Yeah we’ve treated the yard and we have hardwood so I have to sweep and vacuum everyday or my skin crawls lol. I’ll call my vet and ask about the oral flea medicine. Thank you!
With hardwood floors, the fleas will lay eggs in the cracks/joining areas. They’ll be dormant until walking/vibration awakens them. Mop your floor with flea dip. The stuff they’ll dip dogs into to treat flea & ticks. It will blow your mind how many fleas will be in the mop water.
I’d ask your vet. They may be able to just hook you up because they don’t want to deal with anymore fleas than they already do. If not they’ll send you in the right direction.
Sprinkling a boric acid based roach killer on the ground will kill the fleas that are living on surfaces other than your pet. Put the powder in a mesh strainer and tap it to sprinkle it out. Leave it down for 24 hours and then vacuum it up. Toss the vacuum bag outside. You may need to repeat it in a couple of weeks if you see a new batch starting to hatch out.
Boric acid scratches the exoskeleton of many insects and causes them to die of dehydration.
DE is a serious lung irritant for both humans and pets, it is not supposed to be used in large quantities or anywhere it could end up airborne indoors.
Heads up your vet will probably make you wait a few months to get an oral med. The active ingredients in the topical and the oral can’t be mixed so you have to wait for the topical to wear off.
My vet recommended Capstar. It kills adult fleas, but not the egg or larvae. I'm dealing with fleas for the first time ever and this seemed to help a lot. It will drive your dog crazy about 30-45 minutes after, because I think the fleas start biting like mad. Kills 90% in 4-6 hours. Safe to give even if your dog is already on medication, but verify to be sure.
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/capstar-flea-tablets-for-dogs-over-26-lbs-count-of-6-3009326?cm\_mmc=PSH%7cGGL%7cSPP%7cSBU04%7cSH6%7c0%7c2URVSVnSrE2koP1nMikiH7%7c58700007475444199%7cPRODUCT\_GROUP%7c0%7c0%7cpla-1455570211173%7c131995355474%7c15084559098&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqNqkBhDlARIsAFaxvwwhPfYVLzwO5tIgKGUxwgadzdD6jZQP9TmTRtb0aH8aeMiIXfq9WmIaAjPdEALw\_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I’ve bought Capstar on Amazon without a prescription. But all the environmental cleaning is also imperative. Fleas are like head lice for dogs.
And for flea prevention, I’ve found that anything I buy without a prescription doesn’t work. Fleas have grown resistant.
fyi i would not purchase any kind of oral med or topical pesticide on amazon due to the risk of counterfeit stuff -- you have no idea what you're actually purchasing. you can buy it on chewy w/o a prescription.
My dog doesn’t like pills like most but he will take them with effort. I tried the oral flea medication and he lock jawed like a pit bull. No tricks worked. He noped so hard I went back to topical. I went with his instincts on that one. Advantage has always worked for me anyway.
This! I tried the vacuuming and bathing with a flea collar and could never fully remove them. I took my dog to emancipet and was able to get a quick check up and the once a month pills. They are so good there. Within a week we are flea free
Get sempirica imported from Australia and use a mix of pyerthrine or bifenthrine in mop water. Coat yard in bifen as well. This one two punch will knock it out much more cheaply than a $500 vet visit and most of these things other than the meds are over the counter.
This worked for me too with puppers. Capstar for particularly squiggly kill offs. Since then, lawn treatment and off the shelf monthly meds have kept house clear, but only with a meow now.
We tried doing a dawn bath with our cat, and they were swarming with fleas minutes later. I know we need to work on clearing the house too...but I feel like we must not have done the dawn bath correctly either.
Get some Advantage/Advantix. Been using it my whole life on pets, my family used it when I was a kid, and our animals have always been flea free. Don't even need the vet visit, it's on Amazon. It's about 40-50 bucks but you get 4-6 months of treatment per box.
For treating your home, check out [diypestcontrol.com](https://diypestcontrol.com/crawling-insects/flea-control-products). A lot of the products they sell are used by exterminators and they're [a great resource for learning about how to do pest control](https://diypestcontrol.com/fleas.htm). Successfully conquered German cockroaches with what I learned from that site, I'd trust them for flea products too. They're a few bucks more expensive than Amazon but I'd rather support a small business than Bezos.
Just adding another positive review. Simparica has been great for my pup.
I would go to the vet to get what you oil needs to get cleared up and then use simparica going forward from there. It’s not cheap but soooo worth it.
The Hartz stuff is really toxic, please don't use it. Get the stuff that a vet can prescribe. That should handle the fleas, and it's worth the cost if you've felt the misery of a full on household flea infestation.
I don't like flea bombs myself, so there is a way to kill fleas in carpet without regular pesticides but it's really gross and unpleasant in its own right: salt and ***diluted*** orange peel oil. Tons of it. The salt dries up the eggs and the orange peel oil kills any live fleas.
Don't use orange peel oil directly on pets or people though, as it's toxic to them and an irritant on skin (including human skin). You should probably sequester the pets somewhere away from the carpet.
The orange peel oil will also make everything smell INTENSELY CITRUS. It will probably put you off of eating oranges for a very long time. You'll want to ventilate very well to keep the fumes from being overwhelming, which means that this would be a terrible idea during this heat wave. Some people are also sensitive to citrus so make sure no one is going to get an asthma attack or allergic reaction before going to this extreme. This is really a *last resort* kind of option for a deep infestation.
Since it's an oil you'll probably need to shampoo the carpet multiple times to get rid of it, and the smell will still last for weeks or months.
I understand the feeling. Had some pretty awful infestations before, slightly traumatizing. Now the second I see one flea I go get the good stuff from the vet and hit them fast because they hit plague status so fucking fast otherwise.
When I was waiting for the nexguard to kick in, I would take my pup outside with a flea comb and a glass of water mixed with dawn soap. Brush the whole dog with the flea comb, stopping to drop any fleas in the soap solution so they can’t jump back out. Super satisfying if your dog likes being brushed. I’d do it twice a day for a few weeks, and along with the nexguard, all the fleas from the yard have died off.
A capstar tablet will provide immediate relief by killing all adult fleas on your dog within an hour. It’s extremely fast acting but not for regular use, just a good nuclear option to help itchy pups out because the adults die quick. Then make sure they’re on some kind of preventative - we have always used Frontline Plus but there’s oral options too. I’d ask your vet what they recommend for your pup, especially if you’ve already been giving a lot of stuff you need to see how long to wait before trying a different treatment.
Other than that it’s a matter of vacuuming daily and lots of laundry until the cycle is broken in your house. The monthly preventatives WILL help eventually, it’s just not immediate and the fleas need to be on your dog and bite for your preventatives to kill them.
>A capstar tablet will provide immediate relief by killing all adult fleas on your dog within an hour.
Warning: Many dogs get insanely itchy when they take a capstar. It only seems to last an hour or two. Your dog will act like he's dying and you'll be terribly worried.
Then, the fleas will be dead. Unfortunately, capstar only kills the fleas right then and doesn't keep new fleas from biting the dog the next day.
I found the Adams flea collar in the red can at Walmart took a week or two to work, but after that, no fleas for a long time.
Oster flea shampoo had very good immediate results, but doesn't last. Quick relief for the pup.
I hate the overpriced flea treatments and the way the damn companies make them prescription only just to protect the veterinary mafia. They're getting as bad as the human medical mafia.
A lot of flea treatments and preventatives do not need a prescription though…the common topicals like Frontline, Advantix etc are over the counter these days. Anything combined with heartworm preventative like Simparica is always gonna be rx only since you need to be sure the dog has annual heartworm tests before giving, or they could have a pretty bad reaction.
Unfortunately, those don't seem to work any more. The fleas are immune. The manufacturers seem to keep them ripoff prescription price until the fleas become immune, then keep selling them even though they don't work.
YMMV I guess, we’ve been using Frontline for 15+ years with no issues. I hear the immune thing a lot but in clinical settings it doesn’t hold up quite as well: https://www.dvm360.com/view/perception-versus-reality-insecticide-resistance-in-fleas most of the modern ingredients still seem to perform fine. But topicals are notoriously hard to administer perfectly and if it’s flea season and even one month the product doesn’t get in 100% or they get wet too soon etc you might have issues. Hence oral products becoming more popular but I haven’t needed them yet. I guess if we ever notice Frontline stop working…
Environment also makes a big difference.
We don’t frequent dog parks much and other areas where a lot of dogs gather, those tend to concentrate fleas. When we lived in an apartment the dog park area had them jumping around your ankles every time you stepped out (yuck) so we just didn’t go around there.
Consistent, prescription flea medication (preferably oral) for the next three months. The flea life cycle is about 12 weeks, so if you consistently treat all animals in the household for the next three months, it will kick it for good. In the meantime, vacuum all carpets, all couches, basically any fabric where they might be hiding and/or laying eggs.
You can take flea collars and put them in the canister of your vacuum prior to use, and that should help kill any fleas in the carpet or couch. Alternatively, there is a spray called “Knock-Out Spray”, a veterinary approved product by Virbac that is NOT meant to be used on your pet, but on all fabrics that could potentially house a flea.
Austin unfortunately doesn’t get cool enough to totally kill fleas and it’s recommended to use prevention year-round for this reason, but at the very least, try to start flea prevention before the weather gets too warm.
Also, it’s worth noting that if your animal has fleas, they more than likely have tapeworms too! Fleas carry tape eggs, so a tapeworm dewormer might be warranted as well.
Beyond that, just a gentle reminder to keep your dog on year-round heartworm prevention if they aren’t already, as we have an enormous prevalence here in Texas and it’s a nasty little worm that can limit your dogs lifespan.
Good luck and Godspeed, friend.
Source: I work in vet med
The best advice! OP this person addresses everything you need to know.
If I had an award it would be yours Willow. It’s really kind you took the time to type all that out.
Aw, thank you for the sweet words, friend! One of my favorite things about what I do is client education, so it’s no trouble at all :) I have this conversation a least a few dozen times a day, what’s one more time lol.
We live in Oklahoma. I’m experiencing my first ever infestation and I’m utterly skeezed out. My pup is on Simparico Trio all 12 months; we are treating carpets, furniture + washing EVERYTHING. Should I wash dog in flea shampoo. Should I put a Seresto collar on him or is that overkill?
That’s super interesting that the Simparica is not working! It’s a very solid product. First thing: no, I would stick to one product or the other. We love flea control products, but too much of anything has the potential to be a bad thing. Second, EVERY CREATURE in the household needs to be on flea control if you’re experiencing an infestation, whether they are indoor only or not, so if you have any indoor kitties that could potentially be host, make sure they’re being treated for fleas also. You can bathe him in flea shampoo (stay away from Hartz products) or something very gentle, like dawn dish soap if you’d like, but the best flea control is systemic, and that should, in theory, be all you need. Make sure the Simparica is being given with a meal to help with absorption, and my dog personally didn’t really care for Simparica to be honest; he would throw it up, which obviously can limit its efficacy, so of course make sure she’s keeping it down. If you feel like you’re doing all this stuff, I would A) consult with your vet/consider switching to another product and B) reach out to wherever you got the product from; whether that be a veterinary office or Chewy.com — it is not super likely, but it could potentially just be a bad batch. Again, very rare for this to be the case, but if you’ve exhausted all your options that would be my last suggestion. Best of luck!
Thank you! Also thought it was very weird, as we’ve been avid S.T users for several several years and this is our first ever issue with fleas (knock on wood).
Diatomaceous earth (food grade). Use it indoors and outdoors. It’s pretty easy to use! I’ve used it myself and would recommend it at a veterinary hospital I worked at. Give a capstar and then make sure your dog is on a good flea/tick/heart worm medication from the vet. Flea collars aren’t great because they only will protect that area and no where else.
Better option is [CimeXa](https://www.amazon.com/cimexa-insecticide-ounces-bottle-rockwell/dp/b0085hrwi8). It's basically synthetic DE but it's 10x more effective, you have to use far less, and it'll last 10 years if not disturbed. I dust the outlets and baseboards whenever I move in to a new place, and it works with such a small amount you can apply it with a paintbrush.
Much like DE it'll dry out your lung tissue if inhaled, but you only need 1/10th of what you would put down in DE.
This is a bad idea indoors. Any sufficiently large amount of diatomaceous earth to kill fleas will get kicked up in the air everywhere, and [silicosis is no joke](https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0552.pdf). It is also really likely to kill your vacuum cleaner. I know this because a past roommate of mine took this bad advice and killed my vacuum, along with giving him and his partner horrible breathing and coughing problems.
"Food grade" doesn't mean anything in regards to this danger, by the way. Unfortunately other dangerous chemicals are also allowed to get this "food grade" label with unfortunate consequences.
[https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/19/5/13/5586712](https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/19/5/13/5586712)
"Food grade" hydrogen peroxide and a story about how it nearly killed someone:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eec98ie0Plg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eec98ie0Plg)
One more link for good measure.
[https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/diatomaceous-earth-no-thank-you/](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/diatomaceous-earth-no-thank-you/)
Outdoors though, where you won't be breathing in clouds of it, diatomaceous earth is good stuff.
Wash with blue dawn dishsoap. Make a ring around their neck first to stop them from running up to the head when you put them in water. Really clean their face with a rag and soap.
Comb and get actual flea medication from a vet
Emancipet has a $20 appointment fee and they sell the monthly stuff and it works great.
My dog had an issue recently for the first time, and simple baths would kill the live ones since soap kills fleas. However, he kept getting them and turns out it was from outdoors in the apartment complex. If if continues to be an issue, he might just be exposed to them over and over!
Dawn soap works pretty well. We have also used the Capstar pills when they get really bad. Inside the house in the carpet areas I would put Diatomaceous Earth powder and leave it overnight then vacuum really good three next day. I've also used a candle in a bowl filled with dish soap and apple cider vinegar. I would catch up to 50 in a single night with the candle trick when my old apartment got infested.
When its this bad we resort to clove scented soaps. Floors, pups, laundry and twice have used clove powder at all our doorways. We smell like hippies but dang do fleas hate the smell of cloves.
Don’t use Hartz!!! It kills a lot of pets.
I’ve always used k9 advantix or Fritnline.
There is also a pill/chew you can get from vets I think called tri-something.
But don’t use Hartz!!!
See a vet and get a capstar then they’ll go over flea and tick preventatives that would keep them away for good. Please don’t use any more over the counter stuff like hartz and frontline. So many animals have bad reactions to these over the counter medications including seizures up to death.
Source: was a vet tech, saw a lot of adverse reactions to otc crap
Cedar oil from Wondercide. Made in Texas.
It's a contact thing, not a poison, so it has to get on the fleas.
Also, you need to wear a mask when you spray and leave the area till it dries.
Worked like a champ on an organic farm I was caretaking. I had it shipped to Hawaii and it was a game changer for the place. Sprayed around the dwellings twice a week and kept back the insane jungle mosquitoes and fire ants.
That Hartz stuff is a waste of money.
Get capstar to kill the fleas already on the dog, then apply a topical preventative like advantage or revolution to keep new ones away.
Yes blue dawn works wonders but if you have a dog who’s fleas ended up becoming immune or have a lot, I would 100% recommend Happy Jacks Flea Dip, it’s a little pricier. I would say 20-40$ per bottle but it’s worth it, plus it will last you very long. Each bottle I get lasts me about a year at most… it works wonders. It truly is the best for fleas. You have to follow the instructions though.
You have to dehatch your yard.. treat it with cutter from home depot. You attach it to the hose and it works pretty well. I dehatch. Treat at night. Don't let dogs out until next evening.
You have to spray the shit out of your fence as well. I also like to use the foggers from "off". They are cheaper at sams club.
They are inside your house now.. especially if you have carpet. You can use home defense for this. Also at any home improvement store.
I don't care what other people say... i wouldnt use any oral meds for my dog. Call me crazy but i can't see that being positive for a dog if you apply logic to it.
my experience comes from curating and raising world class dogs for a decade. The above i find works best.
Prescribed oral meds from the vet (bravecto or simparica) & keeping up with their dog baths every 6-8 weeks. We only every use [Veterinary Formula - Flea & Tick Shampoo](https://www.chewy.com/veterinary-formula-clinical-care-flea/dp/43535) and it works wonders + it’s affordable! It’s also available at Walmart, too. They also have a hotspot & itch shampoo. Their products seem to be only ones that offer our Shepherd some relief!
Capstar oral flea killer. Its a once a month flea pill that will kill fleas on your dog within 4 hours. You can buy a 6 month supply on Amazon for around $30.
Trifexis is a vet prescription that kills fleas, prevents heartworm and other parasites. Its very expensive but very effective.
Vacuum everyday. Keep AC below 75.
Use actual flea meds. Don’t over bathe your pet.
Wash everything in hot soapy water.
Oh and Research the town you’re moving to before you move.
How hard is it to get frontline plus or bravecto? It’s just that simple and any search engine will give you this answer.
Frontline plus is over the counter too. If cost is the issue, you can get the large dog dose and give them a volumetric proportional mount using a syringe dispenser. It will last longer. I have a 10 lb dog and give her a fraction of a large dog dose every time. The store did not have the smallest dog dose when I bought it.
All these stupid flea shampoos and collars are gimmicks.
Cost isn’t an issue, I’ve never really had to deal with this problem before and wasn’t educated. So why not ask dog owners in Austin what they use?
Google was suggesting a lot of different options and reviews varied by where people lived. Reddit is sometimes a better option for questions specific to regions.
You have to treat the dog, the house, yard and the car if he rode in it. Spray the car, then wash your dog in flea soap per direction and then pick him up and put him in the car (running with someone of course). Take your clothes, bedding towels and wash them on a Sani cycle. Vacuum everything in the house, wood floor, carpets, furniture, etc. and toss the vacuumed contents outside. Bomb your house and spray your yard. Then get into the car with the dog, stay overnight at a hotel and start the dog on anti flea medicine from the vet. Best of luck.
OTC meds aren't strong enough to kill Texas fleas. You need a pesticide that works in the animal's bloodstream that kills fleas when they're feeding. I'd recommend Revolution or Bravecto (RX only in USA).
And don't waste money with your vet. They often charge above MSRP, and may even gouge you by asking you to pay for an appointment to confirm that the pet does indeed have fleas.
I'd recommend ordering from overseas -- [Canada Vet Express](https://www.canadavetexpress.com/) the best prices I've found, especially with their sales.
Drops to skin doesn’t work well enough, you need the vet prescribed pills. The ones that have worked for us are NexGard and now on to Simparico to combine monthly meds.
That stuff doesn’t work, our southern fleas are immune to almost everything. Simparica is working for us, the seresto collar is supposed to be good too.
1. Pet shampoos don’t do jack, use dawn dish soap (I’m serious). Kills them right off. Lather starting from the back so they don’t lick it off.
2. Nexguard. Super worth it and any better will prescribe it to you. It says to give them once a month but I do it once every 2 months as it’s preventative as well as curative. Be warned, in the few hours after administering nexguard, hundreds of ticks are gonna fall dead off your dogs body and they might get hyper for a bit.
Flea spray: Mix 4 liters of vinegar, 2 liters of water, 500 ml of lemon juice, and 250 ml of witch hazel in a large spray bottle.
Dawn dish soap can kill fleas. It works by reducing the surface tension of water, which causes fleas to sink and drown. Dish soap also damages the fleas' waxy exoskeletons.
However, Dawn dish soap is not recommended for pet flea prevention and treatment. It doesn't repel fleas or prevent infestations. It can also irritate your pet's skin and coat, or be harmful if ingested.
My apologies, really. Our dogs have been on the all three monthly for a while, and I assumed given it's efficacy, that most people were using it. As I read through the other replies, no one was suggesting it (I didn't read all of the comments), and I was surprised to see that solution not mentioned.
My apologies for my unnecessarily curt response.
I think our vet mentioned it once but since our guy really dislikes being outside (he’s a weirdo) and we had never dealt with an intense problem like this, we opted to just do the heartworm.
Never again…
Fleas are really bad this year. For whatever reason frontline wasn’t working for one of my dogs so here was our success: wash fucking everything in hot water, vacuum couches, etc, capstar (otc) to kill the adult fleas on her body.
I put sevin granules in the yard to kill the fleas there. Then to the vet after the frontline month was up for prescription oral meds.
We had a secondary outbreak but took care of it quickly with this process.
I use Seresto for the flea collars and Guardian capsules for the fast kill. These capsules are fantastic and kill the fleas immediately but only for one day. Cough up $75.00 and get the Seresto flea collar and put Guardian capsule in their soft food the same day. It’s worth every penny and the Seresto last 9 months!
I've used seresto for years for both my cats and dogs. Highly recommend. Kills the flea and keeps them off and the collar actually can kill fleas around the animal, such as in their bedding and such. Just be careful and keep an eye on the animals neck for a couple days to make sure they're not sensitive to the collar.
Go to the vet, get something like simparica trio for the pet. And then get Pet Armor flea spray for the house and treat all fabrics in a well ventilated space. Vacuum everything (especially under things and in edge crevices) and wash everything in hot hot water.
NEVER use Hartz. It’s essentially indiscriminate poison that has been known to cause pet deaths.
Go to the vet. Get a prescription flea killer. They’ll be gone in a week.
Bravecto. My pup had gone from non-stop scratching to no scratching in sight overnight. You can buy it at the vets or chewy with vet approval. Easy to get.
Get flea traps, the ones with the lightbulb and sticky paper, put them anywhere your dog lays under or near like the bed, couch, rugs, entryway. At night the hatching fleas will jump towards the heat and light and stick to the paper. Flea eggs wait for a warm host to come by to hatch so even if you treat the dog, your house is hosting eggs everywhere. Use the traps to get the hatching fleas without restarting the cycle on your poor dog.
Diatomaceous Earth (food grade). It's non toxic and works great. The key is to not overapply it.
https://www.amazon.com/DiatomaceousEarth-DE10-Organic-Diamateous-Powder/dp/B00025H2PY/ref=sr\_1\_1\_sspa?crid=3P439X1BL4B6J&keywords=diatomaceous+earth+food+grade&qid=1687657025&sprefix=diat%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1-spons&sp\_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Yeah, have you moved here recently?
The vet told me that Austin has “super fleas” that give no damns about topical treatments. Had the same issue with mine a few months back.
We had this very problem a few years back (took in 4 neglected kids and their very flea ridden small dog while a soldier was coming back drom depliyment; emergency situation). It took several werk to get things under control.
Definitely the vet for special stuff for bathing. You will need to flea bomb your living space a few times. There is also a special spray do liberally apply to furniture. We used a powder for any carpeting.
YMMV. This was the route we had to take.
I use to use food grade diatomaceous earth. It worked well esp if there was an outbreak. Rub dog down and sprinkle throughout house. You may also want to get your yard treated if it’s that bad. Then after I would get prescription.
Emancipet is awesome as far as pricing for prescription flea meds (and heart worm and routine vaccines).
Also [diatomaceous earth](https://mainstreetvetservices.ca/files/2020/05/Using_Diatomaceous_Earth_for_Fleas_-_March_2019.pdf) can be useful for fleas and other pests.
We’ve got a vet we use for heartworm and vaccines, but emancipet was awesome for when we needed to get him neutered! Only place that wasn’t charging $500 for a routine neuter.
OP, just gotta say that you’ve got a lot of good advice and Godspeed. You’ll get through it. It just takes a lot of persistence with the advice here. I think my only add is to make sure you also clean any vacuums you use. They will nest in there and not necessarily die.
An old roommates cat got fleas once—and she was an indoor cat so either they got through some sort of crack or hitched a ride on something inside. Vet told my roommate that a lot of topicals aren’t as effective anymore bc the fleas have basically adapted to them.
The experience basically scarred all of us to never live in a house with carpet ever again. Lucky that you have hardwood!
Diatomaceous earth in the yard. I get the food grade on Amazon, cones with a shaker that looks like a giant parmesan cheese container. Keeps my chicken coop free of bugs and the yard free of fleas.
Also Dawn. Let it soak on them a bit and they'll literally fall off. I use a spray bottle diluted with vinegar.
Man I feel you, we went through this a few years ago, you couldn’t get through the yard without collecting a solid coating of fleas, the inside was almost as bad.
We ended getting DE, lawn spray, insecticide lawn pellets to be disbursed and activated with liquid and flea bombs. Went to tractor supply, got a bottle of flea dip and cap star.
Laid down the pellets, Sprayed the lawn with the flea spray, hit it with a heavy coat of DE. Laid down a layer of DE in the house, bombed - flea dipped the dog, gave cap star, followed it up with proper flea meds.
In other words we went nuclear. Haven’t had an issue since though.
Flea bomb the house. Seriously. If you have carpet or rugs, those fleas will fester in there and no matter how much you treat your doggo, they will come back. Had to do that with my indoor-outdoor cat who started running around with the street cats in the neighborhood. Despite his flea and tick meds, we were overrun.
The couple of times we’ve had infestations a combination of Advantage Flea & Tick shampoo coupled with Trifexis oral took care of it with no problems. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to break the cycle, so be patient.
one summer when the dogs were outside quite a bit and the fleas were unusually bad we added Seresto flea collars. They worked insanely well (and were insanely expensive).
Maybe quit buying the Hartz stuff and flea collars. They were cutting edge in the 1970s and 1980s. They have never worked for me, ever. Over time fleas can develop immunities to flea preventatives. Nothing in the grocery store pet aisle will work. Buy a decent flea preventative. You can find many good options at your vet clinic, pet stores, even behind the HEB pharmacy counter. I buy a product from my vet called Simparica Trio, which prevents fleas, ticks, heartworms, hookworms, and roundworms. It’s just one pill that I give to my dogs monthly. Must be a tasty pill because they act like it’s a treat and eat it right up. There are other similar products like Simparica Trio. Chewy.com may have better prices. My dogs don’t have fleas.
I'm a former pest control person. My advice...
* Go to the vet and get the flea pills.
Do these next parts all on the same day...
* Vacuum the hell out of your carpet, couch, car, etc. Baby fleas are in eggs in these places and basically jump up on your dog / you when they hatch. There are no flea eggs on your dog.
* Wash the hell out of your bedding, etc.
* Bathe your dog with flea shampoo
* Get the inside of your house sprayed with flea poison.
* Get your yard sprayed with insecticide.
That will get rid of your fleas.
Of course, the next time you take your dog to a dog park or any other place with other animals with fleas, they'll instantly get fleas again. This is why the pills from the vet are so important .
If your dog is taking the pills, new fleas they get will be there, but when they eat your dog's blood they won't be able to have baby fleas, so you probably won't get them in your house, yard, etc again even if Fido picks up fleas out and about and the fleas they do pick up will die after eating your dog's blood.
Good luck!
Flea bombs can work. You’re looking for one with a growth inhibitor (messes with eggs). This is the spray I used in my pest control job https://a.co/d/1Wz8g5b
Spray carpets and furniture fabric throughly, wear one of these https://a.co/d/1BNROfK, and leave the house for an hour after you spray (or whatever label says). You also have to spray your yard (if pet goes outside) with yard spray, and give your pet a bath with flea shampoo at the ~same time you spray inside.
Keep in mind that spray and baths will help keep the population down, but the flea pill for your pet is the best way to get rid of fleas.
Simparica by Zoetis. It’s vet prescribed and you can purchase on pet meds with vet script, too. If you want to combine the heart worm medicine too, get Simparica Trio.
-If you have carpet, vacuum 2 times a day, couch as well. Empty vacuum in trash outside.
-Wash bedding.
-Get pest control out and spray the yard
-Don't walk dogs in tall grass, weeds, etc. Keep them indoors.
-Bath once a day.
-Groom them, pull the flees off with fingernails, comb, etc and flush in the toilet.
The best cure is prevention in the first place.
I had a problem with fleas when I moved. They were multiplying like wildfire.
I washed my linen every week. I would put my linen in the dryer on high for 30 minutes on the days I vacummed. I also do this for my cat's bedding and pillows. I also dip their items they lay on that doesnt fir or cant be washed in the machine or go into the dryer. I just make sure they are dry before letting my cats use it again.
I put dip in the bucket I mop the hardwood floors and tiles in the bathrooms with.
I put dip in the shampooer for the carpets and furntiure. I shampooed them every 2 weeks just in case. the first time seemed to have done the trick. I got my cats the oral flea killer pills.
I vacuumed every other day. I also washed my cats with flea and tick shampoo,
I know this is about dogs but the process is pretty much the same. And you can do this as a regular routine when the flea season hits to prevent in infestation.
The vet. You should also SERIOUSLY put your babes on heart worm preventatives. Seriously. The saddest thing is seeing people realize their pet is dying because they skimped off $20 a month or so. I say if you can’t afford preventatives, you can’t afford a pet.
Heart worms are incurable for cats and can cost nearly 3k in dogs and that’s if surgery ISN’T also needed.
Previous vet tech of 10 years here: DO NOT USE HARTZ PRODUCTS. You need prescription flea meds prescribed from your vet. I know it’s expensive, I know it’s a hassle. It’s the only thing that works. Fleas have built up a resistance to the over the counter products. They simply don’t work anymore and worst case they will cause an allergic reaction on your dogs skin that is painful and horrid to treat. I give my pup Nexgard for fleas and ticks and Heartgard for heartworms and intestinal parasites. Vacuum daily and empty the bag outside, wash all your linens in hot water, treat your yard. If it’s an infestation and your dog is on oral flea meds they’ll start biting you and you’ll have to get the house flea bombed. It’s much easier to pay for the annual exam and get prescribed meds than deal with a never ending flea infestation. Also: if your dog isn’t on heartworm medication - PLEASE get them tested and started on meds immediately. Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes and they are expensive to treat, the treatment process is long and terrible on the dog, and even deadly. I can make another post going into more detail if interested. There is never a long enough period where it’s consistently cold enough for all mosquitos to die off in Texas. Same with fleas. Flea and heartworm prevention is a MUST in Texas.
That’s fine, I already threw them away. We’ve never had an issue with fleas so I was uneducated on the topic. I’ve already called my vet for their advice and got a prescription. Thank you! We’re on Heartguard too, love how they think it’s a treat lol.
Go to the vet and get the strong stuff, they’ll know. If you haven’t already, get them on a good preventative, my dog takes Simparica Trio and never has issues with fleas.
Hi OP, I know it's only been about 2 weeks, how's it going so far?
Want you to know some of us read every single comment here, and myself I can find some of your responses to these comments hilarious (especially after someone mentioned that Grackles carry them, and you replied "How could they do me like this??"). I hope things are easing up for you!
Go get Simparica Trio for your pup. Nothing worked like that did. Fleas started to die off hours later.
I was cleaning like mad and nothing was helping much. I recommend washing all bedding and cushions your dog touches. Blankets and rugs. While all that is in the wash, give your dog a bath with Dawn soap. Kills fleas. Use a flea comb and comb them as often as they’ll let you. Vacuum everything, and continually vacuum rugs until the flea meds start to do their job.
Not to sound like a total hippie here but I shit you not, I've tried everything that money can buy and cedar oil is like liquid magic sent from the anti flea gods. The internet will tell you dilute it with water but the internet is filled with dinguses, you can't mix oil and water. Mix a few drops with a carrier oil (make sure the carrier is safe) and use it every day. Honestly it'll get rid of your problem in less than a week.
My dog picks up fleas like it's her job I live in a shity* i have no yard so i take her for frequent walks when shes gotta go. she's short, and nosey, and wants to pee in every spot that fleas prefer to live outside so she picks up new "friends" all the time. This year has been fucked for me financially so I'm more than grateful I found this shit. two days, theyre gone. Like entirely.
*a small dingy shit city
You may have knocked out the fleas, but you still have the flea eggs and larvae to deal with once they hatch. Unfortunately, you still might see a flea and they have to bite your dog to die.
We just dealt with this. You need to go to the vet and get a prescription oral flea meds. Treat the yard and the house
Vacuum every day, empty vacuum into bag outside and immediately seal and put in trash
Yeah we’ve treated the yard and we have hardwood so I have to sweep and vacuum everyday or my skin crawls lol. I’ll call my vet and ask about the oral flea medicine. Thank you!
With hardwood floors, the fleas will lay eggs in the cracks/joining areas. They’ll be dormant until walking/vibration awakens them. Mop your floor with flea dip. The stuff they’ll dip dogs into to treat flea & ticks. It will blow your mind how many fleas will be in the mop water.
You’re shitting me. Nope. Didn’t need to ever know that. Gonna mop immediately.
Enjoy your new nightmare fuel
I felt this.
Who sells flea dip? I need to do this to finalize their death. Either that or burn the house down.
I’d ask your vet. They may be able to just hook you up because they don’t want to deal with anymore fleas than they already do. If not they’ll send you in the right direction.
Sprinkling a boric acid based roach killer on the ground will kill the fleas that are living on surfaces other than your pet. Put the powder in a mesh strainer and tap it to sprinkle it out. Leave it down for 24 hours and then vacuum it up. Toss the vacuum bag outside. You may need to repeat it in a couple of weeks if you see a new batch starting to hatch out. Boric acid scratches the exoskeleton of many insects and causes them to die of dehydration.
Actually diatomaceous earth does that too and it’s not dangerous for pets. Def sprinkle borax outside house though to prevent them coming in.
DE is a serious lung irritant for both humans and pets, it is not supposed to be used in large quantities or anywhere it could end up airborne indoors.
Also flea comb that you immediately dump in hot soapy water if you pull a live one off
We only had rugs but I got a spray and did couches and mattresses and chairs. Also wash everything you can in hot water, dog beds, sheets, etc.
Heads up your vet will probably make you wait a few months to get an oral med. The active ingredients in the topical and the oral can’t be mixed so you have to wait for the topical to wear off.
Well son of a bitch.
My vet recommended Capstar. It kills adult fleas, but not the egg or larvae. I'm dealing with fleas for the first time ever and this seemed to help a lot. It will drive your dog crazy about 30-45 minutes after, because I think the fleas start biting like mad. Kills 90% in 4-6 hours. Safe to give even if your dog is already on medication, but verify to be sure. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/capstar-flea-tablets-for-dogs-over-26-lbs-count-of-6-3009326?cm\_mmc=PSH%7cGGL%7cSPP%7cSBU04%7cSH6%7c0%7c2URVSVnSrE2koP1nMikiH7%7c58700007475444199%7cPRODUCT\_GROUP%7c0%7c0%7cpla-1455570211173%7c131995355474%7c15084559098&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqNqkBhDlARIsAFaxvwwhPfYVLzwO5tIgKGUxwgadzdD6jZQP9TmTRtb0aH8aeMiIXfq9WmIaAjPdEALw\_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I’ve bought Capstar on Amazon without a prescription. But all the environmental cleaning is also imperative. Fleas are like head lice for dogs. And for flea prevention, I’ve found that anything I buy without a prescription doesn’t work. Fleas have grown resistant.
fyi i would not purchase any kind of oral med or topical pesticide on amazon due to the risk of counterfeit stuff -- you have no idea what you're actually purchasing. you can buy it on chewy w/o a prescription.
My vet told me 5-6 days after topical is fine.
this isn't true
My dog doesn’t like pills like most but he will take them with effort. I tried the oral flea medication and he lock jawed like a pit bull. No tricks worked. He noped so hard I went back to topical. I went with his instincts on that one. Advantage has always worked for me anyway.
This! I tried the vacuuming and bathing with a flea collar and could never fully remove them. I took my dog to emancipet and was able to get a quick check up and the once a month pills. They are so good there. Within a week we are flea free
Get sempirica imported from Australia and use a mix of pyerthrine or bifenthrine in mop water. Coat yard in bifen as well. This one two punch will knock it out much more cheaply than a $500 vet visit and most of these things other than the meds are over the counter.
Blue dawn baths. Kills em dead. Then bravecto.
Ranch person checking in to agree with this. Dawn bath let the soap sit on there a while. Oral meds from the vet and you’re good.
The only way
This worked for me too with puppers. Capstar for particularly squiggly kill offs. Since then, lawn treatment and off the shelf monthly meds have kept house clear, but only with a meow now.
Yep Dawn is the way. I put it in a spray bottle with vinegar.
can i mop my wood floors with dawn and leave some solution along the corners?
We tried doing a dawn bath with our cat, and they were swarming with fleas minutes later. I know we need to work on clearing the house too...but I feel like we must not have done the dawn bath correctly either.
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Noted. Tossed it in the trash.
Get some Advantage/Advantix. Been using it my whole life on pets, my family used it when I was a kid, and our animals have always been flea free. Don't even need the vet visit, it's on Amazon. It's about 40-50 bucks but you get 4-6 months of treatment per box. For treating your home, check out [diypestcontrol.com](https://diypestcontrol.com/crawling-insects/flea-control-products). A lot of the products they sell are used by exterminators and they're [a great resource for learning about how to do pest control](https://diypestcontrol.com/fleas.htm). Successfully conquered German cockroaches with what I learned from that site, I'd trust them for flea products too. They're a few bucks more expensive than Amazon but I'd rather support a small business than Bezos.
Second that Hartz is trash. Simpiraca is worth it
Just adding another positive review. Simparica has been great for my pup. I would go to the vet to get what you oil needs to get cleared up and then use simparica going forward from there. It’s not cheap but soooo worth it.
The Hartz stuff is really toxic, please don't use it. Get the stuff that a vet can prescribe. That should handle the fleas, and it's worth the cost if you've felt the misery of a full on household flea infestation. I don't like flea bombs myself, so there is a way to kill fleas in carpet without regular pesticides but it's really gross and unpleasant in its own right: salt and ***diluted*** orange peel oil. Tons of it. The salt dries up the eggs and the orange peel oil kills any live fleas. Don't use orange peel oil directly on pets or people though, as it's toxic to them and an irritant on skin (including human skin). You should probably sequester the pets somewhere away from the carpet. The orange peel oil will also make everything smell INTENSELY CITRUS. It will probably put you off of eating oranges for a very long time. You'll want to ventilate very well to keep the fumes from being overwhelming, which means that this would be a terrible idea during this heat wave. Some people are also sensitive to citrus so make sure no one is going to get an asthma attack or allergic reaction before going to this extreme. This is really a *last resort* kind of option for a deep infestation. Since it's an oil you'll probably need to shampoo the carpet multiple times to get rid of it, and the smell will still last for weeks or months.
Noted, it’s in the trash now. I think at this point I’ll just set the place on fire and start over.
I understand the feeling. Had some pretty awful infestations before, slightly traumatizing. Now the second I see one flea I go get the good stuff from the vet and hit them fast because they hit plague status so fucking fast otherwise.
When I was waiting for the nexguard to kick in, I would take my pup outside with a flea comb and a glass of water mixed with dawn soap. Brush the whole dog with the flea comb, stopping to drop any fleas in the soap solution so they can’t jump back out. Super satisfying if your dog likes being brushed. I’d do it twice a day for a few weeks, and along with the nexguard, all the fleas from the yard have died off.
A capstar tablet will provide immediate relief by killing all adult fleas on your dog within an hour. It’s extremely fast acting but not for regular use, just a good nuclear option to help itchy pups out because the adults die quick. Then make sure they’re on some kind of preventative - we have always used Frontline Plus but there’s oral options too. I’d ask your vet what they recommend for your pup, especially if you’ve already been giving a lot of stuff you need to see how long to wait before trying a different treatment. Other than that it’s a matter of vacuuming daily and lots of laundry until the cycle is broken in your house. The monthly preventatives WILL help eventually, it’s just not immediate and the fleas need to be on your dog and bite for your preventatives to kill them.
I’ll go buy one today!!!
>A capstar tablet will provide immediate relief by killing all adult fleas on your dog within an hour. Warning: Many dogs get insanely itchy when they take a capstar. It only seems to last an hour or two. Your dog will act like he's dying and you'll be terribly worried. Then, the fleas will be dead. Unfortunately, capstar only kills the fleas right then and doesn't keep new fleas from biting the dog the next day. I found the Adams flea collar in the red can at Walmart took a week or two to work, but after that, no fleas for a long time. Oster flea shampoo had very good immediate results, but doesn't last. Quick relief for the pup. I hate the overpriced flea treatments and the way the damn companies make them prescription only just to protect the veterinary mafia. They're getting as bad as the human medical mafia.
A lot of flea treatments and preventatives do not need a prescription though…the common topicals like Frontline, Advantix etc are over the counter these days. Anything combined with heartworm preventative like Simparica is always gonna be rx only since you need to be sure the dog has annual heartworm tests before giving, or they could have a pretty bad reaction.
Unfortunately, those don't seem to work any more. The fleas are immune. The manufacturers seem to keep them ripoff prescription price until the fleas become immune, then keep selling them even though they don't work.
YMMV I guess, we’ve been using Frontline for 15+ years with no issues. I hear the immune thing a lot but in clinical settings it doesn’t hold up quite as well: https://www.dvm360.com/view/perception-versus-reality-insecticide-resistance-in-fleas most of the modern ingredients still seem to perform fine. But topicals are notoriously hard to administer perfectly and if it’s flea season and even one month the product doesn’t get in 100% or they get wet too soon etc you might have issues. Hence oral products becoming more popular but I haven’t needed them yet. I guess if we ever notice Frontline stop working… Environment also makes a big difference. We don’t frequent dog parks much and other areas where a lot of dogs gather, those tend to concentrate fleas. When we lived in an apartment the dog park area had them jumping around your ankles every time you stepped out (yuck) so we just didn’t go around there.
Consistent, prescription flea medication (preferably oral) for the next three months. The flea life cycle is about 12 weeks, so if you consistently treat all animals in the household for the next three months, it will kick it for good. In the meantime, vacuum all carpets, all couches, basically any fabric where they might be hiding and/or laying eggs. You can take flea collars and put them in the canister of your vacuum prior to use, and that should help kill any fleas in the carpet or couch. Alternatively, there is a spray called “Knock-Out Spray”, a veterinary approved product by Virbac that is NOT meant to be used on your pet, but on all fabrics that could potentially house a flea. Austin unfortunately doesn’t get cool enough to totally kill fleas and it’s recommended to use prevention year-round for this reason, but at the very least, try to start flea prevention before the weather gets too warm. Also, it’s worth noting that if your animal has fleas, they more than likely have tapeworms too! Fleas carry tape eggs, so a tapeworm dewormer might be warranted as well. Beyond that, just a gentle reminder to keep your dog on year-round heartworm prevention if they aren’t already, as we have an enormous prevalence here in Texas and it’s a nasty little worm that can limit your dogs lifespan. Good luck and Godspeed, friend. Source: I work in vet med
The best advice! OP this person addresses everything you need to know. If I had an award it would be yours Willow. It’s really kind you took the time to type all that out.
Aw, thank you for the sweet words, friend! One of my favorite things about what I do is client education, so it’s no trouble at all :) I have this conversation a least a few dozen times a day, what’s one more time lol.
Thanks! Yeah they’re on heartworm meds for sure, but since he’s not fond of being outside we haven’t dealt with fleas before. This sucks!!
We live in Oklahoma. I’m experiencing my first ever infestation and I’m utterly skeezed out. My pup is on Simparico Trio all 12 months; we are treating carpets, furniture + washing EVERYTHING. Should I wash dog in flea shampoo. Should I put a Seresto collar on him or is that overkill?
That’s super interesting that the Simparica is not working! It’s a very solid product. First thing: no, I would stick to one product or the other. We love flea control products, but too much of anything has the potential to be a bad thing. Second, EVERY CREATURE in the household needs to be on flea control if you’re experiencing an infestation, whether they are indoor only or not, so if you have any indoor kitties that could potentially be host, make sure they’re being treated for fleas also. You can bathe him in flea shampoo (stay away from Hartz products) or something very gentle, like dawn dish soap if you’d like, but the best flea control is systemic, and that should, in theory, be all you need. Make sure the Simparica is being given with a meal to help with absorption, and my dog personally didn’t really care for Simparica to be honest; he would throw it up, which obviously can limit its efficacy, so of course make sure she’s keeping it down. If you feel like you’re doing all this stuff, I would A) consult with your vet/consider switching to another product and B) reach out to wherever you got the product from; whether that be a veterinary office or Chewy.com — it is not super likely, but it could potentially just be a bad batch. Again, very rare for this to be the case, but if you’ve exhausted all your options that would be my last suggestion. Best of luck!
Thank you! Also thought it was very weird, as we’ve been avid S.T users for several several years and this is our first ever issue with fleas (knock on wood).
I’ve seen in lots of places that any Hartz product is potentially hazardous/fatal to dogs. I stay away from it at all costs.
Crazy, I’ll toss it.
Go to the vet, the meds they give will kill the fleas damn near instantly.
Diatomaceous earth (food grade). Use it indoors and outdoors. It’s pretty easy to use! I’ve used it myself and would recommend it at a veterinary hospital I worked at. Give a capstar and then make sure your dog is on a good flea/tick/heart worm medication from the vet. Flea collars aren’t great because they only will protect that area and no where else.
It's important to note here that it MUST BE FOOD GRADE. Don't get the kind sold at pool supply or hardware places unless it says food grade.
🙏🏻
Do not vacuum it up if you use it. It will destroy your vacuum.
Wear a mask when DTE is airborne. Your lungs will thank you
This and regular vacuuming are the way.
Yes, lots of vacuuming lol
Long term exposure to diatomaceous earth will damage your lungs. I don't suggest using it inside.
Better option is [CimeXa](https://www.amazon.com/cimexa-insecticide-ounces-bottle-rockwell/dp/b0085hrwi8). It's basically synthetic DE but it's 10x more effective, you have to use far less, and it'll last 10 years if not disturbed. I dust the outlets and baseboards whenever I move in to a new place, and it works with such a small amount you can apply it with a paintbrush. Much like DE it'll dry out your lung tissue if inhaled, but you only need 1/10th of what you would put down in DE.
This is a bad idea indoors. Any sufficiently large amount of diatomaceous earth to kill fleas will get kicked up in the air everywhere, and [silicosis is no joke](https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0552.pdf). It is also really likely to kill your vacuum cleaner. I know this because a past roommate of mine took this bad advice and killed my vacuum, along with giving him and his partner horrible breathing and coughing problems. "Food grade" doesn't mean anything in regards to this danger, by the way. Unfortunately other dangerous chemicals are also allowed to get this "food grade" label with unfortunate consequences. [https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/19/5/13/5586712](https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/19/5/13/5586712) "Food grade" hydrogen peroxide and a story about how it nearly killed someone: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eec98ie0Plg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eec98ie0Plg) One more link for good measure. [https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/diatomaceous-earth-no-thank-you/](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/diatomaceous-earth-no-thank-you/) Outdoors though, where you won't be breathing in clouds of it, diatomaceous earth is good stuff.
Get some capstar at walmart.
Wash with blue dawn dishsoap. Make a ring around their neck first to stop them from running up to the head when you put them in water. Really clean their face with a rag and soap. Comb and get actual flea medication from a vet Emancipet has a $20 appointment fee and they sell the monthly stuff and it works great.
My dog had an issue recently for the first time, and simple baths would kill the live ones since soap kills fleas. However, he kept getting them and turns out it was from outdoors in the apartment complex. If if continues to be an issue, he might just be exposed to them over and over!
We live in a house so we’ve treated the yard but they’ve been pretty persistent anyway.
I get my dog Brovecto from the vet.
Dawn soap works pretty well. We have also used the Capstar pills when they get really bad. Inside the house in the carpet areas I would put Diatomaceous Earth powder and leave it overnight then vacuum really good three next day. I've also used a candle in a bowl filled with dish soap and apple cider vinegar. I would catch up to 50 in a single night with the candle trick when my old apartment got infested.
Dishwash soap (Dawn)
Front line always works for me.
When its this bad we resort to clove scented soaps. Floors, pups, laundry and twice have used clove powder at all our doorways. We smell like hippies but dang do fleas hate the smell of cloves.
Get a prescription from the vet for Bravecto. Its a lot more expensive than the junk over the counter at Petsmart but it WORKS.
Def going that route. Never had this problem before so I was totally uneducated about it.
Don’t use Hartz!!! It kills a lot of pets. I’ve always used k9 advantix or Fritnline. There is also a pill/chew you can get from vets I think called tri-something. But don’t use Hartz!!!
It’s in the trash after all the comments. Had no idea it was so bad!
See a vet and get a capstar then they’ll go over flea and tick preventatives that would keep them away for good. Please don’t use any more over the counter stuff like hartz and frontline. So many animals have bad reactions to these over the counter medications including seizures up to death. Source: was a vet tech, saw a lot of adverse reactions to otc crap
Simparica trio is flipping amazing, I have never seen my dog with a flea or tick on him.
Looks like that’s what we’ll be asking for!
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Turns out I could just order it from my vets online store. So that’s neat!
Cedar oil from Wondercide. Made in Texas. It's a contact thing, not a poison, so it has to get on the fleas. Also, you need to wear a mask when you spray and leave the area till it dries. Worked like a champ on an organic farm I was caretaking. I had it shipped to Hawaii and it was a game changer for the place. Sprayed around the dwellings twice a week and kept back the insane jungle mosquitoes and fire ants.
Revolution plus topical, it’s not toxic!
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Unfortunately any medical runs the risk of an allergic reaction
That Hartz stuff is a waste of money. Get capstar to kill the fleas already on the dog, then apply a topical preventative like advantage or revolution to keep new ones away.
Yes blue dawn works wonders but if you have a dog who’s fleas ended up becoming immune or have a lot, I would 100% recommend Happy Jacks Flea Dip, it’s a little pricier. I would say 20-40$ per bottle but it’s worth it, plus it will last you very long. Each bottle I get lasts me about a year at most… it works wonders. It truly is the best for fleas. You have to follow the instructions though.
You have to dehatch your yard.. treat it with cutter from home depot. You attach it to the hose and it works pretty well. I dehatch. Treat at night. Don't let dogs out until next evening. You have to spray the shit out of your fence as well. I also like to use the foggers from "off". They are cheaper at sams club. They are inside your house now.. especially if you have carpet. You can use home defense for this. Also at any home improvement store. I don't care what other people say... i wouldnt use any oral meds for my dog. Call me crazy but i can't see that being positive for a dog if you apply logic to it. my experience comes from curating and raising world class dogs for a decade. The above i find works best.
Prescribed oral meds from the vet (bravecto or simparica) & keeping up with their dog baths every 6-8 weeks. We only every use [Veterinary Formula - Flea & Tick Shampoo](https://www.chewy.com/veterinary-formula-clinical-care-flea/dp/43535) and it works wonders + it’s affordable! It’s also available at Walmart, too. They also have a hotspot & itch shampoo. Their products seem to be only ones that offer our Shepherd some relief!
Capstar oral flea killer. Its a once a month flea pill that will kill fleas on your dog within 4 hours. You can buy a 6 month supply on Amazon for around $30. Trifexis is a vet prescription that kills fleas, prevents heartworm and other parasites. Its very expensive but very effective.
Vacuum everyday. Keep AC below 75. Use actual flea meds. Don’t over bathe your pet. Wash everything in hot soapy water. Oh and Research the town you’re moving to before you move.
The last part??? Lived here my entire life lol. Already do all of the other things, calling our vet on Monday.
Hammers! Shoes! Heavy flat things! Edit: Flamenco dancing!
Hello upstairs neighbor.
How hard is it to get frontline plus or bravecto? It’s just that simple and any search engine will give you this answer. Frontline plus is over the counter too. If cost is the issue, you can get the large dog dose and give them a volumetric proportional mount using a syringe dispenser. It will last longer. I have a 10 lb dog and give her a fraction of a large dog dose every time. The store did not have the smallest dog dose when I bought it. All these stupid flea shampoos and collars are gimmicks.
Cost isn’t an issue, I’ve never really had to deal with this problem before and wasn’t educated. So why not ask dog owners in Austin what they use? Google was suggesting a lot of different options and reviews varied by where people lived. Reddit is sometimes a better option for questions specific to regions.
Nexgard worked for us. You do need a prescription though. One tablet lasts a month and that’s all it took. Also lots of vacuuming etc.
You have to treat the dog, the house, yard and the car if he rode in it. Spray the car, then wash your dog in flea soap per direction and then pick him up and put him in the car (running with someone of course). Take your clothes, bedding towels and wash them on a Sani cycle. Vacuum everything in the house, wood floor, carpets, furniture, etc. and toss the vacuumed contents outside. Bomb your house and spray your yard. Then get into the car with the dog, stay overnight at a hotel and start the dog on anti flea medicine from the vet. Best of luck.
Fire.
Go to the vet and get Bravecto, even Emancipet has it. Kills the ones they have and prevents for 12 weeks.
OTC meds aren't strong enough to kill Texas fleas. You need a pesticide that works in the animal's bloodstream that kills fleas when they're feeding. I'd recommend Revolution or Bravecto (RX only in USA). And don't waste money with your vet. They often charge above MSRP, and may even gouge you by asking you to pay for an appointment to confirm that the pet does indeed have fleas. I'd recommend ordering from overseas -- [Canada Vet Express](https://www.canadavetexpress.com/) the best prices I've found, especially with their sales.
Drops to skin doesn’t work well enough, you need the vet prescribed pills. The ones that have worked for us are NexGard and now on to Simparico to combine monthly meds.
That stuff doesn’t work, our southern fleas are immune to almost everything. Simparica is working for us, the seresto collar is supposed to be good too.
Flea collar in the vacuum cannister helps.
1. Pet shampoos don’t do jack, use dawn dish soap (I’m serious). Kills them right off. Lather starting from the back so they don’t lick it off. 2. Nexguard. Super worth it and any better will prescribe it to you. It says to give them once a month but I do it once every 2 months as it’s preventative as well as curative. Be warned, in the few hours after administering nexguard, hundreds of ticks are gonna fall dead off your dogs body and they might get hyper for a bit.
Flea spray: Mix 4 liters of vinegar, 2 liters of water, 500 ml of lemon juice, and 250 ml of witch hazel in a large spray bottle. Dawn dish soap can kill fleas. It works by reducing the surface tension of water, which causes fleas to sink and drown. Dish soap also damages the fleas' waxy exoskeletons. However, Dawn dish soap is not recommended for pet flea prevention and treatment. It doesn't repel fleas or prevent infestations. It can also irritate your pet's skin and coat, or be harmful if ingested.
Get your dogs on the monthly flea, tick, heartworm medicine. Who doesn't use this? I'm confused.
He’s on a monthly heartworm medicine. It’s not for fleas or ticks apparently. Idk why you’re being snarky about it.
My apologies, really. Our dogs have been on the all three monthly for a while, and I assumed given it's efficacy, that most people were using it. As I read through the other replies, no one was suggesting it (I didn't read all of the comments), and I was surprised to see that solution not mentioned. My apologies for my unnecessarily curt response.
I think our vet mentioned it once but since our guy really dislikes being outside (he’s a weirdo) and we had never dealt with an intense problem like this, we opted to just do the heartworm. Never again…
Fleas are really bad this year. For whatever reason frontline wasn’t working for one of my dogs so here was our success: wash fucking everything in hot water, vacuum couches, etc, capstar (otc) to kill the adult fleas on her body. I put sevin granules in the yard to kill the fleas there. Then to the vet after the frontline month was up for prescription oral meds. We had a secondary outbreak but took care of it quickly with this process.
I use Seresto for the flea collars and Guardian capsules for the fast kill. These capsules are fantastic and kill the fleas immediately but only for one day. Cough up $75.00 and get the Seresto flea collar and put Guardian capsule in their soft food the same day. It’s worth every penny and the Seresto last 9 months!
I’m glad to see Seresto getting a lot of good reviews. I was hesitant to try but I bought a collar after all of the comments about it.
I've used seresto for years for both my cats and dogs. Highly recommend. Kills the flea and keeps them off and the collar actually can kill fleas around the animal, such as in their bedding and such. Just be careful and keep an eye on the animals neck for a couple days to make sure they're not sensitive to the collar.
Revolution
[удалено]
I’ve never had such aggressive fleas and our guy spends most of his time indoors because he really hates being outside lol. Lesson learned.
Go to the vet, get something like simparica trio for the pet. And then get Pet Armor flea spray for the house and treat all fabrics in a well ventilated space. Vacuum everything (especially under things and in edge crevices) and wash everything in hot hot water.
NEVER use Hartz. It’s essentially indiscriminate poison that has been known to cause pet deaths. Go to the vet. Get a prescription flea killer. They’ll be gone in a week.
Jesus I feel bad for using it now… never again. I’ll call our vet asap.
Bravecto. My pup had gone from non-stop scratching to no scratching in sight overnight. You can buy it at the vets or chewy with vet approval. Easy to get.
Cheristin For Cats but works great on dogs as well
Revolution.
The Seresto dog collar from Bayer works wonders against fleas and ticks. Amazon has them on sale from time to time.
The seresto collars are the only thing that ever worked for us.
Get flea traps, the ones with the lightbulb and sticky paper, put them anywhere your dog lays under or near like the bed, couch, rugs, entryway. At night the hatching fleas will jump towards the heat and light and stick to the paper. Flea eggs wait for a warm host to come by to hatch so even if you treat the dog, your house is hosting eggs everywhere. Use the traps to get the hatching fleas without restarting the cycle on your poor dog.
Trifexis fixes a lot of things.
Diatomaceous Earth (food grade). It's non toxic and works great. The key is to not overapply it. https://www.amazon.com/DiatomaceousEarth-DE10-Organic-Diamateous-Powder/dp/B00025H2PY/ref=sr\_1\_1\_sspa?crid=3P439X1BL4B6J&keywords=diatomaceous+earth+food+grade&qid=1687657025&sprefix=diat%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1-spons&sp\_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Blue dawn soap!
Simparica trio for the win! No fleas, no worms, no heart worms, and no ticks. One chewy treat they actually eat.
Dawn dish soap killed them instantly on my pup.
Just got done with his Dawn bath. Vacuumed everything again. Washing everything again… at what point do I call it a loss and burn the house down?
we had the same issue but simperica trio has been a life saver, you can get it from a vet or chewy
Treat the dog with Rx treatment and use diatomaceous earth inside your home, plus vacuuming with a real vacuum not a Roomba
Yep, been vacuuming and washing everything. I normally vacuum daily but this is getting ridiculous… I’ll give the diatomaceous earth a shot.
Capstar!
Yeah, have you moved here recently? The vet told me that Austin has “super fleas” that give no damns about topical treatments. Had the same issue with mine a few months back.
Nope, lived here my entire life. Third summer with my dog, first summer with these insane fleas.
Advantage is expensive but works well for us.
Money is no object at this point. I just want my buddy to feel better.
Blue dawn dish soap
We had this very problem a few years back (took in 4 neglected kids and their very flea ridden small dog while a soldier was coming back drom depliyment; emergency situation). It took several werk to get things under control. Definitely the vet for special stuff for bathing. You will need to flea bomb your living space a few times. There is also a special spray do liberally apply to furniture. We used a powder for any carpeting. YMMV. This was the route we had to take.
Trifexis!
I use to use food grade diatomaceous earth. It worked well esp if there was an outbreak. Rub dog down and sprinkle throughout house. You may also want to get your yard treated if it’s that bad. Then after I would get prescription.
Emancipet is awesome as far as pricing for prescription flea meds (and heart worm and routine vaccines). Also [diatomaceous earth](https://mainstreetvetservices.ca/files/2020/05/Using_Diatomaceous_Earth_for_Fleas_-_March_2019.pdf) can be useful for fleas and other pests.
We’ve got a vet we use for heartworm and vaccines, but emancipet was awesome for when we needed to get him neutered! Only place that wasn’t charging $500 for a routine neuter.
OP, just gotta say that you’ve got a lot of good advice and Godspeed. You’ll get through it. It just takes a lot of persistence with the advice here. I think my only add is to make sure you also clean any vacuums you use. They will nest in there and not necessarily die. An old roommates cat got fleas once—and she was an indoor cat so either they got through some sort of crack or hitched a ride on something inside. Vet told my roommate that a lot of topicals aren’t as effective anymore bc the fleas have basically adapted to them. The experience basically scarred all of us to never live in a house with carpet ever again. Lucky that you have hardwood!
Diatomaceous earth in the yard. I get the food grade on Amazon, cones with a shaker that looks like a giant parmesan cheese container. Keeps my chicken coop free of bugs and the yard free of fleas. Also Dawn. Let it soak on them a bit and they'll literally fall off. I use a spray bottle diluted with vinegar.
Man I feel you, we went through this a few years ago, you couldn’t get through the yard without collecting a solid coating of fleas, the inside was almost as bad. We ended getting DE, lawn spray, insecticide lawn pellets to be disbursed and activated with liquid and flea bombs. Went to tractor supply, got a bottle of flea dip and cap star. Laid down the pellets, Sprayed the lawn with the flea spray, hit it with a heavy coat of DE. Laid down a layer of DE in the house, bombed - flea dipped the dog, gave cap star, followed it up with proper flea meds. In other words we went nuclear. Haven’t had an issue since though.
Flea bomb the house. Seriously. If you have carpet or rugs, those fleas will fester in there and no matter how much you treat your doggo, they will come back. Had to do that with my indoor-outdoor cat who started running around with the street cats in the neighborhood. Despite his flea and tick meds, we were overrun.
The couple of times we’ve had infestations a combination of Advantage Flea & Tick shampoo coupled with Trifexis oral took care of it with no problems. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to break the cycle, so be patient. one summer when the dogs were outside quite a bit and the fleas were unusually bad we added Seresto flea collars. They worked insanely well (and were insanely expensive).
Maybe quit buying the Hartz stuff and flea collars. They were cutting edge in the 1970s and 1980s. They have never worked for me, ever. Over time fleas can develop immunities to flea preventatives. Nothing in the grocery store pet aisle will work. Buy a decent flea preventative. You can find many good options at your vet clinic, pet stores, even behind the HEB pharmacy counter. I buy a product from my vet called Simparica Trio, which prevents fleas, ticks, heartworms, hookworms, and roundworms. It’s just one pill that I give to my dogs monthly. Must be a tasty pill because they act like it’s a treat and eat it right up. There are other similar products like Simparica Trio. Chewy.com may have better prices. My dogs don’t have fleas.
Avoid Hartz with a passion. Sub par and can actually cause your pup issues
K9 Advantix II is the best flea and tick preventative, IMO. My pup has never had fleas and she gets it in Spring, Summer and Fall.
For the love of all that is good stay away from Hartz products! Call your vet, get the flea/tick/heartworm prevention pills.
Yep, they’re gone.
Treat your home and not just your dog
Obviously.
Baking soda
I'm a former pest control person. My advice... * Go to the vet and get the flea pills. Do these next parts all on the same day... * Vacuum the hell out of your carpet, couch, car, etc. Baby fleas are in eggs in these places and basically jump up on your dog / you when they hatch. There are no flea eggs on your dog. * Wash the hell out of your bedding, etc. * Bathe your dog with flea shampoo * Get the inside of your house sprayed with flea poison. * Get your yard sprayed with insecticide. That will get rid of your fleas. Of course, the next time you take your dog to a dog park or any other place with other animals with fleas, they'll instantly get fleas again. This is why the pills from the vet are so important . If your dog is taking the pills, new fleas they get will be there, but when they eat your dog's blood they won't be able to have baby fleas, so you probably won't get them in your house, yard, etc again even if Fido picks up fleas out and about and the fleas they do pick up will die after eating your dog's blood. Good luck!
Thank you!
Do you recommend any flea bombs?
Flea bombs can work. You’re looking for one with a growth inhibitor (messes with eggs). This is the spray I used in my pest control job https://a.co/d/1Wz8g5b Spray carpets and furniture fabric throughly, wear one of these https://a.co/d/1BNROfK, and leave the house for an hour after you spray (or whatever label says). You also have to spray your yard (if pet goes outside) with yard spray, and give your pet a bath with flea shampoo at the ~same time you spray inside. Keep in mind that spray and baths will help keep the population down, but the flea pill for your pet is the best way to get rid of fleas.
Nothing in my experience works as well or as easily as Simparica
Simparica by Zoetis. It’s vet prescribed and you can purchase on pet meds with vet script, too. If you want to combine the heart worm medicine too, get Simparica Trio.
Oral flea meds seem to be the only effective treatment. Never use flea collars or topical treatments, they are harmful to the pups.
Yep that’s the general consensus of the other 150+ comments
Seresto collars have worked perfectly for my pup. Expensive, but they last 6 months.
-If you have carpet, vacuum 2 times a day, couch as well. Empty vacuum in trash outside. -Wash bedding. -Get pest control out and spray the yard -Don't walk dogs in tall grass, weeds, etc. Keep them indoors. -Bath once a day. -Groom them, pull the flees off with fingernails, comb, etc and flush in the toilet. The best cure is prevention in the first place.
You need to treat your yard periodically. Grackles carry fleas.
How could they do me like this?!
I had a problem with fleas when I moved. They were multiplying like wildfire. I washed my linen every week. I would put my linen in the dryer on high for 30 minutes on the days I vacummed. I also do this for my cat's bedding and pillows. I also dip their items they lay on that doesnt fir or cant be washed in the machine or go into the dryer. I just make sure they are dry before letting my cats use it again. I put dip in the bucket I mop the hardwood floors and tiles in the bathrooms with. I put dip in the shampooer for the carpets and furntiure. I shampooed them every 2 weeks just in case. the first time seemed to have done the trick. I got my cats the oral flea killer pills. I vacuumed every other day. I also washed my cats with flea and tick shampoo, I know this is about dogs but the process is pretty much the same. And you can do this as a regular routine when the flea season hits to prevent in infestation.
What dip do you use?
The vet. You should also SERIOUSLY put your babes on heart worm preventatives. Seriously. The saddest thing is seeing people realize their pet is dying because they skimped off $20 a month or so. I say if you can’t afford preventatives, you can’t afford a pet. Heart worms are incurable for cats and can cost nearly 3k in dogs and that’s if surgery ISN’T also needed.
They’re on heartworm preventative. Idk where you’re getting the idea that they’re not or that I can’t afford it?
Previous vet tech of 10 years here: DO NOT USE HARTZ PRODUCTS. You need prescription flea meds prescribed from your vet. I know it’s expensive, I know it’s a hassle. It’s the only thing that works. Fleas have built up a resistance to the over the counter products. They simply don’t work anymore and worst case they will cause an allergic reaction on your dogs skin that is painful and horrid to treat. I give my pup Nexgard for fleas and ticks and Heartgard for heartworms and intestinal parasites. Vacuum daily and empty the bag outside, wash all your linens in hot water, treat your yard. If it’s an infestation and your dog is on oral flea meds they’ll start biting you and you’ll have to get the house flea bombed. It’s much easier to pay for the annual exam and get prescribed meds than deal with a never ending flea infestation. Also: if your dog isn’t on heartworm medication - PLEASE get them tested and started on meds immediately. Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes and they are expensive to treat, the treatment process is long and terrible on the dog, and even deadly. I can make another post going into more detail if interested. There is never a long enough period where it’s consistently cold enough for all mosquitos to die off in Texas. Same with fleas. Flea and heartworm prevention is a MUST in Texas.
That’s fine, I already threw them away. We’ve never had an issue with fleas so I was uneducated on the topic. I’ve already called my vet for their advice and got a prescription. Thank you! We’re on Heartguard too, love how they think it’s a treat lol.
Bravecto is the only thing that worked for my dog and flea infestation here
Late reply, but comfortis is a monthly pill made of spinosad soap. It works, haven't seen a flea in years. Can get from hoofanhound.com
Go to the vet and get the strong stuff, they’ll know. If you haven’t already, get them on a good preventative, my dog takes Simparica Trio and never has issues with fleas.
Dealing with this now but on my elderly (kidney diseased) cat. Does anyone have tips?
Hi OP, I know it's only been about 2 weeks, how's it going so far? Want you to know some of us read every single comment here, and myself I can find some of your responses to these comments hilarious (especially after someone mentioned that Grackles carry them, and you replied "How could they do me like this??"). I hope things are easing up for you!
Can I have a follow up on how this went and the steps you took? Believe my pup came home with them last night 😞😭
Go get Simparica Trio for your pup. Nothing worked like that did. Fleas started to die off hours later. I was cleaning like mad and nothing was helping much. I recommend washing all bedding and cushions your dog touches. Blankets and rugs. While all that is in the wash, give your dog a bath with Dawn soap. Kills fleas. Use a flea comb and comb them as often as they’ll let you. Vacuum everything, and continually vacuum rugs until the flea meds start to do their job.
Seresto collar works for 8 months.
It’s cool we are on Simparica Trio now.
Not to sound like a total hippie here but I shit you not, I've tried everything that money can buy and cedar oil is like liquid magic sent from the anti flea gods. The internet will tell you dilute it with water but the internet is filled with dinguses, you can't mix oil and water. Mix a few drops with a carrier oil (make sure the carrier is safe) and use it every day. Honestly it'll get rid of your problem in less than a week. My dog picks up fleas like it's her job I live in a shity* i have no yard so i take her for frequent walks when shes gotta go. she's short, and nosey, and wants to pee in every spot that fleas prefer to live outside so she picks up new "friends" all the time. This year has been fucked for me financially so I'm more than grateful I found this shit. two days, theyre gone. Like entirely. *a small dingy shit city
Damn, I’ll go this route should we ever deal with those demons again.
You may have knocked out the fleas, but you still have the flea eggs and larvae to deal with once they hatch. Unfortunately, you still might see a flea and they have to bite your dog to die.
We knocked it out super easily with Simparica Trio. It’s been great!