Impossible fleas

[StadEMS3]

My sisters poor 13yr old long hair Chiwawa can not seam to get rid of fleas. He has chewed himself to where he is losing hair and raw. He has been to the vet and have tried several perscription strength things and it is not working. She's tried Revolution, frontline plus, dips, baths every other night, bombing the house several times. She has 3 cats and hamspters, none of them have fleas. This has been an ongoing thing for years with the Chiwawa even with the previous owner. She is at wits and and feels so bad that she is even thinking about putting him down...Help...

 

[BuddyLee]

PM her.

http://forums.somd.com/members/janey83.html

 

[dawn]

My sisters poor 13yr old long hair Chiwawa can not seam to get rid of fleas. He has chewed himself to where he is losing hair and raw. He has been to the vet and have tried several perscription strength things and it is not working. She's tried Revolution, frontline plus, dips, baths every other night, bombing the house several times. She has 3 cats and hamspters, none of them have fleas. This has been an ongoing thing for years with the Chiwawa even with the previous owner. She is at wits and and feels so bad that she is even thinking about putting him down...Help...

she has tried capstar? That works wonders and kills them on the dog within hours. She still has to treat the carpets and bedding, but it has worked great for me in the past.

 

[frequentflier]

My sisters poor 13yr old long hair Chiwawa can not seam to get rid of fleas. He has chewed himself to where he is losing hair and raw. He has been to the vet and have tried several perscription strength things and it is not working. She's tried Revolution, frontline plus, dips, baths every other night, bombing the house several times. She has 3 cats and hamspters, none of them have fleas. This has been an ongoing thing for years with the Chiwawa even with the previous owner. She is at wits and and feels so bad that she is even thinking about putting him down...Help...

Is she positive it is fleas? There are many reasons a dog could be chewing himself or losing his hair including allergies and thyroid problems. With that much bathing and dipping, I would think the poor thing has extremely dry skin and irritation.
I hope she will try a different vet if the current one is reccommending all of these treatments. If nothing else, I hope she is adding fish or salmon oil to his food along with some plain yogurt or acidolophous.

 

[StadEMS3]

It's fleas for sure, I've seen them myself. Looks like someone poured chocolate sprinkles on him. I've known the dog for years and he has allways been like that even through 3 owners. We feel so bad for him. I'll PM Janey83 and pass along the advice given.

 

[cattitude]

It's fleas for sure, I've seen them myself. Looks like someone poured chocolate sprinkles on him. I've known the dog for years and he has allways been like that even through 3 owners. We feel so bad for him. I'll PM Janey83 and pass along the advice given.

If the dog has them, you can bet the cats do too. Is she treating everyone for fleas? Fleas spend relatively little time on the pets so she probably has an infestation in her house.

Poor dog. Sounds like he has numerous issues, one of which is fleas.

 

[Cowgirl]

I'd take the animals out of the house for an afternoon and flea bomb the house, but first, pick up all dog beds, blankets, etc. and put them in the wash. After the house has been bombed, give all the animals Capstar before returning them to the house. Use a flea comb on all animals and get all the dead fleas/eggs off them. Then treat all the animals with Advantage (I've tried Frontline and had no luck with it). Stop washing the dog so often, and just use the flea comb if you see any on the dog. This spring, when it warms up, put Malathion or another insect killer on the lawn.

 

[whome20603]

It's fleas for sure, I've seen them myself. Looks like someone poured chocolate sprinkles on him. I've known the dog for years and he has allways been like that even through 3 owners. We feel so bad for him. I'll PM Janey83 and pass along the advice given.

She's needs to take the dog to the vet to get "dipped" and have someone come in, while the dog's not there, and treat the house...carpets, furniture, drapes and definitely anywhere the dog lays. The day after the house is treated, vacuum like you've never vacuumed before and be sure to empty the bag immediately and away from the house (put it in the outside trashcan or something)...the vacuum can be a breeding ground for hatching eggs. Also, she might have to have the house treated a couple times. I used to work at a pest control company and in extreme cases like this you really do need to be thorough and persistent.

Good luck, I feel bad for the family and the poor wittle pooch

 

[SoMDGirl42]

My sisters poor 13yr old long hair Chiwawa can not seam to get rid of fleas. He has chewed himself to where he is losing hair and raw. He has been to the vet and have tried several perscription strength things and it is not working. She's tried Revolution, frontline plus, dips, baths every other night, bombing the house several times. She has 3 cats and hamspters, none of them have fleas. This has been an ongoing thing for years with the Chiwawa even with the previous owner. She is at wits and and feels so bad that she is even thinking about putting him down...Help...

I agree with the others with bombing etc, but I'm amazed no one has bashed you yet.

for future reference, it's Chihuahua, assuming we are talking about the little dog with buggy eyes.

 

[StadEMS3]

I agree with the others with bombing etc, but I'm amazed no one has bashed you yet.

for future reference, it's Chihuahua, assuming we are talking about the little dog with buggy eyes.

I know, I'm sure bashing will come now since you mentioned it. Thanx for the spelling correction, I Googled it and that was the first thing that came up.

 

[animalluvr4life]

when my dog had fleas we gave her a bath in dawn dish detergent when we first noticed them as they said that would help kill the fleas and it did somewhat. Then after I got her the confrontis (sp)from the vet (that is the pill that they use on dogs now to kill fleas instead of capstar) we gave it to her. The next am I moved every animal and myself out and I bombed my place and then vaccummed it really good a few hours later like the instructions said on the bomb. I also washed everything the dog laid on from all my bedding including matteris (sp) pad and dust ruffle and i sprayed down my matteris (sp) with flea killing stuff too and did my couch and her dog beds everything was washed in hotwater and soap and if I had stuff that was whites it got bleached. That night i brought them all back home and haven't seen a flea since.

I am also very good about making sure the dog gets her heartworm pill and flea meds every month too as I think my dog is allergic to fleas.

I use frontline what does everyone else use for fleas and ticks as last summer even though i treated the dog with flea and tick stuff she still got ticks and it took 3 of us to get the ticks off of her as shes a fighter.