Stronghold flea treatment not worked - help!

[sonjafoers]

I normally treat my dogs with Frontline but recently it hasn't been working so I was advised to use Frontline Combi which apparently does work well. I spent over £80 at the beginning of Sept on Frontline but it's been completely useless.

I went to my vet on Thurs and they no longer sell Frontline Combi so they sold me Stronghold which they said is absolutely brilliant as it works by entering the bloodstream unlike other treatments which just sit on the skin. It only does dogs up to 40kg and as both of mine are over that I had to buy them 2 different weights, plus a cat one plus a spray for the house - and it came to £98

I used it on Thursday but my dogs are still scratching like mad. When I rolled one over today I could see fleas on his tummy so I have flea combed them & got lots of fleas off which are still very much alive & kicking. I've flea combed everyone, dunked the dogs in the river and completely hoovered & sprayed the house again.

This really does annoy me because since the summer I've spent over £300 on flea chemicals and none of it seems to be working despite vet recommendations.

Has anyone else used Stronghold with success? I know someone here has recommended neem oil ( Foxhunter? ) which I will try but are there any other cheap, natural type remedies please?

 

[Archiepoo]

i know loads of people are having trouble this year, they seem to be resistant to the chemicals, i have heard that dusting the dog with flowers of sulphur is ment to be good for keeping the fleas away -not sure if it kills them of just makes the dog inhospitable

 

[sonjafoers]

Thank you archiepoo I'll go & look it up. I'm willing to try anything as I refuse to buy any type of chemical treatment from the vets again.

As I'm sat here one is scratching again, the Stronghold seems to have done absolutely nothing

 

[CAYLA]

If you could literally see fleas clearly running around I would hazard a guess they are dying, you will generally only see fleas when an animal is poorly and the fleas are abandoning ship/ where there is mass infestation or they themselves (fleas) are dying.
Stronghold is good, but it takes a little times to get into the blood stream and then for the fleas to start to get poisoned by it (as such).
I dont rate flea collars but put 1 or 2 in your hoover bag if poss and hoover the place out and get all the half deads cleared up.
Wash all the dogs bedding, throws for chairs and fabrics u can on a hot wash.
I personally like frontline SPRAY, i like to see the fleas die immediately and the spray does just that. I never have flea problems and I have alot of animals.

 

[suzysparkle]

Thankfully never had a flea problem so can't really comment, however, to save money you can ask your vet for a prescription and buy the things online. I always do this as it saves a fortune (I do always tell the vet the online prices but they can never come close). My vet charged £10 the last time but that covered all our dogs.

 

[Foxhunter49]

Ihave posted this before!
Try using Neem oil, mix 5 ml Neem 3 ml of liqud shampoo and make to 1 litre with hot water and swab that over the dog.
It will keep fleas away for about a month, totally natural and the smell wears off after a few hours.

It has worked well with all our dogs in keeping flea and tick free. The only time a couple had ticks was on their heads where I hadn't used the Neem (have done since!)
Two of the terriers came back after going off hunting on their own covered in fleas - the dogs were due for dunking again and after bathing them there was not a flea to be found.

The great thing is that any liquid left over can be sprayed on the garden to keep slugs, snails and cabbage white butterflies away

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

I'd treat your carpets aswell, sounds like an infestation.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

The vets and retail outlets are continually trying to flog Frontline and they KNOW blimmin well the stuff is as useless as a nun in a punch-up; I suspect it has more to do with commission than the effectiveness of the product.

I told me vets that I will NOT use Frontline again; its not cheap and if I'm gonna spend that much money I want something that will work!

Sometimes you unfortunatley have to get quite assertive about these things; I was given the usual drivel about "not using it correctly" but I persevered and basically said that because I have to stand up in front of people and teach - I was not prepared to do so with my legs covered in flea-bites, which they were!!! And that I was regarding it as a public health issue!

So I was given "Stronghold" - result, no fleas anywhere. Bliss! But still feel annoyed that I had to get @ssy about it before anyone would listen.

 

[sonjafoers]

Thank you Foxhunter49, I knew you had posted about the neem before but when I did a search I couldn't find the amounts you recommended. I will definately try that and then lock them out until the smell dies down!

Cayla & MiJods I think the Stronghold may be taking effect as I combed them again this morning and got a few dead ones but not much else. It's just taken longer than I expected but fingers crossed it's finally done something.

Blazingsaddles I've washed everything I can including the table runner & drowned everything else with spray!! The curtains have been done, the cushions have been off the settee, I've done my back in moving furniture to spray underneath it etc etc. However I have always done this every few weeks & clearly it hasn't worked but I was using RIP Flea and the vets have now given me Acclaim. I am hoovering everyday and emptying the drum straight after so I will now spray every other day for a while and see if that makes a difference.

I'm not getting bitten myself and no fleas are jumping on me but I know they are then because the dogs scratch & when I flea comb I get them. They were showing on their tummies the other day but hopefully as Cayla says this could be a good sign.

So now I will keep hoovering daily, spray every few days, flea comb daily & then when I use up the Stronghold I'll get some neem. Bl**dy things