<p>I have a tiny yorkie puppy. She’s too young for the typical flea prevention methods.</p>
<p>We’re having an awful flea season this year. PetSmart has huge flea displays when you walk into the store because of the infestation. :(</p>
<p>Right now, I’m dipping my finger into Avon Skin So Soft and placing it on any found fleas on her to kill/immobilize them so that I can pick them off.</p>
<p>Of course, I do bathe her, etc, but can’t do that too much or her skin will dry out.</p>
<p>I don’t know the source. I have flea-bombed my home. However, the region is having some horrid outbreak.</p>
<p>My other dog takes the internal type of flea prevention method and doesn’t have any. I’ve had pets for years and haven’t had this issue.</p>
<p>I did talk to my vet and he suggested the flea bombing of our home (which I did) and the Skin So Soft until she’s old enough/big enough for other methods. The problem isn’t just her young age, but her weight. </p>
<p>I did bathe her with Dawn, and yes, 2 fleas were found in the water afterwards. But, while drying her, I found TWO fleas still ON HER!!!</p>
<p>I think that somehow we’re dealing with fleas that have somehow become “stronger” and seem to even withstand a bath!</p>
<p>Get a flea comb–they sell them at Petsmart, etc. It is very fine-toothed and the fleas get stuck in the teeth. When you comb with it, have a bowl with some dishwashing liquid in water near you & scrape the fleas from the comb into this. The DW liquid kills them fast.</p>
<p>We have cats two of whom are allowed outdoors & they get fleas hopping on them, even though they get Advantix on their necks.</p>
<p>When you bathe her, put her in the bathtub & comb her for fleas. They will run to her head to keep from drowning & you will be able to find them more easily. Make the tub water very nice & warm & she will not mind it—I have even learned that cats settle down in a nice warm bath!</p>
<p>Have you washed any of your or her bedding since the bomb?If so, that part of home is hospitable to growing new fleas. In any case, flea bombs aren’t perfect and can’t get into every crevice and inside couch, etc. so have to do extra searching. You know what the eggs and larvae look like? Google images. Larvae- like black eraser dust, but squiggling. If you look through bedding, all the way to bottom, or any area she spends time sleeping, hunt for these. Depending on background color, may be easier to spot the tiny white eggs. If she picked up new fleas outside and they found a place they can breed indoors where IGR didn’t reach, then you will continue to see them. When bathing, watch sink or tub sides. If they get off her before they get soaped, they’ll be climbing up sink sides to get away if too wet to jump, or swimming to the side if no soap in water. Vacuum like crazy and get rid of stuff in vacuum ASAP, or put a couple flea collars inside the vacuum. </p>
<p>Good luck. I’m going zooey just finishing ridding our house of them. Penny wise me. I don’t treat our indoor cat because I feel bad using those meds on animals. She got infected somehow end of summer but I didn’t notice immediately. Then got to time of year I quit treating other 3 animals because cold outdoors. Then they all got them. Oyy what trouble. My little dog got scared of me because every time I saw her I turned her over to see if any fleas I could grab on her belly. Combing constantly.</p>
<p>Reminds me of years ago when long haired D and her girl scout troop picked up lice at a camp. A couple shampoos later I realized she got a chemical resistant variety. Had to eliminate them by hand-combing for weeks and washing all linens in house repeatedly</p>
<p>I’ve also heard that dawn is good. My daughter works at night at a kitten rescue (she and her husband do the night bottle feedings 3 times a night for neo natal kittens in exchange for a rent free apartment attached to the rescue). The kittens are too young for chemical flea treatments - I’ll ask her what they use.</p>
<p>Re:larvae. You have to google images. They are less than 1/8th inch long, very thin, like skinny skinny worm. They are white or transparent until they start eating the black flea feces and then they turn that black color.You would know if you see them because they don’t stop moving, squiggle constantly, or kind of whip back and forth.Very gross.</p>
<p>What about shaving the puppy so that they fleas won’t find a place to stay? </p>
<p>Fleas are really bad this year, and I’ve been in a long battle with them. My poor old dog is being euthanized tomorrow but I will probably have insect reminders of her for quite awhile.</p>
<p>One of my colleagues just had a major flea infestation at her house, and she doesn’t even have pets. She figures she had a few hop onto her while she was doing yardwork.</p>
<p>I had someone in the shop today that can’t get rid of the fleas on her dog and cat despite the standard Frontline and Advantix treatments and bombing the house. I have a few suggestions – one is to use a flea spray from Natural Chemistry which can be used on the pet and the bedding and is very safe. Another is to use an internal flea powder – one that contains brewers yeast. </p>
<p>As far as a tiny baby puppy goes, this is really something that you should have your vet helping with.</p>
<p>At the kitten rescue they wash the little kittens using dawn dish soap and comb with a flea comb. (the kittens are motherless feral kittens young enough to need bottlefeeding and mostly arrive with fleas and they are very stringent about controlling fleas at the rescue because they have a LOT of kittens). Also wash the puppy’s bedding on the hottest setting. </p>
<p>She said they use something called ovitrol plus but it is not recommended for the really young ones.</p>
But, while drying her, I found TWO fleas still ON HER!!!</p>