This has been a bad summer for fleas on our pets. I understand that fleas get more active, the hotter it gets. I faithfully use Frontline Plus on all of the 3 dogs and 3 cats every month. However, this year is awful. I use a flea comb on them and get lots of flea "dirt". One of our dogs scratches continually, and another has flea excema on her back. DH also bathes the dogs every couple weeks.

I put brewers yeast in their food. I vaccuum. I don't know what else to do. The vet suggested bombing my house, but I hate chemicals in my environment. I do put mothballs in my vaccuum cleaner bag. That's SUPPOSED to help.

Ginny, does Scott have any suggestions? TIA

By Cybermommyx4 on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 12:30 am:

The reproductive cycle of fleas is shorter when it is humid......one thing I have heard of to try is borax powder (laundry detergent aisle) (sprinkle around all rugs, etc. and let sit for several hours and then vacuum up) Hopefully Ginny/Scott can give you additional advice

By Nicki on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 12:52 am:

Yes, Hol, it has been bad this year at our house! We have two cats. We made the awful mistake of missing one of the Frontline treatments. We found out our mistake when the "jumping bugs" as Lara calls them, appeared in our family room. Seeing a flea on her made me feel crazy! Dh came home with the flea bombs that night and we did it the next day. (Lara and I stayed at her grandma's. I was paranoid to bring her back to the house too soon.) I will be interested to see if anyone has any non-chemical solutions. Like you, the bombs worry me.

You're not alone, Hol. We had a very wet spring here, and now of course lots of warm days. Even after we used the bombs, I notice an occasional flea. Very frustrating.:-(

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 01:07 am:

Count me in on the, "you're not alone". It has been near impossible to keep up with them this year.. Hopefully Scott can give us a useful tip..

By Juli4 on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 07:28 am:

My poor oldest daughter has bites on her legs like crazy. My other two may have a few, but me and her get eaten alive it seems. I have vacuumed, bathe the dog in flea shampoo once a week and I just got some powder to use today that is supposed to kill them. I will let you know how it works. I also have flea spray that I have been spraying on the mattresses before I put sheets on them. Of course I let it dry first and I have washed all the bedding. It is crazy. I don't see any fleas on my dog, but she is itching like crazy.

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 10:31 am:

So glad to know it isn't just us! We use FrontLine Plus, and it almost seems like it isn't touching the fleas this year. I don't really see any on the dogs, like I would if we didn't use it, but they scratch all the time.

Our problem is that our dogs like to go outside and play when we or the kids are out there. So they are outside a lot during the day.

I have found one good product that you spray down anything in your house, bedding, floors, furniture, etc. It kills the eggs, larvae, fleas, etc. so it breaks the flea cycle if you have any in your house. We get it at Wal-mart and it is called Gold's something or other Flea Spray. It is in an aerosol can and found in pet supplies.

Right now, we don't really have any that we notice in our house, but our dogs are driving us crazy! And not to mention that they are going crazy, themselves!

By Hol on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 12:57 pm:

Be very careful using over-the-counter flea remedies, especially on the animals themselves. The stuff from the vet is more expensive, but it is prescription, and a lot of research goes into it's formulation.

Many years ago, Hartz Mountain came out with a product that you supposedly could spray on the animal, the furniture, etc.. Well, scores of animal died. Since these chemicals work by destroying the nervous system of the insect, it did the same to the animals. Very tragic.

By Jackie on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 12:59 pm:

Thankfully we have had no problems with fleas this summer, or actually for several summers. We have a lot of dogs coming and going, but somehow we keep the fleas out. I use "Sentinal" on my dogs, which is a flea/heartworm pill combined. It basically keeps the fleas from reproducing if they do get them. A lot of my customers are on Frontline, and it seems all customers have been doing a good job not bringing fleas into my house.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 - 06:35 am:

Hol, I will ask Scott, but I am guessing he will say that your dogs may be having an allergic reaction to the flea bites and to take them to the vet. We once had a cat that got a bad flea infestation and had sores on his back. I had to shave him in the affected area and use an antibiotic ointment. He was a long-haired cat, and certainly looked godawful.

I too would be careful about chemicals, especially using them frequently. We did have a bad flea problem once, many years ago, and I did use bombs. I remember taping plastic covering over all the cabinets that held food and dishes before setting off the bombs. After we set them off early in the morning, we left the house (the cats were boarded at the vet for the day). I came back a few hours later and opened windows, and then we went to a mall and a movie.

As for spraying anything on the animal or using a flea dip, I wouldn't use anything I didn't get from a vet, for just the reasons Hol lists. Especially because the animals will lick their fur - and children pet them.

I still remember my shock and horror when I saw a flea on my leg!!