How do you control fleas?
 

I can not find a product that really keeps the fleas off Max. I am now using Advantage once a month drops....but the fleas are back in 2-3 weeks. Some of the other products have made him sick.....listless, drooling, etc...so I have to be very careful. I have also thot about herbal or other over the counter things....but a Vet told me that they aren't really effective. Oral preventatives seem to be too strong for him too....What is working for you?

Max's Mom

You can wash the bedding, vacuum, and get the flea spray. You don't need to bomb the house, but you can flea spray and vacuum it up. You can also try a different diet, like Raw Advantage. That can cause their skin to smell a different way to fleas, and fleas don't like it. Talk to your pet store about Raw Advantage dog food. We used it successfully for Yoda about a year ago in the summertime. Let us know if that works for you!

We use Advantage on Toto ... from the vet. "Dr. Lucy" told us not to use the Advantage from Wal-Mart, etc. She also said to only use 1/2 vial because Toto is so small. She only had a flea once [when we were in Missouri] ... I was bathing her and saw it and went into screaming hysterics!! :eek: She weighed less than 2 lbs then and everything scared me! :p Like I have said before, we have our vet on "speed-dial" and she simply had us go to a local vet, got Advantage [applied it with a syringe to the middle of her shoulders] ... haven't seen a flea since! We just apply it once a month ... same day she gets her 1/2 heartworm pill!! I would discuss this with my vet if I were you ... good luck!

That makes sense!! We were also told that about mosquitoes and humans ... not Raw Advantage, but vitamin B!! :p Patrick's sister said that if we started taking the vitamin before camping season that it makes the skin smell different and helps to ward off mosquitoes! ;) BTW ... Bill O'Reilly [FOX news] is doing a piece tonight on "Killer Canines". That should be interesting ... maybe it will alert small dog owners about protecting their little ones more closely!!

flea problem
 

I also use Advantage from the vet.....but it lasts only 2-3 weeks...I bathe Max once a week so don't know if the bath reduces the effectiveness of the med..I also vacuum the furniture, carpet and wash the bedding. Have never heard of Raw Advantage...can you get it at Petsmart? Does it come in tiny bite size?...Honestly I have not found a single product that actually keeps him flea free.....I have done everything that I know to do. Thanks for the feedback!

Max's mom

Yes, Raw Advantage you can get at the pet store, Petsmart should have it. Yorkies should easily be able to eat it. Have you tried flea collars? Or electronic flea collars? I do not know the effectiveness of either, however...

And bettyeanne, if ou watch O'Reilly, let us know what he says on the show today. :)

Yep! Be glad to .. will update you! ;)

Our vet gave us Advantix.....
 

Our little Higgins, now 4 1/2 months old, came to us while we were camping in Florida for the winter. We also found two WONDERFUL vets for him there and wish we could have brought them home to Maine with us!

At any rate, Advantix (Advantage + stuff for ticks) was their reccommendation and we haven't seen a flea yet! We have been using Frontline on our other dog, Pogo, for years with total success, also. Both dogs seem to tolerate it well. Note: I did try the somewhat cheaper OTC brand a few years ago and it did NOT work, so I'm a firm believer in getting it from the vet.

I am also a firm believer in a flea-free environment indoors! If those nasty little buggers get a foothold inside, you just HAVE to take everyone out for a few days and bomb that house until it is bug free.....then never let them back in! Vacuuming often is the best defense.

Best of luck....

Mary Ellen

Good tips, Higgin's Mom... Once fleas get in, it's a big pain to get rid of them! Sometimes you never know when your Yorkie plays with other dogs, as many owners are pretty lazy about the care for their dogs and may let them have fleas without knowing it...

Otis uses Advantage, and that seems to work fine.

But once I ran out of Advantage, and I found a flea on Otis, and this is what we had to resort to:

That is toooo funny!!!! :p

Bwahahaha! YORKIE PORN!

Did Otis cry during the tattooing? :P

MikeM took that photo a loooong time ago!! I think I also wrote "OTIS" on one of his ears at the time. Please don't report me to PETA. It was a non-lead ink pen.

No...Otis didn't cry. He likes to be picked and poked at, which is great, because I have a penchant for picking and poking.

I'm not a big fan of PETA's methods and policies, so you're safe, for now! :P
That's crazy you would think about writing on Otis... hahahah, so how well do fleas read? Have they been back on Otis lately?

A Word of Caution
 

Do not use the generic cheaper imitation of Advantage on your pets.

A friend of mine who has three cats decided to cut costs by buying the cheaper version of Advantage you find at the drugstore. She said her cats became very lethargic and listless after using it, even the most energic kitty out of the bunch got sick.

So please be kind to your Yorkies and buy the real stuff at the vet!

ABSOLUTELY!!! Our vet says to never use those "over the counter" Advantage products!! Funny you should post this ... we were visiting my Mom in Alabama and although Toto never touched the ground, a couple of neighborhood dogs who aren't loved by their owners hang out there because they are fed and loved by my pet loving son and his wife! [We have a home across the street and are constantly back and forth.] We were planning to leave around 6AM to drive back to Lake Charles so were up around 4AM and discovered to our horror that Toto had somehow gotten some fleas!!! :eek: We were mortified .... on the 18th of every single month she gets her Advantage and her heartworm medication without fail!!! We had no choice but to leave at 6 as planned and then called our vet as soon as she got to her office. She said DO NOT bathe her in any flea shampoo [there isn't one on the market that she would recommend] but simply bathe her and apply a full tube of the Advantage [we had been giving 1/2 tube because of her size]. So the minute we got to our home in Lake Charles that's exactly what we did! Saw several dead bodies after two shampoos and conditioner! Hope that's the end of that .... if Toto [who never hardly ever touches the ground] got them .... what must the ones who get to run outside regularly go through? :confused: At any rate ... go with the ones from the vet! Better safe than sorry!!! ;)

Bettyanne, you guys sound like us!! Several times, we found fleas on Otis and completely freaked out! Mike would scream, "I SAW A FLEA!!" with his eyse all big as if it was a ghost he saw!

And little Otis is so cute...I would say, "Otis, let me see if you have a flea," and turn him over on his back with his paws in the air, and I would literally pick them out and drown them in a cup of hot water. We would be at Mike's house, and I keep all of Otis's bathing things and Advantage at my house, so there would be nothing else to do but pick them out! Honestly, I think it's kinda fun, and Otis seems to enjoy it! hehehe..

I have a great tip about bathing dogs. Wet and soap the head of your pet FIRST, not last. This way, the fleas will travel to the body of the pet, and will be less inclined to "hide out" behind the ears or near the eyes. Once they're on the body, soap your pet up really well, and the fleas have no place to go but down the drain.

Only the real "flea buster" for Max
 

Thanks Junebug....I am using Advantage from the vet....it works for about 2- 2 1/2 weeks......then the little boogers are back....we live on a 1/2 acre so it is difficult to spray all of the area......and I have to be careful too...because Max is so so sensitive to lots of stuff......but I do a careful flea hunt in the house and around the near part of the yard... thanks for all the advice......may have to try the tattoo next......

Max's Mom

That IS a great tip!! Wish I had read it before I bathed Toto yesterday because after I soaked her, shampooed her twice and conditioned her I found one lurking around behind her ear!! Sent him on to "flea heaven" or where ever those devils go!!! :p It's traumatic for all of us .... poor Toto thinks she has done something wrong even though we tell her what's going on and that she is a "good girl"!! :rolleyes: Thanks for the tip ... I will use that even if it's just her regular bath ... then if there may be some there that we haven't seen, they will drown and be gone!! ;)

Now why didn't I think of that "head first" way of bathing Higgins! THANKS!

Higgins goes for his first appointment with a groomer on May 18th. He isn't wild about my brushing him. He has that cottony, fine hair that clumps together so he always looks like he has bedhead all over his little body. Oh well, he's a country dawg.

We will have to thank Junebug for the "head first" bathing ... I didn't think of it either! I guess I wait until later to wet her head because that's the part of her bath she hates!! Toto just rolls those big brown eyes up at me as if to say "Now why did you have to ruin this great fun?" :p But from now on I will wet that sad little head first!! :cool:

As you know, Toto always looks like she has "bedhead" all over .... that hair is so fine she looks like she needs brushing two minutes after she is brushed!! :D I'll bet Higgins will enjoy going to the groomer!! Also let me share this with you that we had no clue the groomer is supposed to do .... I don't know about other dogs but the Yorkie has hair that grows way down in the ear and they are supposed to be kept "plucked" out [Dr. Lucy had gone over this with us and she always checks Toto's ears because they are prone to ear infections if the ears aren't kept properly]. We always mention this when we take her to be groomed. NOONE likes to do it because frankly it hurts! Evidently our groomer hasn't been doing it very well because Dr. Lucy pulled CLUMPS out of Toto's ears and it was very painful and she kinda scolded us! She doesn't like to hurt Toto either! There is a powder that you sprinkle in the ear that keeps it from being so painful ... then there is an ear wash that you wash to powder out with. We will certainly be keeping an eye on it from now on and keeping it plucked ourselves so it doesn't build up! Also ... the groomer is supposed to clean out ... get this [we also never heard of it] ... the "anal gland"! Have you ever heard of that?? :confused: Anyway, it's a gland on their butt that's supposed to be "cleaned out" periodically and can get infected and cause problems. We "ain't" doin' that!!! :rolleyes: We will take her and have it done ... forgot to ask how often. My son and his wife even knew about this gland ... their groomer does this for their Border Collie when she goes to be groomed. I guess we just "learn something new every day". That was just almost too gross for me to know!!! ;)

I know their ear hair is supposed to be plucked, but I'm not willing to lose a finger to do it! I approached that and he SNAPPED at me good! I will leave it to the groomer. Doesn't seem to be very much in there at the moment.

They really don't need their anal glands cleaned unless they are smelly, having trouble pooping, or "scooching" along on their backsides. However, Doc Magill in Crystal River did clean Higgins out when he was little as he was having trouble pooping. Our Bassett used to have anal glad problems and it was NASTY. Our little guys aren't so bad........

I have been getting around the dinner begging by feeding my two little guys their dinner while we eat OUR dinner. Seems to be working. Don hasn't noticed.

I've heard about that butt bubble too! Fortunately, I've never had to deal with it. I don't think it's too much of a problem with small dogs.

The ear thing....I just trim it down with scissors. The vet has never said anything, and I don't think Otis has ever had an ear infection. When he was small, I used Epi-Otic drops to help keep them dry after a bath, but that's about it!

Toenails are about the only thing I can deal with. He doesn't mind me clipping his nails. He knows he'll get a treat afterward.

I wouldn't risk losing a finger to pluck the ears either!! I also wouldn't consider "gland expressing"!! :eek: I totally agree ... leave that to the experts! Besides ... I want her to see me as safety and all things pleasant ... well, as pleasant as possible ... I have my limitations!! ;) I also feed Toto when we are ready to eat our dinner or just before. I think I have read that you are supposed to feed them after you eat in keeping with the "alpha" thing but it makes me feel quilty if we are eating and she isn't! Besides ... we know who the "Alpha" is and she pretty much rules around here!! :rolleyes:

I'm a big chicken about the nails too. Toto's are jet black and I can't tell where to safely snip them. I'm so afraid I will clip them too short and cause her to bleed! I just have to leave that to the groomer or vet too. We did buy all those "tools" but as yet neither of us have been brave enough to try! :) We do, however, clip the hair between her paw pads ... otherwise she skids on the tile!! ;)

You guys are sooooo lucky. Higgins won't stand for me to do anything but a minimum brushing. I loved grooming my English Setters waaaaaay back when I was showing them. I had all the gear to do it, too. Most importantly, THEY loved it! Higgins thinks brushing and combing are a big game and it's a tussle, no matter how sweet and gentle I am. I pick that brush up when he is in my lap 2 or 3 times a day and just do a little here and a little there. I used to do my setters toenails while they slept! Had the nicest filed nails in the showring! Higgin's nails? Not on your life.....they will belong to the groomer. So far, he has been getting enough outdoor running around that they aren't too long. I would love to clip the hair between his toes, but....forget it. It's a good thing he is so dang cute!

We tried clipping Yoda's toenails, but he won't have it! He's a strong little fella, and I think the two of us aren't enough. When he's at the groomers, they said they need TWO people to hold him down while the other works on him. :)

Only thing he lets us do to him are bathe him and brush him. I think about every 5 days to a week he gets a bath, and we brush him for a few minutes each night before bed. He knows he gets to play (with a towel) after his bath, so I think he's beginning to like his baths.

I think Otis is gay, honestly. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He likes the primping and grooming. He likes it when I buzz his hair and trim his ears. And he gets all bashful when you say, "Pew, Otis, you stink!"

Plus he doesn't lift his leg when he pees AND he lets me cut his toenails. I have never seen him hump anything.

I don't even know any girl dogs that are THAT feminine!

Higgins, on the other hand, is a four pound bag of testosterone! Macho, macho man.....sigh......Humps his blankie and fell in love instantly with my son's little chihuahua, "Princess." Well, some of that testosterone is going to disappear come the end of June......

Does Otis like to smell female dogs? Yoda seems to like to smell boy dogs a lot better. My submissive boy just likes to lay on his back when a big male dog comes around... :P