Natural flea and tick control

[Flamincomet]

It's getting warm enough over here for fleas and ticks to start becoming a problem. I've had a couple of dogs I groom come in with ticks, no fleas yet though.

 

I'm not interested in using frontline or anything like that. I'm interested in hearing from people who have information on, or who have used natural/organic products for flea/tick/mosquito/parasite control. What has and hasn't worked?

 

I've heard of using neem oil, tea tree oil, lavender and diatomaceous earth. Tea tree oil wouldn't work for me, as I have cats that love my dogs, and they are constantly snuggling/playing.

 

I also saw someone recommend this product:

http://mypetfection.com/zencart/index.php?...p;products_id=8

 

It sounds great, but I don't see ingredients listed any where. The person who recommended it said they use it on themselves regularly, which would be great, as the mosquitoes here are horrible and I get bit up every time I go outside for extended periods of time.

 

I've also heard neem can be used for internal parasites as well, which would be great.

 

I don't mind hearing opinions of people that don't agree with using things besides frontline and other things that are sold at the vet, but please keep it polite.

 

Autumn

[ejano]

It's getting warm enough over here for fleas and ticks to start becoming a problem. I've had a couple of dogs I groom come in with ticks, no fleas yet though.

 

I'm not interested in using frontline or anything like that. I'm interested in hearing from people who have information on, or who have used natural/organic products for flea/tick/mosquito/parasite control. What has and hasn't worked?

 

I've heard of using neem oil, tea tree oil, lavender and diatomaceous earth. Tea tree oil wouldn't work for me, as I have cats that love my dogs, and they are constantly snuggling/playing.

 

I also saw someone recommend this product:

http://mypetfection.com/zencart/index.php?...p;products_id=8

 

It sounds great, but I don't see ingredients listed any where. The person who recommended it said they use it on themselves regularly, which would be great, as the mosquitoes here are horrible and I get bit up every time I go outside for extended periods of time.

 

I've also heard neem can be used for internal parasites as well, which would be great.

 

I don't mind hearing opinions of people that don't agree with using things besides frontline and other things that are sold at the vet, but please keep it polite.

 

Autumn

 

Hi Autumn,

I lean toward the organic side myself and I'm wary of any kind of chemical - manufactured or natural/herbal - so I look for products with a great deal of literature behind them. Like you, when it comes to flea/tick/heart worm control because the pests themselves cause so many diseases I want to use a product that I know will be effective. I chose Revolution because it covers all three pests in one dose and the active ingredient for fleas and ticks is not Ivermectin (there's a debate and most believe that Ivermectin is not harmful to BCs, but I'm on the side of why take chances). The Revolution did struggle a bit earlier this spring when we had a heavy outbreak of ticks but things have settled down now and it's working well. I thought about adding a tick collar, but there was a chance that it would be too much medicine for the dogs so I combed them thoroughly when we came back from our walks and avoided high grass and brushy areas (the fun places!) until the outbreak calmed down. You'll need to get the dogs tested for heart worm to make sure they're clear before you start a heart worm preventative.

 

As for mosquitoes and other annoying insects, my best defense at home is the nesting boxes I've put up around the perimeter of the yard -- bluebirds, tree swallows, the fly catcher and the barn swallows who have taken up residence under my mother in-laws car port (to her dismay) keep us pretty clean but my husband who is a contractor uses a Citronella oil product if he's on a job where the bugs are nasty. It does need to be reapplied frequently, as do most natural products.

 

I've heard some good things about Neem but have never used it.

 

Liz

[nancy]

When we lived in the Hudson Valley, the big thing to use was garlic and brewers' yeast. If you are a home brewer, that's the dregs left when you siphon the beer into bottles. Otherwise, you can buy it powered.

 

You feed it - not rub it on.

 

It worked for fleas and mosquitoes. I don't remember our having ticks up there. But we must have done, as Lyme disease is up there. It just hadn't been identified yet.

[rushdoggie]

I have a doggie with sensitive skin and a terrible flea allergy...I used garlic, brewers yeast and a "natural spray" and while we never got really infested with fleas, they were still getting on him and biting him. I gave up and use Frontline, figuring it was better than treating open festering wounds and incessant scratching.

[Flamincomet]

Revolution is what I used to use, but I'm really trying to just stay clear of any kind of chemicals like that. Plus my vet here recommended against a heartworm preventive, as it's not a problem at all here, he's very a much a less is more person and I love it. The mosquitoes are horrible though, since we are on the palouse. They're more of a problem than fleas and ticks for us so far. Temperatures don't get very high for more than couple months in the summer, and the rest of the year is too cold for fleas and ticks, so I really don't need anything drastic.

 

I've heard of using garlic to help with fleas, but I've also heard that it can cause anemia in some cases, and bad breath of course.

 

I'm going to look into ordering the Bug Spray and see how that works. I also found this: http://www.vetriscience.com/vetri-flea-tic...llent-spray.php Which seems similar. My mom swears by neem oil, but it apparently smells like onions, so we'll see how these work out first.

 

If anyone else has experiences they want to share using alternative flea/tick control methods, I'd love to hear it.

 

Autumn

[silhouettestable]

I've been reading up on diatomaceous earth. It seems that it can be applied externally to treat fleas and ticks, and also fed (food grade only, or it's poisonous!) to keep worm-free. I've had to treat for tapeworms several times in the last year, my dogs kept getting them from eating mice in the chicken coop. Drontal gets so expensive I decided to try the DE and have had my dogs on it for the last few weeks. Haven't had any fleas or ticks so I haven't used it for that purpose yet. Here's a link with some good info about DE:

Diatomaceous Earth

[sandyleew]

I have been feeding DE for years. It does seem to work very well on intestinal parasites, but I can't see where it would work that well on fleas and ticks. It doesn't repel them.

[geonni banner]

I have been feeding DE for years. It does seem to work very well on intestinal parasites, but I can't see where it would work that well on fleas and ticks. It doesn't repel them.

 

There used to be an outfit here in N. CAL. called "Fleabusters." Back in the days before Advantage/Frontline it was the most successful approach for us. They would come to your house (you had to shampoo your carpets first) and then they would broadcast this powder that was composed of Diatomaceous Earth and baking soda in a 1 to 3 ratio. They had a machine that would stomp, stomp, stomp it into the carpet and that was it. It was expensive - but non-toxic. We wouldn't see a flea for a year and a half. We had 3 dogs and 3 indoor/outdoor cats. Never had to put anything on the animals and there were NO FLEAS. Evidently the powder acts as a desiccant and just sucks the life out of the fleas. And since 99% of the fleas in a house are not on the dog at any given time it does a great job. It works great in carpeted places, but not so well on wood floors, and not at all on tile, etc.

 

I think one-spot flea products put them out of business. But you can make up your own powder and have a dance party to work it into the carpets. But you can't shampoo the carpet in between or it quits working. Although you can probably spot-clean and re-treat the spots yourself.

[urge to herd]

I've used DE in my carpets for years, and always applied it myself. It didn't totally do away with fleas, but kept them down enough so that 2 applications of Advantage a year were sufficient, rather than 6 or 7.

 

If you do apply DE, make sure you wear a filter mask, it can be irritating to the lungs. When you vacuum it up the first couple times, change your bag or empty the vacuum frequently.

 

I also used it internally for a brief time, but it gave 2 of my 3 the runs, even in very small doses.

 

Ruth