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Fleas and ticks OH MY!!

Posted: May 21, 2012

Anyone else in Texas fighting a losing battle with fleas and ticks this year? The news has said they'd be horrible and they weren't kidding. My dogs have never had either and suddenly they're covered with them and have to have baths almost daily, which isn't good for their skin. I've put stuff in the yard twice and have de-flead the house and still..........fleas and ticks. Any suggestions?

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Fleas etc - INMT

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Hi, I have that same problem where I live. I swear the names have slipped my mind but there are oral pills that you can give to the dogs for fleas once a month, they run around 11 per pill but I SWEAR they are amazing. What I did is this. There is a pill that is godo for about 48 hours, STARS I think, that you give the dogs, the fleas drop off like mad. If you give it and have them lay down for a bit and they get up you will SEE dead fleas on the floor. Then after the 48 hours I gave the once a month pill. Do it every month during the bug season. They dont keep fleas off but if they get on and bite they DIE NOW. Call your vet and ask for them as I described them, Good Luck

I've even given them the pills. - Fleas

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Got pills from the vet and read that Adams flea collars were the best so grabbed those, have treated the house and yard, etc. still..........fleas. Ugh. Today will be 92 so they'll be lively little critters once again.

In the past, I have used Vectra for - my dogs, but I

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read some not so good stuff about it. It worked well though. I have a small dog, so I actually only used half of the container on her. I have also used Comfortis (pills), which worked well, but it is only for fleas. My husband is a hunter and brings in lots of ticks, so I need something to cover that as well. I'm thinking this year I may try Advantix to see if it works.

I've never seen it this bad - sm

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I just had my yard sprayed for weeds. While they were at it, I had them treat for fleas and ticks. The week before, I found 3 on ME, not my dog, but me!

My husband found a tick on him this morning too! - Angie

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he told me to call the vet for flea/tick treatments...but he's not a dog..LOL. We have 3 pomeranians, but I haven't seen anything on them yet. So I called to get the Comfortis pills and ask about ticks and they suggested the Preventic collar. We will try it and I also called the exterminator and told him we need our yard sprayed for fleas and ticks when he does his monthly spray inside tomorrow. good luck to all!

check out this recipe for herbal tick repellent... - sm

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http://www.care2.com/greenliving/tick-repellant.html

There are also some really good herbal spray repellents on the market. You can find them if you google something like: tick repellent for dogs.

For fleas, some people have success with Borax set out in shallow containers under beds, etc. The fleas (for some reason) are attracted to the Borax, and die in the container.

I have used "Revolution" (transdermal drops placed on the back of the neck) for my cats. (They have it for dogs, too.) This works great for fleas, but does nothing for ticks.

Last year it was bad in CA, too. And our mild winter - meant they were still a problem - sm

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then, too. I don't have dogs, I have indoor-only Persian cats. Usually Advantage or Frontline works well for them, but this year it only kept the fleas off the front halves of their bodies - they still got them on their hindquarters & near the tail. I clip them in the summer for comfort, will probably do it again in the fall if it's going to be a bad flea year.

I combine the flea-treatment with daily grooming. They have to get daily comb-outs with all that long, thick hair, and I back-comb and look for flea dirt. If I see groupings of lots of black specks (flea dirt), especially if it appears in a line, I know those have been freshly deposited, and often the culprit flea is close by. I'll use a flea comb in the area to catch the flea, then drop it into a glass or jar of soapy water to kill it.

Doing that "low-tech" flea hunt almost every day makes a big difference, because for every one you catch, that's a few hundred fewer eggs that have been laid.

Used to use Comfortis but... - Bindi

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my cocker spaniel developed mild seizures after a few months of use. While I can't be certain that Comfortis was the direct cause, they stopped after discontinuing use. I googled it and found plenty of people complaining of same. On the other hand, my other spaniel who died of natural causes never had a problem with it.

I use Frontline; vet said it's okay to apply every 3 weeks even though packaging recommends every 4 weeks.

De Flea Pet and Area Spray by Natural Chemistry is good. Safe for both cats and dogs and can be sprayed right on the animal. I've soaked a cotton ball and actually killed individual fleas this way. Shampoo available too.

Siphotrol Plus II Premise Spray is good for lightly spraying carpets, etc. No residue. You need to wait about 2 hours before giving the animals access to the carpet. They state you can spray your furniture too, but I'm not that brave although there really has been no problem with the carpets.

Vacuum at least once a day.

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