Do all sand beaches have fleas? We want to take a vacation to a house

[Southsideirish]

with a sandy beach but the last time we did that our dog (RIP) came down with a terrible case of fleas and we had to go home early.

We had cats at that time who used to be inside/outside (feral cats that we later successfully adopted)and they definitely had fleas so we never knew for sure if the dog got the fleas from the sand on vacation or had picked them up back at home from the kitties and the flea eggs hatched a few days later while we were up at the cottage.

[Nay]

1. No, they don't, but you never know where you will pick up fleas,

whether you are on a beach or not. It all depends on whether a flea-carrying animal has dropped eggs recently.

Why not go to the vet and get the latest flea killer/repellent/collar before you go?

[Southsideirish]

6. Thanks for your response but we never use chemicals on him.

We prepare all his food(organic) He's 9 and his vet said he's a prefect specimen. Even his teeth have no plaque and do not require cleaning.

[leftofthedial]

14. sounds like good eating

want to sell him?

[the_spectator]

15. Sounds healthy and well cared-for -

but come on, at 9 years old, that meat is gonna be rather tough and chewy, won't it? :shrug:

[leftofthedial]

18. I was planning on making jerky

LOL

[amazona]

2. I never noticed any fleas in Gulfport/Biloxi

Maybe I'm just blissfully unaware since I don't have a dog but I've never seen any there. This is not a naturally sandy beach. They truck in fresh sand and spread the beach out each year. So maybe this is why.

They have pretty good gambling there too. :-)

[sandnsea]

9. Maybe it's changed

I lived in Biloxi in the 70's, after Camille. I don't think they were trucking in sand at the time, certainly no casinos. There were just awful fleas down there then. A friend's kids were getting bitten all over the place, we took them to their grandparents in California in order to get them out of there. Glad to here it's better, it was kind of a nasty place when I lived there.

[SouthernDem2004]

16. Can not have animals on the beaches there anyway. /nt

[Droopy]

3. Can't you leave your pets

at an animal hotel or whatever those things are called?

[Southsideirish]

4. Nope, Maltese's have to be with you at all times. I think he would die if

we ever boarded him.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

5. No fleas on Cape Cod

just mosquitos from hell after dark.

[Southsideirish]

7. Wow - that is good to know. Thanks!

[sandnsea]

8. Fleas here, horrible horrible fleas

We use Advantage on our Akita. My daughter has better luck with the other brand on her Pom. They are the ONLY thing that works at all. If we don't use the stuff, my dog gets flea bite allergy and that is really bad.

The good news is though, that's about the only buggy type stuff that we have to deal with.

[Southsideirish]

11. Yuck, where do you live?

[sandnsea]

12. Oregon coast

Seriously, anybody who brings a pet here on vacation should be forewarned. No way can they run around and not get fleas. Not in Florence at least.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

10. no fleas in Stone Harbor NJ or Cape May

[the_spectator]

13. This is going to seem just awful, but still -

If your dog is dead("RIP")-- why do you NEED a "beach without fleas" now? Unless you maybe walk your cats on the beach somehow? :shrug: But even those cats were "at the time" -- implying that they are no more. :shrug:

[Heidi]

17. Sand fleas _do_ exist.

Google "sand fleas" . . . Some people swear by Neutragena skin cream as a repellant. I don't know if you'd want to put Neutragena on your cats or dog, though.

[FLSurfer]

19. Sand fleas down here in St Aug

Fl aren't really what you would consider a flea. We use them for bait.
Redfish, pompano, sheephead, they all love 'em.