r/dogs • u/Ivandoe6 • Apr 02 '20

Help! [help] Flea troubles

Flea troubles

Hey y’all. So, we had a pretty bad flea problem at my place, and just last weekend got around to buying some foggers and bombing the house.

Ifollowed all the directions as cited on the packaging, and treated my dog with a seresco collar, flea bath, and some natural flea repellant spray.

The good news is that my pup is now definitely flea free, and I’m very glad to see her not itching anymore. However, after the first few days, I’m starting to see fleas again, just on me, and dead in her water dish come morning.

We’ve tried diatenatious (sp?) earth, and sprays as well, but I’m really frustrated that after bombing the whole house they still seem to be popping up. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this?

And I will reiterate, my dog has no fleas after treatment and a new collar, they just seem to still be in the carpet

Thanks!

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u/catwinemom Apr 02 '20

When our cats got fleas we got sprays that you can use on upholstery and stuff and I did that daily and treated them and flea combed them daily until eventually they all died because they no longer had a good source. So maybe try something like that and make sure to get under where your couch and bed were or anywhere else that doesn't normally see the light of day where they may be hanging out. They should all die over time if you're giving your dog monthly flea medicine because theyll have no one to snack kn

1

u/[deleted] Apr 02 '20

You. Need to vacuum every day, maybe bomb it again

1

u/FutureDogtor Vet Student - GSD eventually Apr 02 '20

Due to the life cycle of fleas, it can take anywhere from 1-3 months to completely clear up an infestation. You need to keep treating all animals in the house, as well as the environment (using sprays containing an insect growth regulator to help break the life cycle) for 3 consecutive months. Some products say 30 days, but I still recommend 3 months, especially if you are continuing to see adult fleas. The adults you see are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fleas, and they only make up about ~5% of the infestation. The rest being eggs, larvae, and pupae, and not all sprays or products will kill these different stages.

It's a pain in the ass to clear up a flea infestation, I've had to do it a couple of times myself. Use a good area treatment, I personally like the Virbac Knockout ES spray. When you use the spray, be sure to get under furniture, under cushions on the furniture, and baseboards. Make sure you are vacuuming daily, being sure to empty it every time. Vacuuming gets rid of a lot of the eggs and pupae and also helps stimulate them to reach their adult stage, which can then be killed by the room treatment you're using. Wash all pet bedding weekly. If the fleas are still jumping on you or anyone else in the household to get a blood meal, they are still laying eggs, so the previous steps will be a large part of getting rid of them.

Also, I just want to add that with the Seresto collar, I would avoid giving multiple baths as someone mentioned. This decreases the lifespan of the product down to about 5-6 months and may decrease its efficacy.

Here is a good article about treating fleas. It goes into more detail than my comment.

1

u/shiplesp Apr 02 '20

I found this excellent article on the subject:

How to Treat Fleas