How can I get rid of fleas on my dogs?
By jamie from Savannah, NY
In 37 years as a pet care provider, the best way to control fleas are the spot-on treatments that have become popular and available since 1996, Advantage or Frontline. Frontline now offers Frontline Plus, and it is the only thing I use anymore. Flea collars on cats can cause cats to have seizures, who knows what they do to dogs, because I have not used them in decades. As far as the other flea control products on the market,
I really feel you are just wasting your money, unless you have "hundreds" of fleas on your pet and they are running out of blood meals to feed on your pet and are jumping on you. If that is the case, Adams makes a really good flea shampoo and dip to get rid of them on your pet 24 hours before you apply the Frontline. However, let me tell you how Frontline works so you will see that everything else is not necessary: You apply the Frontline in between your dogs shoulder-blades for an inch or two.
From that point on the Frontline solution begins to saturate your pet through their sebatious glands of their skin and within 24 hours most, if not all, of the fleas on your pet should be dead, the rest within 48 hours. Fleas need to feed off your pet with a blood meal, which they get by biting your pet. At that point, when they bite your pet, the Frontline attacks their central nervous system and paralyzes them and they die. They never get the chance to lay any more eggs for any more fleas to reinfest your pet.
The fleas in your house, furniture, carpeting, bedding, etc. will need to jump on your pet to feed and again, they will die. So, as long as you keep a tube of Frontline on your pet "consistently" every month during flea season (typically from March to November in the north) your flea problem will go away. So, I really think you would just be throwing money away to invest in carpet powders, shampoos, bombs, flea collars (that don't work that well anyway), etc., when one product will work for you. Go to your vet and get a tube every month (or a box of 3 or 6, whichever you can afford). (08/22/2009)
By Sue Williams
Hands down the best product out there is Advantage (or if you also have a tick problem, Advantix). Nothing else works as quickly and completely as this does. The fleas will be dead and gone within 24 hours. (08/26/2009)
I treat my dogs and cats to a meal of raw beef or pork liver from time to time and they never have any parasites. When I started doing that it got rid of the mites and fleas they had. (08/26/2009)
By Regina
Tried and true methods are feed your dog some brewers yeast in small amounts (mixed in with their food) and put just a touch of vinegar in their water. Fleas hate the products effect on their hosts blood so they don't stay on. Works the same for cats, too. (08/26/2009)
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