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Vacuum every day for 21 days. Throw away plush toys. Get a Victor flea trap. Wash everything with hot water in the washer, and then machine dry it.
If you decide to use chemicals, Raid makes a good carpet and upholstery spray that also kills the flea eggs.
@SoupyCat: yes, I heard that flea eggs are harder to kill than the actual fleas. Is it okay we gave him a new bed already? I don't want eggs or anything to get transferred onto his NEW bed!
@SoupyCat: Ditto! Wash all of your sheets! Also, Frontline works!
No, don't give him a new bed till youre sure all the fleas and eggs are gone, it'll just reinfestate. The eggs can stay alive for a long time and wait to hatch when a warm body comes nearby, but vacumming makes the eggs hAtch, and then you can suck them up as they do.
My plan of attack wouto be to wash the dog with flea shampoo, do the frontline, wash everything and use the raid flea spray on the carpets and furniture after you vacuum. Then continue vacuuming everyday. I used the Victor flea traps at night to gauge what the infestation was still like in certain rooms. The Raid application should last at least a month. I also quarantined rooms off from the dogs after it was declared flea free, until I knew they were all gone. Good luck, it takes a lot of vigilance to get rid of the buggers!
At almost all drugstores there is this powder that you can buy to kill fleas. After one bad infestation by my roommate's dog in college, I bought it, put it on the carpet and let it sit for about 4 hours and vacuumed. Never had a problem again from any hiding bugs.
if you have a vaccuume that can be put on a lower setting, you can vacuume your dog. I'm not meaning doing it hard where it hurts, just low enough to suck up the little critters. You can even get a special nozzle for your pets to suck them up.
We had fleas and it was rough. We washed all of the dog toys, beds, sheets, etc. We vacuumed the space that the dogs hang out in daily. We also, gave them a flea dip and started applying the topical flea treatment more than once a month. It's frustrating so I know your pain.
Our indoor cats kept getting fleas (we had carpet at the time too). It got BAD (like the fleas started biting US bad). We didn't want to do chemicals, so we used food grade diatomaceous earth to get rid of them. If you go this route, there are lots of details for method, but the most important thing would be to use a mask when applying. This is not something you want to breathe in because it's essentially fine silica dust.
We used a large shaker, gloves, a vacuum and a dust mask. Since pets are so low to the ground and we didn't want them breathing DE either, we made sure that ours weren't in the house when we applied it (they were at the vet).
We sprinkled the carpet, every corner and the cold basement (where we think they were getting in) and let it sit while the cats were at the vet overnight. We also sprinkled their beds inside of trash bags and washed them after a couple of days. We vacuumed very thoroughly (wearing the mask still) and the problem decreased SIGNIFICANTLY. We reapplied once more and they were gone. We haven't had a flea since and it has been about a year.
We vaccuumed everything (think couches, matresses, etc) and washed all linens including her beds. We were told by our vet frontline can be dangerous.. but that may be because our dog is so small (only 4 pounds) We got drops from the vet and never saw fleas again.. but we were very diligent about washing everything, vacuuming non-stop, etc!
When I moved to a new area, my dog got fleas. I sprayed the house and yard with spray that keeps working to kill the fleas as they hatch, but the BEST thing I discovered is a pill called Confortis. You're vet can give you the pills. You can use it in addition to advantix or frontline. It starts killing the fleas within a couple hours and I NEVER found another flea on her after I started giving her the Confortis. It was amazing and probably kept me from going insane because I just could not deal with fleas. They're SO creepy.
Try Confortis (maybe spelled comfortis) and spray, spray, spray!
My dog gets fleas now and then, even though he gets his dose of Frontline every month. Sometimes there are outbreaks where it seems like every cat and dog in the neighborhood gets them. It seems like some fleas have become resistent to Frontline.
What works best is to go to the vet. There are two treatments that have worked for us, my favorite is Comfortis. It's a pill rather than a topical treatment and it works great when flea dips and everything else has failed. (We've also gotten a topical treatment that works, but it makes him stinky.) Comfortis has worked every time. We've never bothered to radically clean the house and never had any problems with it being infested -- but we clean regularly and don't have any other pets.
You might also use Advantage instead of Frontline. I used to use Frontline and found it got less effective. I started using Advantage II and it has really kept them flea free.
THIS: Raid makes a good carpet and upholstery spray that also kills the flea eggs.
Spray your entire carpeted area and then vaccuum, yes entire! If your dog spends time on the couch or any other fabric furniture spray that too. The key to getting rid of fleas entirely is to treat everything.
Once you have treated your dog, washed all your sheets and his bedding and treated the home you should be fine. I know it sounds like an ordeal but it isn't really. We have had to do it a couple of times despite using Advantix monthly.
I'm a veterinary assistant. Frontline does not work well at all. Many times we have clients come to us to say that they've applied it many times and does nothing. We use Advantage Multi. Advantage, Advantage Multi, Advantix and Revolution are the only products I would recommend using. The key is to also apply one of these treatments once a month for three months. If you just do it for one month, the fleas will come back because the eggs will hatch. Vacuum EVERYTHING and throw out the vacuum bag. Also, you can use a product called Siphotrol to spray around your house on your couches and curtains...anything that might have fleas. They are sneaky and will even get into your baseboards. If you have more than one pet, even if they don't seem to be infected, treat them too. Also, get your pet dewormed. Fleas usually carry tapeworm eggs. All it takes is for your pet to ingest a flea with a tapeworm egg for him to get tapeworm. It's very common. Once treating with one of the products I mentioned for 3 months straight, your flea problem should be gone, unless the ground doesn't freeze where you are, I would say to treat all year long. Good luck with your battle!
We swear by Adams Flea Dip - its smelly, but it works like a champ!
Thanks so much for the help guys! We applied Frontline (just because we were at Costco and that's what they carry), got him a new bed, washed all of our bedding and his plushed toys, vaccuumed the house like crazy, and are about to go to the store now to get the Raid flea carpet spray and a flea trap. We will see how that does.
Ugh, fleas are the worst! Frontline and flea bombs didn't work for my pet's major flea infestation, but Advantage did the trick. If frontline doesn't work I'd switch. Good luck!!
I will take an activated flea collar and cut it into bits and suck them up into the vacuum bag/canister so whatever fleas get vacuumed up will die in the bag also.
Cut up a flea collar and put a piece in your vaccum's filter! It will help with anything that isn't dead already!
I agree you don't want to give your dog the new bed until the fleas are gone. There was a natural flea spray I used for the couch at one point. IT worked well, I got it at petsmart, but I cant remember the name of it.
ETA: @Deadutopia-I so didn't see your post! Great minds think alike!
I'm a vet. Get some comfortis which is oral flea control an works better and faster than topicals. put the flea collar in your vacuum bag and vacuum a whole bunch you can also steam clean your carpet which will help get rid of flea eggs. You need to move furniture as they like to hide in dark places. Don't use flea shampoos, they don't work and are toxic. Pyrethrin carpet sprays work well after steam cleaning but are pretty nasty, not safe for cats if you have any.
FRONTLINE! the real stuff, from the vet (the stuff from pet stores is manufactured by a different company!). Use it for 3 months, and vacuum every day. Everywhere. Vacuum your couch cushions and wash all your linens.
We had fleas last year and it was a total nightmare. We couldn't bomb the house because we lived in an apartment with doors to other apartments. Good luck!
I didn't read all of the previous posts. Our cat had fleas so bad this past summer and she NEVER has been outside. We went to the vet and they gave us Revelution. We used it once a month for 3 months and she hasn't has fleas since. We tried flea dips and Frontline and nothing seemed to work. Also Vacumn everyday, once you are done change the vacumn bag (or if you have bagless dump it into a garbage bag and immediatly take it outside). This includes vacumning furnature as well. Also as a few PP said, wash everything!!! Multiple times! Good luck :)
ETA: We also bombed the house 3 different times. The fleas always reappeared!!!
This thread is scaring me! We've always used Frontline and have never had fleas, but man, what if it stops working?
Good luck!
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Our Shiba Inu Kobi has been to the vet's twice in the past six months due to hot spots. Each time she tells us that he does not have fleas, and that his hot spots were caused by stress or some sort of allergy. Well, today we found lots of fleas on him. I was digging through his coat because his hair has been falling out lately, and I found a ton! It was so disgusting.
We have already gotten Frontline Plus and put it on him, thrown away his old bed (and gotten him a new one), and washed his blanket.
Is there anything else we should do? What is your experience in dealing with fleas? We have hardwoods, but I thuroughly vaccuumed the whole house anyways. Should we do a flea bomb or whatever? My hubby is really wanting us to stay as "natural" as possible, and I Just don't know what else to do. I don't even know if Frontline works!!! HELP!