eewwwwww..... fleas!

[pitbullmamaliz]

Yes, apple cider vinegar, the Braggs stuff with the "mother" in it. And I believe you can find Capstar at most big box pet stores - Petsmart, Pet Supplies Plus, Petco, whatever you guys have.

[amazincc]

This is what I use... http://www.program.novartis.us/

It's VERY effective but not exactly cheap, especially for mutiple dogs. I also only use it during flea season and skip it during the winter. I haven't seen a flea in my house in years, so it's definitely worth the price as far as I'm concerned. I also use it for my cats.

[Malli]

Oscar has a severe flea allergy - He had hives for DAYS maybe 1 yr ago or so, I kept up with Benedryl, and finally when he was STILL trying to scratch his face + body on the pavement and carpets 24 hrs later, I started him on Steroids. 24 hrs after THAT(and still maintaining a dose of steroids), we noticed him rubbing himself, just for a split second, AGAIN; I checked him closely, and even with the anti-inflammatory properties of the steroids, he had mild hives again. As I was checking him over, I found ONE flea. I only ever saw the one.

Typically, I would think, "If you see one..." the standard issue "there are 100 more", but I have one pet, and I live in a free standing structure, and the reaction went away after a day or two more of steroids and Advantage. We haven't had an issue since. So I suspect, rather then my house being flea ridden, it was just one flea.

Anyway, moral of the story, he may be having some kind of reaction to previous flea bites. I'd try flea combing him and see if you get any live ones. Other then that, he may need a bath to wash away any flea dirt or saliva on his skin that is irritating him.
I'm not really familiar with Revolution, but the impression I got is that it should be affective within 24 hrs. If it isn't working, the place you got it may be able to help you with that.

[babyreba]

oi. i feel your pain. i've never had a flea on my current crop of dogs, ever, til i moved to florida. i never even had to use topicals or repellants in new york or maryland. but we had an epic go-round with them down here this winter, in which no topical product alone seemed to really work very well for us ...

we seemed to have our best success using a combination of things:

k-9 Advantix on all 3 dogs (repels as well as kills fleas, ticks, skeeters)

diatomaceous earth on carpeted areas of house, let sit for 24 hours, then vacuumed

vacuum every square inch of house and furniture, wash all bedding.

spinosad natural insecticide (same ingredient used in Comfortis, actually) sprayed outside in backyard to kill any fleas/larvae that might be waiting to hop on board one of our dogs again.

only after we treated house, yard and dogs did we seem to make any real progress. since then (i think it was in january) we've only had to treat the dogs with Advantix or Advantage for maintenance. i'd honestly rather they not have to be on anything, but florida's flea heaven, so i have had to make my peace with it.

[call2arms]

Around here Capstar is only available through vets. I like Program too, it's the same stuff they put in Sentinel for flea protection, and Jack hasn't had fleas ever in 9 years. Then again he doesn't really hang out with other animals other than his new bro and my 16 year old indoor-only cat.

[furever_pit]

Babyreba, FL is hard. Fleas and ticks definitely become an issue for a lot of people there.
To be honest, I was surprised that in 3.5 years of living there and having multiple dogs that I never had an issue.

This is gonna sound totally backwoods, but I have heard multiple people talk about using Avon Skin So Soft as a bug repellant.

[pitbullmamaliz]

I tried Avon SSS - Inara smelled good and was soft, but we were both still eaten alive!

[pitsnok]

Uugghhhh we just found fleas on boss. I've never had a dog with fleas in my life so I'm pretty skeeved out. I went inside and checked Harlow and didn't see any on her...but she does have some red sports along her sagging neck area that I was blaming on playing rough, but now I'm worried they're flea bites...and that would definitely explain the pale gums problem from last week...except that it's my understanding that you have to have a pretty serious infestation for them to cause pale gums...is that correct? Also, have a really hard time believing weve had them for a while because tonight was our first trace of them, and I am ALWAYS with them. We don't typically use flea and tick protection because it's never been an issue, we just keep the yard sprayed and that has always kept them away. We don't have flea shampoo so I think I'm going to try the ACV trick you guys mentioned...on all the dogs just to err on the side of caution.
God, I really hope that boss JUST got them (we've been outside for a few hours) but I know that's really not likely...I started to mow but the mower stopped and I can get it started again...If I can get it done tonight I'm definitely spraying the yard TONIGHT.

[mnp13]

I picked up some natural stuff at the petstore, it smells to high heaven, but it took care of all of the ones that were still bugging him.

[pitsnok]

So was it just Riggs, or did the others end up with them too? so far we're pretty much only seein them on boss but I guess I just assume if one has them, they all do.

[Malli]

since fleas live in the environment, and only jump on the animal to feed, you'd be correct, in that every mammal in a house with fleas, will have bites, and will at one time or other, have fleas on them.