Flea's

Does anyone here have a good remedy for getting rid of fleas on dogs? I've tried Advantage and Revolution both. The Revolution worked better than the Advantage, but the fleas never did totally leave and after about a week the dogs were all scratching vigorously again. I've heard that Dawn dishsoap will kill the fleas, but so far it hasn't worked.

Hey Lynn-

Because of my dog's constant allergies / skin problems I can not use ANY flea remedies on him.

Because of this, my vet informed me that garlic will keep the fleas away. Within one week of feeding him garlic ......the fleas are gone and he's NEVER had fleas since then. Over a year.

It also repels ticks.

If this is an inside dog, you will also have to spray your carpets, etc. with garlic the fleas will not touch your dog, but if in your house, will eat you alive since they won't jump on the dog to "eat"

I forgot to mention that borax is the BEST for sprinkling on carperts, furniture, etc for killing fleas. It actually causes them to explode.

:eek: REALLY? I've never heard that!! Is it poisonous for animals? Cuz, I think I'd love to see some exploding fleas.

I kind of take the all naturale approach. Wood floors, to lower incidence of fleas.. I spray the couch and bed and throw rugs with this natural flea killer I picked up, but we still have 'em. It's just SO HARD to stay on top of flea problems with two outdoor dogs and one outdoor cat (2 indoor cats). UGH!!!

I spent last Sunday giving all the animals nice long flea baths. It's very funny bathing cats. Bwahahahahhahahaaa!!! But, I've NEVER felt right about overwhelming animal's immune systems with all sorts of insane DRUGS, unless they're gonna be really sick without 'em, best off do without 'em.

~phos

Lynn,

My dog had a wicked problem with fleas a few summers ago!! I used Frontline for her and that seemed to solve the problem. I just saw one on her the other day though and immediately put her in a bath!! She's a little toy poodle so she's pretty easy to take care of. Thesedays, that's interesting about the garlic. Thanks for the tip!

I can't help here.....my cats are indoors, therefore, no fleas. I would hate putting my pet on flea medication.....not sure what could be done without using it though.

I can't remember what it was called, but years ago I found a powder for the carpeting for killing fleas. It probably did contain borax, but I don't know for sure. But I think I found it near the area of the grocery where they either keep the pet products OR near where they keep those carpet cleaners you can rent. Whatever it was, worked wonders and didn't cause any harm to my pets. However, DO read the labels carefully. If you have any pets with respiratory problems, are older, or in a weakened condition, some of those products can really affect them, so you'd want to keep them away for a while just to be safe.

Vacuuming alot really does help too as it gets rid of the eggs before they hatch.

I'm surprised the revolution didn't work. Maybe you needed to use more? There are different dosage amounts dependent upon the animal's weight.

I would be extremely careful about using anything with Borax as that is a type of poison. Last summer my apartment was infested with fleas. Not only were the fleas biting my cat, but also bit me. What happened is my landlady was letting her cat go outside. Well, we also feed the stray cats, squirrels and birds. So I'm presuming the strays and squirrels had fleas so either my landlady's cat got the fleas or they just came in when the outside door was open. I had bought some containers of Borax, but when I brought them home and realized they were a form of poison, I was reluctant to put around as I was afraid my cat might ingest the powder. :mad:

I had been told to get moth balls, crush them, and place them around. Well, lo and behold, this worked. I just wish I had found the moth flakes instead as it would have been easier to put on the furniture.

It is important to treat everything in your home to get rid of the fleas, including furniture, pets bedding, your bedding, and rugs. I was fortunate that I didn't have to give my cat a bath, although I have given him a bath in the past, just that he's getting old now. He was always so amazing when I'd give him a bath. I would talk him through the whole thing. After towel drying him the best I could, I would then get out my hair blower, put on low, and dry him somewhat with that. Problem is, last time I gave him a bath, I couldn't find my hair blower and I'm sure my poor kitty might have caught a cold, especially since he wouldn't let me towel dry him much.

Ok, I could go on and on, but it's time to go to bed. :D Try moth balls to get rid of the fleas. And good luck. :p

Hey Lynn-

Because of my dog's constant allergies / skin problems I can not use ANY flea remedies on him.

Because of this, my vet informed me that garlic will keep the fleas away. Within one week of feeding him garlic ......the fleas are gone and he's NEVER had fleas since then. Over a year.

It also repels ticks.

If this is an inside dog, you will also have to spray your carpets, etc. with garlic the fleas will not touch your dog, but if in your house, will eat you alive since they won't jump on the dog to "eat"

I've actually heard of this before. I used to give my old dog garlic years ago for his fleas, but I was only using the garlic granules that come in the big plastic containers at Costco and it didn't seem to work all that well. Do you use cloves? Or capsules, would they work?

Katrina, I gave the dosage of Revolution that the vet recommended for all 3 dogs, with Sam getting a bigger dose of course. I was so disappointed that it didn't work all that well.

Tonight I gave the 2 little dogs a flea bath, sprinkled comet on my carpets to kill fleas and eggs, then vacuumed vacuumed vacuumed.... then we sat down on clean blankets with the dogs and picked both dead and living fleas off of them. I'm so disgustingly amazed at the amount of fleas these little girls have. I've even tried Avon SSS as that was supposed to help. Hmmph!

BrownEyedLady, I've heard that mothballs were poisonous! If they're not then my relatives have been pulling a big one over on me all this time.

Here's some info I found about borax, but keep in mind that the owner of the site is not a scientist, they are apparently dalmation owners, but possibly knowledgeable nonetheless. http://www.rondante.com/dalmatians/flee.html#borax

And another site with useful tips on flea control.

http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/health/fleas.html

I saw a product mentioned several times called fleabusters that apparently some found to be very helpful. I can't link to their website 'cause they market products, but it's called fleabusters.com.

Hey those are handy sites to hang onto, thanks!

This much is for certain, and I've been saying it to my family for several years... When we get our next home, I'm ripping up any carpet it may have and go with hardwood floors. Carpets harbor not only fleas and other vermin, but allergens. I'd rather have throw rugs scattered about that I can wash in the washer.

:eek: Well... I ripped up all MY carpet and STILL have fleas. :rolleyes: Keep fighting them... seems so dang FRUITLESS, all our efforts.

Vet gave the new flea bag kitten some oral medication, "to help kill the fleas" but the little guy is still rotten infestation of 'em. Flea bath for him tomorrow, yipyip. Then, I think I'm gonna lock the two cats in the bathroom and BOMB the house. Gettin' sick and tired of 'em...

But.. but.. I got bigger fish to fry right now. The dryer belt bust on us and we have LOADS of laundry to do... belt or new dryer... belt or new dryer... no point in bombing if I can't WASH stuff.

@!$&@(!$@#&!@
~phos

Yep, you definitely need the dryer. We just bought a refurbished one because my old one was beyond repair. Heck it was 20 years old anyway and was reaming a hole through the dryer door!

I'm really thinking about clipping these dogs. I notice my Mom's shorthair dog doesn't have a single flea, yet he runs around at my house daily.

Oh yeah, she thinks the reason he doesn't have fleas is because they use cedar shavings in his doghouse. Hmmmmmmm.... maybe there's something to do that eh? I noticed some of the doggie beds in the farm store have cedar filler...

I had never thought about cedar chips, but there must be something to them. Last summer we had a terrible problem with fleas getting into my apartment. I've heard that fleas can jump a great distance and can even jump on a human and come in that way. I noticed the gardner has put cedar chips around the tree and around some of the shrubbery. Guess what? No fleas this summer! :rolleyes:

The mothballs also help. Just crush and sprinkle on your carpets and floor. I had recently heard that mint is good to repel lots of different kinds of bugs, including fleas. Apparently they don't like the smell of them. As far as what to put on your dogs and/or cats, I would check with either your veterinarian or pet store. :)

For my dog, I uses SENTINEL (a year supply is 70.00 at the vet) IT kills heartworms, and fleas and you take it once a month. My dog has no problem with fleas. Ive heard other owners say it is the best you can get. Also, itching is not always a sign of fleas. My vet said they had noticed that Beneful dog food and I believe it is Purina makes dogs itch for some reason? My dog was on Beneful and did itch a lot, I took him off, and guess what, he rarely scratches now.

Hey Lynn

Have you tried Dr. Bronner's pepermint soap. Its natual hemp soap. Personally I have used it on a kitty that was badly infected with fleas. It seems to work, and plus your not using the stuff that are used in treating fleas, where there are words in there you cannot pronounce.

and plus it makes your pet smell like peppermind!

hope this helps

Where can Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap be bought? Is it found in a pet store? or a health food store? Is it specifically for pet? I have never heard of it, but could be possible that maybe any kind of peppermint soap will suffice? It does make sense since I have also heard that mint will keep bugs of all kinds away. Must be something in the odor of the mint and/or peppermint.

Hey Lynn

Have you tried Dr. Bronner's pepermint soap. Its natual hemp soap. Personally I have used it on a kitty that was badly infected with fleas. It seems to work, and plus your not using the stuff that are used in treating fleas, where there are words in there you cannot pronounce.

and plus it makes your pet smell like peppermind!

hope this helps

Another good idea, thanks JohnsGurl. I've been using this stuff for fleas, Zodiac, but I'm only to use it once a week. But the fleas come back a lot sooner than that!

BrownEyedLady, it sounds like a health food store item... Might be worth checking into. I guess just about anything could be worth a try anymore.

at my hometown I find them at Fred meyers. but here is the website to the soaps where you can buy them
http://www.drbronner.com/

you can use them a lot of different ways. its like a 18 in one soap. it is very mild - so you can use it one pets. it does no harm to them that i know of - the kitty i washed it with didn't mind. and he was fine afterwards.

they work wonders - i love it and it alot more eco friendly then the other stuff. a small can of it lasts for a while. and be careful with this stuff it is very strong. I recommend getting the liquid one that way you can make your own solution.

hope this helps

I brought up the website for Dr. Bronner's soaps and when I saw the pictures, I realized I may have gotten one or two of the liquid soaps in the past. I'm sure one of them was the peppermint, used it for myself and remember the tingly feeling it left. Never entered my mind that I could use it on pets, but does make sense. I would think that it could also be mixed with water and used on floors. Might eliminate fleas this way too, but I would tend to think only for a limited time. :rolleyes:

What works for me is the advantage given monthly for my standard poodle..I live in Florida where fleas can be a real big problem..The borax does work. But after you vacuum it up you must remove the vacuum bag right away.Tie it in a trash bag and keep it in the direct sun for half a day.That will kill anything in the vacuum bag the borax hasn't kiled. Flea baths are only good to kill whats on the cat or dog at that time. that goes for the "dawn"...But as soon as they are dry....the fleas can jump right back on..I've not used sentinel before. But I have used Frontline and Advantage,,,,,,,For my dog the advantage works great..

When my roommate moved in 4 years ago, she brought her half-grown cat, Joey. Well, she took good care of him for the first couple of years, but then he got fleas. Basically, he is an indoor cat, but would once in a while be a bad kitty and jump down to the ground from the lower deck. Anyway, we didn't know how he got the fleas, but they were in bed with my boyfriend and me, too! We would search for the fleas on his body and kill them, but one day there were so many on the poor cat and he didn't seem to feel well, either, that I told her she needed to do something.

Well, since she didn't make much money, she bought some Hartz Mountain medication at the supermarket and put it on him. Joey had a terrible reaction to it. He was freaking out as though he were on an acid trip and gasping for air. I tried to rub the medication off with a damp towel and had to call his mom to tell her to come home to take care of him. She did and bathed him. The next day she took him to the vet. They gave him a special bath, an injection and put on Advantage to get rid of the fleas. They also discovered that he had some kind of worms and treated him for that, too. Joey recovered quickly. My roomie moved out about 6 months later and asked if I would keep kitty. So, now he is mine and in much better shape. I did put the Advantage on once more, but haven't wanted to since unless there is a recurrence. I give him garlic and yeast tablets, which he loves.

However, since I have been taking good care of him, his fur is very long and luxuriant now and it is impossible to get down to his skin to see if he has any fleas. Whenever he scratches himself, I get anxious and try to see if fleas might be the cause. So far, so good, though.

Moral of the story: don't use cheap medications on your pets!