ugh! Fleas!!! So, I think little Oliver has fleas. He's been scratching a lot, just under the crook of his hind legs. So, I picked him up and laid him on his back and I sware I did see something running on his skin. I rushed out to Walmart (only thing open at this time of the night!) hoping to get some flea shampoo. They had NONE! All they had was Hartz flea and tick drops. I bought it, but did some research before using it, and will NOT be using it on Oliver. I will return it tomorrow. My issue is, what do I do now? Freeway got fleas once in his lifetime, and it cost me almost $100 to treat at the vet. Is that really necessary, especially for a mild case? It took me a while to figure out what was wrong with Freeway, so it was a much larger problem by the time I figured it out. Are there any all natural solutions that I can do on my own? Anything I can wash him with that will kill the fleas and not hurt him? I'm just really glad I researched before I used the Hartz drops. The main ingredient is permethrin, which is toxic to cats - I know Oliver is a dog, but it still doesn't sound like something that would be good for him! I'm off to vacuum and wash bedding... ugh. Just what I wanted to be doing on a Saturday night! |
Good call. :) Hartz is never okay for any animal. You can go to the pet store tomorrow and get Frontline Plus or Advantage. Some vets will give it to you with an office visit too. For tonight you can bathe him in Dawn dish soap. That will kill the adults. It is also slightly possible that nothing else will be necessary if you bathe him in Dawn. |
use carpet powder or sprays on all your flooring, bedding and furniture to get them out of the house... i've heard dawn dish soap works well on fleas and cleans the dog. i'm not sure what other stuff to use, i'll be anxious to hear from a more experienced member |
Also, do a search here on YT on "fleas" -- because I remember a while back there were some good ideas for safe treatments at home; I just don't remember the specifics. |
Definitely go to either Petco or the vet's and get one of the better flea & tick meds. Just make sure to clean your carpet and furniture well with some of the powder you can get at Petco or Petsmart. Hopefully it won't end up bad. I've been paranoid all day that Sophie has a flea on her. Not because she's been scratching, but I've never put her on grass outside and I did today while we were shopping so she'd go to the bathroom. I'm a VERY paranoid mommy! |
You can use Boric acid on your carpets (brush in and vacuum up). It is not something that the dog(s) should be allowed around though. If you think it was just one or two fleas, you may not have to do the house (ha, yeah right). You will most likely need to do all carpets, furniture and bedding. |
Thanks for all the great advice! I washed him with Dawn, and he hated every second of it. He kept looking at me like he was saying "but, we just did this yesterday, and I was good today and didn't even roll in the mud, and yet here we are, in the tub - AGAIN!" lol. Bedding is in the washer on hot (oh, please let it not ruin my new super soft sheets) and I've vacuumed. I'll go tomorrow and get advantage or frontline and some powder for the carpets. It's been about an hour since I bathed him and he hasn't scratched once since, so hopefully the Dawn killed whatever nasty critters were on him and now I'll just need to do a major clean up. My poor boy. :cry: |
after you vacum throw away the bag as they will jump out of the bag, some people will put a flea collar in their bag to kill them, I vacum up borax so I dont have throw away the bag, apple cider vinegar mixed with water the fleas do not like the acidic taste. I run a flea comb through chester every nite and you can put some vaseline a little bit on the comb and they cant jump off down the drain they go. I vacum alot and the flea comg, and fleas do niot like cedar or euculyptysus spelling is bad, good luck |
My yorkie got fleas this past summer bad from a visiting relitive ( gotta love them ) and her vet gave me a pill called comfortis, had to split it in half cause of her weight but for 15 bucks it was awesome ...kills all fleas within 30 min! and any flea that hops on after that dies a slow death muhahaha within 30 min its great stuff :) |
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