# Help!!!



## SideKick (Jan 25, 2011)

So looking for some opinions. 

In the 4 years that I've lived here this is the first time the yards has become flea infested. We spray the dogs with Advance and that has always worked. But this year the moment a flea dies from it 10 more take its place. Both my dogs, in one day have chewed raw spots on thier tails. I go out and come back with bites on the legs.

I bought a cheap spray from walmart that I'm going to use tomorrow but it only last 2 weeks. I've heard cedar works, so I might go buy some tommorrow and put around the fence tommorow to keep the damn things from coming from the nieghbors. 

So what do you use for yard control?
I've heard of one spray called Talstar One thats supposed to be good. Has any one used it and know from experiance? Lol. My eyes are spinning from going through all the websites i can find on pest control for yards.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Diatomaceous Earth: The a miracle cure for flea control? | Flea Control Videos | Flea Control: How to Get Rid of Fleas Naturally

This is much more natural i don't have the problem so i haven't used it but have seen it used in others yards and it is amazing.


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

When my mom and I moved into her rental house last year, it took two days for our cats and my dog to become completely infested with fleas. They were in my bed, in my clothes, and especially on the animals. My poor Chip and Mrowmrow were absolutely miserable; we tried flea dips at the vet and flea shampoo at home but nothing was working. My vet recommended a brand called Vectra 3D, which is apparently top of line at this point. It pretty much eliminates all fleas (and ticks, and mites, etc.) within 6 hours, in any life stage (eggs and larvae because it prevents growth) and the parasites do not have to bite to die, because it kills them on contact. It obviously won't help your yard, but your dogs will probably stop bringing in more live fleas, which will hopefully end the presence of fleas in your house after a month or two.

As for your yard, I know Scott's Miracle-Gro has a product used to treat your yard for fleas and ticks but my neighbors used diatomaceous earth on their backyard and it worked wonders. I've also read that sunlight kills fleas (I've specifically seen that it kills flea eggs), so you may only have to concentrate on the shady areas.

Edit: Tobi beat me to it


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Vectra 3D is some harsh stuff. We have seen a lot of reactions to it. Honestly, I don't see how it is any better than the over the counter stuff. I would go with the diatomaceous earth for the yard. You can get applicators that make it easier to spread. For the dogs I would go with something like program (or sentinel) that has lufeneron. It will create a sterile environment by preventing the eggs from hatching and making the flea poop poisonous to any larvae that might have the chance to feed on it.
It will take awhile to get things under control this way and you'll have to deal with any adults being brought into the environment. I have never had luck with natural/herabal flea killers, but I know some people do. If I see signs of fleas on my dogs I treat with capstar or comfortis- both are oral products that kill adult fleas.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm not sure how it would work for fleas, and it's "chemical heavy", but when we had a tick problem, we used Adams Flea and Tick products. We sprayed the yard, dipped the dogs, and used foggers inside (all on the same day). A few days later we spread ortho insect repellant around the yard, laying it heaviest along the fence line. It took care of the tick problem. We did spray and spread a couple time more to make sure but haven't had any since.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Not 100% familiar with DE but I think you need to be sure if you go with Diatomaceous earth that you get the human grade, not the stuff used in pools and such. Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but DE might be your ticket in this case, just be careful not to dust the dogs and yourself and ingest it into your lungs. If you google it you should get the info and cautions to consider.


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## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

stajbs said:


> Not 100% familiar with DE but I think you need to be sure if you go with Diatomaceous earth that you get the human grade, not the stuff used in pools and such. Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but DE might be your ticket in this case, just be careful not to dust the dogs and yourself and ingest it into your lungs. If you google it you should get the info and cautions to consider.


It depends on where you are using it. If you are using it in your yard and at the entrances to your home and the like, then the regular stuff is fine. If you are using it on yourself or your dogs you should get the human grade stuff. Either way you shouldn't breathe it in as it can cause damage on a microscopic level.

We use the regular stuff around our house to help keep the earwigs out during the summer. It seems to help, but it does need to be reapplied every so often (depending on rain).


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

exactly kittykat, you have to wear a mask while applying it to the yard.

I forgot to add, we've been using Comfortis for flea prevention on tobi and thus far we've yet to see a flea on him.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Oh, I so feel for all for you! We haven't had a flea problem here in years even when they said last year was the worst year yet because we didn't have a hard winter, to be honest I never see a flea on my dogs since feeding a raw diet and well, my boy cat does get his advantage on when the warmer months come around.

I have heard that the DE is the way to go though, and if I ever did have an issue around my wooded house I'd use that. Good Luck!


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