i've got a problem :(

[hotcommodity]

So I've done something incredibly stupid. I picked up this stray dog about a day and a half ago, and have been trying to find it a home ever since. Ten minutes ago, I noticed it has fleas I read some stuff about fleas on wikipedia and I'm totally freaking out. It says they lay eggs and get everywhere. How can I sanitize myself, my apartment, and the dog inexpensively? I dont have the money to buy it a collar right now but I just need to know how to clean it all up. Any help is appreciated.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I believe you can get flea powder to sprinkle over your carpeting and such to wipe out the fleas there, and something like Frontline to put on the dog. I don't know how much either costs, but those would be the safe ways to go about doing it.

[hotcommodity]

Do you think running my sheets and clothes through the washer will get rid of what ever is on them?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

A quick search dug up this website:

 

http://www.fleascontrol.com/

[Dak]

one of my old landladies who is a ****ing whore and should die rented me and my friends a house that came with fleas. :mad: :mad:

 

 

1/ you have my sympathys (fleas suck), and

 

2/ deflea the dog, and try to use flea powder, flea spray, and regular washing to keep them down around your house; if worst comes to worst you'll have to fumigate (which is both inconvienient and irritating), so try to stop an infestation from happening, rather than fixing it once it does.

 

in the uk, the council offers free de-fleaing under certain circumstances, so it's worth cheking wether your local counsil will do it for free maybe.

[Realitycheck]

Frontline (the little tube that you empty onto the back of their neck?), that one works the best, every 30 days. They make this stuff you can spray all over the floor to kill all of the eggs. I got mine at the vet but they probably have it at Petsmart. Probably the same thing to use on carpet. You probably want to get a shampoo to do it immediately also.

[Glider]

Frontline is prescription only and only available from vets (in the UK anyway), but it is the best stuff. It kills fleas the come into contact with the animal, it also carries inhibitors for eggs and larvae so they won't develop. It's the best stuff generally and protects for four weeks at a time.

 

I wouldn't get too freaked out by the fleas though. I just had to treat my cats who became infested (warm, humid weather = more fleas). However, fleas are quite specific and cat and dog fleas don't like humans so, although you might occasionally find a flea on you, it won't stay long.

[hotcommodity]

I appreciate all of the suggestions above. I hope Glider is right about fleas being specific to what they like.

 

My neighbor came home last night and offered to help me take care of the dog for the time being. We picked up some flee-shampoo and gave it a good bath. She said vinegar helps kill flees too, so we soaked it in some vinegar as well. It's still not potty trained, so it peed and pooed on my neighbors floor. Her reaction was classic, I had to go out on her balcony because I was laughing so hard. Anyways, we're still trying to find it a home. But for now, shes keeping the pup at her place while I sanitize mine.

[Royston]

one of my old landladies who is a ****ing whore

 

So did you, ahem, settle your rent with alternative payment arrangements.

 

With the OP, maybe you should make good of a bad situation. Have you thought of starting a flea circus ? Who knows, in a few years time you'll be running your own dinosaur theme park on a small island, 170 miles off the coast of Costa Rica.

[Elessarina]

It's no big deal, fleas can easily be gotten rid of.. don't panic! You can also get some stuff to put on the back of your dog's neck to make sure fleas don't come back.

[314159]

I had the same problem looking after a friend's pet. They can be tough to shift. I used an awful lot of expensive flea spray, but to sort it out you've got to get rid of the ones on the dog first, either at the vet or with flea shampoo, then you can get rid of the ones on bedding by washing at a high temperature (100 degrees C if possible), and hoover any carpets repeatedly. If you can't afford sprays or repellents, you'll just have to keep the place scrupulously clean until they're gone. You may well have to put up with bites to the ankle until the dog moves out.

[CharonY]

However, fleas are quite specific and cat and dog fleas don't like humans

 

Actually I recall that cat fleas are rather host unspecific. Quite a number of dogs are actually infected by cat fleas. But other than that follow the above given advice. My parents had at times over 13 dogs, most of them strays and by simply washing them with a flea shampoo and then spraying Frontline later on, we got them essentially flea free (or at least below detection limit).

[Daecon]

I think Citronella is supposed to quite an effective natural doom song for fleas.

 

If you don't like the smell, Lavender can be quite good too and I think it's a little easier to get hold of.

[Glider]

Actually I recall that cat fleas are rather host unspecific. Quite a number of dogs are actually infected by cat fleas.

Both cat and dog fleas can live on (i.e. feed on) both cats and dogs, but they need to be on their principle host to breed.

 

However, only cat fleas bite humans, but they will only tend to do so if there is not other choice, (e.g. the cat is removed from the house). Even then, any bites you might get will be a few around the ankles. They can sustain themselves on human blood, but they can't breed (so will eventually die out) and they won't stay on a human, rather they'll take passing bites (which is why they tend to be restricted to the ankles). Of cats, dogs and humans, only humans are relatively hair free and sweat through their skin and cat and dog fleas don't like it those conditions.

[JohnB]

Definitely de-flea the animal first.

 

For the carpets. Sprinkle some Napthalene flakes on the floor and vacuum them up and then do the rest of the apartment. Unless there is poison in the bag, all you will do is gather the fleas up and then they'll just jump out of the bag later on. Napthalene will kill any fleas vacuumed up and prevent any eggs from hatching.

 

Okay, your apartment will smell like Grandma's for a day or two, but you will be flea free in a day.

[J.C.MacSwell]

You have to work at it. Shampoo the dog, using a flea comb while you do it. Flea shampoo works best. You have to get rid of the flea eggs as well as the fleas. Don't assume you have won when they seem to have gone away. You will have missed some eggs, so repeat in a couple of days and again in a couple more to make sure. Same thing with vacuuming any carpets, and especially wash the dogs bedding every couple of days. Any carpeting you can temporarily remove or isolate the dog from helps as well. If you are very diligent you should be able to avoid fumigation etc.