| Re: FLEAS! Advice needed
Fleas can live from 2 weeks to 2 months. If you use Frontline then it should kill the adults within 18 hours. If you used Frontline Plus it has ingredients to kill the immature forms of the flea too.
Have you actually seen a flea lately? The dermatitis (skin irritation) caused by the initial flea bits can cause continued itching until the bites heal completely.
If you aren't infested, and you would know because the fleas would be biting you and you would see them while sitting on upholstered furniture jumping around, then you have a couple of alternatives.
First I would ask the vet for Frontline Plus so that you get all the forms of the flea. Then I would ask the vet for flea shampoo. The stuff you buy at the store doesn't work. You need prescription strength shampoo. The vet can explain to you how often you need to bathe the dog to disrupt the life cycle. I think it was at least 1x/week for my pets.
Then go to the store and load up on vacuum bags, borax (powder sold in the laundry aisle), and 3-4 flea collars. Go home and sprinkle the borax liberally on all floors, upholstered furniture, any cracks or crevices. Leave it for 3-4 hours and then vacuum up. Immediately take the vacuum outside, put the used bag in a sealed plastic bag, and put it outside in the garbage can. Go in the house, replace the vacuum bag with a clean one. Sprinkle the borax again, not quite as liberally, and repeat the vacuuming in 24 hours. Remember to do the bag disposal procedure properly. Then sprinkle the borax again and vacuum in 3-4 days, 2 times. And after the first 3 day treatment, put a flea collar into the clean bag when you put it in the vacuum cleaner. Each time you vacuum from now on replace the bag and the flea collar. After that you can do it weekly for one more month. So you are going to do this for about 6 weeks. Borax dries out the exoskeleton of the flea and kills them. And it is relatively harmless. I wouldn't let a child crawl around in it or put it in their mouth, and you should try to keep the dogs from walking around in it after the first "liberal" application. After that, when you are sprinkling it lightly it is fine for the dog to be around it.
At the same time you are going to be treating your animals with meds and bathing. You also need to wash all of the bedding in hot water every couple of days. Or, you can just remove the dog's bedding until this is over. Remember, if you have any other pets in the house everything must be treated. But consult a vet before treating any animal. | 
