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Post by tentfire on May 5, 2012 2:29:30 GMT -5
I am not sure if this is the right place to put this or not, so feel free to move it if it isn't.
I desperately need tips on safe things to use to get rid of fleas... (home, yard, dogs, cats). It is already nearly as bad as the peak of the season last year! And we are just getting started.
Here is my biggest problem at the moment (I think most of the others are somewhat under control). I have one puppy left that hasn't sold from my Boxer's last litter. He is 3 1/2 months old and white. The fleas ADORE him! I have put everything under the sun on the poor puppy and he still has fleas! Last night they swarmed him (we have some kind of fleas here in this rocky neck of the woods that actually swarm. It's horrible!) He has on frontline (put it on him 3 weeks ago), a Seargent's flea collar, he's rubbed down with lavender oil, AND has been sprayed 4 times in a week with Permethrin spray (30 day residual) and was still swarmed with thousands of fleas last night. I soaked him in strongly mixed dip at 5:30 am today..... then by midnight he was covered in fleas and totally miserable again. So tonight I added some essential oils in with the dip/spray. I would greatly appreciate any and all suggestions.
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Post by dsmith on May 5, 2012 17:46:04 GMT -5
We are also trying everything. Put season long granules in the yard. Tried Advantage and Pet armor. I have frontline I am fixing to try. Nothing works yet. Very frustrating. If they get in the house, salt on the carpet and furniture works wonders.
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Post by lsull on May 5, 2012 19:17:47 GMT -5
They used lye soape when I was a kid. Where do you find it now?
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Post by daveedka on May 5, 2012 19:23:19 GMT -5
tentfire makes lye soap
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Post by SmithSchee on May 5, 2012 22:10:30 GMT -5
Try rubbing the puppy down in baby oil. I had a Rat Terrier puppy I couldn't (1 month old) that got them on her. The only thing I knew of that wouldn't hurt her was the baby oil. It smothers the fleas to death. Put the oil on him rub it in until every inch of him is covered. I have comb Cookie with a fine tooth comb. Getting all the dead fleas off so she wouldn't rub them on anything in the house. Beware when you put him down he's going to rub on everything he can, roll in the floor. Just like they do after bath time. The baby oil will leave a oily spot. I hope this works for you.
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Post by olhillbilly on May 6, 2012 4:31:54 GMT -5
Ya mite try "Diatomaceous Earth". I been readin bout it over the years in publications and seeing it mentioned online. I'd like to try it on the kids sometime. I did just find an article about it while trying to find out how to spell it.  It 'splains alot bout it. www.richsoil.com/flea-control.jsp |
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Post by dsmith on May 6, 2012 18:01:33 GMT -5
Also, washing them with dawn dishsoap works GREAT. Just use a tad though, it is hard to get it all out.
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Post by tentfire on Jun 4, 2012 1:35:28 GMT -5
Thank you all for all the GREAT advice! Although I try to keep away from insecticides (I am not suppose to go near them), I did put them down in the back yard with the big dogs. But the fleas are thick on the front 2 acres. And I am battling them in the house, now, too. Ugh! Pet Armor didn't work, neither did the flea/tick collar. It was a 6-month collar and I watch the fleas running around under it. Plus, I pulled a tick off of him under the collar! (yes, it was for ticks, too.) I have often used the salt all over the house with great results, but right now, my house is so humid that when I put salt down, it makes the floors super wet and slick and the furniture wet and mushy. Lye soap... yes, I make lye soap. I am actually sold out of the old- fashioned right now because people discovered that bathing with it helps keep the ticks off of them. Works for that on the dogs, too, but the fleas are right back on almost as soon as their fur is dry. My lemon lye soap lasts a little longer, but not more than a day for the fleas. The baby oil is a great idea. I avoid mineral oil like the plague, but I make an all natural baby oil and it worked pretty good. Took almost 24 hours for the fleas to come back and it is pretty costly, even making it myself (I use rice bran oil in it). Diatomaceous Earth.... I can't say enough GOOD things about this stuff! I have been using it for a long time now for LOTS of things and I have lots of it because I carry it in my little shop at the flea market. Eating it myself helped heal my broken leg faster. It helped on the kittens, but only lasted for a day or two. It helped on the puppy but I had to put it on him daily, but he squirms around so much that I don't want to breathe that much of it in. You can eat it, but you don't want to breathe it in. Here is my write-up on it: twofarmsone.wetpaint.com/page/Diatomaceous+EarthI recently heard about the Dawn dish soap and may try it. WHAT I TRIED YESTERDAY THAT DID WORK: CANOLA OIL!!! I was shocked! I had read somewhere recently that Canola was a great natural insecticide, is now listed with the EPA as an insecticide, and is being used in many store bought insecticides, often times being 96% of the active ingredients! I had been having to spray Bubba (the white puppy) twice a day, now, to just thin out his fleas, and by the end of the day he was still more black than white. So I tried rubbing him down with canola oil and the fleas started dying instantly. 24 hours later he only has a few so I rubbed him down again. Put it on a couple of kittens, too, and 24 hours later they are still flea free! I didn't think anyone could ever get me to buy a bottle of this nasty oil, because I certainly wouldn't eat it, but it sure makes a great flea killer! Attachments:
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