Flea issues? [ewww...]

jinnyretr0 · 11-11-2009, 01:43 AM

I currently have the heebie-jeebies as I'm writing this....
Got Ella about a month and a half ago. Wasted no time, couple days after we brought her home, got some Advantage from the vet. First month, no problems, no fleas, it was marvelous! Just gave Ella her second dose this past Sunday. This week, after a trip to the dog park, found a flea on my arm (: shudder: ) killed it, and didn't think much of it, because if the advantage is working, whatever fleas she picked up at the dog park would be killed. The last few days I've been noticing red bites on my boyfriend, eerily similar to flea bites

And they just keep popping up on him, there's probably between 10-15. But none on me, at all ( i guess I taste bad

)
Anyway, so I've been obsessively vacuuming, checking Ella thoroughly every two seconds, and have found no fleas or any flea dirt on her, and like I said, she's not overly itchy.

What gives? I always thought if fleas exist in a house, they're going to want to eat at the dog first, but is it possible they're just existing in the house to eat the bf? Thoughts?

Sincerely,
-Confused and creeped out

tomsmith · 11-30-2009, 09:40 AM

Unfortunately fleas do not care where they get their next meal. To them, blood is blood and they have a very long life span and can live for months without eating!
I recommend a two-pronged attack on both the fleas on your dog and in your house.
Frontline Plus for fleas, flea eggs flea larvae and ticks, and TriForce Green
Tom Smith
Total PetSource

StellaKin · 11-30-2009, 09:51 AM

Keep up with the vacuuming! We had a flea problem a few months ago. It took us forever to get them out. We also had bed bugs and since it was starting to get colder, the spiders were moving in. Talk about heebie-jeebies! Anyway, keep cleaning. I don't know if your dog sleeps in bed with you, but ours does and thats where the majority of our bites occurred. We started spraying our mattress and our bed frame every morning to help kill them, then vacuumed later that day. I hope you get rid of them quickly! They are such pests and the bites are awful. I still have some scars on my feet from flea bites. :/ Good luck!

Dog_Shrink · 11-30-2009, 11:43 AM

As far as the biting the BF rather than you... my hubby is type 1 diabetic and he gets eaten alive by all biting bugs... I tell him it's because he's artificially sweetened (the insulin). I never get bitten.

Labsnothers · 11-30-2009, 11:51 AM

I have seen a number of reports that the old faithful Frontline isn't working any more. I would talk to your vet about something else.

Once fleas are established in a house, you may need to treat the house and yard with products that not only kill fleas, but at least stop the eggs from developing.

I wouldn't count on any shampoos.

Dog_Shrink · 11-30-2009, 12:19 PM

She said she's using advantage not frontline... and frontline not working is no news flash. I've heald that point of view for YEARS. Try comfortis...it's a new product but if it works half as well as the capstar that it was developed off of then it should ROCK (plus all the reports here form people usig it have been awesome).

http://www.veterinarypracticenews.co...teraction.aspx potential problems with comfortis and ivermectin.

http://www.viewpoints.com/Comfortis-reviews consumer reports