Frontline has quit working...FLEEEEES!

[MotorSeven]

We went through this a few years ago and switched to Comfortis. But my vet does not recommend it anymore and is pushing a very expensive flea collar which we have not tried. So for over a year we have been using the Sentry Fiproguard Max with great results. That is until our daughter asked us to dog sit her lab...she lives in Florida.....apparently Florida has raised a genetically modified super flea that laughs at our flea treatment and then throws a block party. So now, we are overrun with fleas and the battle lines are forming, chemical warfare on our side, sheer numbers on their side.

Last week I bathed all the dogs in a flea shampoo....4 hours later they were all covered again. Re-bathed with an off brand dandruff shampoo which killed them all. Sprayed the house with a flea spray that is supposed to break the cycle, and applied Sentry Fiproguard max to the dogs and cats . That was last week and now they are all back with reinforcements. Sooooo, next will be to Borax the house and I have food grade Diatomaceous Earth[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] on the way(that is if the supply truck can break through the flea front)[/FONT]

While the battle rages, does anyone have any info on these new flea collars or any other flea preventative that works on these new super fleas?

 

[dave1949]

I Googled "Florida super fleas" and found a bunch of hits with various control suggestions. One idea was just burn the house down and start over. :laughing: Not really.

I hadn't heard of super fleas. Good luck and stay away from Maine.

 

[nybirdman]

Try Advantix....best I have found for our area.

 

[hosspuller]

This is a special case for me... I'm the one that gets bit before anyone else. Fleas are like a virus. You have to kill all sources of infection. AND kill the hidden source ... EGGS.

Doing a bath only killed the fleas on the animals. The fleas in their bedding or lounging spots reinfected your animals. You haven't even spoken about outside sources. Grass and fields are always sources.

My plan is always. spray the house, bedding & carpets. Use a killing spray plus a growth inhibitor for the eggs. Capstar for the dogs. (available for cats too) Frontline or Advantage for continued protection. Vacuum the house especially carpet & rugs. (seems to get them moving so the spray can kill them) Repeat house treatment in week. And again if fleas are still a problem. Remember the life cycle can be a few weeks or even a year! You have to get the eggs and larvae.

 

[Looking4new]

You could dust the animals with 'food grade' D-earth and dust the carpets and chairs/sofas, too. It must be food grade.

 

[MotorSeven]

One idea was just burn the house down and start over. :laughing: Not really.

Well hope you never get bedbugs...I have heard that some people did exactly that...burned their house down. Others just walked out of their houses and never returned......those things are insidious.

 

[MotorSeven]

This is a special case for me... I'm the one that gets bit before anyone else. Fleas are like a virus. You have to kill all sources of infection. AND kill the hidden source ... EGGS.

Doing a bath only killed the fleas on the animals. The fleas in their bedding or lounging spots reinfected your animals. You haven't even spoken about outside sources. Grass and fields are always sources.

My plan is always. spray the house, bedding & carpets. Use a killing spray plus a growth inhibitor for the eggs. Capstar for the dogs. (available for cats too) Frontline or Advantage for continued protection. Vacuum the house especially carpet & rugs. (seems to get them moving so the spray can kill them) Repeat house treatment in week. And again if fleas are still a problem. Remember the life cycle can be a few weeks or even a year! You have to get the eggs and larvae.

I am spraying the house again today. Yes we washed all bedding(I threw the two dog beds away), sprayed all rugs(hardwood floors) and cloth furniture. The outside is a problem....the house sits in the middle of a 70ac forrest....no lawn, all trees/leaves and the dogs have the run of it all. I guess I can perimeter spray the outside of the house but that seems kinda futile....no?

 

[MotorSeven]

You could dust the animals with 'food grade' D-earth and dust the carpets and chairs/sofas, too. It must be food grade.

It's on the way...2 day amazon shipping...10 lbs.

 

[Looking4new]

You could dust the animals with 'food grade' D-earth and dust the carpets and chairs/sofas, too. It must be food grade.
Don't forget when you vacuum, get rid of the bag immediately. The incinerators is your friend.

 

[dmccarty]

Yeah, the dog has fleas right now and she is getting Capstar. The dog is on either Frontline or Advantage. We use one or the other every so often. Over the weekend we put down 20 Mule team on the little bit of carpet we own. I hate carpet and these are just throw rugs so I would like to just throw them in the trash but I get over ruled.

Borax will work as well in the carpets. We could not find any quickly so we bought 20 Mule team. I used it years ago in FLA to remove fleas from the carpet. To get rid of the fleas you have to kill the eggs. There are some sprays that will do this but that stuff stunk years ago.

Good luck!
Dan