I've only found one so far this year. I was carrying Sadie & looked down & it was on ME! Guess it jumped off of her onto me (but I guess that was better because it is easier to get off of me than her). Unfortunately, it's an ongoing problem with apartments. They're just not going to treat the lawn for it - PERIOD. I think if you live in a house & can treat your lawn you've got more of a fighting chance of staying flea free. I fought them hard last year. Neither the Frontline or Dawn worked for me. I'm not saying they don't work, but i had such a bad problem with them, they didn't work for me. I'm hoping htey're not as bad this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

You are SO RIGHT ! I treated my lawn all the time when in the house - we never ever needed preventatives and never had one flea ever.

here at the apartment I feel it's going to be an ongoing thing. I'm going to ask them to do something for the grass but don't see it happening. I still can't believe my neighbor who's been her 4 years said her chi has never had fleas and she uses nothing - he walks in the same grass as my girls do only I walk further around the complex - she just steps outside her door with her dog - We do real Walks - so maybe it isn't my part of the apartments ?

I kind of have the same problem. The girl across the hall from me has two dogs that she says don't get fleas. But she just walks them right outside. We do real walks, too. It's such a pain...especially with the long hair! And Sadie's little wiggle-butt doesn't like me to get them. She did get pretty patient with it last year, but still.

But we also have a lot of critters around here (beavers, nutrias, bunnies, squirrels, etc) so I'm thinking that's part of the problem, too. I'm sure that doesn't help AT ALL. I asked my apts to treat last year & they said they would, but how would I know if they did or not? I'm sure they were just telling me that. Luckily, this year, one of the women who works in the office lives here & she has two dogs, so hopefully if hers start getting fleas she will have them do something about it.

As far as carpeting goes, a cheap and easy way to kill the fleas is to use Borax. I read in the paper one day that this is the active ingredient in the formula that those Fleabuster carpet cleaners use. You simply sprinkle it on the carpeting, brush into carpet with a broom. Leave it for 30 minutes (I left it over night to be sure). Then vacuum it up. Since I have done this we have never had fleas. We also treat our backyard. I have never had it damage or discolor my carpet but you want to to test it first. Borax is very inexpensive and can be found in the laundry detergent section of your local grocery store.

Oh V! I feel your pain. I also HATE fleas! When we picked up Gizmo from the breeder and brought him home, he had fleas horribly bad. For puppies, I was told to be careful with dawn since they are so squirmy. You don't want to get it in their eyes since you are trying to get them to like baths. The test we were told to use (by our vet) was a lemon juice rinse and you should have seen the fleas coming out of his fur! :eek:

I hate to bring this up, but I haven't heard anyone mention this in this thread. You also have to watch for the dreaded tapeworms now. :mad: They can be a direct result of a flea problem. I've forgotten exactly how that works, but it's tied to the fleas. Look for little rice looking "segments" in their pooh. (Like we aren't already obsessed with checking pooh here on YT.):rolleyes:

Also remember to keep up the heartworm meds. In areas where fleas are bad, so are heartworms usually.

Kathy - our vet keeps pushing us to change from Frontline also. I haven't been able to get a straight answer as to why though. It's really worked for us, so I hate the idea of switching. IDK what we're going to switch to next.

UGGGHHH! I hate fleas!!! :mad::thumbdown

Ok well you all have me paraniod now lol. Daisy has been itching like a mad woman for a while now it's getting to the point where i think she is breaking her hair off itching. Here in Utah we don't have a flea problem at all so it's rare for them to have flea's or so my vet tells me. I am going to do dawn tonight just to check. But how will i know should i let the tub fill up as i am rinsing her? The only dawn ihave right now is Dawn direct foam but if you have to mix half and half (water) then i could prob just use it straight since it's the foam kind right? Howdo u know what the flea dust looks like? Daisy gets these freackle looking things on her belly sometimes.Ugghhh i am freaking out now lol.

I really think it's dry skin causing the iching buti will try this we also are going to the vets tomarrow for shots:( so i'll ask him to.

They are dark. If you put them on a drop of water they will turn red. That means fleas.

She mainl;y itches on her sides of her belly and her feet is this normal to fleas?

:yeahthat:

And the red? That's your furbaby's blood! :eek: (bloodsucking good for nothing flea b(*&*(!!!!!!!!!)

Just a word of caution about using Dawn. If you are using topical flea control, Frontline or Advantage, and you bathe in Dawn you are washing the flea control off and defeating the purpose. You must bathe in a mild aloe/oatmeal pet shampoo, no Dawn, no human shampoo, not even baby shampoo. I have worked in a vets office for 11 years and this is what the Merial reps have trained us to tell our clients. It used to tell you on the insert to use an aloe/oatmeal shampoo but I just read the one I have for Frontline Plus and it says nothing about it. I am going to e-mail our rep tomorrow and ask her again to be sure. I do know that the product sits in the sweat glands and oil on the skin. It attaches to the hair follicles and released from there to kill the fleas. It affect the flea's nervous system so it cannot bite your dog. That is why it is such a great product for those of us who have furbutts that have flea allergies. If you use a dish detergent like Dawn that is made to wash your greasy dishes, it is going to wash the oil off the hair, plus is can be very drying to the skin which will only make them more itchy. The best way to kill fleas is by drowning them if you keep the dog wet long enough, so is it really the Dawn that is killing them or the water drowning them. Someone earlier mentioned Capstar. Very, very good way to get ahead of a flea infestation. Give for 3-4 days, apply Frontline on the first day - Fleas gone!!!!:bravo: I live in East Tennessee, in the woods and have been using Frontline for 11 years. We have yet to have a tick or a flea. :bravo:

Belinda, Gizmo, & Barkley

What is the name of the shampoo that is recommended?

The one we carry at the clinic is made by Vet Solutions and is called Aloe and Oatmeal Shampoo. We also recommend Hylyte or Hydra Pearls. I bathed my dogs today in Buddy Wash which I have heard a lot of the owners on this forum recommend and I must say I love the way it made their coat look in just one washing. I am going to e-mail our Merial rep tomorrow, send her the Buddy Wash link, and see if it is ok. I sure don't want to wash off the Frontline, it is too expensive.

Post on here tomorrow when you find out, ok? I've definitely got to try something different this year.

By the way, do you know why some vets are trying to steer us away from Frontline now? Mine has recommended that we switch, but doesn't give a reason.

Ugh! This thread is making ME itch now! Tucker is on frontline plus. I thought we'd for sure be flea free on that stuff, but I guess I'd better start checking cause I've seen him itching......