Fleas

[Lesley]

After being away for 3 weeks and no dogs being in our yard, we came home yesterday to a flea invasion on our back patio.

Have sprayed and sprayed and sprayed everything so fingers crossed!

Have been told the rain has brought them all in after a hot Summer, is anyone else having the same problems?

IF so, can you let me know what works.........cos frontline sure as hell isn't.

[lovemymutts]

It must be Australia wide at the moment!

My dogs have NEVER had fleas & all of a sudden they've all got them & I have used frontline & it didn't work, have now tried another brand just from the supermarket & that seems to have worked I just hate it because I don't like using it but I didn't have any choice.

I was also talking to a lady from NSW the other day & the same thing, a flea invasion!

Not sure what the cause is or what the best stuff to use is either??

Sorry no help on the 'what to use' part but yes the fleas are going berserk!

[aussielover]

There is a new product available called Comfortis. It kills all stages of development and adult fleas as well It is a once a month tablet and it has been found to be quite effective. Most of our clients are happy with it. It is recommended to give the tablet with food though as some dogs have vomited if food is not given at the same time. There is also capstar which kills adult fleas- it only lasts for 24hrs though and doesn't kill any of the larvae.

Some people have found frontline to be ineffective, this is possibly due to fleas becoming resistant. I wouldn't use it for this reason.

You will probably need to flea bomb your house to kill any larvae living in carpets, bedding etc. you can get these from the supermarket, pet store or vet. You also need to treat ALL pets, blame the dogs for the fleas, when it is actually the cats that are the reservoir. Don't use anything with permethrin on cats though (advantix, proban, permoxin washes etc) as it can kill them. I personally used to use Sentinel (as it does intestinal worms and heartworm as well) however it takes 3-4 applications (so 3-4months) to become effective for fleas.

Revolution (also does mites)and advantage are quite good too.

Fleas are very frustrating and it can unfortunately often take a few months to be rid of the problem. I would try the comfortis though, lots of people have had a positive experience using that.

I hope this is helpful

[AussieDog]

Yep - we have been invaded. My dogs have NEVER had a flea on them, then the other week we noticed they were covered in them. I felt terrible as the few days before i kept yelling at one of my dogs because he kept itching - it never occurred to me they would have fleas.

We have washed and flea treated the animals and flea bombed the house so hopefully we have gotten rid of the majority of them.

[Mim]

Same here! Never had a flea problem until now. We are finding that frontline is useless. We have been doing everything except flea bomb the house and yard because that doesn't sit well with us and we have nowhere to take all the animals for 24hrs while it airs out.

Where can you buy comfortis online?

[Teebs]

knock on wood - i have not had a problem

but a friend and a few or my pet sitting clients are having big problems

[Golden Rules]

Same here! Never had a flea problem until now. We are finding that frontline is useless. We have been doing everything except flea bomb the house and yard because that doesn't sit well with us and we have nowhere to take all the animals for 24hrs while it airs out.

Where can you buy comfortis online?

Ditto!

I just bought some Comfortis the other day from the online company that has a thread in the Commercial Marketplace (they had free postage at the weekend for some products) - their prices were good

eta - Pet Supplies Australia was the online store

Edited March 12, 2010 by Golden Rules

[Mim]

Thanks golden rules I will check them out.

For anyone else looking I did a search before and the cheapest online place seems to be priceless pets. I've bought from them before and they are really good

[Golden Rules]

Thanks golden rules I will check them out.

For anyone else looking I did a search before and the cheapest online place seems to be priceless pets. I've bought from them before and they are really good

WOW! $10 bucks cheaper!!

[Poodle Mum]

OMG.... ....Thought it was just me, that I must have let something slip.....Im a bad mother!

Yes we were invaded, I was blaming the cats (even though they live inide!)

Switched from F.line to Advantage gave all a capstar and sprayed the crap out of the carpet with exelpet carpet spray.

I felt like putting a flea collar around my sons ankles.... ....the fleas love him!

[whippets]

No problems with fleas this year.

It's the ANTS. They've already short circuited the wiring in the kennels. Little bludgers I know a few in my area that have said it's been a bad year for them. Probably an ant invasion to take over the world

[Bundyburger]

We do at Mum's. My brothers dog is a smelly weepy pussy nearly bald mess at the moment the poor darling She's popping pills on a regular basis stil.. We can't get rid of the buggers even with weekly i think it is treatments.

[kerryb]

OMG.... ....Thought it was just me, that I must have let something slip.....Im a bad mother!

Yes we were invaded, I was blaming the cats (even though they live inide!)

Switched from F.line to Advantage gave all a capstar and sprayed the crap out of the carpet with exelpet carpet spray.

I felt like putting a flea collar around my sons ankles.... ....the fleas love him!

We have the same problems and nothing seems to be able to get rid of them I have used 4x advantix, flea bath, bombed the house and now using the capstar caps also.

:D Please make them go away.........

[Lesley]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Fleas are apparently a taboo subject, a bit like admitting your child has nits, but both are a fact of life unfortunately.

Yes I have bombed our house and the kennel, have sprayed all around with nucidol, sprayed their beds with nucidol and have washed their bedding in it, I have used capstar and all are frontlined.

I even rang a proffessional pest control today asking about flea treatment, and this was his reply!

"Lady if you have money to waste, then I will come out and treat your property, but trust me, it is just that the rain has brought them in."

He also said that the worst thing one can do under this situation is to get your carpets cleaned right now, because apparently if there are flea egss in the carpet the warmth from the liquid to clean the carpets will make them all hatch and make matters worse.

He said the best thing to do is vaccuum twice daily and keep things as dry as you can.

And that is from someone who advertises flea treatments under his pest control advert.

I will try the Comfortis, thanks aussielover for recommending it. :cool:

Knowing the problem is as it is, I will try anything.

[Tim'sMum]

I wasted too much money on Frontline in the past.

Advantix....(not Advantage) was the only thing that worked.

My oldest friend had a nightamre with fleas and after 8 months of trying every flea treatment available on her dog and she discovered Advantix worked.

I had a bad flea problem, even with Frontline, so tried the Advantix and it worked for me too.

Flea Bomb the house too.

You will also need to treat grassed areas as well....particularly anywhere that is sandy.

[Caesars mum]

we had a flea problem a few years back, and they said it was because it was so dry, who knows.

anyway I found Advantix on the dogs worked and then I sprayed the yard with a product called Pigeon's pest controller 500 termiticide and insecticide.

you need to keep the dogs away while it drys but works a treat.

I have used the comfortis and it seems to work well as we have no fleas but Nala and Caesar are itchy and I have to wonder if it is the comfortis doing it so am going back to advantix.

I like the idea of comfortis as it is not effecgted by washing the dogs or swimming as it is internal.

[Bow Wowy]

We are selling a ton of Comfortis through work at the moment, it is the only thing that seems to be working effectively at the moment. A couple of the nurses are using it on their own pets and they think it is great. We are having a lot of positive feed back from our clients as well. For little dogs the dose can be administered over two days as a full tablet can upset the tummy. The rep says off label use - it works for cats too (same dose rate as dogs) just best administered over two days to prevent stomach upset.

[rose of tralee]

I am pleased with the outcome of frequent vacuuming + monthly Program + Fido's rinse when and if required. That was every 5-6 days initially, 3 weeks between the last two. We have carpets, most of which are accessed by the dog. She isn't an itchy girl but will give the classical hind leg scratch/ vocal bite at the rear if a critter turns up. Plan on staying on Program while we are in this house in the tropics.

Oh yes, and we love not having spoton contamination. Fido's quite acceptable.

Edited March 13, 2010 by rose of tralee

[Golden Rules]

we had a flea problem a few years back, and they said it was because it was so dry, who knows.

That's interesting because I have never had a problem with fleas before and while it's not exactly a problem, I do keep finding the odd flea at the moment. We haven't had rain for over 4 months.

We are selling a ton of Comfortis through work at the moment, it is the only thing that seems to be working effectively at the moment. A couple of the nurses are using it on their own pets and they think it is great. We are having a lot of positive feed back from our clients as well. For little dogs the dose can be administered over two days as a full tablet can upset the tummy. The rep says off label use - it works for cats too (same dose rate as dogs) just best administered over two days to prevent stomach upset.

I was wondering about the use of it on cats as it's only made/marketed for dogs.

So it's quite safe to give a small dog dose to cats, preferably given over 2 days?

[Bow Wowy]

we had a flea problem a few years back, and they said it was because it was so dry, who knows.

That's interesting because I have never had a problem with fleas before and while it's not exactly a problem, I do keep finding the odd flea at the moment. We haven't had rain for over 4 months.

We are selling a ton of Comfortis through work at the moment, it is the only thing that seems to be working effectively at the moment. A couple of the nurses are using it on their own pets and they think it is great. We are having a lot of positive feed back from our clients as well. For little dogs the dose can be administered over two days as a full tablet can upset the tummy. The rep says off label use - it works for cats too (same dose rate as dogs) just best administered over two days to prevent stomach upset.

I was wondering about the use of it on cats as it's only made/marketed for dogs.

So it's quite safe to give a small dog dose to cats, preferably given over 2 days?

According to the rep it is safe for cats. A single dose can be given, but she said it can upset the tummy (like with small dogs) and can be given over 2 days as it has a cumulative effect. I am thinking of trying it on my cats.