Eek! I See Bugs!
You notice your dog scratching and biting herself. When you look closer, you discover she's brought home some friends. One easy way to kill fleas on the dog safely is to apply a degreasing shampoo diluted with an equal amount of water on the dog's dry hair. Rub it in and wait ten minutes, then rinse the dog and shampoo once more. This last shampoo can be a soothing type, such as a medicated shampoo to ease itching from the flea bites. Be sure to use conditioner after the last shampoo. Fleas have an oily exoskeleton that makes them waterproof; if you dissolve the oil on the exoskeleton, the flea can then drown.
Capstar®
One product that works wonders is a pill used to kill all the fleas on the dog within a couple of hours, called Capstar®. It is available at your vet or online at a retailer. It works for only twenty-four hours, but it does a wonderful job of killing fleas, and it's safe.
If your dog has fleas, you need to treat your living area. You need to treat everything from the carpets to the furnishings to the pet bedding. Even your car, if your dog rides in it, should be treated. Hiring an exterminator is worth the money to rid your home of fleas. Treating the yard your dog runs in also helps to cut down the flea population.
Sometimes if a dog goes to a groomer and has fleas, the groomer will recommend or give a Capstar® treatment first, then put the dog into a crate for a while. The fleas will quickly die and fall off. Mind you, this is only a temporary fix; the next day flea eggs could hatch and the dog will be reinfested, but it's a good emergency treatment. This is why it's so vital to rid your living environment of fleas, as well as to treat all your pets at the same time.
Spot-on Treatments
Frontline Plus® is a topical treatment that works through the oil glands. If you bathe the dog first and apply it immediately after the bath, your dog won't have any oil in the skin to spread the product and it won't be as effective. Likewise, if your dog is bathed immediately after application, the products will wash off. Bathing your dog at least seventy-two hours after applying allows the oil glands to absorb the Frontline®. When you bathe your dog, the surface medication will partially wash away with the skin oils, but the reserve medication deep in the sebaceous glands of the skin will gradually replenish the active ingredient on the skin surface. There is a short time after bathing when the concentration of the product may not be optimal for flea and tick control, so you need to be careful.
The longer a product such as Frontline® has been on the dog, the harder it is to remove. If your dog has an allergic reaction to a flea spot-on treatment and you see a problem within the first twenty-four hours after application, you may be able to remove it with a good degreasing shampoo. Advantage® and Revolution® are other fine flea preventives you can try. If one doesn't work well for you, thoroughly shampoo the dog and wait at least a week before trying another. Be sure to let the veterinarian and the manufacturer know about any adverse reactions.
Some dogs may react badly to one of the treatments, but not the others. Like humans, not all medications agree with all dogs. You may need to try out a few before you find one that works well and doesn't have undesirable side effects.
Flea Dips
Flea dips used to be used routinely to kill fleas on a dog or cat. This was before the new spot-on treatments of today. Dips are extremely toxic, not only to the fleas, but also to the pet and the person applying the dip. Groomers who used to use dips for flea control are now showing symptoms of autoimmune diseases that have been linked to the use of such dips. There is no need to use such toxic chemicals today. Many groomers today refuse to use such chemicals, to protect their own health as well as the health of the pets they care for. If you are concerned about fleas, go to your veterinarian and get information on the best and safest products.
Other Options
There are many over-the-counter products for fleas you can buy at your local grocery or discount store, but they are highly toxic to some animals, and using a dog product on a cat can be deadly, as is the case with permethrin. You must read the label of every product and follow all directions carefully. Do your homework on flea control before you run out and buy something that could potentially harm your pet.
Do not waste your money on flea collars. They do a poor job of controlling fleas, and they put excessive insecticide into the bloodstream of the dog. Many dogs and cats have become ill because of these collars.
Beware of the inexpensive spot-on products that you can buy at the store. Many pets have died from reactions to the toxic chemicals in them. Use safer alternatives from your vet. Flea products such as Frontline Plus® and Advantage® are not prescription drugs, yet they are not usually seen in stores because the companies that make them like to have them supplied through a veterinarian. Some groomers and pet supply stores carry them, and they are also available online.
