Dear Shiela:
Can understand your dilemma. Will Bubba allow you to comb him for fleas??
If so, use one of the fine-toothed metal flea combs (the plastic ones don't
work as well) and a bowl of water with a bit of dish detergent to rinse the
fleas
from the comb...the surfacants in the detergent will suffocate the fleas.
Other non-toxic things to try are ruffling a bit of garlic powder and/or
yeast through his fur to make it inhospitable for the fleas. Garlic ingested
in
large quantity over time is said to potentially cause anemia in cats, but a
small amount is not harmful. I used to routinely mix garlic in my raw food mix
along with nutritional yeast for B-vites and fleas were much less of a problem
when I did. Then I learned on a holistic website that garlic might be harmful
for cats and stopped. This year, the fleas have been so bad I have started
adding garlic to their food again and the situation has improved. They all
seem
to like it and it surely makes the otherwise bland raw food smell delicious.
You may need to start by adding a tiny bit and then gradually increasing the
amount. I throw whole cloves in the mini food processor to chop it finely or
you can use a garlic press to extract just the jice.
In his book, The Nature of Animal Healing, Dr. Martin Goldstein (holistic
vet) has a section on fleas and provides enlightenment about those supposedly
safe commercial flea treatments and the entire rationale of chemically
assaulting
the flea problem. Fleas, like most parasites, tend to afflict hosts whose
immune systems are less able to repel them. The use of chemicals in our homes
and on our pets to try and control such pests only serves to further weaken the
immune system of the pets we are trying to protect. When dealing with FeLV+
kittys whose immune system is already compromised, the use of such chemicals is
even more risky.
Dr G's recommendations include: In all cases, I recommend two natural
substances: garlic and brewer's yeast. Both exude odors or tastes that
discourage
fleas. Garlic is as close to a panacea as a natural product can get. Grate
or chop a clove or two into each meal, both to combat fleas and for general
health and longevity. Add a Tbsp. of brewer's yeast (half that for small dogs
and cats). Every day or two, also sprinkle brewer's yeast on your pet's coat,
working it in with your hands.
Among the many herbal flea preparations that can be useful, I'm partial to
Earth Animal's Herbal Internal Powder, a powdered mix of natural ingredients
which includes garlic as well as alfalfa, wormwood, yellowdock and pennyroyal.
Sprinkle the powder liberally into your pet's food; it smells so good you may
want to sprinkle it into your own! (I do, especially when cooking pasta.)
You can safely treat carpeting and bedding with boric acid powder (that is
what eye wash is made from). It is not toxic...it dessicates (dehydrates) the
bugs and they die. That is the active ingredient in many ant/roach
powders...just make sure there are no other toxic ingredients added.
FleaBusters markets
a carpet powder (which Dr. G. also mentions in his book) that just contains
boric acid as its active ingredient, but it is a bit pricier...a large jug
(which has lasted me two years) is around $35. You sprinkle it on the
carpeting
and work it in with a brush and then vaccuum up any excess. One application
lasts about a year. If you hire Flea Busters to come treat your home, they
guarantee it to be flea free for a year, and will come back and re-treat at no
charge if it isn't. When my daughter was living in S. Calif. she had FBers
come
treat her apartment and it was totally flea-free...of course her 3 cats did
not go outside and she didn't have a dog. I have had good results with it even
though I do have some cats who go outside in the daytime and a dog. In the two
bedrooms where I have adoptable rescues and FeLV+ cats, respectively, that do
not go out of their rooms, I do not have a flea problem. In the rest of the
house, I've had to re-treat more often than once/year to keep them under
control.
While Dr. G's approach is to help his clients get their pets so healthy
(through a healthy, natural diet, etc.) that they are resistant to fleas, he
does
not take a holier than thou approach to address an existing flea problem where
a pet is suffering, and in regards to helping break the cycle of an existing
flea infestation will advise his clients to choose a product containing
citrus-based d-limonene, the herbal insecticide. One spray he personally
uses is
Quantum's Flea Tick Repellent which contains the herb erigeron (flea bane),
as well as rose geranium, which is one of the effective herbal tick repellents.
Only in very severe cases would he recommend the use of Front Line or
Advantage, which he views as two of the more benign brands, but not without
trepidation. Dr. G. also advises clients to have their
