[narcout]

Every summer, my dog gets fleas.  Neither Advantage nor Frontline seem to be doing much - unless they're just preventing an even worse situation from occurring.

Do you all just resign yourselves to your dogs having fleas during the summer, or is there some magic cure I'm not aware of?

[majorvices]

My dogs never get fleas now that I don't live in the city anymore. ticks, OTOH, are a problem.

[denny]

Advantage works great for both our dogs and our cats. 

[tschmidlin]

Frontline works for our dog, no problems with either fleas or ticks.

[gymrat]

Some fleas have built up a resistance to both. The Banter vets, who are somehow associated with petsmart have some stuff that works in those cases. Just remember they sell it but petsmart does not.

[jaybeerman]

Our dogs haven't had fleas, but have you tried neem oil shampoo?  Do a google search and you might find some info

[punatic]

We use this: Cedarcide

[tubercle]

  The lovely and talented Ms. Tubercle, who makes her spending money as a vet tech, said to tell everyone that the best treatment is with a capstar tablet, which will kill the fleas on the animal in ~30 minutes, and then treat with frontline on a regular schedule.

http://www.medi-vet.com/Capstar.html

 My grandpa rubbed his rabbit dogs down with used motor oil but I can't really reccommend that

[gordonstrong]

Do they play bass?  You could just ask them to crank it up.

[fatdogale]

Every summer, my dog gets fleas.  Neither Advantage nor Frontline seem to be doing much - unless they're just preventing an even worse situation from occurring.

Do you all just resign yourselves to your dogs having fleas during the summer, or is there some magic cure I'm not aware of?

We had Fleabusters come treat our house (carpets and the dogs bed), and that was the end of the problem for us.  I think it cost a little over $100, but this was 20 years ago.  Different house now, and different dog, who thankfully hasn't had fleas.

[punatic]

  The lovely and talented Ms. Tubercle, who makes her spending money as a vet tech, said to tell everyone that the best treatment is with a capstar tablet, which will kill the fleas on the animal in ~30 minutes, and then treat with frontline on a regular schedule.

http://www.medi-vet.com/Capstar.html

Neonicotinoids are suspected to contribute to colony collapse disorder in bees, and their use has been suspended in several European countries.

[bluesman]

I use advantix for the dogs and Frontline for the felines. Have not had a single flea in over a decade.

Although there is one flea, slappin' from time to time in the house, and that's the flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gs2o5T7oN8

[richardt]

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/191907.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_toxicity_to_bees

While that may be true for neonicotinoids used in agricultural settings (e.g., as a foliar spray), given its stability, method of application (how can bees not come into contact with it?), and tendency to runoff into water supply, etc., I think the use of a small amount in pill form (i.e., Capstar) for the occasional pet with fleas has a lot less potential to harm unintended insects.

[ccarlson]

I find it interesting that many of the people advocating organic gardening in other threads, are the same ones saying that they put topical flea treatments on their pets which can cause liver damage.

[pinnah]

I find it interesting that many of the people advocating organic gardening in other threads, are the same ones saying that they put topical flea treatments on their pets which can cause liver damage.

You don't eat your pets 





I find it interesting that the strong Gordon posted up an early pic of Flea.




My dogs itch occasionally, and my wife snaps one up from time to time, but we don't worry over it too much.