Fleas in barn!!!

[xEchox]

We had a dog....and things went downhill...I cuoldn't pay for him and he had fleas so we gave him up to the humane society... But after he left the flea population exploded! You walk into the barn and there are fleas ALL over you....Literally hundreds...We've sprayed the barn, closed it up as much as possible, put plastic on the windows, and bombed it with 10/12 flea bombs... NOTHING is working.... We can't store hay in there...hroses are forced to stay outside... And we have no clue what theyre feeding on..Going today to get more flea medicine for the barn kittys but they don't go in there and don't even have fleas...



Any ideas? Tips? Desperate here....Would LOVE to use my barn......

[bludejavu]

We are fighting with the first serious flea infestation we've ever had, but it's in our house. It looks like we're going to have to call an exterminator because we've tried everything else including some very expensive stuff and still can't get rid of them. You might consider an exterminator as well for your barn.

[xEchox]

We've already tried...gotten it proffessionally sprayed 3? 4? times..had them in our house..bombed it adn ta-da! All gone.... But the barn is another story.... Granted; it is ALOT better...but still =/

[JumpItHighPie]

Sounds like it might be a vicious cycle until one element is taken out of the picture. It would help to quarantine the kittens away from the barn; use a capstar on them and it will kill all fleas on the body of the kitten within 30 mins. Keep them away from the barn until the flea issue it dealt with or they'll just become carriers again.

You can place flea collars in your vacuum and try to vacuum whatever object possible in the barn... What a horrible situation!

Hope things get better, quick!

[Amwrider]

Fleas are really bad this year in the south. I am dealing with it in the house, keeping the dogs and cats on Frontline and still my Yorkie has bald patches and the Fox Terrier has raw spots.

I would think that if your barn is still infested, then the fleas must be living on rats and other barn critters.

I went to the feed store and picked up some Nematodes to spray in the yard this weekend. The nematodes are supposed to eat the flea larva.

In my house, I put Borax in the carpets and sprayed with Raid flea spray. The way the house is set up, fogging the main living area would be difficult, so hopefully spraying the carpets will work. I will be fogging the bedrooms though.

I just hope for a nice COLD winter to kill off the fleas and mosquitos. We have had three warm winters and each year the bugs are worse and worse...

[xEchox]

Any other places where I could get nematodes? I don't think our feed store has them... I'll try it. The two kittens on our porch are free of fleas, but the two barn kitties aren't. So we'll probably have to lock them in the garage till we get this under control and give them more flea medicine.... How would you go about distributing them though??

[fivehorses]

Do you use frontline or one of the topical applications on your animals?

It has always worked for me.

[xEchox]

Yup, all four cats get frontline...

[andylover]

cedar shavings will help get rid of fleas. as in the stores, they sell a lot of dog beds with cedar in it, because it helps repel the fleas and keeps the fleas out of the bed. you can get bagged cedar and have it delivered. be careful of how much chemical you use in the barn as all that is absorbed, inhaled and in fact can lay on the hay after you bomb. which in turn your horses can eat..:)

[equus13]

Had this problem this year at the barn where I board.Literally would have 100 or more fleas on me within 5 min. of being in barn. I bought the strongest stuff I could get my hands on at the farm store and overkill sprayed for days in a row. Got Zodiac premise spray to do my car with everyday after leaving the farm. Barn owners finally got a pro to come do the barn and surrounding areas and no more problem. Got rid of ant hills as well:). I can tell you from experience that you are carrying them with you unless your are constantly spraying yourself (boots, legs). This is a horrible feeling.Keep capstar on hand for kitties. All of them have them whether you see them or not. All it takes is one to continue the cycle.I don't know the chemical he used, but I can tell you it worked. Don't waste time with Terminix and such. PM me and I will give you his number. Maybe he can give you a mixture or a place to get some of the good stuff. Good Luck. Lisa

[xEchox]

We'll check out the cedar shavings and see if we can get any around here.... We've been over-kill spraying but we're gonna be persistent.. It's definately a lot better but we'll just ahve to keep spraying and bombing I guess...

[JanM]

Apparently a lot of people are finding Frontline ineffective all of a sudden, I don't know if that includes Frontline plus also. I switched to Advantix (it's cheaper here) and it's applied in 4 spots from neck to above the tail so it might be that it has wider coverage and that makes it more effective or if it's a different formula and the fleas haven't developed an immunity to it. Also a friend of mine has a horrible problem in her yard from the stray cats that roam her neighborhood and hang out in her yard sometimes-and she doesn't even have any animals of her own.

[ShadowsMom]

Frontline didn't work for us this spring and summer. We got three new kittens with fleas and they infested our barn, dogs and us. These are the things we did to get rid of the fleas:
-Changed to Revolution for the Kitties
-Changed to Advantage for the Dogs
-Bought some food grade Diametacious Earth and spread it all around the barn, especially where t he kitties were living and in corners
Once we put down the DE, the fleas disappeared within a week...

[regret]

Apparently a lot of people are finding Frontline ineffective all of a sudden, I don't know if that includes Frontline plus also. I switched to Advantix (it's cheaper here) and it's applied in 4 spots from neck to above the tail so it might be that it has wider coverage and that makes it more effective or if it's a different formula and the fleas haven't developed an immunity to it. Also a friend of mine has a horrible problem in her yard from the stray cats that roam her neighborhood and hang out in her yard sometimes-and she doesn't even have any animals of her own.

I had the same problem with Frontline Plus. It worked for 3-4 months and then the critters got fleas.

[elizabeth1]

I treated my dogs with Advantix K9 this year. My dogs and home were flea, tick and misquito free. The kitties benefited as well but it clearly states that this product is not to be used on kitties. I think from just being close to the dogs the kitties benefited. At first I thought it was a bit pricey but not after using it. It was not perfumy and highly effective.

[chaltagor]

I switched to Advantix (it's cheaper here) and it's applied in 4 spots from neck to above the tail so it might be that it has wider coverage and that makes it more effective or if it's a different formula and the fleas haven't developed an immunity to it.

Because this mentioned cats, PLEASE DO NOT PUT ADVANTIX ON CATS. Unless you want them to die horribly.

I think one of the problems is that you're keeping the cats out! If you use Advantage (the ONLY thing you should be using on the cats besides Frontline) then the cats are walking flea bombs. You WANT the cats to be in the barn, how else will the fleas die? You can safely use the Advantage every three weeks if you need to. You will see live fleas on the cats as the fleas have to get on the cats in order to die. They will die quickly. I've had several Merial tutorials on fleas, I can talk fleas all day. Let the cats in the barn, but only if you've used Advantage or Frontline that is EPA registered (intended for sale in the US, not grey market stuff).

If you use anything else, you're on your own. And it's obviously not working, right? The fleas can live for a while without food, and they're laying eggs which will turn into cocoons which can hang out for 9 months to a year. You're going to have flea problems for a few months as the life cycle continues, no matter what you use. If the cocoons go dormant, you will have more fleas in the spring and you will have to do it again.

[elizabeth1]

I absolutely did not use the Advantix on the kitties but they are "come as you go " kitties and are often close to the dogs.

This past week one kitty was at the vets for an injury. The vet did remark at how remarkably clean this kitty was. It was not treated at all for fleas because it really didn't seem to need it.

All I know is my dogs did well with the Advantix, as did my home.

[chaltagor]

elizabeth, I was typing before you posted so I didn't target you as someone who would do that. It's such a horrible thing to happen to a cat that it makes me nervous whenever I see Advantix mentioned in the same breath as cats. It basically does to felines what it does to fleas.

BTW, you can have fleas on your cat and never see them. All it takes is one flea for FAD (flea allergy) and many people whose cats have scabs from it or scratch like mad swear up and down they never see any fleas.

[Cherry]

In the barn I would use Borax and DE--50/50. ;) If the Borax doesn't get those little suckers then DE will! :yes: Wait a couple of weeks and it should be okay to go in and sweep or vaccum this stuff up but wear a protective mask of some sort--you can ask which is more appropriate when you go to the store to buy one.... :winkgrin: But wear one! The DE is dangerous if inhaled.... :eek: You can get DE wherever they sell gardening supplies and products, the Borax you can pick up at the grocery store; I think a light dusting of each would work.

Advantage for the cats--now and in the future--once a month. If you had fleas on the dog and have fleas in the barn there are fleas on your cats! Ask me how I know.... :( If you don't treat the cats they could die from flea bite anemia!!!!! Seriously! I would use a fine-toothed flea comb and dip it into hot water in which you have put a few drops of dishwashing liquid before putting the Advantage on the cats--get off as many fleas as you can.... :yes:

Good luck!

[shakeytails]

The fleas are horrible this year! In addition to using Frontline, I sprinkle Sevin dust on any dirt floor areas and in areas of the barn where the dogs sleep. It's inexpensive and it helps tremendously. I believe the flea powders that used to be used a lot were primarily Sevin dust.

[pj]

Front line doesn't seem to be working here in west central Ga. either. One friend called the Company and they sent her New front line. About three hundred dollars worth. Wonder if they put out bad batches this year?

[Guin]

We don't have fleas up here in New England, but we are infested with ticks everywhere. Frontline does NOT work on the ticks up here - the ticks have developed an immunity to it. I used Preventic tick collars on the dogs, which is the only thing that seems to keep the ticks off. I'm not surprised that the fleas in the south have evolved to be immune to Frontline.

The bugs will rule the earth long after we're gone! :eek::eek::eek:

[Tom King]

There's no question that Fall fleas have become resistant to Frontline. We have stopped using the spot-on stuff and started spraying everything down with Joy dishwashing detergent in a hose end sprayer. I mix about half Joy and half water in the sprayer and set it at 4 oz. per gallon. I've tried all sorts of poisons in years past and we are having best results with Joy and no poisons. We've known for years that Joy was the best flea shampoo. I heard about a franchise company this summer that sprays an "organic" spray of garlic and detergent from one of our puppy owners. I had a hunch that the detergent did more than the garlic so tried it. So far we are very pleased with the results. You have to keep doing it every week or so since even though you might kill the fleas they may have already layed eggs.

http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/77-493-hose-end-sprayers/select-n-spray-sprayer-no-premix-618600.aspx

[LostAcres]

We had a dog....and things went downhill...I cuoldn't pay for him and he had fleas so we gave him up to the humane society... But after he left the flea population exploded! You walk into the barn and there are fleas ALL over you....Literally hundreds...We've sprayed the barn, closed it up as much as possible, put plastic on the windows, and bombed it with 10/12 flea bombs... NOTHING is working.... We can't store hay in there...hroses are forced to stay outside... And we have no clue what theyre feeding on..Going today to get more flea medicine for the barn kittys but they don't go in there and don't even have fleas...



Any ideas? Tips? Desperate here....Would LOVE to use my barn......

Excuse me? But you gave up your dog because of fleas, to the humane society? Not so sure I have anything good to input on this thread of yours, You should be ashamed of yourself.

[equinelaw]

I was wondering when someone would notice that. They couldn't "pay" for the dog but they can pay for all these expensive flea treatments? I'd say its a plague of bad karma.

[xEchox]

I'm a student and the dog was MY responsibility... And he was a stray who wandered into our yard..(skinny and what not) the barn cats are my parent's financial responsibility. But the dog also became a bit agressive, and waht not so we had to give him up as i'm qutie small and he was 60/70 pounds...The fleas was just an added thing..Just felt the other stuff wasn't relevant.

[Tom King]

I just found out about this stuff today. D-limonene is the ingredient in Joy that kills fleas.

http://www.amazon.com/Orange-Guard-Water-Based-Control/dp/B00030BBMS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1226695061&sr=8-3

[Equibrit]

Nematodes http://www.marchbiological.com/L/beneficial_nematodes.html

[finneventer]

I spent a small fortune on Frontline this year, and it was completely useless. My neighbor has hunting dogs and suggested this to me: Bayer "Tree and Shrub" treatment found at Lowe's. It sounds weird, but worked like a charm! No more fleas! I applied 20cc of the liquid with a syringe starting at the neck and going all the way to the base of the tail, parting the hair as I went. I used it on my 3 dogs, but NOT the cats. It only needs to be applied about every 3 months. I saw no adverse reactions in any of my dogs. Might be worth a try...

[crosscreeksh]

I second the 10% Seven Dust! Super cheap and VERY effective. I've done the Frontline thing - about $50/month for all my dogs -with NO good results. This year my vet suggested something else - it didn't work well and I've forgotten the name...Advantage I think. Our house is totally, wall to wall carpet and the fleas were so bad they would cover your socks when you walked through the room. We washed all the dogs and when they were dry we sprinkled them with the Seven dust...then I sprinkled it in every square inch of our house, waited a day, vaccuumed then sprinkled again and just left the dust in the carpet. END of problem for us!! The Seven dust is safe for barn cats, too and even the spookie cats can be dusted while they have their heads in the food bowl. (You only have to get it down their backs to work.) It also works very well for ticks. And sooooo cheap!!!