Assuming he is otherwise healthy and on no other medication, I'd give him a Capstar now (over the counter at most big name pet stores and available Amazon) to kill any adult fleas that are on him right now. Then get him started on either Comfortis (flea only prescription oral, available from your vet) or Trifexis (heartworm + flea med using the same active ingredient as Comfortis). Obviously if you use Comfortis, you'll need another heartworm medicine.

Sentinel is another oral heartworm + flea medicine but I haven't had any luck at it preventing fleas. It only prevents fleas at one life stage so my vet suggests using it in tandem with a topical like Advantix which is what you're trying to avoid.

I wouldn't keep using Dawn for weekly bathing, that will strip the oil and cause more skin irritation. Any shampoo and plenty of water will drown the fleas while you're bathing the dog, so consider a good gentle dog shampoo.

 

Is he sensitive to all spot-ons, or just Advantix? Advantix does have harsher pesticides than the other brands (like Advantage, Revolution, or Frontline) because it repels mosquitoes and ticks, too. So it might be good to try one of the milder products.

Comfortis/Trifexis are great, but the flea does have to bite for them to work :/. But at least it can't bite twice .

 

Get some coconut oil and (in the bathtub) completely soak your dog in it, rubbing it in to get right down to the skin. Leave it on for 10-15 minutes if possible before rinsing off. This will do a couple of things... it completely smothers any fleas that are already on your dog, and it will also thoroughly moisturize and sooth your dogs skin and coat.

Then for prevention, you can use diatomaceous earth (food grade) on your dog. You can also sprinkle it around the outside of your house, as well as inside the house (follow up with a good vacuuming indoors) - be cautious to not breathe it in. DE will kill the fleas on contact, they do NOT have to bite in order for it to work.

I've also heard good things about a product called shoo!TAG... it's a tag that simply goes on your dogs collar.

These methods are all natural and will not harm or burn your dog.

 

I use Flea Treats for both of my dogs. To my amazement, I haven't seen a flea or tick in over a year. I'm a skeptic, so I still flea comb them a couple of times a week to make sure its still working. It's the only flea product we use. Takes about 2wks to 1 mo. to be fully effective. It's a specially formulated B-Complex vitamin you feed them that makes the dog flea repellent, so the fleas never jump on them, let alone bite. I always hated the topical flea treatments, and they stopped working for us when we moved to GA. This was the perfect solution for us!

If you google them, don't let the cheesy, low-rent website deter you. These really do work.

 

Shell: Paddy has a heartworm medicine already. I think Comfortis is what I was looking at on 1800PETMEDS. It did say I needed a prescription. If the dog has to be bitten first though that won't help with allergies. :/ I'll go back to his normal shampoo then and just use more since Dawn is bad for him. Didn't realize I was hurting him worse! O.O

Willowy: Not sure, because of the high price of the others I'm scared to buy them and have same results and be stuck with another box of flea medicine I can't use and be down $50. That's why I'm avoiding topicals in general.

CoverTune: I will look into that earth stuff. How often would it need reapplied to yard? And do I make dog eat it or put it on him? And is it cat-safe?

Kudzo: Those sound perfect! Cheap, easy, it says repels ticks too, and with the guarantee I see no downside. Do you have the ingredients handy? I can't find on the website, my dog has food allergies too. Looks like it would be great for my cat too. He's fine with his topicals and never seems to get Paddy's fleas, but the smell of his topical bothers my grandma.

 

CoverTune: I will look into that earth stuff. How often would it need reapplied to yard? And do I make dog eat it or put it on him? And is it cat-safe?

DE gets rubbed into the coat of your dog. It is safe for cats.

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/parasites/a/Diatomaceous-Earth-For-Flea-Control.htm

 

I have a cat asleep on my lap right now, but when she wakes up, I'll post the ingredients for you!

 

Flea Treats ingredients:

Brewer's yeast
Liver
Silica
Stearic Acid
Cellulose
Thiamine HCI (Vit. B-1)
Calcium Pantothenate
Pyridoxine HCI (Vit. B-6)
Folic Acid
Cyanocobalamin (Vit. B-12)

Note: the suggested dosage did not work for us. We increased it after 3 wks in small increments until we achieved success. My 30 lb dog gets 6 per day and my 75 lb dog gets 7. Many others have success at the suggested dosage. It seems to vary from one dog to another. We're happy we stuck with it and found just the right dosage.

Also, consistency is very important. I split the daily dose btw my dog's two daily meals, and mix in to their food so it's just part of the routine and I never forget that way. They will happily eat them as treats though. My cat won't touch it though! The cats are indoors only, so as long as the dogs aren't bringing in the fleas, we have no problem. It does work great at repelling ticks too.

 

Thanks Kudzu. That's all just B vitamins and brewers yeast, he can have all of that.

My cat eats anything that vaguely looks edible, lol. The DE looks like it gets expensive fast and might be hard to work around here especially in the summer when I need it most. It warns that it might not work in humid environments on that page, and we have VERY humid summers usually. With the cheap price of those treats even if it does take 4 or more a day it still would be much cheaper than others. Two should be fine for cat, because he doesn't really go outside, only once in a while at night when it's cold to stand there on porch.

Compared to Comfortis which is only for my dog and would be $180 a yr and has all those potential side affects listed on the site, this seems to be cheapest and safest route. I will see if my vet has heard of this and what else he recommends. But so far I think it's gonna be flea treats. If they ever answer my email, that is... I need to see their response time so I know how hard it will be to get ahold of them if I have a problem.


EDIT: Actually, I mainly have to talk to my vet in general about brewers yeast. He's never eaten anything with brewer's yeast in it that I know of, so I'm not sure if he's allergic or not. I know I have him on grain-free due to allergies. Is brewers yeast a grain? I can't find that anywhere online.

 

Brewer's yeast is not a grain. It's well, yeast, and a good source of vitamin B. That's about all I know of it! The flea treats do seem to make my dog's coats soft and shiny, though. I noticed that last winter my black lab never got flaky skin, which was a first. The other thing I noticed was that since I've been using them, my dog very rarely ever passes gas, at least not smelly gas. Not sure if it has anything to do with the Flea Treats, but at the time I had not changed his diet in any way, so could be. I have to assume that Brewer's Yeast is at the very least less harmful than topical pesticide, that's how I look at it. It is used in supplements for humans I believe, as well.

One thing I love about this product is that you don't have to treat the environment for fleas at all. I can take my dogs anywhere and no fleas or ticks get on them. We live in the south and love to hike in the woods on the weekends with the dogs. They used to come back with several ticks each, now....nuthin! Since they don't bring in fleas, I don't have to treat my 3 cats with anything.

I hope you find what works for you!

 

By the way, at my last vet visit, my vet wanted to know what I was using for fleas. I told her about the Flea Treats and she kept insisting that there was no way it could work. THERE IS NOTHING ON THE MARKET THAT WILL REPEL FLEAS, she said. Her reasoning was that the veterinary pharmaceutical industry would have patented such a thing and be selling it through vet's offices exclusively if there was such a product, because everyone would want it. I told her that patents cannot be issued on vitamins and that yes they do work and challenged her to find a flea, tick, bite or any flea dirt on my dog right then and there. She finally admitted that there were no signs of fleas, yet she still tried to hard sell me on the products they carried in the office. I could understand that she may never have heard of Flea Treats as they are a small company, but she was so closed-minded. I need to find a holistic vet.

 

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing right, but my pets aren't getting fleas . My parents' cats have fleas, and I take my dogs to visit them all the time. I was pretty sure my dogs would bring fleas home to my cats, so I've been flea combing every day trying to find evidence of fleas before treating them (I have a lot of cats; I want to be SURE before treating!). And nothing. Nada. Not one flea, on cats or dogs. It was the same last year but I thought it was a fluke. Very weird.

I put borax on the carpets once a few years ago, but I don't think it would last this long? Other than that I'm not doing anything.

 

My vet will probably insist it wont work too. He's never even heard of Earthborn food, only Taste of the Wild. I told him that Earthborn is amazing for my cat (gaining weight after 4 years of being severely underweight!) and its the only dry food my dog will actually eat. He looked at me like i was wierd and told me to buy TOTW if i want grain-free. Silly vet.

That being said he will probably give me same look when i mention flea treats. I'll just ask him if he believes Paddy can have brewers yeast and tell him I'll come back if it doesnt work. I like having Paddy and Sandy on organic stuff. Even their shampoos are organic. Earthbath for the cat, some organic dog shampoo i got from a homemade soap store on vacation for the dog. I dont know if there are holistic vets in my area. I know this one is much better than my old one though.

 

I feel like I'm wiring this on every thread. I've been researching coconut oil for skin issues for my pup, research it or fleas because that is one of its benefits. Build up o 1 tsp per day. Melt it and poor it over their food.

 

Solc, are you saying that by ingesting CO, the fleas are repelled by the dog? I can only find references to applying it topically as flea repellent. Can you post a link to some info? I find it interesting because I've recently started adding CO to my dogs' diet. Thanks!

 

I haven't researched it for fleas , I was looking into it for ibs and allergy and remembered seeing flea prevention on some sites. But yes I believe you are right it was a topical treatment, I'm not sure if ingestion would work. When I have more time yo research this week I will look and see if I can find anything else

 

Obviously most of you here realize that flea control must include treating the animal's environment. At the risk of getting flamed, I'll tell you what I did about a brutal flea outbreak in our house about 10 years ago. I went to walmart and bought a half-dozen pump-spray bottles of flea spray containing Permethrin (toxic to cats and you darn sure DO NOT want to spray your dog with it either). I handed a bottle to each family member and assigned each person a couple of rooms. We sprayed carpet, under baseboards, under couch cushions, EVERYWHERE. Turned around 5 days later and did it again. I haven't seen a single flea in ten years. No matter what you use on the dog, this will make your job ten times easier. If you have cats or crawling babies in the house you''ll have to go to plan 'B'

 

my grandma hates smell of coconut, thats why im putting that off as plan b. the flea treats will be plan a since they dont make animals have a smell. timin770 i have a cat.