I haven't posted about this yet because I hate, hate, hate the thought of my dogs having fleas BUT.... a few months ago Tatum was scratching like a maniac. Got to the point where she was leaving balled up hair around the house. I never saw fleas on her so I assumed she had developed an "allergy" to the shampoo/conditioner that I was using so I tried two other ones within a couple weeks and still no change. Finally took her to the vet and wouldn't you know, he saw two fleas on her. I was flabbergasted! She and Stormie (Aust. Shep) and both outdoor cats are on monthly topical flea stuff (forget right now which one) and also the heartworm/flea monthly pill. The vet saw how upset I was and assured me that the fleas this year are SO way out of control that even the best treated animals are getting them. Turns out that Tatum's problem is that she's actually allergic to the flea bites. The treatment stuff kills them but if even one bites her first, that's it... she's gonna itch and scratch. The first time we went to the vet about this, he gave her a shot for the itching which lasted about 6 weeks and also some capstar pills. Then last week she started itching again (although not nearly as much). Took her back this weekend and there was one flea again. I know she's up to date on all flea treatment stuff so he gave me some "itchy pill" (can't remember the name right now) and after a day on those, she was all better. I only have to give her those for a day or two if she itches again. He did say that if you find yourself having to use the capstars often, then there is a new oral pill that can be given along with the other heartworm/flea pill that will protect them even more for a whole month. It works like the capstars. I didn't get all the details on that because I just took home two capstars for each dog but if it continues to be as awful of a flea season as it's so far started out as, we may consider it.
I have such an issue with this because when I lived next door to my grandparents (about 18 years ago) with my poodle Dax, he would get SO infested because of all of their outdoor "country dogs". I just couldn't possibly treat my part of the yard as much as it needed and because they didn't treat their dogs, Dax didn't stand a chance. I actually got so flea-bitten myself right before my wedding that I went to the vet to get some ointment - actually worked better than what my dr. gave me! It was a terrible experience and one that I never want to go through again!!
Wishing you luck on getting your situation under control!! And I'm glad to hear that the Dawn thing works so well. You know, one other thing (as if this isn't long enough already!
)..... During the winter months, I tend to lengthen the time between doses on the dogs and cats and that was one thing I was doing wrong in our situation. I didn't start religously back to the "every 4 weeks" as soon as it got a little warmer. I was giving it about every 6 weeks. Now that we're back to the regular dosing schedule, I hope that all gets better.