Three Ways to Fight Fleas

Fleas! How very dare you!
I resemble that remark.
Del
(Hops away scratching feverishly)

Shoot them with bow and arrows.

I have found a mixture of ground Rosemary and Diatomaceous Earth very effective. Worked into a animals fur. What one don't repel the other kills. Diatomaceous earth is a very effective on a lot of crawling pest. Even bed bugs. Medical grade can even be used to kill internal pests.

"Medical grade can even be used to kill internal pests"

Your's or the dog's?

Internal pest = cats! _{Sorry Del}

Either it is used as a human dietary supplement. High in silica.

I've been using 'Frontline' on my dog for over a decade now and I never see fleas any more. I dose the dog once a month from March to December, applying the dose in liquid form on her back, between her 'shoulders'. That's it. No fleas in the house, no need for flea collars, no need to spray the yard, no need for flea combs anymore.

Before I started using it fleas were a constant problem. That stuff is amazing.

Arggg! Dmit! Your making me itch just thinking about it!

I thing the pervasive ritual of liberally applying various poisons in and around ones living space for the purpose of killing pests (especially as a preventative measure), is at best naive.

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Even if your choose to ignore the obvious problems with deliberately dousing your living space with chemicals intended to disrupt processes vital to life, the fact that flea sprays tend not to be very effective, should dissuade use.

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Thinking about poisoning the area surrounding your house, the natural predators of the pests your attempt to target with the poisons, are likely to be diminished or avoid your area in the future, to the benefit of the pests you were targeting.

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There are a host of options that don't involve dousing your living space in substances intended to be harmful:

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Frequent vacuuming is one of the best tools for prevention and to combat even severe infestations.

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Bathing your pet is sufficient to remove fleas, eggs and larvae, with most shampoos, without the need for added poisons.

*Note: For some areas, especially in the summer, once a month oral or topical flea treatment is close to a necessity. Even so, you don't need to add poisons to your dogs bath.

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Here is a suggestion that is a little strange..... It is for those people who tend to be repeatedly greeted with a flea problem usually just upon returning from vacation. This is a poison free, more effective alternative to 'flea bombing' the house prior to leaving on vacation.

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The problem has a lot to do with a suspended-animation-like state to which flea larvae default in the absence of significant vibration (as well as a high tolerance to poisons).

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Flea larvae pull a Peter Pan, in the absence of host indicative vibrations, delaying adulthood and lying in wait in a protective cocoon (flea bombs have almost no effect on flea larvae). When vibration indicates a host in nearby, all the built up generations of larvae quickly emerge as new adults to feed.

(This is one of the reasons frequent vacuuming is effective: it provides sufficient vibration. )

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So, the first part of this odd solution involves using a timer to turn on normal household equipment that will provide sufficient vibration to ensure the fleas do not stay dormant as larvae. This can be as simple as turning on the stereo at high volume (significant bass would be a good idea).

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The second part of this odd solution is the use of focused spot lights or directional desk lamps to shine their beam of light, exclusively as possible onto large white platters or shallow glass pans sitting on white paper or cloth. The platters or containers are to be filled with water and a drop of dish washing detergent. A tall glass standing upside down and filled with water should be in each platter/pan, as a reserve to replenish evaporated water.

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The lights should be on timers set to go on shortly after the vibration begins and remain on most of the night. The rooms should be as dark everywhere except where the light is shining on the white plates full of detergent water.

Fleas will move towards the bright white light. They jump into the water and the detergent acts as a wetting agent, in which the fleas (and often also a startling array of strange insects) drown.

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If done correctly it can be a very effect and yet safe process for dealing with infestations while on vacation.

Before I started using Frontline, as I mentioned in my previous post, I had a routine of spraying the house with pesticide every other month. Even though the spray was labeled safe, I always moved the pets out of the house (my previous dog and 2 cats) and had the rest of my family go out shopping for a few hours. (Yeah, it was tough to convince the wife to go shopping... ha.)

The great thing about Frontline is it gets absorbed into the dog's bloodstream and when the flea bites the dog, the flea dies. I've never had a flea infestation once I started using it - in fact I've never seen a flea in the house since I started using it. My dog is 13 years old and in excellent health - still very active; shows no sign of any ill effects from continuous use all her life.

I should add, Frontline kills ticks, too - which can actually be more dangerous to human health than fleas.

I agree with you completely....

Frontline IS a far better alternative than spraying your house, IMHO.

Spinosad...so safe you can eat it.

http://www.comfortis.com/

The introduction of spinosad for use in agriculture resulted in the receipt of a Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award² in 1999 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award was presented to Dow AgroSciences LLC in the category of "Designing Safer Chemicals" for the introduction of spinosad as an insect control product for use on crops. This award demonstrates that spinosad as a technology for insect control has a favorable environmental profile.

This award is not relevant to the safety and efficacy of Comfortis, nor does it confer any environmental benefit to Comfortis.

So in other words the testing by US EPA means nothing.

Sundays used to be hell for me to give treatment to my small Pomeranian and give her bath with dog shampoo.I used a herbal treatment as i found to be very effective. It is available in India. But after applying solution I had to keep dog in corner for half an hour for herbal oil to be effective. It was harmless even if it was licked by dog.

With 6 dogs (5 Border Collies and a Welsh Pembrooke Corgi) we had a terrible time with fleas last year because it was such a hot and humid summer.

We employ a 4-fold attack on the fleas:

1. We vacuum the carpets and the furniture daily.

2. Employ Advantix III to each dog on a monthly basis.

3. Add Fertilome (for Bagworm & tent caterpillars) to their food once a month. 45mL each dog. It contains Spinosad A & D which is lethal to the fleas, but is safe for the dogs according to our Vet. And yes, it does work!!!!!

4. We have a 1/2 dozen Springstar Flea Trap lights placed strategically around the house. These have been exceptionally effective, as the light and heat draws the fleas to the trap like a magnet!

http://springstar.net/fleatrap.html