flea bomb or spray

my dad has been doing pest control for over 30 years. we have about 10-12 people with this same problem and large tanks. we normaly will spray low pressure around it and not within a foot or two. the pesticide is residual and does not get into the air that much when used at low pressure. i have also had people to cover the top and sump for about 10 minutes and use fans to clear the room of aresolized pesticide. we have never had anyproblems with this method. if you have any more problems let me know . just messege me . i have been doing pestcontrol with him for about 10 years so i can answer questions too.
 
I have decided to try a natural approach. I am going to get nematodes to treat the yard (farm size). I'm going to use growth inhibitor for screen porch and inside house - it won't kill the adult fleas, but I was told they have a life span of only 2 week so they will die off soon. This will keep eggs/larvae from developing into adults. Also I'm going to use diatomacious earth sprinkled in carpets, under cushions on sofa, etc. This way I don't have to worry about chemicals w/aquarium or animals. I also found a spray by Sentry called Natural Defense which used oils of different herbs to spray on cats & dog. I just hope all this works as it is going to be very expensive. Has anyone tried any of these natural approaches? Natural (green) always seems to be more expensive - just like organic.

I'm not sure what chemicals are in Natural Defense. Some of the botanicals can be pretty toxic, yet they come from natural plants. Rotinone is one example which comes from the cube root which is quite toxic. Pyrethrum comes from a Chrysanthemum Flower grown in mountains around the equator and has a low toxicity, however, it irritates the mucal membranes for people and dogs and can cause strong allergic reactions. So, even though you use botanical pesticides which come naturally in plants, you still need to understand what effects and what chemicals are present. In many cases EPA may not test these products if it does not directly claim it kills the targeted insect. ;)

Spreading diatomacous earth in direct contact where animals and people frequent should be reasonable safe, but I would not use a lot of it. If it gets into mucal areas or is breathed in in larger quantities, it can cause distress. :)

Using nematodes is easier said then done. They usually come frozen in packets. I have used them for termite control in touchy situations. However it took three deliveries of the product to get live ones that were not dead. You need to check them once they thaw out to make sure they are moving. FWIW, the nematodes did not work on the termites, even after coming back and checking two years later. :lol:
 
For anyone reading this thread curious about flea control we discovered a new product last season. After fighting them heavily for years ( we are in S. Georgia...5 dogs, 6 cats...in and out, in and out....). I've got a vet assistant friend who told me about Comfortis. It isn't cheap and does require a vet trip but we did it for one animal bought the heaviest poundage tablet....weighed each of the animals and best guessed breaking the tablets to their weight. We treated our dogs and cats and it has been like a miracle. Hope this helps someone!
 
I don't know much about this product since it is FDA approved and given by Vets. Sounds interesting. ;)


From the manufacturers website:

What is Comfortis?

Comfortis is the first FDA-approved, chewable beef-flavored tablet that kills fleas and prevents flea infestations on dogs for a full month. Comfortis requires a prescription from your veterinarian.

For:
Dogs (14 weeks of age or older)

Benefits:
"¢ Starts killing fleas within 30 minutes
"¢ Lasts a full month
"¢ Kills fleas before they can lay eggs
"¢ Comes in a convenient chewable, beef-flavored tablet


How it works:
Spinosad kills fleas by causing excitation of the insect's nervous system, leading to paralysis and rapid death.

Cautions:
The following adverse reactions may occur: vomiting; depression/lethargy; anorexia; ataxia (loss of coordination); diarrhea; pruritis (itchiness); trembling; hypersalivation; and seizures. While Comfortis has been found to be safely used with heartworm preventatives that contain ivermectin (e.g., Heartgard Plus, Iverhart Plus) when those products are used according to label directions, the following may occur if your veterinarian prescribes extra label use of a heartworm preventative (e.g., to treat non-responsive demodectic mange and other conditions): trembling/twitching, salivation/drooling, seizures, ataxia, mydriasis (dilation of pupils), blindness, and disorientation. If your pet is experiencing any of the above symptoms, or you notice other differences in behavior (e.g., cough, decrease/increase in appetite), contact your veterinarian.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Information:
Brand Name
Comfortis (Lilly)

Generic Name
Spinosad

What is the most important information I should know about Comfortis: Comfortis is a prescription medication FDA approved for use in dogs and puppies 14 weeks of age or older to kill fleas and prevent flea infestations for one month. Comfortis is available in a Pink box for dogs 5 to 10 lbs (140mg), Orange box for dogs 10.1 to 20 lbs (270mg), Green box for dogs 20.1 to 40 lbs (560mg), Blue box for dogs 40.1 to 60 lbs (810mg), and Brown box for dogs 60.1 to 120 lbs (1620mg).

What is Comfortis: Comfortis is a chewable, synthetic beef flavored tablet (derived from pork protein and hydrolyzed soy) that is given to the dog to kill fleas and prevent flea infestations for one month. Comfortis chewable tablets are for monthly use in dogs and puppies 14 weeks of age and older.

What should I discuss with my veterinarian before giving Comfortis to my pet: Tell your veterinarian if you are planning on breeding your pet. Tell your veterinarian if your dog has a history of seizures (epilepsy).

How should this medication be given: Give Comfortis chewable tablets with food. Give Comfortis chewable tablets once a month. Comfortis chewable tablets may be chewed, offered in food, or administered like other tablet medications. If vomiting occurs within 1 hour of administration, redose the pet with another full dose. Store Comfortis at room temperature (68-77° F)

What happens if I miss a dose: Give the missed dose with food as soon as you remember and resume a monthly dosing schedule.

What happens if I overdose the pet: Overdose of this medication is unlikely. However, if an overdose is suspected, contact your veterinarian or veterinary emergency room. Symptoms of overdose that may occur include vomiting.

What should I avoid while giving Comfortis: Your pet may maintain normal activities and interactions while being given Comfortis. The safe use of Comfortis chewable tablets in male dogs intended for breeding has not been established.

What are the possible side effects of Comfortis: Side effects that may occur include vomiting. If vomiting occurs within one hour of administration, redose with another full dose. Other side effects may occur. Continue giving Comfortis chewable tablets and talk to your veterinarian if your pet experiences decreased appetite, lethargy or decreased activity, diarrhea, cough, increased thirst, vocalization, increased appetite, redness of the skin, hyperactivity and excessive salivation. Talk to your veterinarian about any side effect that seems unusual or especially bothersome to the pet.

What other drugs will affect Comfortis: Talk to your veterinarian before giving any prescription or over the counter medications.

Where can I get more information: Your pharmacist has additional information about Comfortis written for health professionals that you may read.


_______________________________________________________________



Spinosad


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Spinosyn D

Spinosad (spinosyn A and spinosyn D) are a new chemical class of insecticides that are registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) to control a variety of insects. The active ingredient is derived from a naturally occurring soil dwelling bacterium called Saccharopolyspora spinosa, a rare actinomycete reportedly collected from soil in an abandoned rum distillery on a Caribbean Island in 1982 by a scientist on vacation.[1] It has not been found in nature since that time, and was subsequently described as a new species. The bacteria produce compounds (metabolites) while in a fermentation broth. The first fermentation-derived compound was formulated in 1988. Spinosad has since been formulated into insecticides that combine the efficacy of a synthetic insecticide with the benefits of a biological pest control organism.

Spinosad topical suspension, 0.9%, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 2011-01-18 for the topical treatment of head lice infestation in patients four (4) years of age and older.[2] It is marketed as the trade name Natroba in the US by ParaPRO Pharmaceuticals.[2] Spinosad is a mixture of spinosyn A and spinosyn D in a ratio of approximately 5 to 1 (spinosyn A to spinosyn D).[3]
 
As far as pesticides are concerned this looks like a good break though for selected species for tageted results , with minimal impact on non-target orgnanisms. :)

More information

Development of Spinosad and Attributes of A New Class of Insect Control Products
http://ipmworld.umn.edu/chapters/hutchins2.htm

It appears that Dow AgroSciences is working with this product to provide new pesticides. Looking forward to hear more about it from my Dow Rep when I talk to him. :)


From it:

Nontarget Toxicology

Table 2 summarizes acute mammalian, aquatic and avian toxicology (Anonymous, 1996). Spinosad is relatively low in toxicity to mammals and birds and is only slightly toxic to fish.

Table 2. Acute mammalian, aquatic and avian toxicity of spinosad.



Species

Test

Result

EPA Category



Mammalian









Rat (male/female)

Acute oral LD50

3738/>5000 mg/kg

Caution (IV)



Mouse

Acute oral LD50

>5000 mg/kg

Caution (IV)



Rabbit

Acute dermal LD50

>5000 mg/kg

Caution (IV)



Rat

Acute inhalation LC50

>5 mg/kg

Caution (IV)



Rabbit

Eye irritation

slight, clearing in 2 days

Caution (IV)



Rabbit

Skin irritation

no irritation

Caution (IV)



Guinea pig

Dermal sensitization

no sensitization

N. A.



Aquatic









Daphnia

48 hr acute LC50

92.7 mg/L

Slightly toxic



Grass shrimp

96 hr acute LC50

>9.8 mg/L

Slightly toxic



Carp

96 hr acute LC50

5.0 mg/L

Moderately toxic



Bluegill

96 hr acute LC50

5.9 mg/L

Moderately toxic



Sheepshead minnow

96 hr acute LC50

7.9 mg/L

Moderately toxic



Rainbow trout

96 hr acute LC50

30.0 mg/L

Slightly toxic



Avian









Bobwhite quail

Acute oral LD50

>2,000 mg/kg

Practically non-toxic



Mallard duck

Acute oral LD50

>2,000 mg/kg

Practically non-toxic



Bobwhite quail

5 day dietary LC50

>5,000 mg/kg

Practically non-toxic



Mallard duck

5 day dietary LC50

>5,000 mg/kg

Practically non-toxic




In addition, chronic toxicology tests in mammals have shown that spinosad is not carcinogenic, teratogenic, mutagenic or neurotoxic. Spinosad exhibits wide margins of safety to many beneficial insects and related organisms (Schoonover and Larson, 1995). Spinosad has relatively low activity against predaceous beetles, sucking insects, lacewings and mites. Table 3 demonstrates the reduced activity of spinosad on some.

Table 3. Toxicity of spinosad and cypermethrin to selected beneficial organisms.
 
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I would imagine it will take at least 5-10 million dollars to get it to the market place as a pesticide in and around homes. :lol:

I'm sure Randy is quite familiar with the cost to get these new products through FDA approval. ;)
 
For anyone reading this thread curious about flea control we discovered a new product last season. After fighting them heavily for years ( we are in S. Georgia...5 dogs, 6 cats...in and out, in and out....). I've got a vet assistant friend who told me about Comfortis. It isn't cheap and does require a vet trip but we did it for one animal bought the heaviest poundage tablet....weighed each of the animals and best guessed breaking the tablets to their weight. We treated our dogs and cats and it has been like a miracle. Hope this helps someone!

I just figured I would second this post. My GF owns a grooming and boarding business and this is what she uses. It is the only thing that she has found to date that will almost immediately kill all the living fleas on a dog. She gives it to any animal that comes in with fleas to keep from getting an infestation in her building. Been working for years so far, and the best thing is the vet will sell it to her without a RX.
 
Sassyfrassy,

Given all the alternatives for fleas control in your situation, personally I would give this new product, Comfortis, a try. I would talk to your Vet about it of course to make sure there is agreement. :)

FWIW, I will be talking soon to my Vet for using it on my 2 dogs and 2 cats which run the farm. The toxicity of Comfortis is less than the other spot medications currently on the market. ;)

You may not be able to use the new product right away if you have just applied other spot medication, depending on modes of actions, but this medication may have effects at different areas on the animal and only the Vet will know this.
 
Comfortis works really, really, really, well. Starts killing in minutes.

Topical products like Frontline Plus DO NOT work around here. Many people, including myself, think fleas/ticks have become immune to it.

I work with a greyhound adoption agency, so I interact with 50-100 new dogs a year coming off the track/farm. Comfortis works.
 
For anyone reading this thread curious about flea control we discovered a new product last season. After fighting them heavily for years ( we are in S. Georgia...5 dogs, 6 cats...in and out, in and out....). I've got a vet assistant friend who told me about Comfortis. It isn't cheap and does require a vet trip but we did it for one animal bought the heaviest poundage tablet....weighed each of the animals and best guessed breaking the tablets to their weight. We treated our dogs and cats and it has been like a miracle. Hope this helps someone!

We Also had a bad flea problem and when I told my vet about my reef tank he suggested that we use comfortis to treat the dog and vacuum the rug and furniture everyday. It's been two months and we haven't seen a flea on the dog or anywhere in the house in about two weeks.
 
we used good old borax, placed tubs under sofa's beds, sprinkled carpets lightly then vaccumed.etc, sprinkled outside of house w it as barrier.
 
Some of the published studies regarding boric acid use as an insecticide trouble me, especially when one broadcasts it over large areas like carpets or furniture:

With studies like shown below cropping up, I doubt boric acid will last long as an EPA registered pesticide. We will see, it is still registered here in the USA, though I stopped using it in my operation when the studies became known.

Boric acid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid


From this link:

Toxicology

Based on mammalian median lethal dose (LD50) rating of 2,660 mg/kg body mass, boric acid is poisonous if taken internally or inhaled in large quantities. However, it is generally considered to be not much more toxic than table salt.[4] The Thirteenth Edition of the Merck Index indicates that the LD50 of boric acid is 5.14 g/kg for oral dosages given to rats, and that 5 to 20 g/kg has produced death in adult humans. The LD50 of sodium chloride is reported to be 3.75 g/kg in rats according to the Merck Index.

Long term exposure to boric acid may be of more concern, causing kidney damage and eventually kidney failure (see links below). Although it does not appear to be carcinogenic, studies in dogs have reported testicular atrophy after exposure to 32 mg/kg bw/day for 90 days. This level is far lower than the LD50.[5]

According to boric acid IUCLID Dataset published by the European Commission, boric acid in high doses shows significant developmental toxicity and teratogenicity in rabbit, rat, and mouse fetuses as well as cardiovascular defects, skeletal variations, mild kidney lesions.[6] As a consequence, in August 2008, in the 30th ATP to EU directive 67/548/EEC, the EC decided to amend its classification as reprotoxic category 2 and to apply the risk phrases R60 (may impair fertility) and R61 (may cause harm to the unborn child).[7][8][9][10][11]

At a recent European Diagnostics Manufacturing Association (EDMA) Meeting several new additions to the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list in relation to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals Regulations 2007 (REACH) were discussed. The registration and review completed as part of REACH has meant the current classification of Boric Acid CAS 10043-35-3 / 11113-50-1 as of 1 December 2010 will be listed as H360FD (May damage fertility. May damage the unborn child.) [12] [13]
 
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We switched to comfortis also, front line wasn't working on our lab. She couldn't be any happier! We had the same situation about how to treat the apartment. Do what someone said above, sprinkle borax all over the carpet, leave the house for a few hours after you work it in real good and then vacuum it up! It worked great for us.
 
I spent tons of money on sprays, shampoo, bombs, and nothing worked....when I did bomb my apartment I covered the tank and turned everything off for several hours...had no loss of fish or corals...but what really solved the problem was frontline...would get that before bombing ur house
 
Thanks to everyone for info. I called my vet and I'm getting Comfortis for my dog, but I'll have to continue to use Frontline for my cats, as they said Comfortis is not for cats. And I'm ordering a growth inhibitor for the house and yard - going biological instead of chemical - then I don't have to worry about the aquarium at all (although I'll still probably cover it for a few hours just to be safe). I'll let you know how this works. Carolyn
 
I have decided to try a natural approach. I am going to get nematodes to treat the yard (farm size). I'm going to use growth inhibitor for screen porch and inside house - it won't kill the adult fleas, but I was told they have a life span of only 2 week so they will die off soon. This will keep eggs/larvae from developing into adults. Also I'm going to use diatomacious earth sprinkled in carpets, under cushions on sofa, etc. This way I don't have to worry about chemicals w/aquarium or animals. I also found a spray by Sentry called Natural Defense which used oils of different herbs to spray on cats & dog. I just hope all this works as it is going to be very expensive. Has anyone tried any of these natural approaches? Natural (green) always seems to be more expensive - just like organic.

Nematodes do work quite well. Boric acid is safe and works well too.
Flea problems can be tough, the fleas that you actually see on your pets account for only 2 percent of the population affecting them, that's a lot!
Bombs never did much of anything other than cost money and stink up the house.
 
id also consider trying provent-a-mite from pro products it lasts awhile. you dont spray it on the animal. it works on spiders also.
oh yea and by all means the best way to get rid of them is to not get them so please use a preventative
 
For anyone reading this thread curious about flea control we discovered a new product last season. After fighting them heavily for years ( we are in S. Georgia...5 dogs, 6 cats...in and out, in and out....). I've got a vet assistant friend who told me about Comfortis. It isn't cheap and does require a vet trip but we did it for one animal bought the heaviest poundage tablet....weighed each of the animals and best guessed breaking the tablets to their weight. We treated our dogs and cats and it has been like a miracle. Hope this helps someone!

I use Comfortis for our dog and it works very well. However, it is waaay too expensive to use only this on a regular basis so I have to go back and forth with Frontline.

I read that someone broke the tablets and dosed themselves. I would like more information on this so I could try it myself and save some money! (and make my dog a little happier)

Thanks!
 
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