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Old December 8th, 2016, 06:07 PM
MrsMVP MrsMVP is offline
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3 dogs with fleas after vet visit!!

Hello everyone.

First, I am deeply ashamed, embarrassed, and upset by this. We have three male dogs. One of them is Bandit - a nearly 18 year old poodle terrier mix. He has a heart murmur, and is losing weight. He is on vetmedin, as well as cartrophen injections for arthritis. The other day, we went to the vet for his cartrophen booster. A few days later, I noticed fleas on one of our other dogs, so I checked them all, and sure enough, all have it, but with Bandit being the most affected.

I am sure that it came from the vet for several reasons:

1.)They are not around other dogs
2.) There is no grass around our house. Bandit & Chance both poop and pee on our balcony (Don't worry, we treat it to rid the scent). Bandit cannot go off the balcony because he is too frail.
3.) Bailey was on sentinel - yes it ran out, I have been so upset and worried over Bandit I wasn't being careful. Bailey DOES go for more frequent walks, as he is younger, and a beagle/setter mix, he needs it. He only goes on the grass long enough to poop, then he is off it again.

It is possible that they got them elsewhere, but it is not likely. We also didn't notice the fleas before the vet visit, and we are constantly giving them affection and scratches, rubbing their bellies, looking for moles, growths, etc. We lost a fur baby last year to cancer. He was a treasure. He was certainly a mixed breed, but he looked exactly like a Portuguese sheepdog, except he had an undercoat. I just had to mention him, he was our baby too. He was 14. <3

Anyway, I have called the vet, and I am getting the treatments for all three boys, however, I want to ensure that I am not exposing them or us to chemicals when not necessary. What about diatomaceous earth? I would ask our vet about it, but he's not really into anything holistic and natural. He is the ONLY vet around here, so there are no other options.

I called Red Lake Earth, and asked them about sprinkling it around the house. The lady I spoke with said it is NOT "registered" for use in the home, and it would be hard to remove.

My questions on that are: She said it wasn't "registered" - was that just a way of saying it is okay to use, but it's not been safely okayed by whatever inspection agency approves such things? If you guys have used this brand, or are familiar with DE as a whole - is it okay to use the stuff that is for FEED for farm animals? I have to ask that, as that is all that is available in this area, and even that has to be ordered in. I have to get it through home hardware.

Any other thoughts you may have are much appreciated.

We've already vacuumed, I have used powdered salt on the carpets and mattress however, I don't want to use too much, in case Bandit absorbs and ingests it. He has the heart murmur I mentioned earlier, and of course too much salt is bad for him too. (Our vet said this). We've bathed them in flea shampoo and also Dawn soap. I have also STEAMED the carpets after the vacuuming, (Left the powdered salt there for about 5 hours), washed all clothing, bedding, and fabrics in hot water and dried in dryer, however, we still found another live flea on Chance today when combing him with a lice comb. We live in a small area. We couldn't find a flea comb ANYWHERE. A lice comb looked pretty darned similar, so we bought those. I dip the combs in rubbing alcohol, and dab the excess off and then comb through. Anything found that looks suspicious gets thrown in a cup with rubbing alcohol to drown and hopefully certainly die.

I'm terrified of doing something that ultimately hurts them more. Any advice and ideas will help, whether you think I've done something wrong or right. Bandit is very frail, but I don't want to make his time even shorter by exposing him to things. I don't know what's worse in this case - exposing him to chemicals to almost surely rid the fleas, or exposing him to more natural stuff, and only being somewhat sure of getting rid of the fleas. I know the vet will be all for whatever he is selling, but I want all possible knowledge to protect our fur babies.
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Old December 8th, 2016, 07:28 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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You need to get rid of your vacuum cleaner bag if it has one . Take the vacuum cleaner outside when you open it up to remove the bag and wash the bush off too . If your dogs sleep on your bed you need to vacuum your bed and bed room good too.
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Old December 9th, 2016, 01:25 PM
MrsMVP MrsMVP is offline
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Thank you for your reply. I have dumped out the contents of the cup each time. I put salt in there just to be sure as well, but once I am done vacuuming, I dump the canister into a shopping bag, tie it up, then put it in another shopping bag, tie that up, and put it outside in the garbage can. I have not however, cleaned the filter. That was a good reminder, thank you. I will vacuum again in a bit, and clean all the filters in the machine, and steam what I can't run under water. (Of course not the electrical parts. lol).

It's a real pain in the butt to do all this, but the fur babies are so very worth it. I just feel so bad that this has happened. I should have mentioned that I am partially lazy on the flea treatments because one of our dogs has a reaction to the stuff you can buy at Wal-Mart, the drops that go on the back. He starts acting really weird and just not himself. I'm terrified that whatever ingredient is in that, is also in the vet stuff, and will cause him harm.
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Old December 9th, 2016, 10:59 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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You might want to consider just treating the 2 who tolerate the topical well--it will at least protect them, and may help keep the fleas in the living area from breeding. That will help protect the untreated dog, as well, and help you get on top of the problem with the vacuuming.
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Old December 10th, 2016, 12:51 PM
MrsMVP MrsMVP is offline
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Hello Hazel, that makes a lot of sense!! lol. I just get nervous about any getting on the one who reacts, but I doubt it would cause him any huge reaction. I am going to certainly get the vet stuff this time, because we already have the fleas. I even cleaned out the vacuum parts last night - the filters, canister, and attachments, to ensure no eggs and larvae were in there hatching and spreading. I also put salt in the canister for added protection when I'm vacuuming. I may use baking soda or washing soda. I have boric acid AND borax as well. We combed them through again last night, no fleas were found last night. One was found yesterday, he wasn't as big, so maybe we are at least staying ahead of what is here so that they are not hugely multiplying. My pay will clear Monday I think, so I will get all the approved vet stuff then.
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Old December 13th, 2016, 02:14 PM
MrsMVP MrsMVP is offline
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Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on the diatomaceous earth? Is the stuff used for farm animal feed okay? I am not feeding it to the dogs, I just want to put in in the corners of the rooms, around baseboards, etc. I went to the vet and bought all their treatments yesterday, as well as the spray for the house, it covers 2000sq feet, so I should be good, this place is NOT that big lol.

The recommended at least three months of steady treatments, but the spray itself is good for 7 months. She also said to be really careful during Christmas time, because after the holidays, they have an influx of clients with what they call "Christmas fleas" She said people can certainly carry fleas back and forth, and during Christmas, people go to others houses, throw their jackets on the bed, and if one of them has a flea, there you go, eggs, fleas larvae could be spread to multiple houses, even if you don't have pets! She said having pets increases your risk of course, but you don't need to have them to have fleas. WTH? Anyway, we also had them to the groomers yesterday before their treatments, and she was well aware of the situation. She said she inspected all dogs, only one had a flea on him, that she could find, and then it was only the one flea. So, now, I am hopeful. Anyone reading this, be careful where you put your clothes, jackets etc. lol
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Old December 16th, 2016, 07:13 PM
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Winston Winston is offline
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I am not familiar with that product but can say that I never had a flea in my life...BUT when I took my 2 cats in years ago they found 1 flee. My cats would roam around the room until the vet came in so I am 1-% sure they got it at the vets office. Regardless the vet kept on saying where there is 1 there is more. Bottom line for me was the spray was very effective. I think it was called Sypherol or something like that. You just need to be diligent for the next while. I forget the life cycle of a flea but you could good that and see how long before your looking at the eggs hatching. Also keep inmind over the counter products suck and are harmful to alot of peoples pets. The vet prescribed products are the only ones yu can get the kill the adults and eggs together.
Best of luck its so frustrating especially if you have never had them....
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Old December 18th, 2016, 04:10 PM
raemei raemei is offline
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I have used food grade diatomaceous earth on my cat trees and carpet to help with fleas. You can vacuum it up though it is so fine you do have to be careful with the dust. I've also fed it to my dogs and cats as a dewormer and I've never had any negative side effects. I've actually used the stuff in my own smoothies, too! You want to be careful to get the food grade type for this use.

I've read a lot of different home remedies for flea reduction, and something that does seem to make a difference is making a sort of lemon broth by boiling slices of lemon in some water, then dipping your comb in that while you brush out the dog. There are essential oils that work well too!
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