Flea & Tick treatment

[Hinotori]

I'm not even sure what I get from the vet. I only give it to the dogs if I see fleas or they are scratching. This year was very good with the fleas. Only had to treat in spring and fall.

I have to corner the cats to put stuff on them. Well getting the first cat is easy, but the other will run and hide if they see what I'm up to

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Those narratives of "coincidental" issues that pop up are the very reason why I'll not put my dog on these topical meds. I'm tempted to do so this year b/c the ticks are so very bad. Then, I read your story, and am reminded of why I've not done so. I won't even give my dog shots until forced to do so b/c of the licencing regulations.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I believe @Beekissed uses lime around her property with good results.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't use DE, CC....it's an indiscriminate killer, so some bugs I'd rather live would die and/or carry it off to their hive/nest and others would die also.

I also don't like to think of my animals breathing in tiny pieces of micro glass as they forage and dust in those soils.

It sounds all nice and natural, but it's not anything I want to put into my soils.

 

[murphysranch]

Resurrecting this old thread.

I have an almost 4 month old cattle dog puppy. He came to us at 8 weeks with fleas. I've given him two baths. Has anyone ever tried to keep the suds/flea soap on a puppy for 5-10 minutes while the stuff is doing its "thing"? hahahah!! That's impossible with a squirming I'm outa this tub pup.

I bought something similar to @CrealCritter spray. Spraying the puppy is akin to trying to pull off his toenails one at a time.

He's too young for any topicals or ingestibles. Now the 12 yr old cattle dog is scratching.

Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Hinotori]

After having a flea issue that almost killed some schipperke puppies I had, I don't mess around with them. I'd pay for the month dose of puppy flea med from the vet. At 4 months that's old enough for it. Hermes was that old when he had his first dose a few month ago.

All the OTC stuff is fairly useless for totally getting rid of fleas as they are immune to them in many places.

I usually only need to dose dogs here every few months max and not usually through the wet season. Hermes has been dosed 3 times because of his liking to run out in the tall grass where the wild animals pass through. Now that the grass is pretty flat he might not need anything until summer again.

Worst fleas were when we lived in Virginia Beach in town. Neighbor didn't ever treat their dogs. Finally had to keep my dogs on other side of house from theirs and was able to get it controlled. I couldn't walk out on that side of the house to mow without getting eaten by fleas.

 

[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.