I've been using frontline but am really nervous about letting her run around the house while it's on her since it takes about 48 hours to completely dry. I don't wnat her rubbing up against something w/ the pesticide on and then risk the baby touching it.. are there any other safer alternatives to prevent dogs from getting fleas that WORKS? Thanks!
We use Revolution. I put it on at night. It's just a teeny-tiny bit of liquid between the shoulder blades at the nape of the neck. It dries very quickly.
I don't have an alternative, which is what you asked about.. but are you sure you are applying it correctly, or have the correct sized dosage? I have a large breed dog, (German Shepherd) and she takes the large breed dose (over 55 lbs) and when applied down to the skin properly before bed at night, it is completely dry in the morning.
We use Frontline Plus for the tick part of it also... we live in an area that is affect year round by ticks/fleas. We've NEVER had a problem with either. It works great. My kids are older, so if I apply the Frontline during daylight hours, I just tell them and tell them not to touch her there. With a baby I would think you would just have to watch a little more closely, but applying it after dinner when the baby is less likely to be "loose" might be a good first step. It SHOULD be dry by morning.
revolution is the best - it is expensive though (especially for me as my dog weighs 150!), but it is dry in just minutes, he never has a flea, tick, mite or anything.
btw it costs me about 45$ a month, but would be much less for a smaller dog, I also eke it out sometimes to about 2 monthly in the winter.
Revolution is awesome. It dries in minutes! I don't have any animals now, but I used to use this on my cats and my dog. It is really good.
I use Comfortis on all of my dogs - you get it at the vet. It is a tablet that is given once a month. You must give it to them on a full stomach or they will have a reaction, otherwise, no side effects. We used the drops for years until they stopped working and we had a flea infestation. Once I began using Comfortis, the fleas were completely gone. We've used it for about 3 years.
Brewer's Yeast is considered a good natural preventative, and you can buy the supplements at most pet stores. We also use Program (you can find it on petmeds), which is a pill instead of a pesticide that you put on the skin. We've never had a flea, so I assume it works!
I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't like using pesticedes either, but I don't want fleas and ticks worse! My dogs have been using advantics (same idea as frontline, a drop once a month between the shoulder blades) for many years. It works, in fact I only use it April, May and then again in SEptember and October, seems to do the trick. Three kids all over the dogs and noboby's had any issues....if it looked like they may have touched the spot, I just had them wash their hands.
Frontline is sort of the last thing I go to....it works, but the toxicity to my animals and in general stresses me out.
Vacuum daily and put some type of poison in your vacuum bag, otherwise they will just crawl out and reinfest the area. Diatomaceous earth works well and is non toxic. Or, just pull your vacuum bag or dump your canister immediately.
Garlic is supposed to be a good herbal deterrent that you can give your dogs and good for their health. Yeast was always a traditional treatment. Also, you can rub your dogs with fresh rosemary (and they will smell good too! ) and put some rosemary sprigs in their bedding. I found that to work well.
A good brushing will do wonders. Also, keep a wet paper towel with dish soap nearby and if you encounter a flea, break it's back or just smother it in the dish soap when you brush your dogs.
Haven't heard of the Comfortis, would have to research it first, but the idea of a tablet is nice. I just hate all of those toxins in my animals.
