Flea & Tick treatment

[CrealCritter]

This year was the worst I can ever remember fighting fleas. We tried so many products between two households to try and rid our dogs of fleas. On a whim I happened to come across an organic totally none poison product that actually works and it doesn't smell all that bad either if you don't mind clove smell like a dentist office.

What I did that worked...
1) Bath out dogs in Palmolive orginal (green) once a week. I would work up a good lather and have our dogs wait for a few mins then rinse them clean and call it done.

2) After they were completely dry, I would spary them down well with Vets Best Flea + Tick home spray and use a comb to make sure I got good coverage.

3) In-between weekly baths of Palmolive orginal (green) I would spray our dogs down twice a day once in the morning and again in the early evening with Vets Best Flea + Tick home spray.

4) A few times a week I would spray all the carpeting and furniture down with Vets Best Flea + Tick home spray.

It wasn't two weeks of steps 1 ~ 4 and our flea problem disappeared. Vets Best Flea + Tick home spray is some great stuff! But just because your flea problem is gone, keep up steps 1~ 4 so they don't come back!

Anyways I talked to our vet and he said fleas are developing resistance to a lot of the chemical products thus rendering them ineffective including collars.

I thought I would let you all know what I figured out and a solution that's safe and effective.

You can find Vets Best Flea + Tick home spray all over the internet and also at many farm stores. Here's what the spray bottle looks like. BTW also safe for cats to, my daughter has two indoor cats that she also used steps 1 ~ 4 on and it got rid of the fleas on them also.

Thanks

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Great tip - thanks!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Wow that's a lot of effort, lol. I use Soresto collars. Never had fleas, aside from when I adopted my rescue mutt. I wonder if it's not as much of an issue here?

 

[CrealCritter]

Wow that's a lot of effort, lol. I use Soresto collars. Never had fleas, aside from when I adopted my rescue mutt. I wonder if it's not as much of an issue here?

We started off with exactly those Soresto collars you speak of. They always worked before but this past summer they didn't work worth a hill of beans. We purchased the collars from the vet's office so they were legitimate. Again our vet said fleas are developing resistance to a lot of the chemical products, rendering them ineffective including collars. Also if you read soresto's instructions they tell you it's important to also treat your house and yard at the same time, that should be a bit of a clue...

If your soresto's stop working in your area, like they did here, with no warning. Now you have a good understanding why. You could give Vet's Best a try. It's really not all that much work and it's a heck of a lot better than having fleas in the house, on the dogs/cats and you. I really hope you don't have to battle fleas like I did this past summer. I wouldn't wish that on any friend, that's for sure.

My second bottle of Vet's Best is about 1/2 empty. So a little over 1 bottle put a major hurting on our fleas between our two dogs.

Read the verified purchase reviews on Amazon. I'm not alone in my experience with Vets Best ---> https://www.amazon.com/Vets-Best-Treatment-Certified-Natural/dp/B003PRI6OC

 

[NH Homesteader]

Up until last year I used zero treatment on my dogs for most of the year and never saw a flea. So I am not worried about it until and if I have an issue in the future. Ticks are ridiculous here though, which is why I gave in and put on collars.

 

[CrealCritter]

Up until last year I used zero treatment on my dogs for most of the year and never saw a flea. So I am not worried about it until and if I have an issue in the future. Ticks are ridiculous here though, which is why I gave in and put on collars.

Yes... Ticks are bad here also, all the deer around here just makes matters worse. Just to let you know, my wife came down with lyme disease last year (2017) so maybe I'm a little over zellious in making sure I keep the home flea & tick free. lyme disease is spread by ticks (and fleas) and is no joking matter... My wife was very sick and had very bad joint pain. It took some serious antibiotics to treat and she is still taking pain medication to treat the joint pain.

 

[sumi]

Yes... Ticks are bad here also, all the deer around here just makes matters worse. Just to let you know, my wife came down with lyme disease last year (2017) so maybe I'm a little over zellious in making sure I keep the home flea & tick free. lyme disease is spread by ticks (and fleas) and is no joking matter... My wife was very sick and had very bad joint pain. It took some serious antibiotics to treat and she is still taking pain medication to treat the joint pain.

Sorry to hear about your wife's illness My mom got what we call "tick bite fever" when I was about 4 years old. I can still remember it well, after all these years. I was terrified she's going to die when she got so sick and to this day I cannot stand even the sight of a tick and I go spare if one gets on me or bites me. They are horrible little things!

 

[Beekissed]

CC, you may try spreading lime in your yard where the dogs frequent it the most in the early spring before it gets too wet. A good three days with lime on the lawn in between rains seems to desiccate eggs. I repeat it in the early fall. If I keep up with that each year the dogs don't need any flea treatments at all. I also put ACV in their drinking water and that seems to help also, though I don't know why.

Found out that little trick many years ago when I moved into a house where the lawn was just infested with fleas...we'd walk through the lawn and our pant legs would be black with baby fleas. The previous owners had had dogs there for many years. After treating the lawn with lime I never had a problem with fleas again, despite having my own dogs living there.

I've been keeping up with the lime for two years now and neither dog has shown a single scratch since then. Feels good to not have to put chemicals on their bodies.

 

[CrealCritter]

CC, you may try spreading lime in your yard where the dogs frequent it the most in the early spring before it gets too wet. A good three days with lime on the lawn in between rains seems to desiccate eggs. I repeat it in the early fall. If I keep up with that each year the dogs don't need any flea treatments at all. I also put ACV in their drinking water and that seems to help also, though I don't know why.

Found out that little trick many years ago when I moved into a house where the lawn was just infested with fleas...we'd walk through the lawn and our pant legs would be black with baby fleas. The previous owners had had dogs there for many years. After treating the lawn with lime I never had a problem with fleas again, despite having my own dogs living there.

I've been keeping up with the lime for two years now and neither dog has shown a single scratch since then. Feels good to not have to put chemicals on their bodies.

When is the best time to lime? Early spring? And should I looks for finely crushed lime (powder) or is barn lime sufficient?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I am thankful to not have flea issues here. However, ticks... that's becoming a different story. No ticks after getting chickens. Just a few last year, and this year has been more problematic, with several removed from the dog, and one deeply embedded into my back that had me inflamed and digging body parts out for 6 weeks. Hoping to get some guineas this spring. I've not let the flock free range much, and I'm sure that enters into the problems with the ticks, as well.