UGH...Rose has Fleas!!!! - Page 1

She is on day 53 of gestation.  I put Seven Dust on her today, with the intent to bath her next Wednesday (and pray she does not whelp before then).

Any other suggestions? 

She has been sleeping in the Welping bed, so I cannot treat it.   Will simply washing everything take care of the fleas?  Can I add Adam's flea treatment to the wash and still use it for the puppies?

Side note, she is due for her Heart Worm meds on the 14th (day 61), is it ok to give it to her then or should I give it this weekend?  The meds are the type that it is ok to give during pregnancy.

I probably should have added.....

We live in the country and in Texas, US.......With as warm of a winter we had, fleas are no surprise, just a pain at this stage.

  I live in Texas also on three acres that I keep treated with several methods.

Son in law sprayed my whole acres 2 yrs ago ...I use DE in kennels in flower beds., on my dogs and in and around the fence where the  NON human neighbors have a tribe of dogs and cats running rampant.

I use  Adams Flea spray on the ears of all my adult dogs to ward off flies.

I use odo ban in my kennels on the concrete floors...no bugs and no ants..


I do not allow any dogs on my premises I do not know or are sure the owner has a flea proof dog.

AS of this minute, I got rid of the neighbor dog running fence line full of fleas and I put DE along that fence.

I also put out Sulfur around many places for the COpperheads...NOT SEEN ONE  YET...


Holding breathe....BOOTS ON NOW EVERY NIGHT.

i QUIT USING FRONTLINE LONG AGO AND I DO KEEP Advantage in drawer but  do not want to use it.

I put Seven dust around the dogs nursery and around floweres and on my patio...10% and as pups get older about 5 weeks old you may use seven dust  5 % on the bedding.

not as newborns.

no chemicals on pg girl until she is birthed.  DE HAS  to be FOOD grade..only...make sure bags of DE say FOOD GRADE on front of bag..Sprinkle DE  on your female after whelping and a pinch in her food..

PUPS will not be harmed if they lick it....if FOOD GRADE but, you must be careful as it is SILT..AND DANGEROUS TO BREATHE ..

do not use in excess in dog kennel or place where the pups are..

I wish you had no fleas as with birthing it is a hard thing to remedy without harming pups.

YOUR whole place has to be flea debugged..to get rid of them successfully and with babies I have no answer for you...until the pups are older.

USE seven and DE, THE ONLY  two things I know except Garlic that ward them off..EVen THE AVON  lotion is not safe for pups..

YR

Yea, finally got a hold of the vet.  She said wash the Seven off ASAP as it will be absorbed into the body and could hurt the pups....so needless to say we just got out of a long bath.

I am washing all bedding.

I treated the yard 3 weeks ago with sulfur and seven....Guess it did not take care of everything.

Can I treat the yard again this weekend?  It will be at least 4 weeks before the puppies go outside.  Is that enough time for the toxines to go away?

Where can I get DE?

 FD:
 Any good Feed store...the larger ones usually have food grade in larger bags...cheaper..

  here is a link of what it is and the correct spelling of it...

http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/DE-Diatomaceous-Earth-50lb
I buy mine in Tyler at Southlands feed...40 LB BAG OF FOOD GRADE IS $ 23.86
That price was before christmas and do not buy any with other things in it..you want  DIATOMACEOUS EARTH...FOOD GRADE>..

Read different links on the IE SEARCH

  The pups do not go outside but remember MOM has to walk all over as she has to poop, potty and her pads on her feet she will lick  so I have no knowledge of anything that would work.

I have used seven dust not the liquid or spray...the DUST WILL NOT HARM YOUR DOG NOR THE PUPS..SO THE  VET MUST NOT KNOW IT was dust..

BUT being pg   you definately would want to wait until all are born and are at least  3 or 4 weeks old..

ALso the recent rains just washed all of your hard work with seven and sulfur down the street..into the ditches..

YR

DE is perfectly safe in fact we humans take a tsp every day and pups and mom can have it added to their diet...research about it for your own knowledge.

 

You can wash her in DAWN dish detergent, soak her in it for about 10 minues and then rinse, rinse, rinse till you feel no soap on her at all.  (But not on her face, use only puppy tearless shampoo on her head.) Dawn breaks the oily coat on the flea's exoskeletion and drowns them, But is safe to use on animals. But since dawn is a serious degreaser, you may want to rinse her after the dawn with a doog pet conditioner to pervent her getting dry skin. I was a groomer for 10 years and if we were out of flea shampoo or needed to get a really, really dirty dog clean we used dawn. Then we did a second bath in good quality pet shampoo to help keep the skin moist.
Actually any pet shampoo left on for abotu 10 to 15 minutes will drown fleas. But you still have to get rid of fleas in the home.
Good luck fleas are a pain to get rid of.

   Yes DAWN


   THANKS   Dragonfly:    I couldnot think of anything but garlic, citrinella and  orange peel that does ward off fleas.

    Dawn is what you wash your pups with also before they go home to their new homes..

    EXHIBITORS at the AKC shows own a portion of Dawn STOCK>>>lol


YR

great advice all.  I actually bought some non-toxic spray in Austin that smells like mint a number of years ago.  I am going to try to find it.

Luckly, I have no carpets in my home and I will do a full clean this weekend.  Hopefully with that and a discouragement will help prevent it from being a real pain.

thanks again everyone one

(by the way, I see the puppies move daily now.  It is so cool)

Personally I would never give any kind of heart worming meds to a pregnant dog or a dog nursing a young litter.  The earliest I would give heartworm meds to the dam is when the pups are 4 weeks. 

Pennyroyal is also very effective to chasing fleas off a dog, it smells lovely to people but fleas really hate it.  I wouldn't have it around very young pups though because it may cause them respiratory issues. 

Capstar has been one of my best friends in fighting fleas.  There are no known side effects.  It is safe to give daily.   I've dealt with fleas a few times, but never at the same time as pregnant dam/puppies.  

My personal program for killing fleas inside the house with pet-safe methods are as followed:

Bathe all the pets (other posters recommendations for bathing are good)

Anything that can be washed in soap and hot water, wash it!
Use a steamer furniture if you can, especially in the cracks or under the cushions.

Flea eggs, larvae and pupae are VERY hard to kill.  The life cycle of a flea can be as short as 2 weeks and as long as 2 years.  This is all very dependent upon the environment that it is in.  Warmth, humidity and on-going activity around the flea eggs and pupae will encourage the flea eggs and pupae to hatch/emerge quickly. 
It is my understanding that powdered salt is the most effective non-toxic flea killer, even more so than DE, and it can kill some flea eggs too.   Since flea eggs have a teflon-like coating and don't stick to anything they will go where gravity takes them, so they are most likely to be found on the floor and in the cracks of the floor. 
Sprinkle the powdered salt on the floor, especially around the baseboards, under furniture, in the cracks of the floor and let it sit for a couple of days.  Then take a vacuum that has a disposable bag and vaccuum the floors and furniture.  Dispose of the bag in an outside trashcan immediately after vaccuuming.

Wait a couple days and them steam clean the floors and furniture (if it won't damage them)

One the dam has had her pups give her a capstar pill every 3 days for 19 days, during this time repeat the cycle of washing the washables, salting, vaccuuming, steam cleaning 2-3 days between each step.  This should eliminate any fleas within the house within 3 weeks.  (note, this is for a bad or chronic infestation)

We live in the southeast and fleas have become resistant to frontline and most other fleas repellents.  Fleas are already a problem here too.  I've always bathed my dogs and cats with Dawn (a vet recommended it years ago and it is safe to use on kittens and puppies).  If you use the Dawn that softens hands, it will not dry out the dog's fur and makes it softer.  I've also tried Neem oil, but it smells really bad and is difficult to work with.  Recently, I've been spraying my dogs daily with a mixture of apple cider vinegar (all natural) and water in a 50/50 solution.  I also run a flea comb through their hair dailly.  So far, so good.  BTW the apple cider vinegar solution is also great for hot spots and cleaning ears.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-solutions-for-natural-flea-control.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2066146_use-apple-cider-vinegar-pets.html

http://eartheasy.com/live_natural_flea_control.html