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Permalink Reply by Don on April 21, 2011 at 4:47am

If  you used Flea and Tick stuff it will hold off the invasion of further infestation for about 2 days. I'd recomend that you pick up a carpet Flea & Tick powder or if you can find it the non-toxic liquid stuff. Fleas as I recall are quite comfortable living in carpet and make a home there easily.

As for the medication I don't see why it would hurt to give it to them a few days early. I'm not exactly Mr. Ontime when it comes to my dog's medications myself so it varies up to a week either way on most stuff. Jazmin is quite healthy and doing wonderful so that should bring some peice of mind to  ya.

As for the not being a good puppy mom, you'll have to remember that Fleas are one thing that aren't really your fault, especally if they were gotten from somewhere else. Jazmin was infested and from time to time has relapses with Fleas, its a part of normal dog life and shouldn't be a deciding factor on your ability to care for the dogs.

 

Sincerely,

Don and Crew

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Permalink Reply by Robyn on April 21, 2011 at 6:03am

We r most certainly going to get stuff for the carpets. I just went out & bought hair clippers as one of our cats is getting shaved tomorrow....he is 22 lbs & furry as all get out. He alone was in the tub for half an hour & we still couldn't get all the dead fleas out.....so he is losing his fur to make sure he is flea free.....I think he had more on him than the dogs.
I know it isn't my fault, but I can't help but blame myself. I should have gone with my gut when those fleas jumped on me at the spca. For me I feel so closely to my dogs (they r literally my kids since I have been unsuccessful in actually having children) that in my mind its like I hurt my kids. My husband says I am freaking out over something small right now. But this has never happened to me b4. It makes me feel like my home is filthy. As a kid my dad didn't care for his dogs which meant the fleas & ticks were horrible, so bad that I had fleas & ticks on me. On of the worst memories of my life. Maybe that is y I am frantic, but I will b this way till they r all gone.
I also threw their bedding in the bag with the towels to be washed with bleach. Thank you for if reply ! :)

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Permalink Reply by Beth on April 21, 2011 at 7:13am

First, calm down and stop shaving your pets.  It won't help.  :-)    Shaving pets is bad; their hair is there to protect them.

 

Second of all, put away the bleach.  You don't need bleach to kill fleas.  Wash everything that's washable (dog towels, bedding, sheets, throw rugs) in regular cycles and dry in the dryer on high.  For items like bedding that can only be dried on low, put in the dryer on high for 15 minutes BEFORE you get them wet so they won't shrink, then wash and dry as normal.  The dryer is what will kill them.  You don't need bleach!!  Or rubbing alcohol.  A flea can't survive the dryer cycle.

 

Third, listen to your husband.  It sounds like you are letting your emotional association with the critters take over instead of attacking the problem rationally.  Growing up our house was spotless and yes we had fleas a few times.  It happens.  It's not the end of things and your pets will be fine.

 

Go ahead and treat the rug.  Throw away the vacuum bag or wash and rinse the canister thoroughly outside.  A flea collar in the vacuum bag will help too.  

 

Talk to your vet about safe flea stuff for the cats, just for a month or two til the problem is solved.

 

And talk carefully to your vet about what flea medication you are using to make sure you are using it correctly.  Talk about different ones, how they work, how fast they kill and what stages they kill.  

Then just keep vacuuming thoroughly every few days.  Vacuum the furniture.  Vacuum the floors, paying attention to crevices where fleas might hide.  Keep washing and drying the bedding and towels periodically (remember, the dryer will kill everything).  

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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on April 21, 2011 at 8:44am

Yes, get a grip, shaving the animals won't help anything. They need their hair for protection from heat, sun, bugs. If the fleas are dead on the animal, they will fall off. It's OK to apply flea meds a week early. Your cats should be on a cat-safe flea med also. Check with the vet for this. Talk to the vet about maybe changing the flea med for the dogs also. Fleas can become immune to a med. Treat the carpets and vacuum them and the furniture.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 21, 2011 at 8:57am

I am told that hydrogen peroxide kills fleas on contact! I would try a bath and douse her in that and see if dead fleas rinse out. It is non toxic and much safer for them. Do not shave them. Wash all their bedding in hot water(if possible) and add peroxide.. Vaccumn. We don't ever have a big problem with fleas so I really can't answer as an expert but try not to overdo the chemicals. Good luck! Please let me know if the peroxide works:)

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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on April 21, 2011 at 9:00am

To KILL all the living fleas, give your dogs a Capstar tablet, and your cat one too if they have a cat version. That gives you two days to clean everything! Give your animals another bath 2 hours after the capstar tablet. Vacuum everything furiously. Maybe buy some food-grade diatamaceous earth and clear the house out; DE kills even eggs and pupae, where chemicals only kill adults and larvae. Do not shave your animals. It won't help, and will make them more susceptible to bugs. We had a terrible flea problem when I was 8. There were flea larvae all in my sheets and mattress, and my family didn't believe me. So, that was great. It felt like the end of the world, but it will resolve-- much sooner rather than later if you go about it rationally.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on April 21, 2011 at 9:10am

Hi Robyn,

 

CALM DOWN. Stop whatever you're doing or planning to do and LISTEN. When your emotions take over, your actions will never be logical, so get educated, follow the steps and you will be fine.

 

Here's a detail instruction on how to get rid of fleas, read it and follow it to the dot.

 

Return your clippers, keep your bleach under the sink, some animals can have adverse reaction to it, don't burn your animals with chemicals, go drink a glass of water and have a clear mind.

 

Unless you're on comfortis and capstar, no other flea medication will work as well. Generally other rx will either kill the adult or the egg alone, remember in the detail instruction? You must understand the flea cycle and know how to break it in order to be effective.

 

Fleas will jump between your cat and dogs, you have to treat both. Again, follow the instruction, you cannot do some of it and not others, or else it will not work.

 

NEVER EVER shave your animals unless it is a medical emergency, this IS NOT the case.

 

NEVER use bleach to mix with any common household products (ammonia / urine), the toxic fume will irritate your eyes and burn your lungs, yes, that includes your low to the ground animals.

 

DO NOT give your flea meds before it's due, rx dosage is based on weight, don't create more trouble because your head is not thinking straight.

 

Calm down, take a deep breath, your result will not be instant, it will take time to break the flea cycle, let us know if you have any questions. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on April 21, 2011 at 3:54pm

What flea medication are you using? If it is not Frontline, Advantage, or Comfortis it likely isn't going to work. Advantage can be given up to once a week with bad infestation, Frontline can also be given early but not Comfortis, although 4 days isn't going to make a difference. The products are tested safe at about 7-10 times the recommended dose, so 4 days early isn't going to kill your pet. Comfortis is not labeled for cats yet, but talk to your vet about it because some vets do rx it for cats as well because it is not harmful to cats, just hasn't completed its USDA trials etc to be labeled just yet. Shaving won't help. No use in doing it. Remember vacuum every 2 days. The vibrations from the vacuum stimulate eggs to hatch so by doing it every 2 days you will vacuum up newly hatched adults. It won't happen overnight, but if you treat ALL your animals with a flea preventative bought AT YOUR VET and vacuum and wash all bedding then you will get rid of the flea population. I had a really bad outbreak last summer and following this protocol, I was able to rid my apartment of fleas in 3 weeks. I bought some flea spray to spray under the furniture where the fleas could hide and the animals could not reach. I only needed to wash the bedding once and continue to vacuum every 2 days for the first week or so, then weekly after that. Make sure to get your flea meds from the vet. Buying from anyone but a vet (or Petsmart bc they have a vet clinic) will result in a product that may not be what you are paying for (i.e. "black market") and the company will not stand behind it. Even registered online pharmacies have their ways of selling products that aren't necessarily as advertised, and stores like Costco are carrying the products illegally. If you treat your pets with a flea product bought at your vet for a month or two with no success the company will stand behind its product and give you a refund.

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Permalink Reply by Robyn on April 21, 2011 at 4:42pm

thanks everyone, i have had a night of rest & i feel better & calmer, not totally but less than yesterday. as you can tell i don't handle changes in general cleanliness to well. it freaks me out & i go cleaning crazy. i am going to look into different flea meds for the dogs. as well as stuff for the house, we haven't noticed any fleas in general in the house till yesterday when we gave everyone a bath. so i think it shouldn't b to horrible to get rid over as they r not taking over the house yet. the cats have been on flea meds as well but they seemed to have done better in all this than the dogs, well except for one of the cats. we r going to keep working on him more so than any one else. we r going to get this knocked out, even though i'm still upset a little......stupid fleas! thank you everyone for talking me through my freak out haha

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