We didn't used to have fleas. Never did before we got the Scotty dog. I am of the mind that, when she passes, I likely won't get another dog. I love the dog, but I hate the fleas.
Last year was bad. We started flea treating...but nothing was working. We'd used Advantix 2 for dogs and Advantage 2 for cats. It did nothing.* We sprayed the carpet with Peremethin. No joy. Tried Hartz flea spray. It had worked, and worked well, in the past, but...not this time. Tried Adams flea spray. All of the carpet sprays are supposed to be insect growth inhibitors. None of it is inhibiting the flea eggs/larvae/nymphs from developing into the next stage.
Winter killed a lot of them off. It helped. And then...then, spring came back, with warmer temperatures...and all of the fleas. We're trying different flea meds, but so far, the cats still have the issues (Feline Revolution 2). The dog seems to be much better. But not the poor cats. They've got fewer fleas, but still have them.
I am about ready to call in an exterminator. Especially since I've actually been able to get--and keep--most of the house clean.
*I can't say NOTHING, nothing. It did keep the mosquitos off of the dog--and prevented worms and heartworms. But it did nothing against the fleas.
10 minutes ago
Using Sevin Dust seems to work well for me. You can literally powder the dog and the cats with it. And you can spray/dust it all over the house and in the furniture.
ReplyDeleteBorax powder in the carpets works, too. Kills the larvae and the fleas by cutting into their shells and drying them out.
But short of completely nuking, some will always survive.
(If you are trying to kill flees on the animals and want to bathe them, use Dawn. Wet animal's neck, smear liberal dose of Dawn around neck, wet rest of body, Dawn that part too. Foam it up, let sit for 5 - 10 minutes, pick fleas off face, then rinse. The Dawn will make the fleas drunk before it kills them.
Good luck. Fleas suck.
I'm not dumb enough to try to bathe a cat that's never been bathed in the six years we've had them. And the dog's flea meds worked.
DeleteSorry to hear that! Fleas DO suck!
ReplyDeleteWe'll get it figured out and dealt with. I think we need to do Capstar on the cats, and vacuum daily for a few weeks--the dog's meds are working fine.
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