[Lunathedog]

I've just started learning about dog's flea control and I wonder if it is a necessity? As it is quite expensive😓Does pest-free shampoo work otherwise?

 

[JoanneF]

In the UK the more expensive products are definitely more effective.

I have a friend who once had a flea infestation. She had to spray with a flea product and vacuum daily, really thoroughly, for months. Soft toys and cushions had to be frozen I think, curtains, mattresses and sofas had to be vacuumed daily too.

I would not want to be doing that.

Some people use aroma oils or household products, I wouldn't take that risk!

 

[Mad Murphy]

Honestly its well worth the money.

Pups can become anemic if they have too many fleas, by the time you see the flea you have a big problem. Fleas can live for a long time in your furniture your flooring etc so once you have them bathing the dog once wont stop them returning and it can be a cycle that takes months or years to break so.. Flea allergies can be very expensive to treat so if you dont get on top of them fleas can rack up huge vet bills

Save yourslef the pain and heartache save your dog the misery invest in decent flea control.. In the long run its not that expensive and it will save you a heap of time that you would otherwise spend cleaning cleaning and cleaning again.

 

[JoanneF]

Fleas can live for a long time in your furniture your flooring etc

Indeed. There is a point in the flea life cycle (pupa maybe?) when they are impervious to flea killing products so you have to keep up the cleaning regime for months.

 

[Schnauzaluv]

Do most people give a topical or pill form flea control?

 

[JoanneF]

I use topical.

 

[Mad Murphy]

My dogs have the sheep fat with garlic on a daily basis and in the summer months they do have a spot on topical flea treatment.

 

[Salie Cader]

Hi there Lunathedog. My name is Salie im from Cape Town, South Africa.

I rescued a pavement special who came to be one of my beloved fur-babies. when I got him home his body was bruised, hair falling out, and swarming with ticks and fleas(ticks are truly die hard). well took him to the vet to get him treated. the vet recommended an oral treatment, a chewable treat that actually makes the pups bloodstream toxic to those fleas and ticks.

Im not very fortunate financially so i thought why not just go the cheaper route of using a tick and flea collar to take care of the ticks. i eneded up wastingmoney cause in the end the collar didnt help at all and the shampoos i used wasnt much effective, it would help a bit in killing some of the ticks and fleas but not all and id have to wash my pup every week. So saved up some cash after a few weeks i got him the chew treatment my vet suggested called bravecta ( its a mainstream treatment here in cape town, south africa.

so the bravecta started working from day one after about 4 hours i noticed ticks lying on my floor in my room. its obvious it was the chewable treatment already working its magic. so after a few hours of taking the chew my dog was already being relieved from the horrible experience it must be to have those creepies sucking his blood. it gets to a point where all the ticks and fleas that are within your pup will die the moment they suck the now toxic blood, till the last one drops. what made this treatment even more of a godsend was that it helped my dog's skin problem and his hair was able to grow back as it should. forgive me its been a few years so i cant remember the exact name of the skin disorder my baby had. my baby also had a kidney/liver problem, poor baby had so many illnesses but he was a fighter through it all but my point is that it also assisted with his liver, immediately i saw a change in my pups energy levels.

so this specific one i used to buy would last 3 months and id say thats a pretty long period of effectiveness cause for the year I only had to get it for him a total of 4 times. there are cheaper ones that last about a month, some ive seen that last a bit longer that comes in different sizes or maybe comes as multiple doses in 1 pack. but most of all the point i wanna make is that you'd probably be wasting your time with a tick and flea collar since ive tried it on 3 dogs to this day and it helped NOT! one of them. the tablet or chewable treat helped 100%. the only time a collar actually helped was for my cat who also had a nasty flea problem but fleas is very common in cats here where i live but for some reason the collar proved successful with my cat but never with my dogs. i dont understand the reason behind it, just took from my experience what works for who and how well it works.

ive attached pics of my baby hugo, sorry for bad quality, have low grade tech, hoping you can see to some extent what his hair and body looked like when i rescued him and how much the chew treatment was able to help rehabilitate him. I hope my experience shed some light and helps with the decision you're needing to make regarding your baby's health and well-being. wishing you and her/him all the best Lunathedog

if you're interested ive shared some products i have tested which can help your baby with its flea and/or tick situation, just follow the link below.

https://amzn.to/3fBNhSx

of course not all babies are the same so other options might work for you that might not have worked for me. although shampoos only have temporal effects, if you feel you might first want to give that a shot, ive found some for a good price that has some pretty good reviews at amazon, just follow the link below.

https://amzn.to/31FA2bd

- Lillian Ruff Brand - Vet Recommended, works well and comes bundled with a great flea comb yes!!










or
for a cheaper option that does the same job but maybe not exactly 100% the same.

https://amzn.to/3fDBCD0

I hope that sharing my experiences and recommendations are of help to you or anyone in the future who might be having the same or similar concerns with their fur-babies. Salute

 

[Lunathedog]

Thank you for the replies. But I still have some questions 😓 . How often should we give them flea treatments? Or do we only give treatments when we see the fleas? Is a prescription from the vet required? Also, is frontline spray effective in doing this? I'm sorry for all these questions as most of the products SalieCader listed is unavailable where I live

 

[JoanneF]

Or do we only give treatments when we see the fleas? Is

If you see fleas, you have an infestation so that is too late - they will be already laying eggs in your carpets and soft furnishings.

Fleas have developed a resistance to some of the chemicals in cheaper over the counter products - I don't know if you need a vet prescription in the US but no doubt one of our American members will be able to clarify.

 

[Salie Cader]

Thank you for the replies. But I still have some questions 😓 . How often should we give them flea treatments? Or do we only give treatments when we see the fleas? Is a prescription from the vet required? Also, is frontline spray effective in doing this? I'm sorry for all these questions as most of the products SalieCader listed is unavailable where I live

Hi again @Lunathedog

You ask how often to treat them for ticks and fleas? Id say as often as is needed, remember all dogs are unique and some have different needs than others. Think what your baby gets up to during the day or night, it matters a great deal, where you take them on walks and so on as well. You see ive got a yard space and a garden space in my cramped up little home here in South Africa, but the problem with that is that there is a lot of sand and fleas and especially ticks come from the sand. So they would breed in the sand and the more my dogs would play in the sand and do their businesses in the sand the more they are exposed to these ticks and fleas. What im trying to say also is maybe you dont have sand really on the property where you live but maybe the park or field where you walk your baby Luna might have lots of sand thats harboring ticks and fleas you know. in the case of my baby Hugo, he had a skin problem so the medication actually treated his skin problem while at the same time keeping the ticks and fleas away. in his case, the vet told me he would need to be on the medication for the rest of his life.

Regarding the shampoo, rather get one that actually helps destroy ticks n fleas cause youre gonna wash your pet at some point whether its every month or every 2 weeks or so, so you might as well get a shampoo that takes care of the ticks as well as leaving your baby clean and fresh. My vet did warn not to wash my babies too often as its not good for them to bath too often.

As far as ive experienced I never needed a prescription for any of the tick and flea products ive used and definitely not for shampoo. Id say when you notice ticks and/or fleas then thats a clear sign youve gotta take action to rid them of the nasty creepies, continue the treatment(whichever treatment youve decided) until you are certain all ticks and fleas as well as all eggs they have laid in your baby are taken care of.

In the case of my baby Max he recently attracted a whole lotta ticks because he went playing with my Moms new baby-cat in this sand pit, left from where a tree was removed, and he very quickly went from having zero ticks to having like hundreds on him. Each day I would kill them off by plucking them out cause i didnt have cash for a second dose of bravecta(tick treatment), still trying to save up, hoping i can get it for him soon, but anyhow i take off the ticks today, tomorrow there is twice as many, even though he hasnt gone back to the sand pit to play with baby-cat. what that tells me is that before i had removed all those big ticks they had already laid eggs in my baby and by the next day or 2 those babies will be big again and i would just end up sitting another few hours or so taking off ticks.

So my advice when you see your fur baby has an infestation of ticks and/or fleas then its best to take care of the situation asap and use something thats sure to get the job done well. Ive used frontline before, ive used it on a total of three dogs and 2 cats. in my experience it never worked on any of the dogs but worked very well with my moms cats. in the case of my dogs it partially helped my one pup with her tick problem but only to a degree of 50% effectiveness, she still had some ticks on her for quite some time after applying the frontline on her neck, her back and tail. so frontline does help, just not 100% and it doesnt last too long also. from what i remember its effects last a month so youd have to buy 12 doses for the year.

I did some research to find something good thats also available in your region. have a look below @Lunathedog

https://amzn.to/2RcXP0o

- Capstar Fast-Acting Oral Flea Treatment for Dogs - 6 Doses

https://amzn.to/3sWeOSG

- CapAction Oral Flea Treatment - 6 Doses/6 Months Supply

https://amzn.to/31TgL6i

- Advantus Soft Chews - 7 Units per box



To conclude you would not need any prescription for any of the items listed above, they are all very effective, affordable and available in your location and also comes in packs that would last a long time. Each dose has a period of effectiveness of 1 month and they all come in 6-7 dose packs so, one purchase should last your baby a good 6 months. also if your baby is flea/tick free by month 2 then whatever chews/tablets remain you could just keep that for later on when your baby needs again on account of fleas becoming a problem again.

I hope I was of good help to you, also wishing you and your baby all the best @Lunathedog.