How to get rid of fleas on my dog, cat, and in my home to stop itching

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend that you try a product called Capstar which can help kill a lot of fleas at once. You can consider switching to another flea preventative product such as Bravecto or Frontline. In the meantime, your veterinarian can consider a medication such as prednisone or Apoquel to help with the itch for now. Good luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely due to allergies and until these are improved, he will continue to itch. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

I would recommend bringing Aries to the veterinarian to get medication to help with the itch. For the fleas I would either get Bravecto, SImparica or Nexguard. You can even use a Seresto collar. These flea preventions work great. You need to treat every animal in your home for at least 3 months. You can also get Capstar. Capstar only lasts for 24 hours so you have to do this in addition to flea prevention. This pill kills adult fleas only. For baths (if you wanted to give them) you can use dawn. I would leave dawn on for 10-15 minutes prior to rinsing it off. If by cleaning and vacuuming multiple times a week and all of this does not help you may need an exterminator. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would be more concerned with catching fleas from the dead cat. Over the counter products, like Advantix, are not as strong as they used to be and may not be killing the fleas. Also, you need to treat all pets in your home with flea prevention every 30 days for at least 3 months in a row to kill the flea life cycle. In the pictures it looks like Clyde is having an allergic reaction to fleas. This doesn't happen in every pet, but when a pet is allergic to fleas it can last in their system for about a month. If that is the case, Clyde likely needs an oral medication to help with the allergic reaction. Unfortunately, you can only get this medication from a veterinarian. I would also recommend a flea product from a veterinarian so you are sure to kill the fleas and their life cycle to prevent further allergic reactions. You may be able to get a flea prevention from your vet without an exam, so I would call and ask. I would also ask what options they have for billing so you can get him medications for the reaction. Good luck and kisses to Clyde!

I'm sorry your cats (and you!) are dealing with you. Unfortunately, once a cat has a flea dermatitis, the itching and skin problems can continue even once you get rid of the fleas. The degree of which really depends on the severity of their sensitivity to flea bites. Often, we have to use antihistamines or steroids to resolve the inflammation. Sometimes we also have to incorporate antibiotics if there is an infection. For dogs, there are topical shampoos we can use, but those are often not a good option for cats. So, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine your cats' skin to determine if there is a secondary skin infection or just inflammation in order to help you determine the best treatment. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Blu Bear. Fleas are particularly bad near the end of summer. What you should do is either discuss this with your local vet and let them evaluate the irritated areas of his body or treat him with multimodal flea/tick products and see if that doesn't help and the skin calm down. The irritated areas may require antibiotics or topical treatment to calm down after all of this itching. Multimodal treatment involves using a vet advised topical product (Revolution, Advantix, Vectra, Effitix, etc) along with an oral flea/tick medicine (Comfortis, Bravecto, or Nexgard). You should also treat your indoor environment since the bulk of the flea problem is immature stages in the environment. Your vet can help you with all of these treatments to get Blu Bear back to normal and not scratching. The treatments you are using are very short term solutions. You need products that last longer and have residual activity for weeks to months. Good luck with Blu Bear.

Hi there. I would recommend getting all pets in the home started on a good quality prescription flea control medication like Nexgard or Bravecto for Ollie, and Revolution or Bravecto for the cats. Once you've done this and had your home treated to get rid of any fleas or flea eggs still remaining in the environment, you should be in good shape as long as you keep everyone current on their flea treatments going forward.