Question about fleas

Cbrugs · Aug 28, 2014

My brother's dog, Lucy, was at our house on Saturday (August 23) and I got a call from my sis-in-law yesterday that Lucy had fleas. Jax gets flea treatment monthly (Frontline Plus) so is he safe? I'm not sure how long it would take for us to get fleas, if we were to get them. Also, I am switching over from Frontline Plus to Sentinel Spectrum next month and I have seen some recent posts saying Sentinel does not kill adult fleas. If a dog never gets fleas, I assume that issue does not matter, right?

lkclark · Aug 28, 2014

http://www.ah.ca.novartis.com/companion/dog/sentinel-faq.shtml

"Q: I saw an adult flea on my dog after I gave him Sentinel, does this mean it's not working?"

"A: Sentinel does not kill adult fleas, so you may not immediately see how effective it is, but rest assured that adults currently on your pet will die off without reproducing. If you wish to take a more aggressive approach to killing the adults Novartis recommends treating your pet with an adulticide for the first month or so."

You're right.

But I would have to assume that the fleas on the other dog were content with their host, and likely did not infect anything else during the short time in your house. To err on the side of caution, I'd say to vacuum a bit and wash any bedding, but my vote is that you'll be fine.

We had to rule-out Sentinel because Bear has a heightened allergy to flea bites, so a product that does not target the actual adults is not very helpful for us. We needed something to protect against the random, rogue adult flea bite (at the dog park, fields, etc.) to avoid his reactions.

davidh · Aug 28, 2014

Sentinel makes the fleas where they cannot reproduce. So once the adult dies off, no eggs will hatch.

Cbrugs · Aug 28, 2014

[MENTION=4]davidh[/MENTION] I know nothing about fleas so does this mean adult fleas can still latch on, they just won't lay eggs?

lkclark · Aug 28, 2014

Cbrugs said:
[MENTION=4]davidh[/MENTION] I know nothing about fleas so does this mean adult fleas can still latch on, they just won't lay eggs?

I believe, yes. Adults can still jump on and bite, but they cannot breed.

Cbrugs · Aug 28, 2014

Thanks [MENTION=648]lkclark[/MENTION]. Do you know if that is true with all flea treatments together or do some prevent adults from getting on?

davidh · Aug 28, 2014

[MENTION=188]Cbrugs[/MENTION] yes as @ikclark said, it makes them so the eggs will not hatch. Some flea meds will kill the adult but not the eggs.

lkclark · Aug 28, 2014

My veterinarian put us on Revolution to target the adults and the eggs:

https://www.revolution4dogs.com/what-is-revolution

It is a topical, which I suppose could be a downside to some people. But Bear's skin looks perfectly healthy where I applied it. The medicine enters the body through the skin.

lkclark · Aug 28, 2014

davidh said:
[MENTION=188]Cbrugs[/MENTION] yes as @ikclark said, it makes them so the eggs will not hatch. Some flea meds will kill the adult but not the eggs.

Right. And the odd flea wouldn't cause too much trouble for most dogs. But Bear's sensitivity is such that we really have to avoid all exposure.

Cbrugs · Aug 28, 2014

[MENTION=648]lkclark[/MENTION] I've been using the Frontline Plus which is topical and never had any problems. The only reason I'm switching was because the Sentinel covers heartworm as well and I figured I might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Tgirl · Aug 29, 2014

If you want something to kill adult fleas I would consider Advantage. I think it works better than other topicals for fleas. You can use it in conjunction with Sentinel. I know some people with really sensitive dogs who do this mostly in the Summer months since fleas tend to be worse then. Advantage will kill the adults.

lkclark · Aug 29, 2014

Cbrugs said:
[MENTION=648]lkclark[/MENTION] I've been using the Frontline Plus which is topical and never had any problems. The only reason I'm switching was because the Sentinel covers heartworm as well and I figured I might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Revolution targets heartworm as well. So you've got options.