Ugh, think our dog has fleas. What the hell do I do?

sarahjared

DH has given her 2 flea baths already and she is still scratching/biting like crazy.  I feel horrible for her (not to mention every time she scratches/bites her tags clink together and it is so loud-almost woke up DD last night).  MIL said that she may have allergies like their dog did.  Called the vet and it would cost us almost $400 just to have her allergy TESTED.  We can't afford that.  Could the fleas be in the carpet?  Is there something I can use to treat that?  I don't know much about fleas so I am at a loss.  I just want her to feel better.

august282005

If your dog has fleas, you have fleas in your carpet/couches/upholstry.  Your DH should have seen them wash out of your dogs coat during the bath if s/he had them.

To treat: get advantage/frontline on the dog asap. Vaccuum every carpeted surface (throwing the bag out afterwards, or empty the canister into a bag outside, the fleas jump out if you just empty it into the garbage can) then flea bomb your house and wash all bedding/upholstry the dog comes into contact with.

Our cats had them earlier this year and we tried everything to get rid of them.  These three things were the things that finally worked for us.

wildfloweragain

Our dog was itching like crazy this summer and had a few bites.  I had a few bites.  We never saw a flea, our bites could have been anything, they weren't on the ankles, mine were on my waist.   I gave our dog a flea bath and watched the water carefully, kept it in the tub and searched - no fleas.   The vet was convinced our dog had been bitten by a flea from outside and was allergic, which was why she kept itching and biting herself raw.

Vet had me treat her with advantix or something like that ( i think ours had stuff for fox mites as well since we live in the woods.)  We had to wait about a week because you're not supposed to give a flea bath and then something else right away - it can OD your dog.

Then we had to give her benadryl 3x/day until the itching stopped and healed, then go down to 2x/day, 1, etc.  You can also put neosporin on where she is itching herself if it is infected/raw.  

 I did vacuum everything and put the bag out. Washed her bedding, the couch cover, etc. in hot. But we never found anything.  I even took a nap on the couch the dog lays on, figuring if it were any where it would be there but no.

wildfloweragain

Instead of allergy testing, I'd go with the benadryl and see if it helps.  It won't hurt the dog and it's cheap.

sarahjared

Where do I get the flea bomb stuff?

 How much benadryl do I give an 80lb dog?  Children's or adult?

Temp108743750006959

bring the dog to the vet and keep him overnight for a full flea dip.

wash/vacuum and then flea-bomb your house https://doyourownpestcontrol.com/fleas.htm#inside. Throw out the vacuum bag.

wash and vacuum again.