Fleas

[KibasMom]

So my dog dislocated his hip and broke the bone holding his femur in place almost two weeks ago. He had to get surgery for it and almost two weeks later, I see fleas on him. I've had friends who told me their dog, like mine, was flea free until they took them into the vets for an ailment and when they brought them back home they noticed fleas a few days later. I was not told by my vet about this risk and I'm wondering if they should be held accountable for it? If I had known the risk I would've gone out and bought him flea medication the day I brought him home and they really can't assume that every dog or cat coming through their hospital is on medication. This is a big deal to me because it's been two weeks that he's possibly had them (and he didn't get it after the vets because he's been staying in hims room 98% of the time to keep the weight off of his leg) and that means they could be in my carpets and reproducing which presents an infestation problem. I wouldn't be posting on here since it is a dog training site but I can't find anything online about it and this is posted under off topic. Any thoughts or advice? (I did go out and buy him flea medication but it takes 12 hours to kill them and I'm really worried about my apartment possibly becoming infested from some that dropped off of him!)

 

[southerngirl]

I would treat your house to be safe go to your local petstore and find something to treat it with.

 

[jackienmutts]

Sorry about your boy needing surgery - and picking up a flea. Any time we take our dogs outside our home, they run the risk of picking up anything. Chances are he did pick up a flea there, but there's no possible way they could ever guarantee that any dog or cat could be kept flee-free once brought inside their facility. I'm sure they do their best to keep their facility clean and flea-free - but they have no control over who brings what dog/cat in bearing what kind of little critters. Thing is, there's no way to know that a flea wasn't brought inside your home on a shoe, a newspaper, hitched in on most anything, or hopped in on it's own. I don't think there's any way you could prove or hold the vet liable.

I think at this point, it's good that he's on flea preventative, be sure you keep his bedding washed, and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. You may want to mention it to the vet next time you're in there. What were you doing for fleas prior? Did your boy never go outside the house? Just wondering.

 

[KibasMom]

What were you doing for fleas prior? Did your boy never go outside the house? Just wondering.

I wasn't really doing anything for fleas prior I will admit because he's an indoor dog. Unless he's outside with me he doesn't go outside. I do take him on runs, hikes and take him to the dog park to keep him well exercised as he is a very active breed. But it seems more than mere coincidence that after 6 months of doing all of this, fleas pop up after his vet visit. I actually was going to start medicating him when he turned a year old, I didn't really see the use of it since he wasn't staying outside for long periods of time. But if other people had problems with their dogs turning up with fleas after vet visits, shouldn't they know of it and think to notify them of it? I'm a little peeved that I had to find out about the fleas on my own when he could've been dropping eggs through out the house this whole time.

 

[Adrianna & Calvin]

Hi Kibasmom

It's possible that he's picked up fleas from the vet, but since many dogs who live exclusively indoors still pop up with fleas, it's clear that there are many sources out there. Association (going to the vet) is not causation (the vet must have fleas). He just needed one pregnant flea to hop on him outside somewhere to bring an infestation home. I'd call the vet to report it, because as you said it can't hurt. Most veterinary offices aren't carpeted, the animals are separated, and the floors are vacuumed and mopped daily so it's actually less likely to have a flea infestation there than you'd expect. Of course, someone could have sat their flea-ridden dog down in the lobby minutes before you arrived--there's no accounting for that. Whereever you go with your dog outside, it's also possible that a flea-infested dog or stray cat was there moments before you, who knows?

I'd get some spot-on from the vet and let it do its magic. Treat all of the animals in your house, and treat them for at least 3-6 months in a row. I wouldn't bomb my house, I'd prefer to let the animals 'bomb' the house on a daily basis Remember to never put dog medication on cats, and although I'd use only veterinary (not pet store) products on any animal, it is especially important to use veterinary products for cats as they are sensitive to ingredients which can be in over-the-counter products.

 

[JazzyandVeronica]

//I do take him on runs, hikes and take him to the dog park to keep him well exercised as he is a very active breed. //

I think that's more than ample opportunity to pick up a flea; especially at the dog park.

My dog is dog reactive, so she doesn't go to dog parks or ever get anywhere even physically near other dogs unless they are very well known to her...

and she managed to pick up kennel cough from a strange dog in her obedience class; and she never even physically interacted with the dog...

(pretty sure we traced it to that specific dog because I had to call her out of class the next week and the instructor told me that the other dog had come down with it first).

 

[Anneke]

No, you can't hold the vets accountable for fleas. Unfortunately fleas are nasty little things. Eggs can lay unhatched for quite a while waiting for the right conditions to hatch, like a temperature rise.
Flea prevention is something you must uphold from the very beginning. I use it all year round, a little less in winter, but as the eggs can be in the house and hatch, I still use it in winter.
I use a spray that you put on the dogs coat( any hairs that come off the dog, help to kill the fleas in the house) called frontline(it's not as good as it used to be, unfortunately. It seems the fleas are becoming resitant to it. And I use Stronghold(pippets) which helps to prevent worms and heartworms(the last one is no problem where I live, but I thought I'd mention it.)
Why I use two products? Well one of my dogs is a flea magnet. She seems to have tasty blood While she seems to have 20 fleas, my other dog only has 2 or 3.
The other one is the tick magnet, though

 

[JazzyandVeronica]

We use Frontline (works really well for Veronica; the Advantix made her sick) for fleas & ticks and Heartguard for heartworm.

No side effects to speak of; and better safe than sorry is my thought.

 

[KibasMom]

//I think that's more than ample opportunity to pick up a flea; especially at the dog park.
//
I do realize that but I've been taking him to the dog park ever since he had all of his shots which was months ago and I've never seen a flea on him. Granted, I know there's ample opportunity at that time but the only time I saw them were almost two weeks after he came home from the vet. So I do think that he got them from another dog that probably had them. I don't really want to hold the vets accountable but I would like a little forewarning about them as I was totally taken by surprise. I don't think it's an infestation problem I believe we are out of the red. I immediately went out and got him k9 advantix and put it on him and all his fleas are gone and no one in my household has complained about any sort of itchy bites.

 

[JazzyandVeronica]

Glad you got a handle on the flea problem; a flea infested household is no fun!!!

If your instincts tell you he picked them up at the vet; then you are probably right.

I guess you have to figure that anyplace where other dogs go or have been is a potential place to pick up fleas, or other germs carried by dogs.

Sort of like sending a kid to school and risking head lice; or picking up MRSA if you're in the hospital for something else.

At least with fleas we can use the preventatives to avoid the majority of problems.