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wondering the validity of something I heard many years ago. Is it true that soap smothers and kills fleas, and the medicated shampoos are no more beneficial than just a soap in helping with fleas ?.And is regular human hair conditioner harmful to a dog? I am referring to a dog over 45 pounds, for the record. Many thanks.
I have heard good things about Dawn dish soap. It is safe for the animal.
What I used was Capstar pills. https://www.amazon.com/Novartis-Caps.../dp/B005Z6UL1M The fleas on the dog will all die. My vet sold them to me at 5 bucks a pill. It only takes one pill. It is a lot easier than washing the dog and more effective.
Just washing the dog is not going to get rid of fleas. If your dog has fleas there are eggs scattered all over the area he lives in. You have to break the cycle so the new fleas do not breed.
1) By all means wash the dog. He/she is suffering from the fleas.
2) The best way I have found to get rid of the fleas is "Archer IGR" https://www.amazon.com/Archer-Insect.../dp/B004H0I1HI It prevents fleas from reaching the point that they breed. Use this indoors and outside in the dog house and other areas the dog hangs out.
3) Get some of the spreadable insect killer at lowes. Make sure it says it kills fleas. Spread it over the entire yard.
4) You could also apply some insecticide. Conquer Insecticide - Free Shipping I did not do this step when I had an infestation. It is up to you.
In my case I had six indoor/outdoor dogs and two indoor cats. All of them got fleas. I did the yard, I sprayed the house with IGR and bought some
I did do the Dawn dish soap for fleas, though I used a combination of Dawn dish soap, apple cider vinegar, and warm water. I think it was three years ago, my home became absolutely infested with fleas after someone moved in behind my property...his dogs, I'm certain, were covered in fleas, and they quickly got onto my property and hence, my dog and my two rabbits.
So I did the Dawn dish soap/vinegar/water bath on all three pets (rabbits are not meant to be bathed, it can be risky, but when desperate...). While this doesn't kill flea eggs or larvae, it does a great job at repelling adult fleas...as soon as I began bathing the rabbits I could see the fleas literally abandoning ship to escape it, as they did with my dog when I bathed him as well. I followed up the next day with a flea repellent so the eggs and larvae would be killed as well; I believe it was Advantage, you can't use Revolution on rabbits, and did follow-up baths every week for the next three weeks. Also used Capstar on my dog at the vet's recommendation, as my dog picked up the fleas despite already being on flea preventatives. And I treated my house with a flea spray, Vet Kem (had to be careful using this around the pets) and washed all bedding and dog toys in hot water. I had to be aggressive as it was an incredibly aggressive flea infestation - in all my years of having pets, this was pretty horrific - and within six weeks every flea was gone.
You can use Dawn to wash the dog. The soap has to be left on for a bit, and don't do it unless teh rinse water goes down a drain into a sewer system, because it just stuns the fleas so that you can wash them off. If you wash the dog in the back yard, the fleas will come to and jump back on the dog the next time he goes outside.
use nitenpyrim and lufenuron. Look online for a seller that has both in the same capsule. Its non-toxic for mammals and most anything else thats not an insect.
You should see capsules with 1 or the other and then some with both. They should have different amounts for different size dogs. You can give a large dog capsule to a small dog or cat just fine but its just a waste of product.
Nitenpyrim works for about 24hrs and will kill any fleas that bite. Starts working in about 30 mins. You can safely give this everyday if you wanted to waste the money.
Lufenuron lasts about 30 days and works like an IGR that basically prevents new fleas from developing correctly so they die. You have to mix it with fat for it to be absorbed correctly though. So break apart the capsule and mix it in a teaspoon or so of olive oil or rendered beef fat or whatever you prefer, and mix it with the dog food or cat food.
Give 1 capsule of the combo every 30 days. If there is fleas on your pet give one of the nitenpyrim only capsules.
If they are coming in from the yard I would spray your yard with bifenthrin or cyfluthrin. Get the concentrate if you can in your state and roll your own if you feel up to it. You can also use both inside your home. Safe after it drys, even for pets. Its also approved for commercial kitchen use.
what I find helps as well have your yard proffesionally sprayed by a pest control company and make sure they know it is for fleas I have my yard done every 6 months and my next door neighbor does hers as well and neither one of us have an insect problem or a flea problem . I'm sure one of the neighbors down the road does because while out walking I noticed all kinds of empty flea color, flea shampoo and flea spray boxes in his trash can ..
My dog is on Triflexis so I did not think fleas would even bite, but now I find they will die AFTER biting. Does not really help at all as my dog is miserable. I used to use Revolution and the fleas would not even bite but several long term customers dogs got heartworms while on the medication [per my vet] so I switched her. Well my dog has whelps form bites but only found one flea. I sprayed my yard last night and bathed her and am giving her benadryl but she is not eating normally and has not for 5 days. She is a mini schnauzer and usually eats as quick as the food hits the bowl. She will eat about half her food, but that is all. The benadryl seems to help with the itching [been giving it 3 days] but she still has whelps on her. Anyone faced this problem before. Anything I can do for this besides benadryl and oatmeal shampoo bath? Could the allergic reaction to the bites be causing her stomach upset as well? If so, no fleas on her in 24 hours, so shouldn't she be better now?
My dog is on Triflexis so I did not think fleas would even bite, but now I find they will die AFTER biting. Does not really help at all as my dog is miserable. I used to use Revolution and the fleas would not even bite but several long term customers dogs got heartworms while on the medication [per my vet] so I switched her. Well my dog has whelps form bites but only found one flea. I sprayed my yard last night and bathed her and am giving her benadryl but she is not eating normally and has not for 5 days. She is a mini schnauzer and usually eats as quick as the food hits the bowl. She will eat about half her food, but that is all. The benadryl seems to help with the itching [been giving it 3 days] but she still has whelps on her. Anyone faced this problem before. Anything I can do for this besides benadryl and oatmeal shampoo bath? Could the allergic reaction to the bites be causing her stomach upset as well? If so, no fleas on her in 24 hours, so shouldn't she be better now?
Take her to the vet NOW if she hasn't eaten normally for 5 days something else could be going on.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Trifexis. A lot of dogs have had issues with it. I use Heartguard (for heartworms) and Nextguard (for fleas). The whelps could be from something else besides fleas. Since this has been going on for a while a visit to the vet is definitely in order.
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