# Help, my goats have fleas!!



## erinem

I know, I know.... goats aren't supposed to get fleas. Trust me, these are definitely fleas.
Up until a couple months ago, I had never even seen a flea on my dog. Then, all of the sudden he was covered in them, despite being on monthly Frontline. Increasing his Frontline to every 3 weeks combined with strategic bathing has kept the fleas off the dog for the most part, but I still regularly have a few jump onto me while walking around the yard (Gross!). My best guess is that my neighbor's dogs are the ones keeping the fleas thriving. Since my yard is also my goats' pasture, I didn't spray it for fleas for fear of harming the goats. 
Anyway, a few days ago I started noticing that the two babies seem to always be itchy. Yesterday, I finally held them down and gave them a thorough examination. They are crawling with fleas! Both of them have pale mucous membranes, and since I've seen puppies and kittens on death's doorstep from flea anemia, I'd really like to get this under control as soon as possible. 
So, what can I safely use on the babies to kill the fleas? Is there anything I can spray on my yard that will kill the fleas without hurting the goats?


----------



## ksalvagno

I know Dawn dish soap works on fleas. I'm really not sure if Ivomec or any of those other products actually work on fleas. Maybe someone else will know. I'm also not sure what to spray on the pasture since I would think any type of chemical would be bad.

Actually, I wonder if Frontline Spray would work on the goats. I have no idea how safe it is for goats but I do use it on my alpacas for mites.


----------



## Calliopia

There are several  -ectin wormers available for dogs to treat fleas so they should work for goats. 

 I have used Selemectin and Ivermectin interchangeably to treat fleas/mites in dogs.  And I'm just remembering off the top of my head so I could have it backwards but I think Selemectin is Revolution and Ivermectin is Frontline? Maybe.


----------



## Ariel301

You can use a permethrin repellent spray on the goats, or permethrin dog shampoo designed to kill fleas. The spray is sold as flea spray for pets or fly spray for horses. I used it to get lice off my goats and it works good.


----------



## tiffanyh

I prefer advantage to frontline for fleas. Frontline covers all but advantage targets only fleas and in my years at the vets using it on kittens and strays with flea anemia....it works great. Now, I have never used it on a goat, but I have used it on squirrels, groundhogs and other animals...............


----------

