The Utter Nightmare Of Flea Infestation

Flea preventative is NOT optional. Take it from me.

This is a sponsored post.

The warm weather brings about special considerations for our dogs. First and foremost, dogs must be provided with fresh, clean water at all times and never, ever be left behind in a car with no air conditioner. Those are no brainers, and vital to our dog’s health and safety.

On a positive note, warmer weather also affords us with many enjoyable activities with our pups: park excursions, hikes, swims by the lake, etc.… When we spend more time outdoors, so do our dogs.

Since I live in New York City, our outdoor excursions aren’t as woodsy as others. Usually, it’s the yard or the park. Our park is a flat-surfaced one, no high hills or wooded areas, just a clean, grassy surface to run and walk. Our yard is concrete except for a very small space in the back where there is dirt, which measures about a foot long.

Given these circumstances, I was surprised, OK, shocked and horrified, when my daughter called me one night while I was at a concert to tell me she had found little black bugs on our Chihuahua. Grossed out doesn’t even begin to describe it. While I adore my pups, I detest fleas and ticks. We took a trip to the vet the next day and began the hideous process of de-fleaing every surface in our home.

I quickly morphed into some sort of mix between an OCD affected cleaning woman and an itchy hypochondriac. This went on for weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2010. I vacuumed at least 5 times per day, sprayed natural flea killers throughout the house, and checked Hayley incessantly. The poor thing was itchy and she had passed the critters to our three cats, one of which became allergic to the fleabites, which caused another trip to the vet.

Worst part of it all? It was my fault.

I had let the flea preventative go lapse. Since it was November, I had a false notion that the cooler weather would somehow protect my pets from flea invasion. Besides, the monthly medication had become increasingly expensive. Let’s just say that the price of the preventative nowhere came close to the price it cost to clean up the whole mess and get the fleas gone once and for all.

Paying for all of your pet’s needs is no easy task in today’s economy. If you’ve ever had a sick pet, you know exactly how quickly the cost of a trip to the vet and medication can add up. And even if your pet has never been sick, mere regular health maintenance, such as heartworm and flea prevention, can be a draining part of a family’s budget, but luckily, companies are now making medication available at retail stores.

When Vet Guard, approached me and asked me to test out a new flea preventative called VetGuard Plus by Vet IQ, I was both excited and leery. I was excited because the price of the medication was much lower than normal, but cautious because I knew that without proper protection, one encounter with a stray cat (which there are many on our yards on my block) could result in a house filled with fleas, again.

What I like about VetGuard so far is that I can buy it in local stores, like Rite Aid, Sam’s Club and Walmart, and it costs less than half of what I was paying for Frontline and Advantage. I even found it on Amazon.com. Just make sure you select the appropriate package for your dog's size according to weight. Packages are available for small dogs (5-15 lbs.), medium dogs (15-33 lbs.), large dogs (33-66 lbs.), and extra large dogs (over 66 lbs.). 

VetGuard promises that it has “92% control of fleas within one day of application”. It also maintains it breaks the flea life cycle and kills lice and mites. If you have ever had fleas, you may have learned (as I undoubtedly did the hard way) that the life cycle of a flea is punishing. Adult fleas can live for months on end without eating and you may mistakenly think they are gone, only to watch them quite literally pop up again.

 This month, I am going to give it a try for my 16-pound Chihuahua mix and 50-pound Lab. If you have tried VetGuard, I’d love to hear from you. I’ll let you know how Hayley and Django like it and what kind of job it does this summer.