Best Medicine for Fleas on Dogs

[Lightning57]

I need to know what is a good product to control fleas on indoor dogs and hopefully can be purchased over the counter in the US. Any advice?

[EllenDeKnitter]

Lightning57 For immediate relief (no fleas in 24 hours) try Bayer Advantus. For long-term prevention, Bayer K9 Advantix II.

Read the label carefully. One is dangerous to cats.

Our dog is allergic to flea saliva (? or some such weirdness). If we visit people and he gets fleas his skin goes bananas and he gets hot spots everywhere. The Advantus provides immediate, overnight relief - like magic. And we've had no ill effects from either medicine.

Good luck!

[Lightning57]

Thanks. Do I need a prescription for this brand?

[EllenDeKnitter]

I buy it off Amazon, no prescription needed.

[love2knit]

If I bathe my dogs I cut BLUE Dawn in half and use that to lather them up. Hunters swear by it for their dogs. Hey if it is good for ducklings why not dogs?

[Lightning57]

Thanks for the replies. I went to the vet and bought the needed deworming medicine and flea chewies.

[Hellokitten]

The flea pill was great. When my dog was still alive we switched over to that because we had a problem with fleas is the yard. Brought in by squirrels. We also had the pest control company spray something in yard to break the flea cycle.

[SmiLeaN]

Sprinkle Borax into the carpet, brush it in with a broom, leave it to work on the fleas a couple hours (maybe overnight), then vacuum. You'll need to do it for a couple of weeks (because of the life cycle). I had a dog with a flea allergy. It helped more than anything else.

[lovestostitch]

Lightning57 - There are so many toxic medications out there for flea and tick prevention. You have to consider the effect on your dog as well as the humans that touch your dog. I don't touch other people's dogs because I don't know if they use one of the liquid treatments that is applied to the dog's shoulder blades. That medication goes into their oil glands and is excreted regularly. Even if you bathe your dog, he/she will get a new dose from their glands. This means if you pet your dog, you are getting insecticide on your hands. Really scary to think people with children are using those products. I found this out by talking to the technical help at one of the medication manufacturers. My vet had no idea how the stuff worked.

I finally made the decision to use Sentinel. It is a heartworm and flea oral medication. I don't like giving it to my dogs but it seems the safest of the options. It does not control ticks. I have been using it for years with no problems.

This year, my new vet gives me the scare lecture that ticks are terrible this year and I should protect my dogs. We do go camping so I was worried. My vet suggested NexGard. I bought one pill for each dog. It was super expensive. After a week and no reaction, I ordered a box for each dog. Before the medication even arrived, both of my dogs started exhibiting symptoms. My active dog laid down in the grass and didn't want to walk. I had to carry her home from our walk. She also had the shakes. Then my other dog got the shakes really bad and wouldn't get out of bed. This dog, who always wants to eat, would not get out of bed to eat and wouldn't eat when I brought her a treat. I was afraid she was going to die. Fortunately, both dogs survived. I contacted the manufacturer to report the bad reaction. They told me to never give the medication to them again. When I told my vet, she said she didn't think it was from the medication because it didn't happen right away. She is totally wrong. I read a medical study that showed that dogs have reactions weeks later and some will not show symptoms until their second dose. I'm done with taking vet's advice. I will do my own research and say a firm no to all their money making suggestions.

[susanwayne]

For what it is worth, I had several cats years and years and years ago and came up with a flea infestation. I can't remember what the Vet gave me but I remembered this advice: He had me ad mothballs to my vacuum cleaner bag. Every time you vacuum the fleas and/or eggs are picked up and they expire in the bag. The odor of the mothballs (or flakes) dissipates in a few minutes, it does not linger. They may even have nicer smelling ones now. I had pets for many years after that, dogs and cats and never had another flea issue. They were indoor and outdoor pets.