Flea Control

[labmomma]

It's getting to be time to consider flea control and I'd like to stay away from the chemical applications available. Is there any additives I can put in their food that will repel fleas? If so, what would be the amount to use? I have three dogs that spend a lot of time in the house and it's important to be able to control the flea situation both for their health and in the house. I've heard of sprinkling brewer's yeast in their food but can't find reference to it anywhere on the internet. If I have to use the FrontLine types, which one will do the job without harming my dogs.
Please advise. :)

[Jessika]

I've heard putting 1 or 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar in their water with every change helps.

[JenBKR]

I don't know of anything like that that might help, I use Frontline on Roscoe. It works great and we've never had a flea on him. Personally, I have no problem using a chemical if it will save him from fleas and ticks :)

[labmomma]

I think I'm going to stick with Frontline. I've also read that Sentinel, the
heart worm medicine takes care of all parasites including whipworms and is also effective against fleas. I'm supplied for 6 months with heartworm medicine for 3 dogs so will go ahead and use that up and then talk to my vet.
Thanks so much for the advice. :)

[jackie]

Garlic is a natural flea repellant, but should only be used in small amounts.

I use Frontline on all the dogs and my cat, and seems to work great. Sentinel is another highly recommended product.

[Scooby4]

Brewer's yeast is a natural alternative which is also beneficial to their coats. You can get the supplement at a health food store in a powder form and maybe at less cost than a pet store. Avoid the kind with Garlic. Garlic causes gas which is more of a "human" repellant than a flea :p .
How brewer's yeast works is that it secrets a "smell" from the dog's skin. This smell humans can not smell but the fleas do. The fleas don't like the smell and eventually move off the dog. This does take time and is NOT an immediate solution. However, your dog's coat will improve in the mean time. :) My dog Scooby is allergic to yeast so check for sensitivity.
Frontline is the BEST and I have used it. I am NOT happy with the application part of it but in the end it does produce the best results. It can be slightly messy when using the applicator and petting should be avoided for a few hours till it dries.
Another solution for the yard is the use of "nematodes". This is another bio friendly solution. Nematodes are an "organism" or "bug" that only lives off of eating fleas. Once the fleas are gone the nematodes are gone. The product can be hard to find. I believe the first part of the product name is "bio"??? :confused: You can find it at pet stores in a canister.
There of course is the old timey "light and a pan of water" for getting rid of fleas in the house. This does work pretty well. Just have a light similar to a "grow light" above a pan of water for the fleas to jump in and drown. Not sure where to buy this kind of setup since it is kind of an old fashion solution. But my parents have used it and it works.
My dog Scooby is HIGHLY allergic to fleas. It is important for me to keep "vigilante" on flea control. I've gone through periods of fleas everywhere. It can take up to a month to get rid of the infestation. Once you get control you can maintain it better. Good luck!

[renfest]

I have used Brewer's yeast and Garlic as well as front line I am not into the chemical stuff , because I live in a wooded area I am always checking the cat and dog for fleas and ticks ... whenever they are playing outside and in the garden w/us we check them ... Merilyn is getting a fenced area for himself this spring and we will make sure that we treat the area w/a natural repellant as well.

rennie

[steph]

:D hello people..

Frontline is a great product for fleas.. however "STRONGHOLD" is a better one! not only does it treat for fleas, it does heart worms, tape worms, ear mites, ring worms, AND treats the home as well!! it's a small pippet (one pippet will last 1 month, comes in a pack of 3)and you apply it to the back of the dogs/cats neck, and it works in the oils of the skin.. its an awesome product.. you only have to buy "stronghold" and your dog/cat will be treated for everything, plus it kills the fleas around the home!!! what more could you ask for..lol

[renfest]

I was wondering if I can get it at Petsmart? I will check it out when I am in town..

rennie

[JenBKR]

If you can get it at Petsmart it won't be effective. I don't think that stronghold is available in the US, and is not effective against ticks. I still think that frontline is your best bet.

[VTJess03]

I agree with JenBKR; the medications you can get without a prescription tend to be much less effective. I get my prescriptions from the vet and then use 1800PetMeds (both the phone # and the website, depending on what mood I'm in :) ), for a less expensive alternative to buying directly from the vet. It's really easy, and I receive my stuff within a week for most things (vaccines are overnight-shipped on an ice-pack).

[JenBKR]

use 1800PetMeds (both the phone # and the website, depending on what mood I'm in :) ), for a less expensive alternative to buying directly from the vet. It's really easy, and I receive my stuff within a week for most things (vaccines are overnight-shipped on an ice-pack).

Yep that's where I get my stuff from too - Frontline is certainly cheaper from there!

[steph]

If you can get it at Petsmart it won't be effective. I don't think that stronghold is available in the US, and is not effective against ticks. I still think that frontline is your best bet.

ticks are not as a common problem as fleas are, yes frontline kills fleas, ticks, and lice.. but it does not treat the home or treat any worms, ear mites, and it does not kill flea eggs, so they will keep on hatching (fleas can ley up to 20-50 eggs a DAY, once they have mated,, they are fertile for life.. so they will just keep on laying eggs!!!)
If you applied stronghold, once the flea bites the cat/dog they become paralized... they then ley their eggs which are infected with stronghold also.. the eggs are called pupey, and they hatch they turn into larve (before they turn into fleas), the larve eats the pupey .. so they all die... thats how it treats the home.. it breaks the cicle and cat and dog are happy!!
ticks can be removed easy with a drop of surgical spirit on it.

[JenBKR]

ticks are not as a common problem as fleas are, yes frontline kills fleas, ticks, and lice.. but it does not treat the home or treat any worms, ear mites, and it does not kill flea eggs, so they will keep on hatching (fleas can ley up to 20-50 eggs a DAY, once they have mated,, they are fertile for life.. so they will just keep on laying eggs!!!)
If you applied stronghold, once the flea bites the cat/dog they become paralized... they then ley their eggs which are infected with stronghold also.. the eggs are called pupey, and they hatch they turn into larve (before they turn into fleas), the larve eats the pupey .. so they all die... thats how it treats the home.. it breaks the cicle and cat and dog are happy!!
ticks can be removed easy with a drop of surgical spirit on it.

But, as I said, Stronghold is not available in the US........not to mention that ticks can be deadly, they carry Lymes disease and if you live near a wooded area you are going to get them. Ticks are nowhere near that easy to get off, and even if they were by the time you get them off the animal already has the disease. And when you use frontline to prevent, you don't need to treat the house because fleas won't lay eggs.

[ParNone]

I use Sentinel on my 3 dogs for heartworm. It also has a flea preventative in it too. The last time I saw a flea on my dogs was almost 10 years ago and I live in South East Texas, where fleas run rampant.

The last camping trip we went on, we tried Frontline for ticks. I didn't find it all that effective. We spent most of the trip, picking ticks off my Collie. The time before that, we used Advantage, that was equally as useless.

Par...

[Jessika]

Does anyone know of a reputable store online with good prices that sells Sentinel?

[LittleOrangeKitten]

The best thing for fleas and ticks on dogs AND cats is to add just a bit of vinegar to their drinking water. Usually 3-4 tablespoons per gallon (adjust for how much water you leave for your dog). My sister had problems with fleas from her two dogs and I kept telling her to add the vinegar. She finally did, voila! no more fleas. The vinegar is a wonderful homeopathic alternative to chemicals that do who knows what to your animal.

[Jessika]

The best thing for fleas and ticks on dogs AND cats is to add just a bit of vinegar to their drinking water. Usually 3-4 tablespoons per gallon (adjust for how much water you leave for your dog). My sister had problems with fleas from her two dogs and I kept telling her to add the vinegar. She finally did, voila! no more fleas. The vinegar is a wonderful homeopathic alternative to chemicals that do who knows what to your animal.
White vinegar or Apple Cidar Vinegar??

[steph]

But, as I said, Stronghold is not available in the US........not to mention that ticks can be deadly, they carry Lymes disease and if you live near a wooded area you are going to get them. Ticks are nowhere near that easy to get off, and even if they were by the time you get them off the animal already has the disease. And when you use frontline to prevent, you don't need to treat the house because fleas won't lay eggs.
not available in the us? ok!
and with the ticks not being easy to remove.. i doubt that they are different in the US, unless they are the size of golf balls, but surgical spirit WILL help, they will die and fall off after about half hour.. but if you are happy using frontline.. then thats that, as with the Lymes disease, not all ticks carry it, if your amimal developes a rash like symptom after a tick, then they may have lymes - not all ticks do, but like you said, woodland areas mostly do.
Frontline is not a preventative of infestation of fleas - the flea has to bite the animal to die... and fleas can lay up to 50 eggs a day and are sterile for LIFE, So they will just keep on popping eggs out, but you can frontline that will treat the home called "frontline combo" - but it does not treat worms or ear mites.

[CorgiLuvr1012]

I stay away from chemicals in flea repellants. Fleas can become resistant to the pesticides, and the flea still has to get on the dog for it to die. I think prevention is the better method. My dogs get 1/4 a clove of garlic and 1 tbsp of brewer's yeast per day, and I have never seen or heard of any problems with gas, and surprisingly, they don't stink either. I think this has to do with their lack of sweat glands.

Dogs do have a natural resistance to fleas, we've just over vaccinated, medicated, fed poor quality dog foods, and stuck "bandaids" over things for so long that these natural resistances they once had have diminished. I believe the answer is to improve the dog's base health so it can fight insects, intestinal parasites, and heartworms on its own. A weak dog is a good target for a parasite. It bothers me that the frontline and other pesticide boxes warn me against touching or inhaling the fumes of their product but it's okay to put it on my pet...it just doesn't seem right. Even if all these claims about harsh chemicals used for flea repellants on pets aren't true, I'm not about to risk it. I just know that I've seen outstanding results by avoiding commercial pet products and chemicals.

Another thing I do that works very well is making my own flea repellant spray. You can spray it around the house, pour it on the dog after a bath, spray it on between baths, and even put it in the rinse load in the washing maching. It's perfectly safe for dogs and I know many people who use it. Just boil one orange or lemon peel for 10mins in 1 pint of water and let it cool. Leave the peel in as you use it. The fleas can't stand the citrus scent, and also there's no nasty pesticide residue on their furr.

Another helpful method is to use natural essential oils. Just put a few drops on a nylon collar once a week and you have a natural flea collar. Neem oil and citronella are good to use for this. You can get them at natural healthfood stores or just type it in google for internet sources to buy from.

Always make sure the sources of fleas are cleaned. Steam clean carpets, and wash all the pets' bedding in hot soapy water and dry on the hottest setting to kill flea eggs. Ants also eat flea eggs and larvae, so if you can stand a few around your yard, don't discourage them.

I like these methods because many have been used for years and years, and it's impossible for fleas to become resistant to a less appealing dog.