My dog's Seresto collar isn't working. Can I combine flea treatments?

Great question! Flea collars are not very effective, as you are seeing unfortunately. I can give you an effective flea treatment program for Indy. First, I would give her Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. This is a treatment that has to be used once a month. You will also have to disinfect the environment, as it will be a continuing source of fleas if you don't. 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. I hope this helps!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Flea products should not be combined as there is an increased risk of side effects. The manufacturers state that they do not have data on using two or more flea products at the same time, hence they consider that as potentially dangerous. So, if Seresto is not working for Spike, you need to take it off and start giving Capstar (or any other new flea treatment) after 2-3 days.

Hello! I'm sorry to hear that Bliss is still struggling with fleas. They can be really hard to get rid of! It is usually safe to give Capstar with Seresto, but if your dog has any medical conditions, I highly suggest that you contact your vet first. Seresto and Frontline used together should not interact, but it's never a bad idea to wait a day or two between removing the collar and applying the Frontline. This is my suggestion for your next few days: First, give Bliss a good bath. I do not recommend using any flea or tick shampoos - a regular dog shampoo or baby shampoo should do the trick. Leave the soapy lather on her skin for several minutes before rinsing, and use a flea comb to get rid of as many fleas as possible. Next, give Bliss the Capstar. Immediately after, be sure to wash all her beds on the hottest cycle. Beds that can't be washed should be dusted with diatomaceous earth or borax powder (away from pets). You can do this with carpets, too. Let the dust sit for an hour, then vacuum everything really well. Borax and diatomaceous earth should not harm your pets, but it's best that they don't ingest a lot of it, so try to keep them away while you do this. Throw away your vacuum bag or toss the contents outside in a dumpster right away. If Bliss is an outdoor dog, I highly recommend spraying the yard with an outdoor flea and tick killer, like Advantage Yard and Premise Spray. These cleaning steps are really, really important as the flea life cycle allows flea larvae to live and eat off of fibers in your home for 3 weeks. You should do this cleaning step again in 2 weeks to get any remaining flea eggs or larvae. After 24 hours, apply the Frontline. You should always wait 24 hours after a bath to apply Frontline as the natural oils in the skin need to regenerate before it will work properly, and bathing removes these oils. It is not unusual to see fleas on your dog even after this process, at least for a few weeks. Fleas only jump on your dog to feed, which is when they will come into contact with the Frontline and within 24 hours. Any fleas or larvae remaining in the home will eventually find their way to Bliss, but the Frontline should get them. If these steps don't work, it's time to involve your vet, and possibly a flea removal specialist, like Orkin. I really hope that Bliss is flea-free soon!

To be safe, you should wait 2-3 weeks before switching to a Seresto collar. IN the meantime, treat the environment for fleas. Vacuum everywhere then dispose of the vacuum bag or empty the canister outdoors immediately after. Wash all bedding in the hottest water allowable by fabric. Use an area treatment, such as Indorex or Knockout ES, to kill fleas in the home. A majority of the flea population actually lives off the pet, hopping on to feed then hopping off. Discuss a product to kill adult fleas with your veterinarian. CapStar would be safe to use even if you applied a topical preventive. However, it will only kill adult fleas that are on Tybalt.

Please do not feed garlic to your dog, it can cause blood disease in dogs! Here are instructions for flea prevention: Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your pet when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). Flea treatment:  1) Get some flea medication such as a Flea spray or a spot on from a pet shop or your veterinarian and apply monthly 2) get flea powder, put some in your vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum your house and furniture and also non-carpeted areas frequently to remove flea larvae and eggs which live off house dust., Dispose of the bag in the trash outside. Hot-wash all the pet's bedding, If you do this diligently for a few months you will get rid of the fleas. Flea products: Spot-ons and/or chews Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well)

It is ok to use Seresto along with other topical products, just not oral ones. In some pets there can be a little skin irritation, so watch out for that and notify your vet if this happens. Otherwise, you should be fine to go ahead with Seresto to see if this does the trick. I would also recommend using a flea fogger to treat your home, which can be found at your local Home Depot or Lowe's. If you still don't have good results with the Seresto collar, then I would wait at least 2 weeks and consider better products such as Simparica or Nexgard. Best of luck with your flea issue and Nova moving forward. Take care!

Fleas can be frustrating to treat. I know that many people have a lot of success with Seresto collars, but I have not. In order to treat Bandit’s fleas, I recommend using a good quality topical product, such as Advantage (use monthly) or Bravecto (prescription based and used every 3 months). Flea shampoos are rarely effective and can cause irritation to the skin, so I tend to steer clear of them. Be sure to vacuum daily, dispose of the vacuum bag frequently, and wash Bandit’s bedding in hot water. Continue to apply flea medication regularly in order to disrupt the fleas’ life cycle to prevent a recurrence. I hope this helps and that all goes well for Bandit!