Do you think we’ll be ok with the flea situation?
I have a 7-8 month old chocolate lab/pit mix and yesterday, we went to the park with a friend who has a yellow lab. My dog has Frontline on her (applied a week ago, no baths afterwards). When we were walking back to our cars, we noticed an old, male dog (some kind of pointer), with a collar, wandering around. So, I knelt down and called him over to me and he trotted right over. His name tag holder had broken in 1/2, so there was no name tag, just the tag from the spay/neuter clinic. We called animal control and my friend put him on her dog’s leash. While we were walking around the parking lot waiting for them to come, we noticed a LOT of “flea dirt” on his beige coat and at least one tick. I came home and took my clothes off at our entry way and immediately washed them. Then I sprayed Hartz Flea & Tick home spray allll over my house– carpet, stairs, sofa, shoes, the dog’s bedding, etc.
We have a kitten who is indoors only w/ no flea/tick preventative. Do you think she’ll get fleas or should all the spraying work?
PS– the sad thing is, the animal control officer saw him and said, “I know this guy from somewhere… he was just adopted last year.” And poor thing, he had fleas, tick(s), he looked like he had an eye infection, he was boney skinny and looked like he’d been lost for quite a while. Hopefully he’s microchipped!
The only reason we got Hartz home spray is b/c even with the Frontline, she got a tick last week at the park and Hartz was the only thing that kills ticks AND fleas. Raid, Combat, etc. doesn’t kill ticks, too. It’s the only thing we had on hand.

August 31st, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Personally I would not use any Hartz product for any reason. They are fairly ineffective at actually killing fleas and they can be very toxic to pets, especially cats. The company is well aware that their products can kill pets even when used according to the instructions on the packaging yet they do nothing to address the problem. I would rather deal with the fleas than risk killing my pet with their toxins.
As far as your kitten goes, if your dog is on frontline and you washed your clothes immediately when you got home then you are probably safe. The spraying was probably unnecessary. If you are concerned, simply invest in a flea comb and comb out the kitten in a few days and again in a few weeks to check for evidence of fleas (live fleas or flea dirt). It’s probably a good idea to have a flea comb handy to check for fleas anyway as it is possible for you to bring them in with you in particularly bad years (I have known several indoor-only cat households with absolutely no animals that go outside who have managed to get fleas during a bad flea year).
Happened to me
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August 31st, 2011 at 7:36 pm
She might be ok, but it wouldn’t hurt to put her on Revolution anyways.
have over 40 pets
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August 31st, 2011 at 9:36 pm
If your dog already has frontline you were fine. Stop spraying that nasty hartz around. You come in contact with fleas everyday. They are in the grass and dirt. Coming in contact with this dog was not any worst than walking around that park. The frontline already treats the dog bed and carpet because it comes off of your dog with dander and stays in the environment. It effectively kills fleas alone so you do not need to use that nasty spray. You can put frontline on your kitten too if it is older than 8 weeks. The dog formula is the same as the cat formula so you can even use a small amount of the dog’s supply. Just never use Advantix for dogs on a cat, but frontline is fine.
have over 40 pets
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August 31st, 2011 at 11:36 pm
You should be ok. Hartz doesn’t work very well though
have over 40 pets
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