Emergency!!! Fleas!!

Hi guys,

This week I noticed that my Frodo scratches, so today I checked on him. To my big supprise, I think I saw fleas (or some kind of tiny bugs) on him.

Frodo has been on antibiotics for the past couple of weeks so I didn't apply frontline on him for the past month, worrying it would be too much for him. And now..... it is totally my fault!!!

Now my questions are:

1. How can I get rid of the fleas from him? I applied a dose of Frontline on him immediately after I spotted the fleas. Will the Frontline kill the existing fleas and the eggs? i only saw a couple of fleas, but I saw quite a lot of 'black particles', which I suspect are the eggs.

2. What else should I do to be completely rid of all fleas and their eggs from my Frodo?

3. How should I clean my carpet, etc. to make sure that there won't be any left in my home and my Frodo won't get it again?

Really have no experience on this...Any advice will be very much appreciated!!

Thanks a lot, guys!

--Frodo's mom.

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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on August 10, 2010 at 10:39pm

I moved to comfortis, too, and have found it effective. My trio is outside every day on a small acreage but not a lawn tht one could mow or treat for fleas. i like the comfortis pills a lot. good luck with all this!

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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on August 11, 2010 at 2:33pm

Hi Jane!
Yes, it is 20 Mule Team, and you can still buy it. I used it this spring before we started with the Comfortis. It is effective and it's so inexpensive! It's essentially the same thing as the FleaBusters product, but they charge you through the nose.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on August 11, 2010 at 4:10pm

We live in the country and have a septic system so I use Borax for many things including laundry!

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Permalink Reply by Aber, Ragnar and Kelso on August 15, 2010 at 1:04pm

Hi Frodo's mom :)

We're currently fighting the same issue along with tapeworms because of the fleas. We have an African Grey parrot, so can't use much that's toxic in the air--we don't have the luxury of taking him outside for 3 days or to someone's house, plus I'm kind of opposed to using chemicals that pregnant women can't use. It strikes me as silly--oh, this is terribly dangerous for you if you're pregnant, but it's just great and safe if you're not! Right. Since the fleas have been bad since the spring (puppy came with them, and had all sorts of intestinal parasites), I did try some topical applications. We seem to have a resistant strain. Frontline didn't work, Biospot not only didn't work, it made all the cats sick.

Plan B is now to go all natural. We've just applied flea attacking nematodes to the yard--these are beneficial insects. They don't put chemicals in the air or water supply and fleas can't develop a resistance to them, as they're just predators. For inside, we're bathing everyone in Dawn dish soap and cider vinegar--you just add a lot of it to the bath water and dunk. It will kill and repel the fleas, and so what if the pets smell like a salad for a little while. The Dawn I've read is a flea reppellant and it did seem to work that way last time I used it. They are all getting DE in their food on a daily basis--this stuff works incredibly to clear worms. I'm even taking it because I didn't want to feed them anything I was afraid to try. It's also getting sprinkled in the cat boxes and on bedding. It's not safe to breath, but I'm also not flinging it around the room with wild abandon either--because of us and the bird. We have 5 cats, 2 corgis, two people and a parrot and nobody is hacking or coughing so far. I'm also sprinkling 20 Mule Team Borax on the dogs' stuff a little. I've heard that while it's harmless it can be very irritating to cats if they ingest it.

Also, vacuuming daily and washing our bedding and theirs as much as possible. Oh, and daily flea combing next to a bowl of vinegar and water.

Hopefully the multi-pronged approach will work. And again, nothing we are using is anything they can grow resistant to. DE desicates immediately, but because it is so light and powdery, it doesn't last on bedding and stuff. Borax works slower, but lasts longer in the rug and bedding.

Good luck--I feel your pain :)