Grrrr......Fleas!

[Piperloo]

Last night I was devestated to discover that Piper has fleas! :eek: I feel like a terrible pet parent! Against my better judgement I put frontline on her last night just to nix the problem before she became infested. (Like she was as a puppy when we brought her home. :mad: ) I haven't put frontline on her for years - because I'm not wild about the whole chemical thing - but she has seemed to remain flea free. My question is this: does anyone know of an EFFECTIVE holistic / natural / non chemical flea product? I also despise flea collars although I do buy them, cut them in pieces and put them in my vacuum cleaner bag!

Piperloo :)

[franp]

I use Frontline every 60 days in the warm months. Never had a problem.

What is the purpose of putting flea collars in your vacumn?

fran

[gmacleod]

Garlic and brewers yeast are very effective at keeping fleas at bay.

[Piperloo]

Franp - Piper looks very much like your baby in your avatar! Maybe they are twins seperated at birth! :p

I put the flea collars in the vacuum canister so that if there are any live fleas or ticks on my carpets that get vacuumed up they will die before they can crawl out of the vacuum back into my house.

I'm fairly positive the Frontline is safe but the thought of putting a pesticide on her regularly just bothers me. But since I have now spent the morning washing just about EVERYTHING she lays on regularly I may start rethinking that! :lol:

Piperloo

[Piperloo]

The garlic and brewer's yeast have to be ingested, correct? I'm very careful to avoid giving Piper anything that <may> change the PH of her urine. She's been flare up free for a year and would hate to mess with a good thing!

Piperloo

[franp]

Franp - Piper looks very much like your baby in your avatar! Maybe they are twins seperated at birth! :p
Piperloo


I don't think so.... :eek:

fran

[gmacleod]

If you want to use them as a preventative, then yes, they are usually ingested. You're not talking about large doses though, and it's better than using chemicals. Still, if you think that could have an effect of the Ph (you're worried about it being too alkaline or too acidic?) of her urine, then it might be worth actually checking what the relative acidicy of garlic is ;)

As something to get rid of adult fleas actually *on* the dog, then brewers yeast can be rubbed into the coat. That is best done outside - because the fleas get off quickly. I dare say it would also work as a preventative if rubbed into the coat on a semi-regular basis.

[Chris&Eti]

I like DeFlea by Natural Chemistry.
< http://www.naturalchemistry.com/pet/StorePlus/Store/viewConsumerItems.asp?idproduct=99 >
Its effective and non toxic. You can get it at petco.

[NYfrenchie]

We are using a product called fleas flee, heard some good things about this product..

[Carolyn]

We had a major problem with fleas years ago (had 5 dogs at that time). We used a safe product called "Program" and didn't see a single flea for years...and we live in the country on nearly an acre of land. The first time I saw a flea on one of our bullies (couple of yrs ago)...we used Advantage and haven't had a problem since. I haven't had to use any kind of preventative since then. I have NO problem using what the vet recommends. Those are my thoughts.....