Fleas...and Christmas

[foohpah]

A few week ago we found some fleas on our labradoodle - not sure where she picked them up at - the groomers, neighbor's cat that roams our backyard, dog in the yard behind us - I guess it really does not matter. We have had dogs for 20 years and never had an issue before - it has completely creeped me out. It was late enough in the year that we had not treated her for a while with the Frontline (usually just treat her in the spring/summer). I immediately treated her with Frontline and started a massive cleaning/vacuuming process in our house. A week later and she seemed to have even more fleas - the Frontline was obviously not working at all. I started treating her with Capstar which worked very well, flea/tick shampoo and we continued to vacuum and launder all bedding, blankets, etc. and treated the carpets with borax. We went out of town for Thanksgiving for a few days which means the vacuuming did not happen - when we got back a few fleas were trying to jump up on us. I got a prescription for NexGard for our dog so we did not have to treat her with Capstar daily, we steam cleaned our carpets, we are vacuuming floors and furniture constantly, laundering everything in the house and treating with some chemical sprays. We have not noticed any fleas for almost a week now and we will keep up with our crazy cleaning/laundry regimen for many, many weeks/months. My concern now is Christmas - I am afraid to put up our tree and ornaments - not only will trying to vacuum around it all be a giant pain daily but I am concerned a renegade flea that has survived could somehow get in the tree or on a decoration, we put it up at the end of the season and the next thing we know it is flea-pocolypse in our garage and storage areas. I hate to spray all of our stuff with the chemicals. My kids are upset at the thought of not decorating like normal - I have put it off in hopes of feeling better about things but I am still creeped out. Does anyone have any experience with dealing with fleas this time of year? I am going crazy!

 

[PollyannaMom]

I dont think they can live long without a host, so I wouldn't worry about them breeding in the Christmas decorations. But my sympathies on all the hassle lately!

 

[sonnyjane]

I dont think they can live long without a host, so I wouldn't worry about them breeding in the Christmas decorations. But my sympathies on all the hassle lately!

I wish that were true, but some fleas can live up to two months without eating! That said, I don't think the OP should forego decorating for Christmas.

 

[bjscheel]

Yeah, we don't skip winter treatments on the animals anymore! Is the dog clear of fleas now? I would go ahead with the tree, etc. since you have not been seeing them and just clean as best you can. Maybe you can wait another week or ten days and see if you continue to not find fleas before getting the tree out.

One thing we did to check for fleas was leave a bowl of soapy water on the carpet with a lamp shining directly on it- they will jump to the light and drown in the soapy water (not plain water- they can sit on top of that). We stopped seeing any after the 2nd professional treatment.

 

[Lady Marie]

Unfortunately I have a LOT of experience with this. We got fleas in our condo this time last year.

Honestly, the best advice we got was from the vet who said quit trying to do this on your own and pay the professional pest control to come in and fumigate. We had been trying to treat on our own and were into month 2 with nothing getting better. Fleas are a nightmare because of the life cycle. The eggs can survive for months without a host or food. The pest control came twice to make sure they got all the life stages (this follow up treatment is usually included in their quote). We had to take the cat and all the food items and food bowls out of the house, and I was TWITCHING at the idea of putting chemicals all over our house. But the thought of living with fleas that we couldn't get rid of made me pull the trigger chemically treat.

So glad we did!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yeah, you found out the hard way that the topical flea treatments just aren't effective any more.

We've had them before and the few we missed seemed to die out in the winter. I never felt like I had to be perfect with it. I just know that when you do have a problem, you need an all out attack on 3 fronts: pets, house and yard. All at the same time.

If you haven't had a hard freeze yet, you might want to treat your yard. We treated our cat and yard at the same time once a month since spring and had very good luck this year. Unfortunately, she won't tolerate the new oral tablets, so topical treatments are all we can use on her.

 

[Poohlove]

My dog had fleas about 6 years ago. As soon as I discovered them I did exactly as you are doing now, vacuuming and laundering everything every day. She is not allowed on the furniture and we had hardwood floors so that made life a little easier but even now just thinking about it I panic Fleas like to hide in dark protected spaces so I made sure to concentrate my vacuuming where the trim met the floor especially in corners and emptied my vacuum canister outside in the trashcan as soon as I was done.

I wouldn't worry too much about decorating, just leave space between the tree and the wall so you can vacuum the baseboards. Once you take the decorations down if they are sealed in plastic containers by the time you get them out again any stragglers should be dead, unless they are survivalists

 

[mom2rtk]

My dog had fleas about 6 years ago. As soon as I discovered them I did exactly as you are doing now, vacuuming and laundering everything every day. She is not allowed on the furniture and we had hardwood floors so that made life a little easier but even now just thinking about it I panic Fleas like to hide in dark protected spaces so I made sure to concentrate my vacuuming where the trim met the floor especially in corners and emptied my vacuum canister outside in the trashcan as soon as I was done.

I wouldn't worry too much about decorating, just leave space between the tree and the wall so you can vacuum the baseboards. Once you take the decorations down if they are sealed in plastic containers by the time you get them out again any stragglers should be dead, unless they are survivalists

Survivalist fleas....... I think they call those cockroaches.

 

[mya1k9]

I've never dealt with fleas but feel your pain. My kids came home with lice, the most awful experience ever. I threw away so much stuff and washed everything, it was an absolute nightmare, I wish you sanity, I'm sorry for the flea problem!!!!

 

[Poohlove]

Survivalist fleas....... I think they call those cockroaches.

Lol, that's true

 

[low-key]

I have nothing to add but the title of this thread is very original

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We've only experienced fleas twice but it was a major pain both times. The last time it happened, which was several years back now, I'm sure my dog got them at the groomer's when I was delayed picking her up. (I never went back there and we never had fleas again.) But basically we went through all you're going through and wound up having to bomb the house, and that took care of the problem. If I recall, we went out for the day, and covered everything up as best we could. Good luck. I would bomb, wait a few days, then put up your decorations.

PS a friend of mine is going through this now, she's trying to avoid bombing or calling in pest control. She's tried just about every all-natural remedy out there and nothing has helped so far.