate it. Probably not the best thing if you have inside dogs that like to sleep on the couch instead of their bed. Been using it for 30 years.
WD-40.....it works. Spray your dogs down with it and then just rub it into their coats. Within 30 seconds you'll see fleas come to the surface of their coat and then presto, they fall over dead. Also makes their coat nice and shiny. Another advantage of it is the residue stays on the coat for a couple of weeks. Try it - your dogs will appreciate it. Probably not the best thing if you have inside dogs that like to sleep on the couch instead of their bed. Been using it for 30 years.
some of the chemicals used in WD-40 can be absorbed through skin , specially petroleum oils and solvents.
had a huge flea issue a couple years ago, fenced off a small area of the yard, and sprayed it down, covered the carpets and furniture with 20 mule team borax mixed with salt and dichotomous earth. Set off 3 times as many bug bombs as needed and left the house with the dogs. Took dogs to groomer had them shaved. It was a nightmare that went on for weeks until i did the above.
We've been using Bravecto (get from a vet) for years. One chewable lozenge every three months. GOOD for fleas and ticks. No adverse reactions to your dogs.
For in the house with or without carpet we used to get flea bombs from Southern States. Kills live fleas and most importantly their eggs.
Can't tell you the last time we've seen a flea in the house.
WD-40.....it works. Spray your dogs down with it and then just rub it into their coats. Within 30 seconds you'll see fleas come to the surface of their coat and then presto, they fall over dead. Also makes their coat nice and shiny. Another advantage of it is the residue stays on the coat for a couple of weeks. Try it - your dogs will appreciate it. Probably not the best thing if you have inside dogs that like to sleep on the couch instead of their bed. Been using it for 30 years.
had a huge flea issue a couple years ago, fenced off a small area of the yard, and sprayed it down, covered the carpets and furniture with 20 mule team borax mixed with salt and dichotomous earth. Set off 3 times as many bug bombs as needed and left the house with the dogs. Took dogs to groomer had them shaved. It was a nightmare that went on for weeks until i did the above.
Would have been a lot easier to just switch them to a raw meat, organ, and bone diet. Fleas completely lose interest in your dogs. They like the sugar in the blood of dogs fed a commercial diet. Take that away, and the fleas will no more infest your dog than they would your coffee table.
Fleas have an egg-larva-pupa-adult life cycle. If they get established in your house, the adults you see on your pets are only the tip of the iceberg. The eggs fall off the pets into the carpets and then hatch and go through the larva and pupa stages. To completely rid your home of an infestation, you have to break the lifecycle, meaning use a product (usually an IGR, insect growth regulator) to kill the eggs and larva in addition to something that kills adults. Some products do both and some are combinations of chemicals that will do both. Treating for the adults only with flea baths, dips, etc. that contain pyrethrins/pyrethroids, while very effective against adult insects, will NOT kill the eggs and break the cycle. That is the reason you are still seeing fleas even after multiple flea baths. Also there is a toxicity risk with pyrethrins/pyrethroids if used improperly and for sure don't use them on cats.
My advice to you is to quit dicking around with over the counter products and bite the bullet, spend the money, and go see your vet. They SHOULD have the latest products that are effective against the entire flea lifecycle. Keep in mind that, like Doc Paul said, you will need to treat all the pets in the house(dogs,cats,whatever)even if they don't go outside. This is something that will need to be treated for awhile until ALL the adults, larvae and eggs are killed. For serious infestations, you might need to fog the house as well. Simple frequent vacuuming can help manually remove egg/larva too. Just remember to change bags right away and dispose of the used bag outside of the house somehow. Treating the yard may be a possibility too. I don't know much about that, though. I have heard diatomaceous earth works for that but don't have any experience with environmental treatments for fleas.
Attacking the fleas on all fronts (pets, house, yard) is often required.
Good luck. Hope this helps. Flea infestations are miserable and take a serious effort to clear up.
had a huge flea issue a couple years ago, fenced off a small area of the yard, and sprayed it down, covered the carpets and furniture with 20 mule team borax mixed with salt and dichotomous earth. Set off 3 times as many bug bombs as needed and left the house with the dogs. Took dogs to groomer had them shaved. It was a nightmare that went on for weeks until i did the above.
Would have been a lot easier to just switch them to a raw meat, organ, and bone diet. Fleas completely lose interest in your dogs. They like the sugar in the blood of dogs fed a commercial diet. Take that away, and the fleas will no more infest your dog than they would your coffee table.
Bull. I'm not saying it wont help but to act like a raw diet is the end all to flea problems is naïve at best. You obviously have never skinned many fox or coyotes?
Flea bitten furs some bad enough they are unusable, and/or live fleas on the carcass, is not that uncommon, especially when its not real cold out. What do you think a wild fox or coyote lives off of that was trapped or shot miles away from the nearest house??
Dogs can go years without any fleas just because they didn't start out with them and haven't run into anything where they picked them up. The healthier your dog is the better it can fend off the effects of all sorts of parasites, but If your dog gets a flea infestation I can promise you it will need treated with something other than a hamburger. That's laughable.
I use granulated Seven in the yard. A dust in the house.(Not Seven) Bravecto is pricey but I used it this time. I will use the horse treatment next time. Follow inst. on the Seven.
Bravecto is running us $55 for 3 months. Don't know if I'd go this route for more than one pet but then we haven't had to deal with fleas since we've used it.
I'd save some bucks but I'd have to find a new vet that doesn't sell it to get a script. We have friends from the city who use our vet because of the high cost they have to pay for services. Bet Braveto is high down there.
LOL Had a semi hermit neighbor at one time who was that way. Wouldn't step on a bug let alone use chemicals on them. Our vet told us that she ended up with the same skin ailment her dog had.
3 dogs (only two in the house) and 2 cats, one of which goes outside...we use Advantix on them all monthly, no problems with fleas or ticks. When I had coon hounds and running hounds I washed them down twice a year, spring and mid summer with stuff, forget the name, that's all it took.
Not telling you what to do, but look on the ingredient list on that Advantix. The main ingredient is Permethrin. 44%. Freedom Spot On 45 is 45% Permethrin. You are probably paying in the neighborhood of $10-$15 per dose per month depending where you get it. The Freedom will cost you less than $3 per dose for dogs 33-66lbs, and if you buy it for horses and dose at the dog dose, it will cost you less than $1.50 per month per dog, for dogs 33-66 lbs.
Awesome stuff guys... The 24HCF brain trust is absolutely invaluable....
The last coupla' years here it's been ticks, no real flea problems for many years, thankfully.....breaking the life cycle for either or both is not as simple as it could be,.....so cycling the applications based on RESULTS, versus doctrine is the doctrine we've hatched out,...and a "less is better" attitude seems to be working,...
The systemics are HARD on your dogs,...so it's a balancing act as to lesser evils,.....plague and tick borne illnesses at times justifying the hardship.
Topical application ? I'm having real success with this product, ."Endure Sweat resistant fly spray for horses"
but the dogs got downright obstinate about the Piranha's strong citronella odor, ....started hiding when they saw the stuff in hand.
I use this on my clothing, for gnats, ticks, and mosquitoes,....good stuff, if you can stand the odor
They seem to LIKE the Endure, and it damn sure does hang onto them longer than the Piranha.
As much as I'd rather not,.....I've been using the Bi-phen based concentrate from Tractor Supply in and around the buildings and on the grounds, NOT in the food growing areas, though.
Luck, Sal,....hoping you get a handle on the pesky little bastids.
Shadetree, I can only testify to my experience. Here in Florida, combating fleas was a way of life for me regarding my dogs. I had been using one product or another for seventeen years while here with dogs. I never even knew that anyone claimed switching to a raw meat, bone, and organ diet would help with the problem. Since switching about a year and a half ago to that diet, the anti-flea products I had (which had been previously in regular use) stayed in the the cabinet. There just weren't any fleas to use them for. Only then did I start researching the issue, since I could think of no other connection than that between switching diet and the disappearance of the fleas. As it turned out, this is a common observation, and the rationale regarding sweet blood made perfect sense to me.
PS I've seen lots of video on YouTube of foxes stealing commercial dog and cat food off porches, not to mention food from garbage. It's likely that many of them have incorporated these sources into their regular diets.
Shadetree, I can only testify to my experience. Here in Florida, combating fleas was a way of life for me regarding my dogs. I had been using one product or another for seventeen years while here with dogs. I never even knew that anyone claimed switching to a raw meat, bone, and organ diet would help with the problem. Since switching about a year and a half ago to that diet, the anti-flea products I had (which had been previously in regular use) stayed in the the cabinet. There just weren't any fleas to use them for. Only then did I start researching the issue, since I could think of no other connection than that between switching diet and the disappearance of the fleas. As it turned out, this is a common observation, and the rationale regarding sweet blood made perfect sense to me.
PS I've seen lots of video on YouTube of foxes stealing commercial dog and cat food off porches, not to mention food from garbage. It's likely that many of them have incorporated these sources into their regular diets.
I never said feeding a raw diet didn't or could not help. I never denied it's benefits or reasons for those benefits. I know all about the benefits of keeping a dog at its optimum health. I denied your claims. You made the blanket statement that feed a raw diet and fleas will no more infest your dog than they would your coffee table. That is both fundamentally and physically false.
Here is an article from a vet discussing the benefits of feeding a raw diet, in it he specifically addresses your claim. Quoting here. "So, is a raw diet a cure-all, including for fleas? Of course not. A good diet is the fuel for your dog's body, but it would be a mistake to think that a raw diet can prevent flea infestation completely. It happens less often, but it still happens!"
Also this. "To summarize, dogs are less prone to fleas and other parasites if they are healthy however, there is a certain tipping point where even a healthy dog will get fleas and you will need to deal with the infestation."
I stand completely behind my claim that if your dog gets infested with fleas it will need treated with a lot more than raw hamburger to get rid of them.
As far as the videos you put up, that wasn't what I was talking about and you know it. How many rednecks putting up 100-200 plus furs a yr do you know that are traveling into suburbs knocking on doors asking the tree huggers if they can trap or shoot the neighborhood scavengers in the area?? Or going to city dumps to trap and hunt the scroungy stuff living there. C'mon. I'm talking about trapping and hunting wild fox and coyotes, and there's plenty of them with flea problems. It runs in cycles, some areas and yrs are worse than others, but it's there.
Had the same problem last year. I had used Frontline plus for years but last year it had zero effect on the little buggers. I switched to seresto collars and have not had a problem since.
That "vet" (small v) is a shill, pushing a theory,.........a healthy animal attracts just as many parasites as one on the ropes.
...this is just more of this "feel good" chit from TRH,........remember, some years back we were all gonna' die from eating beef ? Now, today, he's pimping Arby's.
Also TRH you are unknowingly talking to somebody that has dealt with dogs as a lifestyle since knee high to a grasshopper and takes your practice of feeding raw, and amps it up about 30 degrees. If you want your dogs bouncing up and down in uncontrolled excitement at mealtime and looking like a million bucks freshly printed, try this if you can stomach it, no pun intended.
I feed fresh cow stomach right from a butcher shop every week. Properly known as raw tripe, or green tripe. It's loaded up with digestive enzymes and good bacteria. Has the perfect balance of phosphorus to calcium 1:1. All kinds of good fatty acids including both Linoleic & Linolenic, in their recommended proportions, and a good protein and fat content, along with probiotics. The rubbery texture cleans their teeth better than any expensive cleaning at a vet, and makes them work their jaws as much as much as feeding bones. HIGHLY digestible. A dogs clean out amount will be reduced by half.
About as close to the perfect dog food as you can get. Some people would gag just handling it. I don't mind it and feed it because I know what it is, and see the results. You will need a working knowledge of how to keep a knife sharp because cutting off chunks of that everyday will dull it on a weekly basis. Obviously my dogs don't eat in the house.
Also TRH you are unknowingly talking to somebody that has dealt with dogs as a lifestyle since knee high to a grasshopper and takes your practice of feeding raw, and amps it up about 30 degrees. If you want your dogs bouncing up and down in uncontrolled excitement at mealtime and looking like a million bucks freshly printed, try this if you can stomach it, no pun intended.
I feed fresh cow stomach right from a butcher shop every week. Properly known as raw tripe, or green tripe. It's loaded up with digestive enzymes and good bacteria. Has the perfect balance of phosphorus to calcium 1:1. All kinds of good fatty acids including both Linoleic & Linolenic, in their recommended proportions, and a good protein and fat content, along with probiotics. The rubbery texture cleans their teeth better than any expensive cleaning at a vet, and makes them work their jaws as much as much as feeding bones. HIGHLY digestible. A dogs clean out amount will be reduced by half.
About as close to the perfect dog food as you can get. Some people would gag just handling it. I don't mind it and feed it because I know what it is, and see the results. You will need a working knowledge of how to keep a knife sharp because cutting off chunks of that everyday will dull it on a weekly basis. Obviously my dogs don't eat in the house.
I've been trying tripe in their diet all this time, but they are less than enthusiastic about it, and only seem reluctantly to eat it, often leaving much of it in the bowl. They like heart, kidney, and liver, though.
Also TRH you are unknowingly talking to somebody that has dealt with dogs as a lifestyle since knee high to a grasshopper and takes your practice of feeding raw, and amps it up about 30 degrees. If you want your dogs bouncing up and down in uncontrolled excitement at mealtime and looking like a million bucks freshly printed, try this if you can stomach it, no pun intended.
I feed fresh cow stomach right from a butcher shop every week. Properly known as raw tripe, or green tripe. It's loaded up with digestive enzymes and good bacteria. Has the perfect balance of phosphorus to calcium 1:1. All kinds of good fatty acids including both Linoleic & Linolenic, in their recommended proportions, and a good protein and fat content, along with probiotics. The rubbery texture cleans their teeth better than any expensive cleaning at a vet, and makes them work their jaws as much as much as feeding bones. HIGHLY digestible. A dogs clean out amount will be reduced by half.
About as close to the perfect dog food as you can get. Some people would gag just handling it. I don't mind it and feed it because I know what it is, and see the results. You will need a working knowledge of how to keep a knife sharp because cutting off chunks of that everyday will dull it on a weekly basis. Obviously my dogs don't eat in the house.
I've been trying tripe in their diet all this time, but they are less than enthusiastic about it, and only seem reluctantly to eat it, often leaving much of it in the bowl. They like heart, kidney, and liver, though.
You must be buying it pre-packaged from somewhere and not getting a whole fresh cow stomach from a butcher that you cut up is all I can say. My dogs will eat fresh beef liver last if I cut them a slice and give them that and cow stomach. I haven't found much of anything that they would prefer over it. My wife makes homemade yogurt from milk right out of the bulk tank from a local dairy farm here. She gives the dogs some here and there just because she knows how good it is for them, that and she's a softie and likes to spoil stuff. Just last evening she had given them some as I was cutting up pieces to feed. The one dog was still cleaning up yogurt in its bowl when I tossed it its piece of cow stomach. It left the bowl and went to work on the cow stomach. True as I'm typing this.
When I was younger cow stomach was the standard used by the old timers to put weight on a dog quickly. A dog that was pulled down hard by pups, or was just run down from being worked hard and not being able to take in enough calories. Give a dog what it will eat in cow stomach every day and in a week it can go from looking like death warmed over to needing cut back on feed. It will pack weight on like crazy if you let a dog eat what it wants of it every day. I've seen it turn around dogs in very short order. It was always used as a temporary feed when needed that was thought to be really high in fat.
Now that modern science is able to fully analyze it, it turns out its not really high in fat, just really nutritious and highly digestible. Fat content is around 11%. I was experimenting with raw diets with dogs before the internet was ever invented and people could look it up. All the way back in the early 1980's. Cow stomach is by far the easiest and best thing I've found out of the things I've tried over the yrs. To me it's one of the best feeds I could give other than maybe some of the very expensive premium dog foods.
Ha. If you're eating cow stomach you are eating that bleached stuff you can buy in some grocery stores or butcher shops. Not sure what if any nutritional value it would have at that point, but I know people that eat it. I'll take your word for it that it's good. Now filled pig stomach on the other hand I might knock you out of the way to beat you to it. Lol.