Just a rant...fleas!

[Marty]

I hate them! The dogs are driving me nuts with their scratching, even at night! We don't usually have them, but once in a while it's one of those years. I had to run out for some more Advantage for the 2 smaller girls, and the receptionist said they are so bad that even people without pets have them! And why is it so expensive? I know, 3 dogs...blech...stupid pests! Guess the exterminator will be spraying for fleas next week rather than roaches. Blech again!

[Tambrey]

They are bad here this year too...keeping Frontline on the dogs...and I saw a flea on Ghost the other night...he is white so they are easy to spot...I caught it and squished it and did not see others...but he got a Frontline treatment right then....

I have not seen any on the cats, so hopefully keeping them at bay as far as inside the house goes...
however, since Ghost does sleep in my sons room, this weekend when my son is at his dad's house, I am moving the bird into the spare room, going to lift his mattress and stuff a towel under the door and set off a bomb in there...just in case!!

the rest of our house is all wood floors and even for easy furniture cleaning, we have plastic covers that we made and put on the couch and chair...

[Marty]

Just an update..I talked to DH and he had no clue the dogs were itchey. Never noticed it....Can I scream?

[slvrwhispr]

Maybe it's just the part of Michigan where I'm at, but I realized in talking to Traci about introducing Izzy and Tyler that we've NEVER had to treat Tyler for fleas. He's an 11 year old black lab, and he's never, ever had fleas. Is that odd? Or am I just EXTREMELY lucky?

[mamabear]

My dogs don't get fleas either, but they are indoors most of the time. We dont have fleas on our acreage and we do not allow ANY dog to come here at all unless there is the occasional one that gets out from the neighbors and that hasnt happen in years. We use heartguard for the skeeters and we have always given the dogs brewers yeast as well. Not that that has any bearing on the no fleas here, I think the no fleas here is that I don't allow others to bring any dog here thus they dont come around. My dogs don't go to strange places nor to the"dog park" (grrrr hate that place) , they only go out to work occasionally. Hmmmm not sure if NJ is better or not about the flea thing...


Eheeeeeeeem Tambrey so how is ghost doing? that cutie cutie pie!

[Marty]

Gotta say now that my dogs are inside also. No dog parks around, but neighbors have dogs, so who knows. The receptionist said the recent rain and humidity in the South has caused the flea problem...after months of drought. And you can bring fleas in by yourself without any animals around.

I normally don't have to treat for fleas and would prefer not to do it regularly, but occasionally it does happen, and I have no choice. Grrrrrrrr!

Everyone seems to be quiet for the moment... Let it last!

[k9Karen]

Actually, down here, we tend to have more fleas when it's dry and stays dry. If you are in an area where the ground freezes (such as NJ, Michigan), the fleas, eggs and larvae are killed if the freeze lasts at least 3 days. Down hear in the mosquito (I mean Sunshine) state, we have a problem all year long. This year has been wet, and it's been much better than usual. I had to treat the dogs during the winter, but haven't seen a flea since. Even though they never leave our yard, we still have problems off and on. The biggest problem I've encountered is that they have become resistant to Frontline. I had to switch to Advantix - it was the only thing that worked, but I only had to use it once and the fleas have stayed away.