Why isn't the flea stuff working??

Grrrr, I have a guest puppy here. She was flea'd the very day she arrived - a couple of days later I noticed her scratching and assumed it was the little buggers jumping off her.

A week later she is still scratching so I flea'd her again (wasn't happy about doing it twice, was worried about it making her sick) and that hasn't worked.

I got some stupid spray (which she doesn't like!) and that's not working either.

What do I do now? I don't like her being uncomfortable and I'm worried she is going to end up with a rash or something because she is scratching and licking so much. Poor baby.

Anyone have any ideas?

My FIL mixes together a combination of tea tree oil, detol & water (i think) and that works a treat on his dog, even helps with skin irritation. If you like i can check the exact ingredients he uses.

Fleas are such a PITA especially if the puppy is outside. Seems like a never ending battle in our house!

Aw poor puppy!
u need a long term flea treatment, especially in this heat, the little buggers go rampant in this weather!
one of those one spot liquid ones like advantage or frontline will do the trick. it is exxy, but incredibly worth it.
u said the pup was a guest? maybe ring the owner and tell them your plans and ask them to reimburse u the cost when they pick it up.
give it a bath first to get the residue of the flea treatment you've already used off first.
Good luck hun, i hate the buggers!

Glad I don't have carpet! I was expecting a big flea year this year anyway but jeez - that flea stuff usually works really well. AND is exxy.

i'd love the recipe, the other spray smells like Agent Orange.

ETA - It WAS frontline! That's why I'm so confused...

thats really odd! sorry hun, if thats not working im not sure what will.
have u tried a flea bath?

Oh i spent $100 on a frontline spray coz its all i could use on the puppies when they were a few days old and they STILL have fleas ggrrr i ended up giving them a warm bath with a natural soap and sitting there physically picking the fleas off...and the buggers have returned!!

Ok he said he uses neem oil (no idea what that is) or tee tree oil, i asked what he mixes it with waiting for him to get back to me :D

ummmm one thing with the tea tree oil thing is it does work, but puppies and the majority of dogs will get chemical burns on their skin from tea tree oil, so it must be heavily diluted if used, and even then I wouldn't if they are already scratching.

Have you got capstar? Its a tablet which will help kill all the fleas within 3 hours. That with a spot on like advantage or frontline (but not one of the ones from the grocery store... they work for a few days) should do a good job, but if flea eggs are around they can still get fleas, they die within a few hours but they can still get them on unless you bomb your house & spray your garden.... sucks.

Have you actually seen the fleas? If you are still seeing fleas, definately go the capstar. Its incredibly safe and works amazingly well for outbreaks. If you aren't seeing the fleas, than it may be an allergic reaction to flea bites.... they need soothing stuff to help if thats the case. A high percentage of dogs actually are allergic to flea bites, which means even once you've dealt with the fleas, now you have to deal with allergic skin. Allergic skin is pink/red and can be hot to touch. Generally the big patches are above the tail and armpits.

If you aren't seeing fleas, and its an allergic situation no flea stuff will work. You can get stuff at the vet, but most of the time they want to give a cortisone injection and if the skin gets infected as it can from all the scratching they will want to give antibiotics instead. You can try some pure vit E lotion, or buy some leave on conditioner for dogs (remember puppy skin is extremely sensitive). Wash the pup and then apply the conditioner and that will help soothe. You can add fish oil or a raw egg for omega into their food to help boost the skins ability to cope as well....

HTH!

Oh NO!

I just checked her - really thinking it was going to be an allergy but there were 3 big ones on her tummy.
I will have to get the Capstar, I feel terrible, she is a guest in my house....

Christy he uses 2 caps of tea tree or neem oil, 2 caps of detol, baby oil and the rest water in a spray bottle? Would that be ok do you think?

Sorry to semi hijack Lulu!

I probably wouldn't use the detol because its toxic... which is why it kills fleas as well. The thing with tea tree oil is it does depend on the animals skin. I wouldn't use it on a puppy under 6 months.

I actually wash the dogs blankets in tea tree oil and vinegar myself... that will kill flea eggs as well

Lulu, if they are the big fat ones, than they are definately adults and if you can catch them, they are on their way out anyway. It will take a while for the flea eggs to hatch (up to 12 months) and when they do, they don't die unless they jump on a treated animal. So it is possible for a flea treated animal to get fleas, but they have to jump onto the animal to die.... or you could spray straight tea tree oil on the bedding. Vacuuming will get up 50% of eggs, so its not entirely going to stop the cycle, but if you keep up the hard work and frontline spray every 3 weeks, and capstar at the same time, you will get on top of it. :hug:

I spoke to a girl at kinder today that said it took two treatments before it seemed to work really well. She is now due for her next frontline/advantage/sentinel whatever tf it is.

I put the bedding outside in the sun each day but will start spraying with Tea Tree as well.

I was very surprised because it seems that she didn't get them till she got here and if 'we' have them, usually the kids get bitten and no one has.

I'll do all the animals at once now - thank goodness for bare boards and THIS is why I don't let dogs on furniture...

My mum used to put Garlic in our dogs food to deter fleas. I don't know whether it worked or not but I don't remember them having fleas often.

Lulu does the puppy go outside? I found in one of our houses there was just nothing I could do about the fleas. I tried everything - Frontline, flea bombing the house, constantly washing bedding but it turned out that everytime they went outside they picked them up, brought them inside and the cycle just wouldn't stop. I was living with housemates at the time and they just kept blaming the animals and me for not controlling it. It was really frustrating. Then when I eventually moved, my animals have never had fleas since. I wish I had known about the Capstar though!!

So if the puppy is going outside, I would have a feeling that she just keeps picking them up out there and you'll just have to keep up the hard work to stay on top of it. I hope you do get some respite from it all soon though!