We just moved to a new house and apparently the yard has fleas everywhere. My poor dog is covered in them and we're waiting on Frontline to get here. Obviously they're in the house now so I have three places I need to treat. what's a good yard killer and one that's safe for inside? I've never dealt with fleas like this, I feel awful for him.

8/14/2007 4:30:07 PM

I dont know about the yard killer, but as to treating your house, do not waste your money on the grocery store foggers. Go either to the pet store or the vet and buy the best foggers they have. Buy a generous quantity and fog the hell out of your house. The nice ones will kill them all almost immediately. I've only had to deal with this once in my house (a transient pet brought them in), but growing up we had this problem more often with inside/outside cats.

I think the best action would be to treat the outside/inside/pet at the same time. Treating the pet properly would be a trip to the vet where they would dip him in a treatment to immediately kill all the fleas, then use the frontline to help after. The only time I dipped my cat cost about $30 (money well spent).

[Edited on August 14, 2007 at 4:37 PM. Reason : .]

8/14/2007 4:36:39 PM

Someone I know who just had flea issues said you have to do the foggers at least twice because there isn't really anything than can kill the eggs and it's nearly impossible to clean them all away, so you have to catch them all when they're hatched.

8/14/2007 4:42:01 PM

definitely take your dog to the vet

8/14/2007 4:50:02 PM

Also - to keep the fleas off your dog, get a few Capstar pills (you can get these at the Vet and some pet supply stores) One pill kills all fleas on a dog within 30 minutes and lasts 24 hours. Give one a day until you can get the Frontline and get the yard under control. I had to do this at an apartment complex where the yard was infested and it worked great.

8/14/2007 4:55:57 PM

lowes sells a carpet powder that you put down for 10-15 mins before you vacuum. it kills the fleas and eggs (and then you vacuum them to get them out of the house). it comes in a cinnamon smell that actually smells really good and it works pretty well. i used it in a couple of apartments a while back. it'll be even better if you can move the furniture or don't have furniture in there yet. i think it's just called Flea Killer and it's in a red canister.

8/14/2007 5:17:35 PM

I second the Capstar idea. I also used a fogger when I had this issue last year. If you use a fogger, don't forget to stuff towels under the door so the fumes don't escape.

8/14/2007 5:48:22 PM

Adams Flea and Tick Spray to kill the ones on the dog now. (Temporary relief for the dog, or whatever the dog has been on or around)

Once you get the Frontline, use it for the eggs and what not.

8/14/2007 6:01:37 PM

http://www.fleabuster.com/

Worked great for me.

Quote :

" there isn't really anything than can kill the eggs"

Dessicate the eggs.

[Edited on August 14, 2007 at 7:31 PM. Reason : ]

8/14/2007 7:30:11 PM

Diatomaceous Earth

all natural ftw

8/14/2007 7:35:18 PM

1. Get rid of dog.

8/14/2007 7:56:09 PM

spay the yard with liquid seven.

8/14/2007 8:04:37 PM

SPIDER POISON IS PEOPLE POISON?

8/14/2007 8:27:11 PM

Adams Carpet Powder
I bought it from my vet (Oberlin)
It worked on my house.

The capster tablets are good too.

I'm not sure what you can treat the yard with.. check with Home Depot/Lowes/Petstore or your vet.

good luck

8/14/2007 8:47:46 PM

Drop your dog off at the vet, go home and fog it. At the vet, get them to flea dip or give your dog a capstar. I don't remember how much the dip was, but when we got our dog from the shelter and took her to get a capstar, it was only 5 bucks. Do not bring the dog home until the house and yard are taken care of. Otherwise it will just start all over again.

8/14/2007 9:21:14 PM

Interesting solution:

http://www.anapsid.org/pestcontrol.html#fleas

Quote :

"Make a water trap: Partially fill a shallow pan with water. Suspend light source securely above it. Fleas (and other bugs) are attracted to the light, jump or fall into the water and drown. (Catherine Rigby) Water's surface tension enables many small insects, such as fleas to be able to walk, or hop right across water. A few drops of liquid soap (earth friendly brands work fine, too), should be added to the water pan. This breaks the surface tension of the water, causing the insects to drown. (Siberia)"

8/14/2007 9:23:41 PM

i'm gonna get capstar when I go into work next. My mother is a pesticide lady so i'm sure she has some stuff, I just haven't been able to get a hold of her.

I hate to say it because I hate it when people do this but my finances are waaaay tight right now so cheap solutions are a must.

8/14/2007 9:39:23 PM

damn first the flooding and now fleas

8/14/2007 9:52:12 PM

You can walk in to petsmart and buy only one hit of frontline for like $16.00. You should go ahead and get some now.

8/14/2007 11:07:50 PM

Pets are expensive.

Quote :

"Interesting solution: http://www.anapsid.org/pestcontrol.html#fleas Quote : "Make a water trap: Partially fill a shallow pan with water. Suspend light source securely above it. Fleas (and other bugs) are attracted to the light, jump or fall into the water and drown. (Catherine Rigby) Water's surface tension enables many small insects, such as fleas to be able to walk, or hop right across water. A few drops of liquid soap (earth friendly brands work fine, too), should be added to the water pan. This breaks the surface tension of the water, causing the insects to drown. (Siberia)" "

The water and light thing doesn't really work. It's good for maybe 5 fleas but the majority do not just HOP on in. My old roommate's dog brought in fleas so I treated my dog with a flea med that kills the fleas once they bite...and then we bombed the house and I just kept him treated afterward.

My mom bought some yard flea stuff from Home Depot for her place but I can't remember what it was called.

Good luck. Fleas are nasty little assholes.

8/14/2007 11:19:26 PM

Lowes and Home Depot have yard treatment. It’s in bags like the fertilizer, and it works really well. It kills lots of different bugs- but you have to look and make sure you look for one that includes fleas- some don't. We put it down once per year with a spreader, and it works great!
I guess any of them that include treatment for fleas would work just fine...

8/17/2007 8:31:29 AM

The few times our family had flea problems all we ever did was use frontline on the pets and some of that carpet powder. I suspect that the carpet powder didn't do all that much, but the flea problem kinda took care of itself once the fleas couldn't snack on the pet anymore.

8/17/2007 8:43:43 AM

Spray Round-up on the entire lawn and cover it with black trash bags for a season.

If that doesn't work, pull out and nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

8/17/2007 8:47:39 AM

A friend of mine purchased cheap flea collars and put them in her vacuum. She said if you vacuum up fleas without it they will just get out of the bag, the collars in the bag will kill them though.

8/17/2007 10:21:09 AM

I just put Advantix on my dog about a week ago and there are more fleas on him! I bathed him, let him be for three-four days like the package said, and then reapplied his flea meds...and now there are more fleas on him!!! I can't stand it!

8/22/2007 11:50:16 PM

The water thing MAY catch like ten fleas, not worth the effort. I used EctoKyl from my vet for my apartment and it was a godsend. Dunno about a yard though.

8/23/2007 12:57:08 PM

We found some stuff at Home depot for the yard, I assume it's working because I don't see them anymore. However, we did get the Frontline and put it on him immediately. The stuff is wonderful.

I felt so bad for him, I haven't seen that bad of an infestation ever. Excluding those animal cop shows of course.

8/23/2007 2:07:27 PM

EctoKyl is THE BEST!! We had an infestation once, and poor Grits was miserable. We put him on Advantage and got the EctoKyl, and problem solved in less than 24 hours!

Spray the yard with liquid Sevin, and you should be good.

And the EctoKyl is good for 120 days and is safe for pet bedding, no need to wash bedding afterwards either. So, although the eggs will hatch in a few days, they will die instantly anyway. So, basically EctoKyl stops all progression of fleas.

(EctoKyl also has a fogger if you prefer that. I just needed the spray can because we only have carpet in part of the living room and bathroom.)

[Edited on August 23, 2007 at 3:38 PM. Reason : ]

8/23/2007 3:36:03 PM

You can get this form the vet?

8/23/2007 8:30:16 PM

Yes, thats the only place I have ever seen it. All vets may not carry it, so you may want to call around.

8/23/2007 9:05:25 PM