Fleas! need suggestions

[bock]

Just the past week, we have noticed our primarily indoor dogs (2) and our indoor cats (3) have started itching. I am assuming fleas, though I haven't seen any. I did rub them down with a wet paper towel, and noticed like 5 spots that looked like flea poop, but it could have been dirt. So, I vacuumed the house, and the garage;paying special attention to crevices. I also washed all the dog bedding and vacuumed that cats' tower. Before that, I washed the dogs with Tropiclean shampoo. The dogs also get an "egg and garlic meal" 2-4 times a week. This consists of raw garlic, duck eggs, Bragg's ACV, ground flax, plain yogurt/kefir mix, and sometimes oatmeal to thicken it up. This has been great for repelling pests until now. Both the dogs and the cats eat dry TOTW, and I try to give the cats Wellness Core wet food as often as possible. I also spray the dogs with ACV, water, crushed garlic, and a flower from our lavender plant almost every night for mosquitoes.

Anyways, The thing is, we have 14 people coming to stay for the 4th, and I really don't want them to see this. They are also bringing their golden, who is on conventional flea prevention, but I don't want to give her fleas. The itching is only getting worse, and I DO NOT want to use chemicals on them, unless I absolutely have to. I am trying to find a good deal on DE (anyone know of a good website?), but that won't arrive for a while. Are there any other things I could do before this gets out of hand, or am I going to have to resort to pesticides? Also, could I spray the cats with ACV, without garlic? Thank you!

 

[Glenmar]

FRONTLINE!!! No more flea problems. Works for 3 months.

 

[bock]

Quote:
I have some of that from a year or two ago(I wasn't always into holistic medicine), but I hate using chemicals on them. I guess I don't have much of a choice this time.

 

[elevan]

I don't practice holistic medicine and know very little of it, so I'm no help there.

But...when you need to get rid of fleas in a hurry...get CAPSTAR from your vet - it only costs like $2.50-$5.00 depending on how big your dog is. It's one pill and kills ALL fleas on the dog within hours. It's available for cats too. Benadryl will stop the itching caused by flea dermatitis. That would take care of your problem for your visitors arriving and give you the opportunity to start over in your holistic approach of prevention.

 

[bock]

Thanks for the advice. I just gave the dogs Frontline, and the cats got Advantage. I am a little worried though, because the advantage said it was for 3kg and up. Bella is a big girl, she weighs about 12 pounds, Tigger is around 7, and Casper is tiny, only about 5-6 pounds. I tried to give Tigger and Casper less, but I couldn't get enough out, so they both ended up getting the whole thing. Should I try to wipe some off, or will they be okay? Thanks!

 

[BorderKelpie]

In the past if I got desparate enough, I found that the pepperment oil drops from of all places, Walmart worked well. I think it's called Nature's Guardian or something like that. It's oily and strong smelling at first, but it does help and it's closer to your more holistic way of life. I, too try hard to avoid chemicals, but sometimes we have no choice.

 

[bock]

I wiped some of it off of Casper, since he is so small. He seems to be okay though.

Yeah, I try to use as many natural products as possible. One day, I would love to be a holistic vet. After high school, That will be another 12 years of school, but I am up for it. I think we should be more open to natural remedies for our pets, which are often just as effective and have many less side effects. It isn't always easy to get my hands on these natural preventatives though. I have been working with garlic and ACV for now, but I will have some DE soon. I am also interested in essential oils, but they are very toxic for cats. So, I am a little reluctant. Anyways, I am hoping for the best!

 

[emvickrey]

You could have given them a bath with dawn dish liquid. It kills fleas. Also to attract the fleas out of the carpet and furniture put a tray of the Dawn dish liquid mixed with water on the floor and near the furniture and set a lamp by it so it lights up the tray and it attracts the fleas. They land in the soap and die.

I had a chihuahua mix dog and she had white hair. I could see her skin and any flea that got on her. I would dip my finger in a small bowl of the dawn and water mixture and dab it on the flea and it would die. I just picked it off and dropped it in the mixture and continued on to the next flea.

It really works. I don't like to put the chemicals on the dogs either but ir really don't hurt them. That pill that elevan spoke of works great. I had a dog that was a flea magnet. They liked her so much I never had fleas in the furniture or carpet. Anyway. Every spring I would give her that tablet one day then put the frontline on her in the morning and give her a good bath that night to wash off all the dead fleas and then put frontline on her the next morning. No more fleas. To keep them off you have to keep using it when it's due to use again.

 

[Dutchgirl]

Frontline stopped working for us.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote:
yeah, us too. I switched the dogs to Comfortis last year and have not seen a flea since. that stuff is amazing!!