Today we would like to discuss a very annoying pest. Here at the rescue we have been very fortunate not to have a problem with fleas...until this year that is. Late summer we noticed several of the pups itching like crazy. We thought maybe it was allergies and gave them all oatmeal baths.
Then...GASP...while Sophia was sitting on my lap one day this little bug jumped on my arm. It was a FLEA!!!
Dr. Becker recommends you comb your pet daily with a flea comb. Then give your pet a soothing bath, this will kill the fleas by drowning them and help with any skin issues they may be having. She recommends you do not use a grain shampoo such as an oatmeal shampoo.
So what can you use as a repellent?? If you don't want to use chemicals, Dr. Becker recommends cedar oil (formulated for pets), food grade diatomaceous earth (DE), and fresh garlic. Powdered garlic or garlic in tablet form has lost the medicinal component, Allicin, found in fresh garlic. Garlic pills can be dangerous to pets.
I really found this article to be very informative as I prefer natural treatments. Here is a link to the entire article. It is called Flea and Tick Season 2012: It's Early and It's Ugly.
One thing to watch for is skin irritation. Many pets are actually allergic to fleas. This is a severe case.
Here at the rescue, we are doing the soothing baths. A ton of fleas came off of all the puppies, but again, they are still itching. I have to watch to see how much of it is from fleas and how much of it is skin irritation or flea allergy. Here is Princess having her bath. What a little prima donna. :)
I also did a little research on traditional preventatives for fleas. The top three are Frontline, Advantage, and Capstar. I'm not sure if we are going to try any of these. We are going to experiment with a few ideas. I'll keep you updated on what we try and what works and doesn't work. Hopefully they will go away never to be seen again. :)
Be Well & Be Happy
Pet~Pourri
Then...GASP...while Sophia was sitting on my lap one day this little bug jumped on my arm. It was a FLEA!!!
I started looking her over from head to toe and saw another one. I immediately gave her a bath with flea shampoo and again bathed the other dogs. Then we treated them all with Frontline. We washed all the bedding and cleaned the whole house and bombed and sprayed the whole house.
Next day...they were scratching like crazy again. Then I found another flea, this time on Tinkerbell. didn't want their skin to dry out so I waited a week to bathe them and treat them again, but still more fleas. I couldn't believe they would not go away. We've never had problems like this before.
So then I asked some friends and heard that many of them are having trouble this year. Many of them also said that Frontline isn't working for them. None of them have ever had issues like this before. Dogs, Cats, and horses all having fleas. Yes I know horses don't normally get fleas, but they can be infested with fleas common with dogs and cats.
Dr. Becker from Healthypets.com states that many veterinarians were predicting 2012 to be the worst year for fleas in a decade. She uses natural remedies and discourages people from using chemicals to treat for fleas. She states that she sees many pets suffering from these toxic drugs.
Dr. Becker recommends you comb your pet daily with a flea comb. Then give your pet a soothing bath, this will kill the fleas by drowning them and help with any skin issues they may be having. She recommends you do not use a grain shampoo such as an oatmeal shampoo.
So what can you use as a repellent?? If you don't want to use chemicals, Dr. Becker recommends cedar oil (formulated for pets), food grade diatomaceous earth (DE), and fresh garlic. Powdered garlic or garlic in tablet form has lost the medicinal component, Allicin, found in fresh garlic. Garlic pills can be dangerous to pets.
I really found this article to be very informative as I prefer natural treatments. Here is a link to the entire article. It is called Flea and Tick Season 2012: It's Early and It's Ugly.
One thing to watch for is skin irritation. Many pets are actually allergic to fleas. This is a severe case.
Here at the rescue, we are doing the soothing baths. A ton of fleas came off of all the puppies, but again, they are still itching. I have to watch to see how much of it is from fleas and how much of it is skin irritation or flea allergy. Here is Princess having her bath. What a little prima donna. :)
I also did a little research on traditional preventatives for fleas. The top three are Frontline, Advantage, and Capstar. I'm not sure if we are going to try any of these. We are going to experiment with a few ideas. I'll keep you updated on what we try and what works and doesn't work. Hopefully they will go away never to be seen again. :)
Be Well & Be Happy
Pet~Pourri
I am in the same situation. 3 weeks now. You have to be diligent. Once we have a hard freeze, things will start to get better. Last winter was so mild, it didn't have the effect it usually does on the flea life cycle. An example is, I lived in Florida for 5 years and they are a constant problem, whether you have pets or not. I had a bug company come once a month to treat my home. For the last 3 weeks, I have been vacuuming every day, flea eggs hatch all the time, until you get your dogs on a monthly regime of top spot flea killers, I use Frontline Plus, I had to deal with these things in Florida and never wanted to again. I have been laundering my bed linens every other day. This is especially important if you have to use a laundromat, wash as warm or hot as you can, but the dryer is most important, once the clothes are dry they have to dry for another 30 minutes on high. That should kill anything remaining, bugs, eggs, larvae. I think I brought mine home from the laundromat 3 weeks ago. I had to take my big rugs there and didn't want to ruin them so I dried on medium till they were only half the way dry. Once dogs are on a top spot regimen, the bugs bite and die and the eggs they might lay after biting will die too. They have to eat before they lay their eggs. It looks like tiny salt and pepper, flea eggs and regurgitated pieces of blood matter from their recent meal. Empty your vacuum cleaner very often, eggs and bugs will crawl out,they are extreme survivors. I usually keep moth balls in my vacuum bag. I can't subtantiate that one, but I was told to that while I lived in Florida. I hope I have given you a little bit of helpful info.
ReplyDeleteI've had a terrible time with fleas this year. Nothing seemed to work so I had to resort to Capstar. I was loathe to try it but I swear it worked wonders. The side affects can be a bit frightening at first...but they're temporary.
ReplyDelete