Monday, October 25, 2010

Oh Fleas....

This is kind of an embarrassing post, but its something I know we've all had to deal with at one time or another. In the 8 years I've owned a dog, this is the second time they've gotten fleas. Still... telling someone you have fleas in your house somehow implies that you don't clean or are a dirty person. 


However that indeed is the case in my home. Back in July, Pompei came in contact with the little buggers and they have given him a run for his money, one really bad skin infection and an expensive vet trip later we were loaded up with antibiotics and medicated shampoos for the infection. We also put him on Comfortis since Frontline and Sentinel were doing no good. 

Bubbles and Texas were on Frontline as well, but I put them on Advantage Multi after spotting a flea on Texas. I take no chances. I thought we were good. All dogs were medicated Pompei's infection was clearing up, school was keeping me busy and I hadn't noticed any fleas lingering on the dogs. 


Pompei's shampoo treatment requires me to bathe him every three days, I have to leave the shampoo on him for about 10 minutes before rinsing him off. I really can't tell you who has more fun during this 20 minute ordeal. Actually I can, that would be Texas who sits whining by the tub wanting to get in too. (If I let him, he'd sit in the tub with Pompei and I while i bathe Pompei. Don't let that last picture fool you, he likes his baths...)

Anyway as I was massaging the shampoo into his skin, I noticed something run for cover. NO. PLEASE? NO! It was indeed a nasty little flea, I quickly squashed it and glanced down in time to see another floating towards the drain. Hmph. But I didn't think too much about it since, I mean he was medicated, and I'm sure these fleas were going to die anyway. Right....right?


A little later, curled up in bed with a book I thought I felt something jump on me, but chalked it up to my imagination at seeing the fleas earlier. It wasn't until the little perp landed on my book did I freak out. Seriously? Fleas in my BED!? How am I supposed to sleep now?  I grabbed my phone and googled "natural flea repellents" and got some tips for ridding my house of fleas, cause I refuse to do the "bomb" route. Too much work. Hassel. Etc.


What I found:
  • Salt 
  • Baking Soda
  • Apple Cider Vineager + Water
  • Earl Grey Tea
  • Vacuum Cleaner
  • Washing Machine 
  • Lots of Work.
Yay.

So if you don't "see" me around the intraweb much this week. Know this. 

I'm Cleaning.

Erin and company
PS -If anyone would like to write my paper for me while I do this it would be greatly appreciated!!

10 comments:

Ally and Eclipse said...

Fleas are not fun! Since Eclipse has horrible flea allergies we are always on the lookout for a flea preventative that works GREAT! (He's so allergic just one flea bite will make him itch for days and he'll get scabs everywhere) The thing we've found works best is Advantix so far. Good luck, they're no fun!

Carrie and Waffle said...

not sure if it works, but a friend of mine tried some apple cider in their water as well as lavender. That might be a good idea for your bed!

put commet (with borax in it) in your vacuum bag and vacuum your rugs a lot. (The borax sticks to them and kills them)and lastly buy a flea comb.

We get them every now and again due to the cats in the yard and I have found that constant flea combing (twice a day) helps keep them down. If you have a really bad infestation I've helped a friend spray malathon in her backyard to keep her dog from being re infested.

good luck

houndstooth said...

I have heard that fleas are really bad this year, and I believe it. We had our first flea sighting here, too. It wasn't long after we brought Morgan home, so I don't know if that played into it or not, but we've been very vigilant about treating for fleas, ticks and heartworm. We only saw one, but that was enough to freak me out! I feel your pain!

Doxie Rod said...

i have heard fleas are awful this year! i hope that is the reason because we too are battling the fleas. i pray we both win our battles!

Beyond the Dog Dish said...

Sorry but the flea jumping on your book did make me *giggle*. Hope you and your pups get relief soon

JacksDad said...

Oh my! We're very lucky in that we haven't run into fleas or ticks yet!!

I hope you get rid of all of them very very quick!

the Comedy Centre~ said...

wow they are excellent if they work,
anything that is not chemical is soo much better.
please follow my funny dog blog as I am sure I will have some things now or soon that are sure to make you laugh~
bless you,
Robert~

Unknown said...

Oh we're so sorry to hear about the fleas attack! Fleas are actually a common problem over here as we are in a tropical country. So we have to give Eva Frontline Combo every 1 1/2 months in order to prevent her from getting any fleas.

Sandra said...

That is terrible. Fleas gross me out too. In FL we always kept up their Frontline, but mostly as a precaution since they never got fleas. A totally different story now that we are in VA and they have a yard to run around in and trails to hike. Now we can't be even one day late on the frontline, or the fleas start moving in. They totally give me the creepers too!

Sandra

3 doxies said...

Puddles mum here...
This has been an issue I delt with recently. I found ONE flea on Puddles and it FREAKED me out as well (she had just come in from outside). I called the vet and he said that the flea population this year is the worst it has been in YEARS! okay, fastforward....found one on Albert and then I was just plain MAD.
We had thought of switching their flea meds but according to the vet what they are on is THE BEST one around because it is so new and fleas haven't developed a resistance to it yet. We had to treat our yard. But, we have a smaller yard. And then we used a flea shampoo too.
One thing the vet said to do was to give the dogs a capstar right before we treated the yard so nothing would be contaminted.
Hope this helps some. Oh and they are on Vectra for flea control.

Allison