Fleas, Fleas and More Fleas

Ok so if you know me, I've been dealing with fleas for the past 4 summers now, ever since I let in a neighborhood dog instead of being tied up in 100 degree heat. I've fought and fought and tried everything under the sun.  Well I think I've become an expert really.  With the weather having been so hot and not having had a winter really at all, the little fleas have not died.  AT ALL!! They are crazy bad and worse this year.  I've tried everything from spraying my dogs with apple cider vinegar, lemon water and lavendar to Frontline, generic stuff.  Everything!  My poor Yorkie, Riley got 3 baths in two days cuz I would lose the little f*cker  in his coat and not be able to find it  They are so very hard to kill and the flea comb just wasn't doing it for me.  So what works you ask?  Two things only really.  Comfortis, which is a pill you get from the vet and Advantix Plus.  Those are the only things that work for me.  The Comfortis is anywhere between $15 to $17 per pill depending on the size of your dog but it kills any fleas on them within 4 hours and then if anything jumps on them within about 30 minutes I think, but don't quote me on that.  Needless to say they DIE!!!

Now Advantix Plus is a topical flea killer and that works the same way.  But it generally seems to keep them away and repels them along with other bugs like ticks and mosquitoes, which carry Lyme disease (ticks) and can cause heartworms (mosquitoes). Also helps to repel flies too. Now you can buy 4 month supply for $45 on Drs. Foster and Smith's website or I found it cheapest at Pet Supplies Plus.  But here was my dilemma. All 3 dogs are different weights. So I was smart and looked up how much was in each of the sizes for my dogs.  My 5 lb Yorkie was .03, Sampson at 15 lbs was .08 and Cody at 26 lbs  was .13.  So I got the one for Cody's weight and then distributed one vial between the other two dogs accordingly. Hey saves me money right?!!?  Now if you have other animals like I do, cats, neither of these will work on cats.  TOXIC!! So please, don't put any of these on your cats.  The Frontline seems to work fine for the cats.  Be very careful of generic brands though.  I put some on my oldest female cat, Delilah, and she ended up having a bald spot there.  It's growing back and you really can't tell but she looked very funny for a while with naked skin back there..lol.  I know, not nice to laugh!

So have you had problems with fleas? What have you used?  Feel free to share!  Thanks and have a purr-fectly pawsome day!