Flea control

shinners007

hi guys,

just wondering what products here people us to get rid of fleas and/or prevevt fleas on their dogs.

i use stronghold on my boxers every month and it seems to have worked perfectly no fleas at all this year. thank god. i also give garlic with the mulch feed every so often.


however my brother has three dogs jack russell, boxer and lab, he used stronghold it got rid of em for a while but he says there now back again. i explained about the lifecycle and how the larve hatches on beds/ groungd where dogs trail etc..

what is the best product/disinfectant to use for the bed/ground does any one no as there is so many showing up when i googled it for him. BTW they wear flea collars but there not working either.

thanks guys

sinead

Wokie

I use Avantage for my cats & dogs and it works a treat. No fleas at all! However, my cats had fleas a couple of years ago before I used Avantage and I just got a flea powder from Pet Stop (I think it was) and put it anywhere I found the fleas in the house and it did the trick. I can't remember the name of it but it was just off the shelf stuff in a green container I think?!? Sorry not much help:o

peasant

We use nothing at all and never had any problems yet with the three cats or the three dogs.

tk123

I use Program for my cat - I got i from the US. It's a suspension that mixes in to the food. I used to use Advantage but it hurt the cats eyes and stressed him out- I mix the Program in with Tuna and fool the kitty into thinking he's getting a treat!!

shinners007

@ wokie and tk123 ok guys thanks appreciate it it pass that on.


@peasant are you trying to imply that just because yours dont have fleas that they wont ever get them or what exactly was the purpose for posting a reply. if your reply was genuine you would have expanded on it?

i asked for products for flea control/prevention for my brother as stronghold hadnt worked for his dogs. your reply didnt aid my orginal post. your post wasnt revelant do it to one of my threads again and ill report you for thread spoiling. end of ok:mad: :mad:

and dont bother replying with some big long post you just bore me every time. its great your cats and dogs havent got fleas but my bro's have so this thread was started to see what people have found successful, since you use nothing and/or havent a flea problem then you just shoulnt have bother posting here.
have a nice day.

nando

Stronghold, Advantage, Advocate and Frontline are all products licensed for the treatment of flea infestation in dogs. They all last for one month and show similar efficacy in clinical trials. However none of them prevent flea eggs that have already been laid from hatching. Once the eggs, which are usually found in the environment and not on the pet, hatch and develop to adult fleas the product is only effective is it is within the month from application.

So to deal with the environmental infestation the product must be applied over successive months (as in colder weather eggs may not hatch for longer) or an environmental treatment must also be used. These contain insect growth regulator such as Methoprene and prevent development of eggs or larvae. Acclaim is one such product I know that is available as a spray in Ireland but I'm sure there are others. Another thing that ofen helps is to hoover the house including carpets, soft furnishings and the dogs bedding carefully and to place a flea collar in the hoover bag itself.

Advantage, Advocate and Stronghold have the added benefit that they also treat the animal for mites, earmites, lice and roundworms.

Program, which has been mentioned as being available in America, works slightly differently. It prevents the development of the larva to adult stage but has no effect on adult fleas. If a significant adult infestation is present they will eventually die off but a differnt treatment effective for adults is usually to be recommended initially, and the Program used to prevent further infestation. Program does not treat roundworm infestation.

Also, all dogs infested with fleas need to be treated for tapeworm as fleas carry the intermediate stage of the tapeworm.

Sorry for the long post but hope its helpful!

Wokie

Nando...great post.

tk123 wrote:

I use Program for my cat - I got i from the US. It's a suspension that mixes in to the food. I used to use Advantage but it hurt the cats eyes and stressed him out- I mix the Program in with Tuna and fool the kitty into thinking he's getting a treat!!

Good point on the Advantage tk123. Shinners, when passing this info on to your brother - if he is going down the Advantage route, make sure that he knows to be extremely careful putting it on. I made the mistake once of putting too much on and it ran down the side of one of my cat's necks and she licked it and was NOT a happy cat at all. She recovered after a day or two but it was really awful for her.

Alun

I used to use Program for my cats when we lived in Holland, so it's not a uniquely US thing. Maybe they just don't have a distributor in Ireland (yet)?

Only thing is if the cats are fussy eaters (which ones aren't!) they can sometimes turn their noses up at food "polluted" with Program Can be a problem too in a multi-cat household making sure each cat gets their allocated dose.

peasant

One thing to consider with all these preparations ...all of them are poisons in one form or another.

Poisons that could not only adversely affect the dogs/cats that "wear" them, but also humans (children !) that touch them regularly.

Some herding dogs (collies, OES, beardies) have a genetic condition that means that they can actually die from certain insecticides (consult your vet before you use anything)

Personally I would not use any of these products just as a precaution and rather wait until it is proven that there is a flea problem around where the animals usually are.

Once there is an infestation, anything that the infested animal has regular contact with needs to be cleaned thoroughly and repeatedly.

If it can be washed, wash it at as a high a temperature as possible ...30 degrees will only give you clean nits, not dead nits

If it's an old blanky ...just throw it away.

Carpets ...shampoo and hoover. Then hoover repeatedly ...if you have a steam cleaner ...even better.

shinners007

i passed on all the info here thanks.

thanks again wokie. cheers nando the bro was delighted with your reply very imformative. thanks also to u peasant he has a steamer as far as i no.

he went to his vet and got products off him this morning. i ordered acclaim for him also. he got a big bottle of disinfectant for the runs also and a powder off the vet for their beds.
his delighted now and the doggies are all happy and are glowing with the shines on their coats.


thanks again guys!!!

Jules

peasant wrote:

One thing to consider with all these preparations ...all of them are poisons in one form or another.

Poisons that could not only adversely affect the dogs/cats that "wear" them, but also humans (children !) that touch them regularly.

Some herding dogs (collies, OES, beardies) have a genetic condition that means that they can actually die from certain insecticides (consult your vet before you use anything)

Personally I would not use any of these products just as a precaution and rather wait until it is proven that there is a flea problem around where the animals usually are.

Once there is an infestation, anything that the infested animal has regular contact with needs to be cleaned thoroughly and repeatedly.

If it can be washed, wash it at as a high a temperature as possible ...30 degrees will only give you clean nits, not dead nits

If it's an old blanky ...just throw it away.

Carpets ...shampoo and hoover. Then hoover repeatedly ...if you have a steam cleaner ...even better.

oh my god, peasant.. what are you like, seriously!

why do you think the vets advise not to touch the dog after the application and also to apply it to the back of the pets neck between the shoulder blades so the pet cannot ingest/lick it off....

you really need to get off your high horse p and get intouch with the real world, not everything is goodness and light and hearts and flowers... you need to used treatment to kill fleas, as the different stages during the life cycle of the flea are not susceptible to a hoover and shampooing carpets also what about couches, chairs and hard to reach areas...

are you perchance a vet or vet assistant etc?

peasant

jules80 wrote:

oh my god, peasant.. what are you like, seriously!

you really need to get off your high horse p and get intouch with the real world, not everything is goodness and light and hearts and flowers... you need to used treatment to kill fleas, as the different stages during the life cycle of the flea are not susceptible to a hoover and shampooing carpets also what about couches, chairs and hard to reach areas...

Jules ...for all I care you can use flea powder as a deodorant, if you wish, or soak your sofas in stronghold or frontline

All I'm saying is ...just because anyone has pets doesn't mean they have to surround themselves and their pets with poisons all the time ...just as a precautionary measure.

Try and see if you get away without that stuff first.

As I said before ...we have three dogs and three cats, all of them lead normal outdoor lives and we haven't had a problem yet with fleas in six years.

The moment I spot the first flea, they will get treatment and the house will be fumigated (:D ) ...but not before.


Ohh ...two more points

why do you think the vets advise not to touch the dog after the application and also to apply it to the back of the pets neck between the shoulder blades so the pet cannot ingest/lick it off....

What if you have several animals ...they DO tend to lick each other occasionally ...


And where do you (your children/ your neighbours children) usually pet a dog? Round the neck and shoulders ...

Jules

to answer your points.....

What if you have several animals ...they DO tend to lick each other occasionally ...


Well then the owner should have some COMMON SENSE and separte them or apply at differnt times over the day... in other words put one out in the back yard till medication has soaked in!
What if you have several animals ...they DO tend to lick each other occasionally ...


And where do you (your children/ your neighbours children) usually pet a dog? Round the neck and shoulders ...


And again COMMON SENSE restrict access to anyone who cannot understand the phrase.... do not pet the dog/cat for a while please!!

and where did i say you have to surround yourself with poisons... but not to be so ignorant as to think that you dont need to get treatment!

nando

OP I would not be afraid to use one of these products as recommended by your vet and following the safety precautions listed.

Use of these drugs preventatively is not necessarily required and is of course the decision of the owner. However I really think the benefits outweigh drawbacks when an animal is suffering from an infestation, as the OP stated. I also think their use is indicated when an animal suffers from flea allergy and the possible result of infestation is serious.

While it is true that these drugs are all "poisons", adverse reactions, either in animals or people, are rare, and few, if any, serious reactions are reported. Older flea treatments which used organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethrins (the type often found in over the counter flea collars and powders) were responsible for some reactions.

Collies and other herding dogs suffer adverse reactions to some older drugs of the ivermectin class, as used in sheep dips. This was discovered when farmers used these drugs to also treat their farm dogs for infestations. However, research shows large doses are required to cause such effects.

All of the treatments mentioned in the above posts are safe to use in these dogs and have been extensively tested. This also includes Stronghold even though its active ingredient selamectin is in the ivermectin class.

shinners007

thanks nando.


excellant post so informative and explanatory really appreciate you taking the time to post. the bro is following the advice of his vet and is using products bought in the veterinery clinic. i understand there are poisions however in my opinion it better to treat an infestation through the use of products that have screened/tested and being legally available in a vetinery clinic eventhough sometimes theres a risk/sid effects. this i belive is a better option than leaving an infestation untreated.

obviously preventorily methods should be in place in order to reduce the risk of infestations.


thanks again nando and all for the info!!!

peasant

nando wrote:

Use of these drugs preventatively is not necessarily required and is of course the decision of the owner. However I really think the benefits outweigh drawbacks when an animal is suffering from an infestation, as the OP stated. I also think their use is indicated when an animal suffers from flea allergy and the possible result of infestation is serious.

I absolutely agree on all three points.

and @ jules
you cannot separate animals on treatment ...these spot on medications do not "soak in" or "dissapear" in a few hours. They get absorbed into the fatty layer of the skin and permeate through the dog's coat. Why do you think the treatment is effective for at least one month? It takes days, not hours before it is so far permeated that a licking (other) dog wouldn't get a tongueful (the same goes for a stroking hand ...which might one second later be gleefully inserted in mouth)

Once again ...I'm not trying to damn these products, they are the only thing that really helps in case of infestation.

But please do not use and apply them as nonchalantly as you would apply deodorant to your own body, use a lot of caution instead.

Jules

peasant - i just dont know what to say to you anymore... i just give up, yes you are the worlds expert on animals and everyone else is wrong, you are a single handed fighter for animals rights!!!

oh and by the way i do work in the vet field.

peasant

Jules, is it there (the vet field) that you honed your selective reading skills?

Let me spell my point out once again, so that maybe you will understand as well what I'm saying:

When there is a flea infestation ...by all means use these products.
When there isn't (and never has been so far) think twice and be careful ...especially so in situations where there are several animals and/or little children.

Nothing to do with animals' rights, just common sense