Fleas, fleas, fleas, they'll drive you to your knees...

Hi, Waccoterriers. You don't need me to tell you that flea season is upon us, and that it's going to be a very bad year, judging by the number of the little blighters we've been combing off Dexter every day. And, as always, the controversy rages over the best way to get the fleas off the pets. The prime methods seem to be: Benign but Wimpy Herbs, Stinky Chemical Sprays, and the Dread Few Drops of Whatever-it-is on the animal's back. So...what's your favorite solution? Personally, I've never had much luck with anything except Method #3, Advantage or something like it. Dexter's afraid the fleas will carry him off and hold him for ransom.

Roland

My kitties have started bringing the critters in. With other cats I have been able to keep up with combing but with the two I have now it's not going to work. Option 3 works the best for them. Just need to be able to afford it. Jess

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by Roland:

Hi, Waccoterriers. You don't need me to tell you that flea season is upon us, and that it's going to be a very bad year, judging by the number of the little blighters we've been combing off Dexter every day. And, as always, the controversy rages over the best way to get the fleas off the pets. The prime methods seem to be: Benign but Wimpy Herbs, Stinky Chemical Sprays, and the Dread Few Drops of Whatever-it-is on the animal's back. So...what's your favorite solution? Personally, I've never had much luck with anything except Method #3, Advantage or something like it. Dexter's afraid the fleas will carry him off and hold him for ransom.Roland

---

Hi Roland!
I have a hard time with the buggers too! Advantage works really well for my cats, but it's also an insecticide, which I really don't like-So....I use olive oil! Some people use neem oil, but it smells- they rub a little on the affected areas. I use about a Tablespoon of olive oil ontheir back ends, which I rub into the fur, and then another tablespoon or so on their tummies, etc. They lick off a lot, but the oil basically smothers the fleas -they cant breathe!

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by Roland:

Hi, Waccoterriers. You don't need me to tell you that flea season is upon us, and that it's going to be a very bad year, judging by the number of the little blighters we've been combing off Dexter every day. And, as always, the controversy rages over the best way to get the fleas off the pets. The prime methods seem to be: Benign but Wimpy Herbs, Stinky Chemical Sprays, and the Dread Few Drops of Whatever-it-is on the animal's back. So...what's your favorite solution? Personally, I've never had much luck with anything except Method #3, Advantage or something like it. Dexter's afraid the fleas will carry him off and hold him for ransom.

Roland

---

Hi Roland,
I'm sure you may have heard of these non-toxic remedies before but they have worked for me on all my dogs. A clove of raw organic garlic finely chopped ever other day in your furry friends food will keep the fleas away (never give cats garlic) you may hear that dogs should not have garlic, this is not true. Holistic/Integrative vets feel otherwise and it has been used with much success for many. Most doggies love the taste mine did. It is also an immune booster and naturally keeps all parasites away including internal. In addition, lavender oil diluted with water and used as a spray, plus your pet will smell very yummy and it is a natural relaxer for their wonderful minds & body!

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by Roland:

Hi, Waccoterriers. You don't need me to tell you that flea season is upon us, and that it's going to be a very bad year, judging by the number of the little blighters we've been combing off Dexter every day. And, as always, the controversy rages over the best way to get the fleas off the pets. The prime methods seem to be: Benign but Wimpy Herbs, Stinky Chemical Sprays, and the Dread Few Drops of Whatever-it-is on the animal's back. So...what's your favorite solution? Personally, I've never had much luck with anything except Method #3, Advantage or something like it. Dexter's afraid the fleas will carry him off and hold him for ransom.

Roland

---

This isn't a solution, just a funny story. Back in the day, when we were living in Lancaster PA, I got frisky and took a role acting for a company in Pittsburgh, and since our dog had imprinted on me, she went along. Fleas don't live on the dog. They live in carpets and floorboards and grass and just hop aboard the dog for a meal. No dog? No problem, assault the lone guy in the house. It got so bad that CB would come in the front door and do six-foot leaps through the house to the washer in the back, strip naked, stuff the pants/fleas into the machine, start the hot water, and settle down to pick fleas off his legs and squish them. Lots of them. Alas, that wasn't the era of surveillance cameras, so you won't find this on YouTube. After spray didn't do the job, I think he used a bomb. -- Elizabeth

https://www.google.com/search?q=Natu...ient=firefox-a

Everyone reading this has flea's except for ... Mad Miles

Borax Eliminates Fleas

Mix four parts of Borax with one part of salt, and sprinkle over your carpet. The mixture gets down amongst the fibers, and dehydrates the fleas and eggs, and prevents them re-hatching. This works great, and it is much more effective and cheaper than "flea bombs."
note: Some parents prefer to keep Borax away children. Especially if the children crawl or play on the carpets.

Flea Advice from a Vet

As a veterinarian in Louisianna, I have been dealing with fleas for over 20 years. If Donna takes the following steps her fleas will be gone in 45-60 days and will not return.

1. Bring the cats to her vet and get a Program injection every six months.
2. Give her dog Program (or Sentinel) monthly.
3. Treat all four pets with Frontline spray monthly.

All of these products are the safest fleas products we've ever had. No Premise treatment will be necessary! The total cost of this program is less than thirty dollars a month.


Rock Salt Deters Fleas

We have cats! We used to have a lot of fleas until I read somewhere about putting small trays of rock salt under couches or other places where it can't be seen or gotten into by children. I might have one or two in any given room. The rock salt lasts for years. I have a few fleas occasionally but not any more infestations. I have no idea why or how this works, but it has in my house!


Pennyroyal and Cedar

My husband and I also live out in the country and here are our flea control tips. Plant pennyroyal around your yard. Just here and there where the dogs might lie in it sometimes. Put cedar shavings in their dog house, but these need to be changed once or twice a year. We usually put fresh out just before and after the winter. Allow the pets to roll in dust (they know what they're doing.) We have 2 dogs and 5 cats (amoung our other 25 pets) and have very little problem with fleas (in Missouri!).


Garlic and Brewyer's Yeast

Has the reader tried garlic and/or brewyer's yeast? You can purchase capsules of either at health food stores and at some chains of stores. have your pet swallow one a day, the taste/smell will get in their coats and fleas do NOT like the taste.
If the fleas have gotten into the house, place a small pan of soapy water in the middle of the room at night with a small light (tea light candles sitting in the water work well) near the pan. The fleas will jump towards the light and end up in the water. In the morning, flush the water.


A Little Salt

I have used salt on the ground outside the door and on the carpet to kill off the eggs of the fleas. If you are doing this outdoors, you need to be careful not to use too much, especially in areas where you grow things, it may have an adverse effect on your plants as well. It is inexpensive and it seams to work.


Comb Fleas Out

I am sure other people have mentioned how effective combing is. Every day into the toilet was my approach. Also I lined our walls with cedar boards - I removed them once the problem went away.


Over-all Program Approach

We live on 10 acres and have 2 dogs and 3 cats and also had a terrible flea problem last year. This year we're trying to get a jump on preventing the fleas from taking hold. Ideas: boric acid sprinkled on light carpets and left for 30 minutes, then vacuum. For dark carpets try diatomaceous earth (available from organic gardening catalogues). With the dips, make sure you're dipping long enough. We dipped our kittens this weekend and it took 3 dips to kill all the fleas. Also, with the drops for the dogs--if your dog is over 45 pounds, it takes twice as much drops. I just bought Bio-Spot from our farm supply store, for 1/2 the price of the brands the vet sells. One last idea: we have over 50 chickens running loose on our farm and have noticed that the tick and fly population is much lessened. I don't know if they'll help with the fleas too.


Natural Repellents and Dips

Use a mixture of Avon Skin-So-Soft, vinegar, and eucalyptus oil as a bug repellent for humans and animals.
Natural flea and tick dip:
2 cups, packed, of fresh rosemary and/or peppermint
1 quart boiling water
4 quarts warm water
Pour the just boiled water over the fresh herbs and let steep, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain and add the liquid to the 4 quarts of warm water and then saturate the animal. Let it air dry.
Flea Spray
spray her with an herbal mixture of:
chamomile
valerian
licorice
witch hazel Prepare an infusion using one tea bag of each herb, and when it's cold, mix it with witch hazel.
Plants:
Densely grow fennel and basil around the pet area and place some of the fresh herbs in and around their homes (inside their beds, on the floor, etc.). They called it strewing many, many years ago.


Mothballs in the Vacuum

When we found ourselves with a flea-infested Samoyed, the groomer recommended putting mothballs in the sweeper bag. The mothballs killed the fleas and the eggs in the sweeper bag. We ran the sweeper alot that summer, but we had no more problems with fleas. Now, I always put mothballs in the sweeper bag in the summer and we've never had another problem.


Change to Natural Diet

My first suggestion is to feed your animals a healthy all natural diet. I recommend feeding them only raw food. This actually costs far less than feeding premium kibble. It will keep them out of the vet, thus saving you money.
The second thing is add APPLE CIDER VINEGAR to the animals food and water. This makes the skin smell and taste acidic to the parasite and will repel them. It repels fleas, ticks and flies.
Keeping your dog (or cat) internally healthy by feeding them a healthy diet will naturally repel internal and external parasites as these things do not attack healthy individuals. Parasites attack ill and unhealthy animals. Do NOT use apple cider "flavored" vinegar as it will not do the same thing. Use the real thing even though it is slightly more expensive. There are also recipes to make your own ACV. For my 75lb dogs I add about 2-3 tablespoons to their food and for my 10 lb Chihuahua I use just a few shakes, maybe adds up to a teaspoon. Add it to the water while they are getting used to the smell and taste and if you continue to feed kibble.

Last year I started feeding my dogs FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth and they didn't have any fleas at all plus they smell good. I bought it on-line from Wolf Creek. Now I buy it at the pet store by Raley's on Fulton. I didn't buy it to control fleas. It has excellent health benefits for animals, people and plants. Now I've added Lewis Labs non-fortified Brewer's yeast to their food. I bought that for myself at iherb at the advice of the Health Ranger. Some reviewers said they bought it to control fleas on their pets. I like the idea of the lavender oil spray too. I'd rather repel them than poison them. I thnik that's healthier for my dogs.

Thanks for that Great info. Ruth! I agree with NOT poisoning... the Diatomaceous earth can be mixed into their dog food? It is definitely worth a try! Appreciated you sharing that!
Char

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by ruthnew:

Last year I started feeding my dogs FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth and they didn't have any fleas at all plus they smell good. I bought it on-line from Wolf Creek. Now I buy it at the pet store by Raley's on Fulton. I didn't buy it to control fleas. It has excellent health benefits for animals, people and plants. Now I've added Lewis Labs non-fortified Brewer's yeast to their food. I bought that for myself at iherb at the advice of the Health Ranger. Some reviewers said they bought it to control fleas on their pets. I like the idea of the lavender oil spray too. I'd rather repel them than poison them. I thnik that's healthier for my dogs.

---

How does "food grade" diatomaceous earth, ingested by an animal, affect the fleas on their skin or in their environment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

Addendum: I've had a private reply, which indicates that person will do further research. If you read the wiki, the reason to feed animals "food grade" diatomaceous earth... well there are two stated reasons.

One is to allow tests of the ash content of their feces, something about seeing if they're getting proper nutrients, the other is to aid in de-worming, and it's stated that that is questionable.

The way diatomaceous works as an insect repellent and insecticide, is that it dries out their exoskeletons and kills them, or fends them off. But since diatomaceous earth is essentially ground up tiny shells of ancient sea creatures, mollusks, it is dangerous to breath. Cause it does the same thing to animal / mammal lungs that it does to insect exoskeletons, causes irritation. It's what talcum powder is made from.

How ingested tiny shells come into contact with fleas on the epidermis of an animal, if it is going through the digestive tract of that animal, is a mystery to me. I suspect it's also a mystery to science and rationality.

The only way I see it actually working, is if it is sweated through the pores of the skin and then drives away the fleas. But any basic knowledge of mammalian anatomy and physiology, pretty much puts the kibosh on that theory.

Bear in mind, coincidence is not causality.

As for diatomaceous earth passing through the digestive tract and causing animals to smell better... It's a moisture absorbent, maybe that helps cut down odors from their feces? I'm not a vet, maybe somebody should ask one.


Addendum Addendum: Did a little of my own research (i.e. Google). Pet owners are dusting their animals with Diatomaceous "Food Grade" Earth. And their carpets, etc. That's what's killing the fleas. Not putting it in pet food. It is recommended to kill intestinal parasites, but fleas aren't intestinal parasites. So far as I know...

A fine powder, clumps when wet. Dogs shake it off. It gets into the air and is breathed by one and all. Bear that in mind. But some swear by it.

Looks like diatomaceous earth is a mechanical insecticide. Intestinal critters are lacerated by the sharp edges of the DE and the body will absorb it. Is can be used in the fur, but as you pointed out, it can also be breathed in. I can't think that is good for the animals.

https://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

Jess

I have been using a Cedar spray that I made, I'm going to try CedarCide because it contains Cedar &Silica, along with cedar chips in the yard.

I recently found out the spot drops like Advantage (which we never liked) can be deadly to your pet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHIfiMWD0Ss

:kitty:

Also for humans, taking Vitamin B1 helps repel insects.

"How ingested tiny shells come into contact with fleas on the epidermis of an animal, if it is going through the digestive tract of that animal, is a mystery to me. I suspect it's also a mystery to science and rationality."

A mystery to science, perhaps, but not to rationality. Just because science has not yet discovered a causality doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

If I were a biologist and my friend Joe told me that feeding his cat diatomaceous earth got rid of its fleas, my reaction would be, that doesn't make sense to me but maybe there's something here I haven't thought of. I'd want to do further research on my own. If that weren't possible, I'd be content with not knowing the answer for the present.

Saying that Joe's experience with his cat is "a mystery to...rationality" is itself an irrational statement. Given the history of science the only rational response is to to put the d.e./flea event in the very large scientific category of events not yet understood, aka mysteries.

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by "Mad" Miles:

How does "food grade" diatomaceous earth, ingested by an animal, affect the fleas on their skin or in their environment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

Addendum: I've had a private reply, which indicates that person will do further research. If you read the wiki, the reason to feed animals "food grade" diatomaceous earth... well there are two stated reasons.

One is to allow tests of the ash content of their feces, something about seeing if they're getting proper nutrients, the other is to aid in de-worming, and it's stated that that is questionable.

The way diatomaceous works as an insect repellent and insecticide, is that it dries out their exoskeletons and kills them, or fends them off. But since diatomaceous earth is essentially ground up tiny shells of ancient sea creatures, mollusks, it is dangerous to breath. Cause it does the same thing to animal / mammal lungs that it does to insect exoskeletons, causes irritation. It's what talcum powder is made from.

How ingested tiny shells come into contact with fleas on the epidermis of an animal, if it is going through the digestive tract of that animal, is a mystery to me. I suspect it's also a mystery to science and rationality.

The only way I see it actually working, is if it is sweated through the pores of the skin and then drives away the fleas. But any basic knowledge of mammalian anatomy and physiology, pretty much puts the kibosh on that theory.

Bear in mind, coincidence is not causality.

As for diatomaceous earth passing through the digestive tract and causing animals to smell better... It's a moisture absorbent, maybe that helps cut down odors from their feces? I'm not a vet, maybe somebody should ask one.


Addendum Addendum: Did a little of my own research (i.e. Google). Pet owners are dusting their animals with Diatomaceous "Food Grade" Earth. And their carpets, etc. That's what's killing the fleas. Not putting it in pet food. It is recommended to kill intestinal parasites, but fleas aren't intestinal parasites. So far as I know...

A fine powder, clumps when wet. Dogs shake it off. It gets into the air and is breathed by one and all. Bear that in mind. But some swear by it.

---

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by peggykarp:

"How ingested tiny shells come into contact with fleas on the epidermis of an animal, if it is going through the digestive tract of that animal, is a mystery to me. I suspect it's also a mystery to science and rationality."

A mystery to science, perhaps, but not to rationality. Just because science has not yet discovered a causality doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

---

please don't think that's a rational statement either. "Rational" logic is based on proposed causal mechanisms (colloquially known as "reasons"). Unless you have some proposed mechanism for tiny shells to migrate through the creature to its surface, you're not offering a rational argument.

This post triggers the same response I had in another thread recently, to a long video explaining how chemtrails, Morgellon's fibers, and nanotechnology are threats. There are some important misunderstandings about how science works and what constitutes unwarranted leaps of faith. You can't just say "anything's possible" so glibly. Of course anything's possible in a technical sense. But some things are so unlikely that they shouldn't be seriously considered without providing a lot of context. Miles makes a point of explaining a potentially plausible mechanism (probably the most obvious one) and pointing out why he considers it unlikely at best. Dismissing it by essentially saying, "Well, there might be some other explanation" is, uh, dismissive. His argument is rational and convincing.

(Sorry to cross-thread, but I'm still processing my reaction to that chemtrail/morgellons/nanotech video - but lots of readers here are familiar with several threads, right? when themes cross-thread, or fit into long-lived Wacco themes, how else to deal with them?? [This is fine - I added link to the thread above - Barry]) Anyway, the idea that a rational argument can be made by weaving plausible factoids into an arbitrary tapestry, and waving away the missing connections by saying "Science" hasn't gotten around to figuring those out yet, is extremely common and extremely wrong. Sorry, Peggy, your post isn't a particularly serious offender in that sense, but it comes at the heels of a lot of that kind of thing we've seen here recently.

My point was that confronted with unexplainable empirical data it's better to say you don't understand it than to gratuitously label it irrational.

This discussion is off-topic for the thread--mea culpa for starting it--and distracts from the much more valuable info people are offering about cures for fleas, so I'm signing off.

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by podfish:

please don't think that's a rational statement either. "Rational" logic is based on proposed causal mechanisms (colloquially known as "reasons"). Unless you have some proposed mechanism for tiny shells to migrate through the creature to its surface, you're not offering a rational argument.

This post triggers the same response I had in another thread recently, to a long video explaining how chemtrails, Morgellon's fibers, and nanotechnology are threats. There are some important misunderstandings about how science works and what constitutes unwarranted leaps of faith. You can't just say "anything's possible" so glibly. Of course anything's possible in a technical sense. But some things are so unlikely that they shouldn't be seriously considered without providing a lot of context. Miles makes a point of explaining a potentially plausible mechanism (probably the most obvious one) and pointing out why he considers it unlikely at best. Dismissing it by essentially saying, "Well, there might be some other explanation" is, uh, dismissive. His argument is rational and convincing.

(Sorry to cross-thread, but I'm still processing my reaction to that chemtrail/morgellons/nanotech video - but lots of readers here are familiar with several threads, right? when themes cross-thread, or fit into long-lived Wacco themes, how else to deal with them??) Anyway, the idea that a rational argument can be made by weaving plausible factoids into an arbitrary tapestry, and waving away the missing connections by saying "Science" hasn't gotten around to figuring those out yet, is extremely common and extremely wrong. Sorry, Peggy, your post isn't a particularly serious offender in that sense, but it comes at the heels of a lot of that kind of thing we've seen here recently.

---

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by podfish:

please don't think that's a rational statement either. "Rational" logic is based on proposed causal mechanisms (colloquially known as "reasons"). Unless you have some proposed mechanism for tiny shells to migrate through the creature to its surface, you're not offering a rational argument.

---

I would offer a small improvement to your statement, which itself in its present form seems to me to fail the test of rationality. S/he does not have to explain migration through the skin, but rather explain how eating the substance might plausibly reduce the flea infestation. A plausible and rational explanation might be, for instance, that the shells scour out of the digestive tract some substance that when present makes the animal more attractive to fleas. I am not claiming that this is in fact true, but if I observed that this treatment seemed to work it might be a hypothesis I would test. There are many phenomena that are known to science to be reliably repeatable yet still lack explanations for their causality.

Patrick Brinton

Chemical treatment can be used to get rid of fleas. You can use drops, flea killer sprays and so on. Shampoos are a less effective flea killer remedy which remains active for about 7 days only. Pills are effective but they have a large number of side effects. There are also some traditional and mechanical remedies to protect your animal from fleas. All of them are described here.
In order to avoid the flea infestation process, it is better to take regular preventive measures. They are described in that article too.