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Puppy Flea Problem


David797
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Hi guys, 

so for years I had my dog on Sentinel Spectrum which worms the dog and controls fleas (however it does not kill adult fleas). However, I never saw a single flea or flea dust on him. My mum got a Pomeranian for christmas however and before i could get it on flea treatment she got fleas and gave it to my other dog as well. I soon started giving her sentinel spectrum hoping the adult fleas will die off and sentinel will break the cycle. It didn't and so I bought a woolworths brand flea treatment (yes I know, pretty bad, but it was a temporary fix while I waited for nexguard to arrive in the mail) and it didn't work either. 

What I would like to know is why didn't sentinel work like it had before with my older dog for so many years and what should i do. I've gotten nexguard for both the dogs but I haven't administered it because im afraid i'll be overdosing with meds. 

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There is nothing wrong with supermarket brands,people are lead to believe its lesser when most of it is made by the same companies.

Capstar was great for killing fleas asap & was often recommended to use in conjunction with sentinel in infestation was happening 

 

Have you flea bombed  house ??

Have you been flea rinsing them??

Many products don't work after awhile hence many will routinely change products around  as its known the fleas start to get resistant to products .

 

Having said that your dog in the past most likely didn't have a flea issue hence you thought the product worked fine .now there is a flea issue things can change .

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Sentinel Spectrum is good until a flea gets on the dog, and then you probably need something to break the cycle. A quick fix is Capstar. It is a tablet that you give every time (week? Day?) you notice fleas and it kills them off. It isn't a preventative though, but a good way to get them gone for good before you use preventative. 

As showdog said you could fleabomb the house if it is quite bad, because they can lay eggs in the dogs bedding, your carpet/rugs, and lounges/beds that the dogs have been on. You could also flea bath them; at home or Pet Quarters does medicated flea baths in the DIY hydrobath. 

For preventative we use Advantage as well as Interceptor Spectrum instead now because Sentinel doesn't kill the adults so Scrappi caught a flea from another dog which bit him and he had flea allergy dermatitis for a few weeks, this happened a few times and we never saw an actual fleas . :(

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When I ended up with a three dogs with fleas and an infestation after moving into an infested house (bloody carpet, hate it!) I did Nexguard for the dogs, Mortein flea bomb of house, flea shampoo bath for dogs and flea shampoo hot water wash for all bedding. It worked, including killing the adult fleas.

 

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1 hour ago, PANDI-GIRL said:

I was looking at Bravecto  online shopping,

Do you think  Chews, are better  than liquid spot on's

I would like too try a  Chew next time PANDI needs treating.

Do you ever see a flea? 

My P O V is to not fill a dog up with chemicals if  not needed. Our dogs get swabbed  with permoxin  if there are fleas .( we only have the 'stickfast/rabbit' fleas, which tend to congregate on patches of bare skin ., and for a month or two in Summer , (susceptible dogs only) get Advantage spot on .
make sure, if you KNOW there are fleas about , to  keep bedding etc changed and cleaned .. :) Vacuum regularly 

IF you see signs of fleas , perhaps use a quick-kill , one off treatment like CAPSTAR ?

 puppies  are small, and babies - stop & think  of the work  bodies have to do to metabolise/excrete all the vermicide/insecticide /vaccines. Add food colourings/preservatives , and stuff like household cleaner/deodorisers/insect spray ..!!!

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25 minutes ago, PANDI-GIRL said:

Hi Persephone,

No i have not seen any fleas,

The vet said i was too keep on with Revolution as it treats heart worm as well  as fleas

Vet said there are fleas in the grass & dirt

Why don't you want to do what the vet recommended? 

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I use:
Monthly heartworm only tablet.
An allwormer every six months.
And a flea treatment when needed. Bravecto killed my last lot of fleas stone cold. Comfortis was good but I had epileptic dogs so stopped using it. I worry about side effects so am only treating when there's flea season rather than use monthly treatment for things that don't need to be killed. Things like monthly multi-coverage are (in my opinion) overkill. 

Pound dogs get a Capstar on pickup and an Advocate on arrival. :) Because they are grotty LOL.

Anyway, a Bravecto will do 3 months of just flea & tick. But if you have carpet I'd do a bomb too. The 1st bomb sterilises adult fleas, the 2nd bomb kills the hatched larvae that were embedded in the fibres. My floors are wood and since cat proofing, my yard has had no fleas.

 

Edited by Powerlegs
brain fart
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Diatomaceous (food grade) earth as an insect killer, isn't bad for the yard. Although I found it a pest when it got on feet and tracked into the house. I know some people love coop-ex but have never tried it and can't speak for it's safety.

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On 3/7/2017 at 11:22 AM, persephone said:

Do you ever see a flea? 

My P O V is to not fill a dog up with chemicals if  not needed. Our dogs get swabbed  with permoxin  if there are fleas .( we only have the 'stickfast/rabbit' fleas, which tend to congregate on patches of bare skin ., and for a month or two in Summer , (susceptible dogs only) get Advantage spot on .
make sure, if you KNOW there are fleas about , to  keep bedding etc changed and cleaned .. :) Vacuum regularly 

IF you see signs of fleas , perhaps use a quick-kill , one off treatment like CAPSTAR ?

 puppies  are small, and babies - stop & think  of the work  bodies have to do to metabolise/excrete all the vermicide/insecticide /vaccines. Add food colourings/preservatives , and stuff like household cleaner/deodorisers/insect spray ..!!!

PANDI  does not get any colourings/preservatives , We don't use insect spray or deodorisers only dish detergent  in the sink for washing up. 

 

Capstar  &  Revolution  would still be classed as insecticide. 

 

What other way is there to keep her free from Heartworm,  Fleas , Worms and the like. 

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19 minutes ago, PANDI-GIRL said:

PANDI  does not get any colourings/preservatives , We don't use insect spray or deodorisers only dish detergent  in the sink for washing up. 

 

Capstar  &  Revolution  would still be classed as insecticide. 

 

What other way is there to keep her free from Heartworm,  Fleas , Worms and the like. 

:) of course you need to use some things ..maybe just not as often ? Why use intestinal wormers or flea insecticide every month if they are not a big problem ? 
That's all - just use the absolute minimum needed... :)

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My dog is 4 1/2yrs old and in that time I have only ever had to treat her for fleas once, I was given a free sample of nextgard at petbarn which did the trick.  I am of the thinking if they have no fleas why burden their bodies with chemicals.  My mums dog is the same except in her 3 1/2 yrs she has never had to be treated.  Why use chemicals for what isn't there:) 

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Haven't needed it so far thankfully as we are able to just avoid tick areas on our walks in tick season and we live in a townhouse so the yard isn't a worry.  But to be honest even going into a tick area I think I would just be using checking but this is only because she is a 3.5kg short coat breed (she doesn't really even have a undercoat and I unknowingly do checks everyday as every night she loves a good massage through her coat).  

 

I know this wouldn't work for lots of other people with bigger fluffy dogs so would never tell someone who was in a tick area with scrub in their yard not to treat.  My parents live at samford and have never had a need either but this is because they have limited scrub around there land and the dog has a house yard.  I strongly believe it's not a one size fits all, you have to weigh up certain factors like above.  

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I swear by comfortis for my 2 mini schnauzers. But I believe in giving treatment when only necessary. I don't like chemicals etc going into a bloodstream unnecessarily. Who really knows what it can do to a dog. If my girls start scratching I pop them a pill and they stop very quickly. For ticks I use Nexgard and i only give this to them during tick season. We are on 2 acres and we also go bush camping a lot. I do not trust those little tick buggers. 

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The ticks were found dogs locally all through last winter ZM; I live in the Redlands area.

I give Nexguard (now) as it's less fussy than Advantix, I was putting on Advantix all through last winter and had still found a tick Penny and Mac, so be super-vigilant

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