Can dog get fleas in spite of preventive treatment?
We live at 7200 feet and don't need flea prevention, however I treat the dogs if we travel or leave them with the pet sitter, who lives at lower elevation, is also a groomer and gets a lot of dogs there who all mingle. . We were recently gone for two weeks, one dog came with me, the other two, my corgi Mowgli and a blue healer/border collie mix named Pixie, went to the pet sitter. I treated all three the day before we left. I used Advantage. I split the 55 Lbs dose between two of the dogs, it comes to 1 drop per Lbs of body weight ( dogs weigh 21 Lbs and 35 Lbs respectively) and my 8 Lbs min-doxie got a separate dose for dogs under 10 Lbs, she got 8 drops. The day before I picked them back up, Pixie was groomed, but not Mowgli.
When I brought them back home I noticed both were scratching, especially Mowgli. As the days went by, Pixie just did it occasionally and I never hear her at night, but Mowgli increased, often jumping suddenly and biting his hind quatrers. I found a couple of bums and some small sores/scabbing in that area, I can hear him go on and on at night. Eventually he calms down. We've been back now 10 days. I was leery to reapply the Advantage before the 4 weeks were up. Could he have gotten bitten and harbor fleas in spite of the preventive treatment? No problem with the mini-doxie who traveled with us to Virginia. Any feedback appreciated, not just for now, but for the future since this didn't work very well..... Should I be using another brand? What dosage? I hate to overdose with chemicals.... Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Anna, Advantage kills 98% adult fleas and flea larvae only, it doesn't take care of the eggs, if the eggs are attached to the dogs coat / bedding / toys, it'll hatch (in two days to two weeks) depending of your home's humidity / temperature. I don't like to use chemicals either, if I was in your situation, I would give them capstar before the drive home, it's a low dose short kill, it works within 30 mins and half life is only 3 hours. When you arrive home, brush the dogs outside, wash their bedding and vaccuum the house / car / dispose bag tied outside.
Advantage's result varies because it really depends on the person's technique in applying the solution and the frequency of bath / outdoor activity.
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Permalink Reply by Kodiak on
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Another option that worked really well for us was apple cider vinegar. You can either feed it to them (my dog likes it on biscuits) or spray it on their coat. It's safe and natural and it worked really well. I vacuumed around the house, used the spray (and fed some to my dog) and combed 2-3 times (dipping in dawn dish soap after every combing). After about 3 days there were no more fleas.
Only natural pet also sells a bug repellent that seems to prevent fleas. My dog has been around other dogs which ended up having fleas and he never got them. The smell is quite strong though. It smells similar to citronella.
I know my sister has a problem with fleas even though she uses Frontline. I know several other people who use Advantage and still end up with fleas. That's part of the reason I started trying a natural alternative. I'm not crazy about using chemicals on my dog either, especially if they don't even work.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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The flea preventative is meant to be used by ml not by drop. So the full does likely wasn't given. This will make the preventative work poorly, if at all. For dogs under 10 lbs give the whole vial, if you want to split the tubes (which is what I do) buy the over 55 lbs dose and then look at the package for the weight range your dog is in, it will have a ml per vial measurement. You then need a syringe to pull up the exact ml equivalent. I have a chihuahua who is 5.5. pounds on a heavy day and have dosed her for under 10 lbs with both Frontline and Advantage and Comfortis for under 10lbs for her entire life, she has never once had any side effects from being given the "extra" meds.
Also, you can use Advantage up to 1 x every week. That is the Maximum dose, so its not recommended to use as often but in really bad infestations vets sometimes recommend this approach. Never use any other flea product more than once every 30 days (i.e. Frontline or Comfortis). Also never bathe your dog within 24 hours of applying the topical flea product. It spreads via the oils on their skin and bathing strips the oils so the product has no way to spread.
Capstar only kills adult fleas so repeated dosing would be necessary. You can try natural alternatives, some of which work, some absolutely don't, and all are dog by dog, and flea by flea dependent so you may end up spending 3 months figuring out what works and what doesn't, or you can just properly apply the advantage or frontline one time and be good to go (MUST apply it directly to the skin, and must apply the full dose). Since you use it so rarely I wouldn't be too afraid of the whole chemical thing. The longer it takes to get rid of the fleas the more eggs you will have in your carpets to cause further infestations. The eggs can lay dormant for months. If you vaccuum every other day it stimulates hatching so you can get some of the adults that way, make sure to put a flea collar or something in the vaccuum bag. Wash all bedding, etc. I have never once had an infestation when Franklin was on Comfortis and he is in a heavy flea area (right on a river with A TON of ferals and wildlife). I usually give him the meds about every other month, and don't give them when its colder in the winter. Frontline and Advantage we have had some trouble with because he swims EVERY day so it washes off.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into Capstar for next time. I will try sprayng the coat with the the apple cider vinegar, which I buy by the gallon, and do the combing. Melissa, we did figure out the dosage with the syringe and then counted drops so that's how I knew it' comes to a drop per pound.... Big sigh......I just want my poor boy to be back to normal!
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Permalink Reply by Tori on
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I never knew about the apple cider vinegar!
I have been using Comfortis for Winston. It kills fleas and makes it impossible for them to breed. It works really fast too. All I really know is that each month, we give Winston a Comfortis tablet for fleas and a Triheart tablet for heartworms and he hates to eat the heartworms tablet but will gobble up the Comfortis without so much as letting it out of my hand. The Triheart.... well let's just say it's probably the one thing Winston doesn't want to eat.
I always get the 55lb size and cut it in half. My vet told me about it and it makes the tablet a lot cheaper in the long run.
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Thanks Tori, This may be our best bet starting in the Spring.
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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I was just curious... have you actually SEEN any fleas or are you just assuming that it is fleas causing this condition? If you haven't seen any fleas, I wouldn't necessarily jump to the conclusion that they are the cause of the itching.
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I have not seen any fleas, just the behavior I described and a couple of bumps, and the crusting in a couple of small areas, at first I thought he had gotten hurt by another dog... The groomer says ( I called her after I posted ) that she's not had any problems with fleas, nor had anyone else ask about it. She's in her 60s, showed, trained and has a grooming business, sells raw food diets, hardly seems the type that would put up with having fleas.... still it can happen. I posted the question because I was really puzzled. We are in a dry climate, so hot spots are not an issue and they would not itch. He could have been bitten by some other insect, but the rump and base of tail are typical of fleas. I've not changed food since Mowgli was adopted in January and I have used that food for 16 years. No signs of problems until we picked him up and he had been boarded there before, up to 3 weeks time. What else could it be?
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Permalink Reply by David on
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Fleas in Colorado? I used to live in Fort Collins, I never had any problems with fleas on my dog. Anyway, here is the top ten list for dog itchiness.
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Thanks David, I appreciate the link.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I am told that bathing in peroxide will also kill fleas and it is safe. I have tried it a couple times when my dogs were scratching but they didn't have fleas but I did get a couple other bugs. I just wet them down and squirted about 1/4 bottle. It won't hurt to try.
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Still not sure it's fleas, but your suggestion may help with other conditions and is mild. Thanks.
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