Flea treatment trouble shooting
As well as being persistent, there are some other bases to cover if you are still seeing fleas on your dog:
- Weigh your dog to make sure the treatment is the right dose to be effective.
- For spot on treatments, be sure to follow any instructions about bathing and water exposure closely as this can reduce effectiveness.
- Treat all the pets in the house for fleas. Untreated cats and dogs can harbour egg laying fleas which continue to top up the environmental flea population.
- Treat the environment to reduce the number of eggs, larvae and pupae. See below for more details.
I've used a treatment and I'm still seeing fleas!
There's nothing worse than feeling like you've just given your pet a treatment that hasn't helped, but don't be discouraged. Most likely the treatment has been effective, it's just that as quickly as adult fleas are being killed by the treatment, there are pesky new juvenile adult fleas jumping on and hitching a ride. Depending on the product you are using, it can take some time for these fleas to die, so the fleas you are seeing are these juveniles which are on the equivalent of flea death row.
With an effective and long acting flea treatment on board, your dog will work as a flea killing machine destroying all the adult fleas in their path. No new flea eggs will be laid, so over time the levels of flea larvae and pupae in the environment will drop off and there will be less reinfestation. Another reason it pays to be persistent and keep up that treatment year round! If your dog is particularly sensitive to the fleas or there is a heavy infestation in the environment, you can add Capstar, a short acting 24 hour treatment which kills fleas super fast, when you see fleas in the coat for some quick relief.
