Flea & Tick treatment

[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.

 

[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.

 

[wyoDreamer]

The topicals don't scare me nearly as much as the "treats" do. Why would I want to put poison in their bodies? Because, that is basically what it is, isn't it? And especially something that stays effective for 3 months or more? To me that says the body isn't able to remove it from their system very well.

My dog did not get the Bravecta, he got the topical every month. DH didn't want to be bothered each month giving his dog flea treatment, so he went for it and ended up with 4 round trips to the vet clinic - including a 1/2 hour trip home from work to pick up the dog each time he needed to take him to the clinic an hour away (backtracking).

 

[Marianne]

We had two boxers that ran in a large fenced yard or on the acreage when we were outside, but were basically house dogs. For fleas in the yard, I'd broadcast Borax (20 Mule Team) right before it rained. It will work for 2 or 3 years before you need to do it again. It also repels other multi-legged critters. For the dogs (and cats) themselves, I used DE (diatomaceous earth). I just put some in an old spice shaker jar and sprinkled it on, rubbed it all over.

And now that I'm thinking about it, there was one year that every time I walked outside, I came back in wearing a tick. Blech. I can recall only one time that I pulled a tick off of one of the dogs in all the years we had them.

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Marianne I am in need of your expertise ...
We are having a bumper crop year of spiders and ants in the house this summer. Do you think that Borax spread around the foundation of the house might help with those issues?

 

[Beekissed]

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

That was for fleas, LG....didn't have any impact on spiders or ants at all. We have a ton of those up in the shed near where I spread all that lime.

 

[CrealCritter]

That was for fleas, LG....didn't have any impact on spiders or ants at all. We have a ton of those up in the shed near where I spread all that lime.

DE should work well for spiders and ants. If you have a leaf blower throw down a small pile and gently blow it around to create a "fog" or "dust storm".

My understanding is DE scratches the shell of insects outer surfaces, causing them to dehydrate and die. Think of it as like walking on glass... But micro glass for insects.

Be sure and wear a good dust mask and goggles should you decide to blow it around.

Link to more info ---> https://www.victorpest.com/safer-br...ug-flea-ant-crawling-insect-killer-4-lb-51703

 

[CrealCritter]

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.

Its completely your choice... DE is about the most eco friendly, effective thing there is.

 

[Beekissed]

Its completely your choice... DE is about the most eco friendly, effective thing there is.

Unless it gets on honeybees or any other beneficial insect with soft bodies or that clean themselves...then it kills them. Honeybees have enough problems right now without digesting micro glass as they clean themselves and one another. Articles say bees are fine, they have all that hair to protect them...what they don't realize is that bees clean themselves and one another, can ingest the silica at that time.

I don't call that exactly "eco" friendly.

Another interesting tidbit...those that used DE in their composting deep litter found very little composting happening in the layers with DE applied, as all the bugs that help with that process couldn't live there and do their jobs.

I'll skip on the eco friendly tiny sharp pieces of glass.