Puppies Everywhere -- Oh Dear!!! The last One

[babsbag]

The weather got cold here, so I figured I won't treat them for fleas in the winter months. Big mistake (even though this worked for us in the past).

This is exactlly what happened to me. I have never had my outdoor dogs have a flea issue in the winter. And is has been colder here this year than normal. You just never know how nature is going to trick you.

I will let you know how we resolve this and I will check out the collar on Petco, thanks for the link.

 

[Grazer]

I agree....and I am like you, I thought I would give them a break from the chemicals during the winter months.
Seems we got lucky in the past..
It is really unfortunate that in your case and in our case, not only did our dogs ended up having fleas in winter, but the ones allergic to flea bites, ended up with Hot Spots as well.
Hopefully neither our dog or yours will ever have Hot Spots again.

 

[babsbag]

So far I have shaved it and applied some neosporin. It doesn't look as bad as I thought, but she sure doesn't want it touched.

I don't think the pillow would live up to farm life. She is still patrolling and climbs through rungs on gates as her way to get from field to field. Plus I would be worried that it might lay on a puppy.

If it looks like she is still pestering it I guess it will be the bitter apple spray and see if that works. I know that keeping her from chewing is the most important part of healing.

 

[secuono]

Dawn dish soap kills fleas, ticks and mites. Use a flea comb and get it all out, dirt, fleas w/e is loose there. Clean it, dry it and maybe put something she hates licking on it. "Bitter apple" spray junk doesn't work, a few dogs it works on, but mine like to eat it from the bottle and it's never worked for anyone I know.
Bathe her in dawn, get the soap around her neck up near the ears, long before you even wet the dog. Fleas will travel to the head and you will not get rid of them at all if you do it any other way.
You'll have to clean the bedding and all that, but out there, you'll have to hope the fleas won't bother the pups until you can put flea meds on them.
If the pups do get fleas and just combing them doesn't help, use Dawn and bathe them, totally safe.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Whenever we had an animal come into the vet hospital I worked at with a bad case of fleas the first thing we'd do is bathe them in Dawn. We always put frontline or something else on right after.

Have you heard of Comfortis? It's a chewable tablet that kills fleas and prevents them from reproducing. I am not a fan of feeding any animals poison, and I don't know if the fleas would travel off mama onto the babies, but it could be worth looking into; nothing easier than just giving a "treat"!

 

[babsbag]

I will have to look Comfortis up, never heard of it. I wonder if it is safe for lactating dogs; does it go through into their milk?

In the past I have bathed pups with baby shampoo and it did a pretty good job too. I did see a few fleas on the babies, but not as many as I feared. I will keep on top of that as they grow, and with worming too.

The hot spot on mom is scabbing over. I just can't give her an entire bath. It is freezing cold out there and she has never been in the house so no hot water. I will use the flea comb again tomorrow. She doesn't seem to be biting at it like she was so maybe cleaning it and brushing the flea gunk out of the area has made her feel better.

I always feel like a failed pet owner when this stuff happens. I was just so paranoid about making her sick while she was pregnant.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

You are not a failed pet owner! It's better to be safe than sorry! (Even if safe means having a couple fleas!) I feel the same way with my goats right now, them being preggers and all. I had one who I think reabsorbed last year because of a supposedly safe dewormer, and a local breeder had the same thing happen to her! This year I am not giving anything I don't absolutely have to... just to be safe!

 

[babsbag]

Ahhh thanks for the hugs.

I see posts all the time where someone has a sick goat or chicken and they immediately think worms and run to the wormers. I won't give a wormer to a sick animal UNLESS I know they are sick from the worms. I won't even worm my dogs and cats the same month I give them flea treatment. I just really believe that it is a form of poison. If it kills the worm and the flea what does it do to the animal that is hosting the worm or flea? I know that the FDA has studied these meds and declared them safe but I am sure that there is an element of expendability when it comes to testing meds for animals. After are "they are just an animal", right??

I usually treat for fleas every 3 months, heartworms every two (April-October), and tape worms when I see them. I worm my goats when they need it. Luckily I have a friend that will do fecals for me for free.

Better safe than sorry. But in spite of all of that I don't feed organic and I don't feed my pets raw. One of the things I learned in puppy class 6 years ago was what to look for in a pet food, so I do read labels and look for the best.

 

[Southern by choice]

Comfortis is really good... works for 30 days. I also don't like any junk but sometimes you have to weigh everything out. :/
Fleas are fleas... doesn't mean anything but that. Has nothing to do with you!

Any dish soap will work... the key is allowing the suds to stay on the animal for 2o-30 minutes to suffocate the fleas. In a bad infestation or even in a mild one.. fleas are sneaky lil boogers. They will, as soon as you wet the animal down, climb into ear canals, up the nose, in the eye sockets, and anus. Only to come out later, hence the sudsing... they get trapped when they come out. It is a very successful way to rid the animal of the pests but it ends there. DE is good to put in bedding, also boric acid. Most topicals, like frontline and advantix just don't work in our area.

I'm sure you already know this but at 5-6 weeks start worming the pups, also check for tapeworm which comes from fleas. Worm momma then too!

 

[Grazer]

I agree, Comfortis is by far the best flea treatment we have tried out.
It starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. They then literally just fall dead.
None of the topicals we have tried seemed to be effective, it's like the fleas have become resistant to them.

But to quote what I said in one of my previous posts:

According to their webpage "The safe use of Comfortis in breeding, pregnant, or lactating cats and dogs has not been evaluated"

So give your vet a call and ask them if you can give your nursing female that and what you should administrate to puppies that are so young.

As others have mentioned, a lot of breeders that have flea problems will use Dawn to bath and then comb (with flea combs) the puppies until they are old enough to be treated with chemical flea treatments.

Has anyone heard of Critter Oil? I have no experience with it (yet), but a lot of people seem to swear by it.
It is a natural flea and tick repellant and apparently it can be used on puppies older than 3 weeks: http://naturalsforanimals.com/critter-oil/critter-oil-ingredients/ & http://critteroil.com/uses-directions/

When our animals had fleas, the dogs were given Comfortis, but it was yet to be approved for cats. The vet told us our cat will have to wait 2 more weeks.
So we decided not to give her any more chemical flea treatments until we could give her the Comfortis.
The cat was treated with a topical previously, but it did not work. Since my cat absolutely hates getting wet, we tried Diatomaceous Earth on her.
Diatomaceous Earth is fairly cheap and lasts a really long time, but it did not work for us. The fleas kept multiplying...and we were so relieved when she was finally allowed to take her Comfortis.