[net.pets] Need advice : Getting rid of fleas!

seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) (10/22/85)

	Our friends own a Bedlington Terrier. She's basically an
inside dog, but she does go out to play for about an hour a day.
And she picks up fleas. Lots of the little buggers. They've tried
flea baths, flea powder and flea collars. So far, no luck. As my
friend says "It seems that the little scumbags have no respect for
the products we're using." Is there a solution? Had anyone found a
way to keep fleas from sucking our doggies dry? And what's worse,
I've got flea bites from the fleas that she left in my apartment
after dog-sitting her for a week! Talk about itch. 

	Please respond by mail if possible (I know sometimes that's
not that easy with the weird mail paths). I'll summarize to the net
concerning this terrible canine (and feline and sapian!) crisis.

Sharon Badian
ihnp4!mtgzz!seb

deb@sx1100.UUCP (Debby Axness) (11/08/85)

In article <1291@mtgzz.UUCP> you write:
>
>	Our friends own a Bedlington Terrier. She's basically an
>inside dog, but she does go out to play for about an hour a day.
>And she picks up fleas. Lots of the little buggers. They've tried
>flea baths, flea powder and flea collars. So far, no luck. As my
>friend says "It seems that the little scumbags have no respect for
>the products we're using." Is there a solution? Had anyone found a
>way to keep fleas from sucking our doggies dry? And what's worse,
>I've got flea bites from the fleas that she left in my apartment
>after dog-sitting her for a week! Talk about itch. 
>
>
>Sharon Badian
>ihnp4!mtgzz!seb

I just had a horrible bout of fleas with my three felines (outdoors for
play).  They infested my carpet, my bed, and I could see them hopping
about the house, merrily chowing down on my lower legs and burrowing 
into my cats.  Nothing from the pet stores seemed to work - I tried
flea powders, flea sprays, foam flea baths.  I was vacuuming every
other day and combing the cats every day.  I finally went to my vet.
He sold me some flea bombs (continuous aerosols) which must be used
carefully - stash ALL food away, vacate the house  for four hours,
put the animals out, and then air out the house before reoccupying.
He also gave me an oral medication to give them onve a day (Proban
was the name of it, I think).  The flea bombs killed all fleas in the
egg, larval, and adult phase; the vet said I may have some more hatching
out of the pupa stage in a couple of weeks.  I did.  Then he gave me
another bomb, designed to kill adult fleas only.  It's been a month now,
and I think I got rid of them (Hallelujah!!).  The flea bomb's active
ingedient was called an IGR (insect growth regulator) which caused 
the egg & larval fleas to grow up sterile, as well as a chemical to
kill the adults.  If you want, I'll get the name of the chemicals I
used.  

Good luck!

Debby Axness
no fancy .signature yet
Address: ...ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!ncs-med!sx1100!deb
-- 
Debby Axness
no fancy .signature yet
Address: ...ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!ncs-med!sx1100!deb

kitten@hao.UUCP (11/13/85)

> >
> >	Our friends own a Bedlington Terrier. She's basically an
> >inside dog, but she does go out to play for about an hour a day.
> >And she picks up fleas. Lots of the little buggers. They've tried
> >flea baths, flea powder and flea collars. So far, no luck. As my
> >friend says "It seems that the little scumbags have no respect for
> >the products we're using." Is there a solution? Had anyone found a
> >way to keep fleas from sucking our doggies dry? And what's worse,
> >I've got flea bites from the fleas that she left in my apartment
> >after dog-sitting her for a week! Talk about itch. 
> >
> >Sharon Badian
> >ihnp4!mtgzz!seb
> 
> I just had a horrible bout of fleas with my three felines (outdoors for
> play).  They infested my carpet, my bed, and I could see them hopping
> about the house, merrily chowing down on my lower legs and burrowing 
> into my cats.  Nothing from the pet stores seemed to work - I tried
> flea powders, flea sprays, foam flea baths.  I was vacuuming every
> other day and combing the cats every day.  I finally went to my vet.
> He sold me some flea bombs (continuous aerosols) which must be used
> carefully...                                 ...flea bombs killed
> egg, larval, and adult phase; the vet said I may have some more hatching
> out of the pupa stage in a couple of weeks.  I did.  Then he gave me
> another bomb, designed to kill adult fleas only.
> The flea bomb's active
> ingedient was called an IGR (insect growth regulator) which caused 
> the egg & larval fleas to grow up sterile, as well as a chemical to
> kill the adults.
> 
> Debby Axness
> -- 

**
When I was renting a room in a house, the owner's daughter befriended a
disposed-of pregnant cat.  She kept three kittens, all of which were
being eaten alive by fleas.  One evening I made the mistake of sitting
on the carpet in the livingroom.  I was apauled at the number of bites,
and had to go into the bathroom to pluck the suckers off.  When she went
out of town my other roomie and I decided to take action for all our sakes
and dipped the pooor skinny things in flea bath, put on flea collars, and
I went out and bought something called "Strike" (I think).  It also has
growth inhibitors and regulators.  Certain phases of developement were
killed, others stopped, others altered.  Granted, it *is* expensive, but
when I moved, I was flea-free.  I recommend it.

{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!noao | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!noao}
       		        !hao!kitten

CSNET: kitten@NCAR  ARPA: kitten%ncar@CSNET-RELAY

chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) (11/14/85)

> I went out and bought something called "Strike" (I think).  It also has
>
> when I moved, I was flea-free.  I recommend it.
> 

	I had a small war with fleas just in the last month.  Stray cats
living under my patio were apparently the source.  I also used Strike and
it has worked quite well.  I only used it outside, however.  Inside I used
a powder in the carpet and followed that with a regular carpet cleaner and
a thorough vacuuming, since I do not want to put my face into flea powder
while doing exercises on the floor.

	There is a non-chemical way to get rid of fleas that also allows
you to keep track of their "presence" or population density.  Turn off all
the lights in the "test room", and, if you can, turn down sources of heat.
Leave things that way a long while (say overnight) with doors and windows
closed (no other light or heat).  Leave just one light on, on or next to
a wall and only part way up from the floor.  "Nightlights" are good for
this.  The next morning almost every flea in the room will have gathered
on the wall (and the floor) around the light.  You should then have ready
large sticky pieces of masking tape.  Lay these down on the wall and you
will pull away strips full of fleas.  Then use your favorite method for
killing them directly.  Don't take too long, though, since they eventually
free themselves from the adhesive.  

	Repeat this every night until they are all gone.  The number of
fleas that show up each morning are a good measure of the total number 
that may be lurking around.

	- Christopher Salander,  Lockheed Space Systems Division

vsh@pixdoc.UUCP (Steve Harris) (11/20/85)

Vets sell expensive chemical flea powders and dips which, if you read the 
label, usually consist of 5% carbyrl and 95% inert ingredients.

That is the formula for SEVIN, which you can buy at the garden store for much
less than the vet charges.

Whether or not you want to mess with the stuff is up to you.

-- 

Steve Harris            |  {allegra|ihnp4|cbosgd|ima|genrad|amd|harvard}\
Pixel Systems Inc.      |               !wjh12!pixel!pixdoc!vsh
300 Wildwood Street     |
Woburn, MA  01801       |  617-933-7735 x2314