My soon to be 15 year old pooch has fleas. In the past, we've just shaved her down and that seems to cure the problem. She is an American Eskimo, so without the fur, the fleas leave on their own.
But, its the wrong time of year to be getting rid of her winter coat!
I'm worried about chemicals because I have two young children in the house. We have used Frontline in the past, and it seemed to leave a residue on her fur, and that worries me. Also, my son has asthma, so I dont want to be shaking powders everywhere. And using chemical house 'bombs' doesnt sit well with me either.
Any thoughts on something kid-safe???? And safe for an elderly dog??
THANKS!!
I called the vet this morning, and they recommended Frontline. So we are on our way to pick it up.
The nightlight and bowl of water sounds interesting, I'm going to try it!
I have never had a problem with fleas myslef since my cat is a house cat and does not get out at all. But a remedy that my grandmother used was APple CIder Vinegar. SHe used to wipe the cats and dogs down with it. I don't know but it worked> Hope this helps!
fleas hate garlic and they hate yeast... so if u put yeast on the fur and garlic in the food they will leave... i have a friend that has the same problem and i got it from a home remedy book
Hi Crystal,
I had the same problem with my mini/poodle.. My groomer recommends Frontline.. but in liquid form not the collar. The best thing about that is the fleas die on contact..not sure if that is the one you were using that left the residue on his fur..but if is.. stick with it.. it's the only best thing to combact fleas..
good luck
JM ~
You might want to do a search online. I had read something a while back, I don't remember where, about using ground cloves to get rid of fleas on a pet. You have to apply it often, it doesn't hurt them to injest and won't hurt the kids. Hopefully you won't mind the smell of cloves:). Good luck.
I would check with your vet and ped- but I heard that garlic on your pets food makes him not a favorable target to fleas....
So, be in for an italian smelling pet but safer than chemicals
my house had a bad blow with fleas this year. we've had animals in our home for atleast 5 years, and never one flea. I asked eveyone i could, and the answer i got was to use a dip. i too have children and so i went to petsmart and got Biodip. I used it on the cats and the dog and then i got a spray made by Adams. after i dipped the animals and let them air dry, i sprayed them to prevent anymore from returning. this has worked like a champ. there was no problems with the kids, as i have bad alergys with breathing problems. good luck.
i used zappy water- tick and flea preventative. it's a vinigar mixture with water. it is safe for dogs and cats to drink. i also used flea-a-way, and powdered it on my cat. i sprinkled it all over my apt. just in case bacause it was the first time my cat had fleas (got ifrom the vet's office). i bathed my cat like three times a week just to get rid of those critters. they are a pain and took me a month to get rid of all of them. after, no more fleas
What does your vet recommend?
I dont know if you've tried this, but it has worked for my friends dogs. Try garlic pills. You can put peanut butter on them if the dog spits it out. My girlfriend's 2 dogs were going bald from the itching, after a few months the hair is back and beautiful!
Good luck,
C. johnson
Crystal,
I am a big supporter of Frontline, I use it on all my animals. What I do to protect the kids is put it on at night and I make sure I move their fur and get down to the skin. Also my vet told me to sprinkle Boraxo under the baseboards and on the carpets, leave it on for 5 or 6 hours or overnight and then vacuum it up. I also sprinkle it around the foundation of my home, it keeps the ants and bugs away. I also washed my floor with it and knock on wood it has worked beautifully. We have 2 large dogs, one of which is a Samoyed and the other a German Shephard, plus 4 cats, and 2 ferrets, so fleas will be a huge problem if we don't keep on top of things. As for your son, I hope your realize he can be allergic to their bites as well, my son and I are. Hope this helps.
Hugs,
T.
are they in the house or just on the dog? if just on the dog, tea tree oil, eucalyptus and lavender oil are great natural flea deterrents, i think peppermint oil works too, its cheap to buy some and mix it with water in a spray bottle like 5 to 1 and spray your dog after bathing. Brewers yeast when fed to the dog repels fleas too and makes their coat shiny to boot. hope that helps!
Crystal it seems you have settled with frontline which I was using until my baby was born then I stopped due to your same concerns. There is a flea treatment called Program and it is a pill that your dog ingests, so no chemicals on the dog's fur. Program "poisons" the dogs blood and skin getting rid of the fleas. It is safe for the dog but please consult you vet. This pill you give once a month. The only disadvantage I find vs. frontline is that PROGRAM has no effect on adult fleas, but controls flea populations by breaking the flea life cycle at the egg stage. This is what I have been using since by baby was born.
hope this helps
O.
Dear Crystal,
I have a long haired cat who used to have the same problem.
I found a great natural supplement that helps with fleas and much more.
I liked the product so much that I became a distributor.
Read more about this great supplement on my web site
http://www.happytalespets.com/NuVet.html
My cat has been flea free fo 2 straight years now.
Give the dog a good flea bath and stick with the frontline. It is with out a doubt the most effective flea treatment out there. I have three kids and two dogs and use frontline every year since I can remember. I wouldn't worry about using it with kids in the house. If it makes you feel better try to keep them seperated for the first 24 hours after using it. I think its worse to have flea's in the house and have the kids getting bit then using the frontline. As for the Dog I used it right until the end on my 14 year old Chow. Never had a problem with it.
