My dog has fleas. Can I bathe her before vet or flea treatment?

A bath with a flea shampoo would be good, but there are other products that are more effective and longer lasting. Since she has not received her vaccine yet, you may consider just getting a flea product from your vet when take her in for the vaccine. Otherwise, below is a link to a short article that gives some good advice about flea control. https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/ I hope that helps and all is well with Lucy.

Dogs are not supposed to get wet for at least 24 hours after application of a topical flea medication, and more than likely it was washed off during the bath. You can reapply the flea treatment, and I would give them Capstar given you have seen fleas. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes, and it's safe to be given at the same time as the spot on treatment. Just as a note, I would not recommend using Frontline. In my experience (and from the experience of many colleagues), there is a resistance to Frontline, and you may not get the best results from it. I recommend using Advantage or Revolution instead. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash their bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home.

You will have to wait at least 24 hours before bathing Kiki so that the product has time to dry on her skin. You can touch her during this period, just avoid the place where you put the flea treatment, and wash your hands after touching her. I hope this helps!

The flea and tick shampoo is better than fish soap. BUT there are much better ways to treat fleas. So when you give Lunar Moon a bath, you are only killing the fleas that are currently on her and the ones that will jump on her within the next 24 hours, then it wears off. Female fleas lay 50 eggs every single day and these eggs will hatch in 3 to 6 months. So every day you have new fleas hatching out in the environment. A better method to get rid of the fleas are to treat every single pet in the house with a reputable flea product. I recommend Simparica or Nexgard for most dogs. If you want to stick with an over-the-counter product, stick with frontline. Keep in mind though that frontline is now an older product and fleas are developing an immunity to it which means it may not work as well. Environmental cleanup will help with the problem, but it will not illuminate every single flea egg. You must treat for a solid six months in order to get through the whole flea lifecycle. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions!

Unfortunately Petarmor Plus is a very poor flea treatment for dogs, and it frequently doesn't work. You can give her a bath with the flea and tick shampoo, but keep in mind it doesn't provide lasting protection. I would give her Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes, and it's safe to give now. You can give Muffin one a day until two weeks have passed since you gave administered the Petarmor Plus. Then it's safe to use another spot on treatment such as Revolution or Advantage. Both are very effective at killing fleas. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash her bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Since a bath wets the skin significantly and also softens it, I suggest you wait a few hours until your dog is completely dry , ie has a dry hair coat as well as completely dry skin. Once the skin is dry there should be no problem with application of the tick and flea treatment.

Hello! My name is Dr. Elizabeth and I am happy to help. Ugh! Fleas are the worst but the good news is that you can effectively get rid of them if you use a good product and are diligent in the treatment. Here is a link about the flea life cycle: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/flea-control-in-dogs The flea life cycle can last as long as 6 months. The key to getting rid of fleas is to make sure EVERY dog and cat in the house is treated with a good flea prevention AND that this treatment lasts an entire 6 months. Your vet can give you access to the best flea products on the market. Oral flea products like Simparica, Nexgard and Bravecto are the best products out there because they kill fleas so quickly. This decreased to potential for the female fleas to lay eggs which breaks the life cycle. Since the product is in the bloodstream, it also can't be washed off. Lastly, because they are new, there is not a resistance issue in the flea population. They are also cost competitive with a name brand product like Frontline. I recommend to get Smallie on one of these oral flea products and use it for 6 months. If you use a topical flea prevention, only wash Smallie just before the next application of flea prevention is due. Topical flea products like the one you applied can be washed off which means they won't work as well. Also know you will likely continue to see fleas for at least 6 weeks (assuming your product is working correctly) because of the newly emerging adult fleas. Lastly, know there is great variation in the effectiveness of topical flea products. As far as they go, for over the counter options, Seresto, name brand Frontline and Advantage/Advantix are your best options. Use them as directed. I hope this helps and please feel free to reach out with any additional questions.