Need advice regarding fleas.

[Disney Freak Numero Uno]

Im hoping someone will have some ideas for fighting fleas. I use Vectra which is a topical on my two dogs. our vet recommended this after Frontline stopped working. Unfortunately, my dogs still have fleas. I’ve washed their bedding,given them flea baths and applied the vectra but nothing seems to eliminate them. Thanks.

 

[HeatherC]

Lemon dish soap is what several vets have recommended to us over the years. Or any soap with lemon in it.

We also use the Seresto collar for fleas and ticks and it works great.

 

[sheilafri]

Sprinkle Borax on all soft surfaces pets come in contact with—carpets, bedding, furniture. I just leave it for a week or so. We used to live in So Cal where it never froze to kill off fleas. We hired a company to treat our house for fleas and that’s what they did. You will want to simultaneously bathe your pets with a flea/tick shampoo. Good luck.

 

[low-key]

I take in many strays until I could home them, herer is what ya do, get a flee comb, comb every day, if its real bad twice a day, when you brush it theudog, you will see live fleas that are temporarily stunned and on comb, you dip brush imediatly in dish soap, it killsflea quick, wip with a towel and brush again, and every noght leave out saucers on floor with dishwater in them, the more the better, when you wake up you find many dead fleas, with in 2-3 days you will have it handled

 

[kcool]

We are using Advantus. It is a chewable. It is kind of like capstar. The topicals don’t work well on my dog, she has skin issues. You can get it through wal mart. Works pretty well for her.

 

[Cantw8]

I take in many strays until I could home them, herer is what ya do, get a flee comb, comb every day, if its real bad twice a day, when you brush it theudog, you will see live fleas that are temporarily stunned and on comb, you dip brush imediatly in dish soap, it killsflea quick, wip with a towel and brush again, and every noght leave out saucers on floor with dishwater in them, the more the better, when you wake up you find many dead fleas, with in 2-3 days you will have it handled

That's hot

 

[jen7233]

Did you treat the yard, and home? Do you take them on walks or play in areas that might have them? I use Simparica right now, before that Bravecto, and have used topical Frontline. She hated Frontline, and it was harder for me to remember the Bravecto.

 

[Carol_]

I take in many strays until I could home them, herer is what ya do, get a flee comb, comb every day, if its real bad twice a day, when you brush it theudog, you will see live fleas that are temporarily stunned and on comb, you dip brush imediatly in dish soap, it killsflea quick, wip with a towel and brush again, and every noght leave out saucers on floor with dishwater in them, the more the better, when you wake up you find many dead fleas, with in 2-3 days you will have it handled

I’ve heard this before. Low-key often sounds a little off, but I think he’s right about this dish of soap thing.

 

[Kittyblue]

I have pest control that treats my yard for fleas. I've never had to treat the dog (or cats, although they are indoor only). I take the dog out for walks at the bike path and hiking at a local preserve, but never any fleas.

 

[Disney Freak Numero Uno]

I take in many strays until I could home them, herer is what ya do, get a flee comb, comb every day, if its real bad twice a day, when you brush it theudog, you will see live fleas that are temporarily stunned and on comb, you dip brush imediatly in dish soap, it killsflea quick, wip with a towel and brush again, and every noght leave out saucers on floor with dishwater in them, the more the better, when you wake up you find many dead fleas, with in 2-3 days you will have it handled

Are the fleas attracted to the dish soap?

 

[emmybee]

I imagine food-grade diatomaceous earth would work. Vacuum, sprinkle, let it sit for a few days. Repeat.

 

[Kittyblue]

Are the fleas attracted to the dish soap?

https://www.thebugsquad.com/fleas/dawn-for-fleas/
just one of many articles that pop up on google

 

[Diznygrl]

In order for the dish soap trick to work the room needs to be dark with a light over the bowl/plate. The fleas are attracted to the light, try to go to it and then drown in the dish soap water. It works, I've done it before.

 

[lilmc]

Bravecto

 

[LSUmiss]

Capstar to rid pet of current fleas & then trifexis.

 

[Christine]

Agree with @LSUmiss--I've always had great success with a treatment of Capstar to eradicate the current flea infestation. Then work on the preventatives. Also do everything you can to ensure you don't have them in the house.

 

[mom2rtk]

You have to treat dog, home and yard all at once when it gets bad.

 

[jo-jo]

In order for the dish soap trick to work the room needs to be dark with a light over the bowl/plate. The fleas are attracted to the light, try to go to it and then drown in the dish soap water. It works, I've done it before.

I wonder if you could use a glow stick in the dish of water to attract the fleas. No need for to set up lights all over the place.

Is someone it going to try the soap dish trick, could you try one with glow stick? I'm curious, alas no fleas here. Only pet is a fish.

 

[lynxstch]

We don't have dogs, but we have cats. The 2x we have gotten fleas on them..we used a flea comb, dumping any live fleas you take off of them into a cup or bowl filled with Dawn blue dish detergent, then gave them a bath using Dawn blue dish soap, rinse thoroughly. Use borax on carpets, sweep it in with a broom and let it sit at least a day. Then vacuum. Important--then take the vacuum bag out of the vacuum (if you aren't using a bagless one), and dump it in the trash--outside! Put in a fresh bag. Repeat the borax thing at least 2x. If it's really bad in your house, resort to Raid Flea fogger, it kills most of them, but you have to leave the house for a couple of hours and then air it out.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I imagine food-grade diatomaceous earth would work. Vacuum, sprinkle, let it sit for a few days. Repeat.

We don't have dogs, but we have cats. The 2x we have gotten fleas on them..we used a flea comb, dumping any live fleas you take off of them into a cup or bowl filled with Dawn blue dish detergent, then gave them a bath using Dawn blue dish soap, rinse thoroughly. Use borax on carpets, sweep it in with a broom and let it sit at least a day. Then vacuum. Important--then take the vacuum bag out of the vacuum (if you aren't using a bagless one), and dump it in the trash--outside! Put in a fresh bag. Repeat the borax thing at least 2x. If it's really bad in your house, resort to Raid Flea fogger, it kills most of them, but you have to leave the house for a couple of hours and then air it out.

I came to say these. We had a bad flea infection (dogs on both sides of our house were untreated, so we battled it constantly, it seems. Flea meds didn't work (fleas become resistant to the medications). We wanted to avoid more chemicals if possible and on two of the cats and one dog, we couldn't use flea medication as it caused physical problems with them.

What we did was get some diatomaceous earth, sprinkled it all over the backyard, the couches, under tables, our mattresses, carpets, on the tile floors, in corners, everywhere. The cats were locked in my bathroom with a litter box, food and water. We did rub it onto the dogs and cats, but did our best to not get it in the air, down to the skin (but not near the head). We put the dogs outside in the back yard, and we left for the night. (dogs were fine, had a doghouse, fresh running water and food; and it was cool. Came back, and we did vacuum the beds and furniture, but put down plastic tarps over the carpets so we could leave it on them for a little while longer. Brushed out the cats, and cleaned the litter box completely. Then went to the backyard. Sat out there with the dogs, combing them, then washing them. A couple days later, I vacuumed the carpets.

We saw an immediate drop of adult fleas. After about four weeks, we noticed more adult fleas, so we did another round. After that, our flea count dropped to near zero. We also noticed, during that 2nd round, that on one side, there was no more dog (it ran away) and on the other side, they were tenting their house, so I assume that helped kill off the fleas. We did one more round after another four weeks, and no more fleas.

From what I understand, the DE breaks thorught the waxy coating on the roaches, and it dehyrates and dies.