I use something like that called Flea Free Supplement. It’s vinegar, garlic, and some herbs. And I just bought some Bug Off tablets. Of course, not using both at the same time.
I got the Sentry Naturals topical for her today. Smells pretty strong but I like it. I also got a waterless shampoo by Vets Best to use for now until her staples are out. I also left the sliced lemon in a pot over night and tried that this morning not sure if it did anything or not. I’ve been adding ACV to her water anyway so I’ll continue doing that. I have treated the home and will continue to I also got a spray for the home and her bedding. I saw at the pet store an item that is added to the water. It contains garlic, vinegar, water and salt. Is salt ok for her?
SanDnMila, have you done anything to treat your home? Flea eggs love to hide in carpets and bedding, even sofa cushions if your dog goes on there. Your dog can be flea free and continually reinfect themselves if the eggs are still hidden in your house and hatch into more fleas. Have you tried a product called capstar? It will kill all the fleas on your pet within 24 hours, its an oral tablet they take once. you can get it from your vet its helpful to use that first and then apply the preventatives.
The spray I use from Pet Naturals has the same ingredients and hasn’t worked. That why I tried Frontline. Seems to be worse this summer.
Our Bichon has flea allergy dermatitis. We live in Florida where fleas are abundant. I have followed this site since it’s infancy; so wanted to try everything natural. I was even going against the advice of our guy’s dermatologist. For about a year now, we compromised, and went with a combo. I am not crazy about “drugs”, but it came down more to quality of life. Our guy gets Comfortis monthly, and we use Dr. Mercola’s Natural Flea and Tick Defense applied after being sprayed on a paper towel. I never spray it on his skin. I can’t even remember the last time we saw a flea.
I’ve been using a spray with that same ingredients except the castor oil so I just wasn’t sure about it. I’ll try the topical one.
I’ve never used the spray, I just use the topical. I don’t remember reading castor oil on the topical. It should be safe, some people react to it but I mean you can drink it so I can’t imagine it’d damage the skin too much lol
Here’s an article on it from Mercola:
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/04/28/castor-oil-to-treat-health-conditions.aspx
I saw the Sentry natural spray at Petco but was unsure about the castor oil. It that safe for a dog’s skin?
That had some great tips, thanks. I’ve been using ACV maybe I just need to use it differently. Thanks everybody!
I’ve had good luck with Sentry Naturals Topical and Earth Animal’s herbal flea and tick tincture. I haven’t found a single flea or seen any flea dirt on the girls all summer (I comb them daily with a flea comb).
I read something just a couple days ago that was saying to rough up the peel of a lemon and rub that all over your dog. It is supposed to be a good natural repellent.
After less than 2 weeks of using Frontline the fleas are back with a vengeance. Mila’s immune system might be down due to the antibiotics she’s on after her spay surgery staples so maybe that’s why she can’t fight them off, no matter what I try. It’s hard since I can’t bathe her until the staples are removed, so what should I try, it’s ruining her skin and coat.
Go to Earthworkshealth dot com. That site is about Diatomaceous Earth. Click on “Organic Pest Control” on the top left of the home page…
Read up on DE and see if itās something that might work. A few people on this site, me included, use it for fleas and I give it to my dog, mixed in her food, to help internally. You could probably mix it in the bag of food when you buy it to manage the mites. Iāve read people on farms mix it with their livestocksā feed to control bugs.
Maybe someone else would have other suggestions for you…
So to add one more issue to the search I’m looking for grain free, poultry free, large breed puppy food. My pup is 6mo old and has been itchy since day 1. A vet told me puppies don’t typically develop food allergies so young but, flea treatments and oatmeal shampoos haven’t helped at all. He has been on Natural Balance which gave him very runny poo, Innova lg. breed puppy and then it got recalled and we couldn’t get it anymore and now Orijin lg. breed puppy. Chicken and turkey have been ingredients in all of those so I’m looking for a grain and poultry free large breed puppy food but am not having any luck with the large breed puppy aspect. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
That’s tape worms. Unfortunately it is extremely rare that the vet can diagnose those. It is all up to owner reporting, because those things you saw are only a little part of the worm. Their eggs are in those segments rather than in the poop and those segments dry up and fall off the poop, so the vet tech may never see them. The good news is once your dog is treated for them they don’t come back until your dog eats another flea and as far as doing harm to the dog, they are the least damaging of all the worms dogs can get. You won’t see them come out either. The wormer damages their “skin” and they are digested.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by
theBCnut.
I give it 3 or 4 times a week all year. But if you don’t want to do it all the time, I’d definitely recc’ at least for a week after heartworm/flea/tick meds. Some folks give milk thistle for a week after heartworm meds to detox the liver. I give supplements all the time because we live in a polluted world! Just going on walks can be somewhat toxic! Who knows what’s in other people’s yards or the dog park. Even eating kibble can be taxing on the body and certain body organs.
Her history of being on many abx suggests she needs some sort of booster as abx kill off the good and bad organisms in the gut where the immune system is. Do you give probiotics regularly? Those help seed the gut with beneficial organisms and boost the immune system.
Demodex can take a long to recover from too. Can take months even with negative scrapes. My pup was a funny looking alien for almost a year. Had demodex, hair came back, demodex again, finally got over it. This was without any kind of booster since I didn’t know about them back then.
Since giving them boosters they don’t get sick even when my fosters come in with kennel cough or other skin infection and even sarcoptic mange. And they do mingle together when it’s p/p time.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by
pugmomsandy.
Those sound good. I also give astaxanthin and a supplement with Transfer Factor (currently Immunel with Transfer Factor from Swansonvitamins.com).
You also don’t want to give her or at least space them out for longer intervals (45 days) heartworm prevention and flea/tick meds because those are pesticides and add to her toxic load. Also don’t walk her in or let her play in areas that have been sprayed with pesticides. Also use a non toxic shampoo. I think good examples are Earthbath and Green Bulldog and I’m sure there are several more.
DieselJunki
What kind of worms were they? I suspect tapeworms and they get those from ingesting a flea when they are scratching. They have them for quite some time before they are seen in the stool, and regular wormers don’t kill them. They may or may not have affected the stool.
What about supplementing with krill oil or some type of oil, maybe my dogs need more omega 3 and 6 in their diets. Which oil would be best and how much of it and can I just put it on their regular kibble? Patty you could be right, guess I will find out with the NV because it does not have it in there nor does it have carrot. There is for sure something they are missing in their diet or something that is not going over well with them for all 4 to be itching like crazy. I wish it was as simple as fleas but we have not ever had fleas but I could easily fix that issue. Ugh here we go again
Thanks HDM! I just ordered some off of wag.com, it should be here Tues. I know it isn’t the Raw making them itch and the only thing that someone that I trust pointed out in the turkey and egg that could possibly be the itchy culprit is carrot. My dogs are not flaky skin and no fleas or ticks but do once again itchy and the yeasty ears are back too.
I did bathe them in some flea shampoo I got at Walmart and I haven’t found any fleas on them lately. I will look into that boric acid, thanks. I have looked up pictures and symptoms of all kinds of skin issues and can’t really find one that fits them 100%. But my Saints ears and in between her paws are definitely yeasty and my American Bulldog has some areas on his skin where the skin is peeling, but it isn’t dry and flaky. It is kind of moist and has some yellow scabby discharge. I may just end up having to take them to the vet, but if this is diet related I want to fix it myself and not be told to buy some prescription crap from the vet.
If your dog does have any fleas…that is enough to make them scratch like crazy. You do need to get the fleas under control. Just a few weeks ago, my niece was worried about her dog scratching and chewing like mad and I asked her “well does she have fleas?” “OH NO!” she says. She took her to the vet and the vet showed her that not only did she have fleas, she was crawling with them! OK so I have no idea how someone cannot see fleas on a small little dog but…Oh well…You can research some flea treatments at home but always be careful to research any “holistic” treatment for possible toxicity problems with dogs! There are a lot of people on line telling us they use this and that but be careful because dogs are sensitive to some of these things! Something simple you can use is bathe them well with some flea shampoo designed for dogs and you can sprinkle your carpet with boric acid…sweep in into the carpet and leave it for a while then vacuum it back up after a few days I think. Be sure and research how long to leave it because it’s been ages since I’ve done this. This is boric acid, not borax! You can find it at the dollar store sold for roach treatment. You will probably need a few bottles. This is safe and absolutely works like a charm! Do not put it on the dog!!!!!
Thanks for your input. I know a lot of people say yeast smells like corn chips. I looked into the flea dermatitis online and I’m thinking it could be that more so than yeast now. Especially since my American Bulldog is showing the same signs and he has never (knock on wood) had allergies to any food, even when I ignorantly fed them Purina. I didn’t put them on any flea medications because I couldn’t afford what I used to use (Trifexis) and I guess maybe the fleas were left to bother them too long and it caused a reaction. They never had fleas until primarily outside dogs came to live at my house for a few months and I think they got fleas from them. I’m just afraid if I go to the vet she will want to put at least my Saint on some kind of medication, plus having to pay a fee just to have them looked at. I know that sounds horrible, but any chance I can avoid a trip to the vet I will do it lol. I figured that by at least supplementing their kibble with raw will be enough to clear up the issues they have.
I feed Raw in the morning and kibble in the evening and my dogs do fine that way. If your dog is yeasty then he would need to stay away from what Marie stated above but also any veggies and fruits in a kibble that may contain sugar, Sugar feeds yeast and even in very very small amounts if it is in the kibble you are using then that is why your dog is yeasty and not because of fleas even though he could also be allergic to fleas and then he could have flea dermatitis.
Here is my story: I currently feed ACANA and I rotate between the different varieties and all 3 of my dogs have done wonderfully on it. But after a rare bout with fleas my Saint Bernard has terrible yeasty skin with a horrid smell and my American Bulldog is starting to show signs of what I believe to be yeast issues, too. I have no idea if the fleas caused this or if it is just a coincidence, but I want to fix it soon. From my research I know raw is the way to go for the issues my dogs are facing and just plain better for them period. I am a full time college student with one more year of school, so feeding a homemade raw diet is not possible right now, but that is my goal one day. Anyway, I was thinking of feeding 50/50 raw and kibble. I wanted to feed Tucker’s Frozen Raw in the a.m. and kibble in the p.m.. I will probably switch my dogs to Orijen kibble because I know that white potato and sweet potato will feed yeast and Orijen does not contain those ingredients while ACANA does. I also will be feeding raw meaty bones once in a while. If I feed the 50/50 split will it still be beneficial to add a supplement like Nupro Silver? The people who owned my Saint before I got her did not feed her correctly as a growing pup (39 pounds underweight when I got her at 2 years old and was fed Iams), so since she has hip issues supplementing with glucosamine is something I really want to do and I figured the other natural ingredients in Nupro Silver wouldn’t hurt. If there are other supplements out there that are better please let me know. Just from my research the Nupro will be cheaper for me to give than the NuVet supplements I am giving currently. I also know that feeding duck feet is a natural source of glucosamine and I will be giving her some of those every now and then. I am just wondering if this plan sounds like a good idea or if it is stupid. I really don’t know a whole lot about raw, but I want to learn more. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.congoraw.com/products.html
Complete Dinners consisting of Meat, Bone, Organ and a Vegetable/Fruit Blend which is comprised of organic celery, blueberries, romaine lettuce, radicchio, banana and parsley.
He doesn’t stay outside a lot and he’s brushed everyday, the problems are in his inner back legs, not much hair there, it’s very fine.
I wonder if adding fish oil will help.
He’s getting heartworm/flea pills.
thanks for your comments, appreciate them
Hot spots are not caused from diet. It can be caused from fleas and also double coated dogs are prone to hot spots if you do not keep the under coat brushed out. Does he stay outside a lot?
What is Congo Dinners? Whatelse is in it besides the proteins listed above?
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This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by
NectarMom.
So I’ve been noticing my dog scratching her neck and ears. More recently (past couple days), she’s been chewing on one of her rear paws. It’s not really intense scratching but it’s out of the norm.
I noticed the scratching after she was playing with another dog that she lives with. She kept in going into a patch of tall grass-like plants near a rose bush. (Several weeks ago)
I did give her a bath and I know the vet saying before that Codex has dry skin. But with the warm weather I’m suspecting something else.
She isn’t on flea prevention because I didn’t want to use the stuff you put on the dog’s back. I read they contain very strong pesticides. I finally got around to ordering Sentinel but I know I’ll need to supplement that with a flea repellent or something.
I took her to the vet on Tuesday for her 1 year checkup. I had to drop her off because the receptionist told me the whole thing would take about four hours…I didn’t feed or give her water that morning because I wasn’t anticipating her staying at the vet so long. Anyway, when I picked her up (5+ hours later) she was panting pretty heavily–with the air conditioning. I assumed it was because she was thirsty because Codex loves the vet. I found out they gave her rabies, lepto, Dapp, dewormer, blood test. She seemed pretty sore and tired. But she still had the energy to scratch.
Vet said everything looked normal and she probably has allergies–no fleas. He said I could give her fish oil and Benadryl (for vaccine reactions).
She’s been eating Earthborn Holistic Primitive natural with a little bit of instinct raw. I recently switched the instinct raw to duck. I introduced the duck after the scratching started.
I generally use Earth Bath Tea Tree & Aloe and their Creme Rinse. I got Dr. Harvey’s Herbal Protection shampoo for fleas and ticks that I’m trying out now.
Thanks for the comments, I guess the Pet Protector did sound a little too good to be true š
So I can’t say I’m surprise about what InkedMarie said…
Swansonvitamins(dot)com, as Patty mentioned above, also has Immunel Colostrum Fraction with Transfer Factor. I would avoid if possible applying topical meds like flea/tick products if you can too since they are pesticides and affect the immune system unless you have some that don’t contain pesticides (ones made with essential oils).
Okay! Makes sense, he’s on heartworm prevention (Quadriguard, which no one at the vet’s office has heard of lol we got it from the previous vet), and flea and tick prevention, And, when my fiancee and I got home yesterday his two little nieces told us that they had been “feeding” him but could not tell me what they were feeding him… Sigh. AND he’s taken a dewormer once in the past two months, I believe. We’re supposed to give him another one even though there were apparently no worms detected in his fecal testing. I trust my vet, but it doesn’t make sense to me.
Liver enzymes can be elevated due to any insult to the liver, such as heartworm meds, flea meds, fertilizer, bug sprays, herbicides, cleaning agents, etc. They just usually go up for a short time and then go back down again. It’s when they don’t go back down that you start worrying about liver damage, so having bloodwork repeated is the way to go. But make sure there is nothing going on around the house that might be an exposure.
I’ve used the Wondercide products that have Organic Cedar Oil and Hydrated Silica. I used it for a few weeks so can’t really say much about fleas but it certainly didn’t work for ticks. My dog is always in constant danger of getting ticks and at one point the work truck was infested with them (not from the dog from us! Grossssss). I used it on myself as well as the dog and I was still coming home with 21 ticks latched onto myself and at least that many, if not more, on the dog. We have since moved from that grassy area about the same time I put the K9 Advantix 2 back on him and am not sure if it was just that area or because we put the Advantix back on, but so far only a couple ticks. I hate to use a product like that on him but until I find one that works well for ticks I see it as my only option.
We got the Only Natural Pet ones the first year they came out. Very glad they came with a 100% guarantee because that was the first year we saw fleas & ticks. We got our money back. They may work for some but they didn’t for me.
I’ve heard mixed reviews. I’m skeptical so I’m not willing to spend the money to try it.
Boxermom,
I was wondering the same thing – Only Natural Pet sells one too.
Has anyone ever heard of the Pet Protector?
It’s a metal disk you put on the dog’s collar… I wonder if it’s any good, because it’s not cheap…
Here is a link (you can also find it on google)-
http://petprotector.org/About.aspx
Hi jacklyn –
The most effective thing you can do to repel fleas and ticks from your dogs is to boost their immune system. Vital dogs are less susceptible to parasites (both internal and external) than dogs with weaker immune systems. The first step to creating a strong immune system is by feeding a species-appropriate diet. For years I used chemical flea and tick topicals on my dogs (Advantix or Frontline Plus). Two summers ago was a really bad summer for fleas in my area, despite receiving a monthly dose of Advantix my dogs (I had two at the time – Gus was 6 and Gertie was a pup) got infested with fleas. When I say infested, I mean really infested – Gus had the hair chewed off both his hindquarters exposing the raw skin because he was chewing on himself so much and Gertie was just crawling with them, when I separated her hair I could just see fleas crawling. So in addition to the Advantix I put them on Trifexis (oral flea preventative, with heart worm preventative – took them off Heartguard) and set off flea “bombs” in the house. To no avail. I hired an exterminator to treat the yard and house – that didn’t do any good either. Finally I gave up and we all suffered through the summer and early fall until the temperatures dipped below freezing, then the fleas died off. That fall I switched my dogs to a raw diet (at the time of the infestation they were eating The Honest Kitchen and various 4 and 5 star canned foods). I read online many reports of dogs not requiring flea and tick treatments while on a raw diet because their immune systems grow so strong. It sounded bogus to me but I really didn’t like using chemicals on and around them (I had began learning more about chemical flea and tick preventatives and started to become scared of using them) and I figured it things couldn’t be worse than the previous summer. So that next summer (would have been last summer – 2012) I didn’t use any chemical preventatives. I used Sentry Natural Defense topical (chemical free – contains natural essential oils) and Earth Animal herbal flea and tick tincture (drops that I add to their food made with herbs known to make the dog’s natural scent/blood less appealing to fleas and ticks). I combed my dogs daily with a flea comb and did not find a single flea or tick the entire summer. I’ve been chemical-free ever since and so far so good for this summer too. I’ve been having a snap test (blood test for tick transmitted diseases) done prior to the start of tick season and after tick season and all my dogs have tested negative for tick transmitted diseases each time – ticks are bad in my area and last summer 4 individuals I know had their dogs (all of which were on either Advantix or Frontline Plus) test positive for lyme. I’m now a believer that healthy dogs are less susceptible to infestation.
Some information about the active ingredients found in many popular flea and tick preventatives:
FIPRONIL (active ingredient in Frontline)
“Journal of Pesticide Reform Factsheet: Fipronil”
-In tests with laboratory animals, fipronil causes aggressive behavior, damaged kidneys, and ādrastic alterations in thyroid function.ā The fipronil containing product āFrontlineā caused changes in the levels of sex hormones.
-The offspring of laboratory animals exposed to fipronil during pregnancy were smaller than those of unexposed mothers. They also took longer to mature sexually.
-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies fipronil as a carcinogen because exposure to fipronil caused benign and malignant thyroid tumors in lab animals.
IMIDACLOPRID (active ingredient in Advantage)
“Journal of Pesticide Reform Factsheet: Imidacloprid”
-Imidacloprid is a relatively new, systemic insecticide chemically related to the tobacco toxin nicotine. Like nicotine, it acts on the nervous system. Symptoms of exposure include apathy, labored breathing, incoordination, emaciation and convulsions. Longer-term exposures causes reduced ability to gain weight and thyroid lesions.
-Pregnant laboratory animals exposed to imidacloprid experienced increased incidence of miscarriage and had smaller offspring than unexposed animals.
-Imidacloprid has been shown to increase the incidence of genetic damage called DNA adducts.
PYRETHRINS (active ingredient in Bio Spot)
-According to CPI, from 2002 through 2007, at least 1,600 pet deaths related to spot-on treatments with the pyrethrins were reported to the EPA.
-According to the website “Bio Spot Victims”: Toxicological studies have linked this pesticide to serious acute and chronic health effects. The EPA has classified it as a possible human carcinogen because it increases the frequency of lung and liver tumors in laboratory animals. It suppresses the immune system. Permethrin is also suspected to have played an important role in the development of illnesses known as the Gulf War Syndrome.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by
Hound Dog Mom.
I guess some pets could be sensitive to some products… I have a friend who used Frontline (I think) once and it made his dog throw up several times so he switched…
I bought it because my dad is using it for years now and very pleased. My dog seems to be ok with it, but I’ll keep that in mind in case I see any change. Thanks!
I appreciate everyone’s help but I still feel like I need more information before I can feel confidant in my choice of treatment options.
At my shelter we just had a cat go into a seizure after getting Advantage (for cats, correct dosage for the cat’s weight). The cat had been at the shelter for several months with no health issues. We had to shave it and bathe it in dish soap.
I use Advantage and so far no problems…
I’ve been using natural flea/tick products since last summer and no infestations. These include Mercola natural spray, Halo Herbal Dip, and Only Natural Pet Natural Defense Herbal Oil. I have 3 dogs and many fosters and they use a doggy door and go out whenever they want to.
I would like some advice on a good and safe flea and tick treatment. I have tried Frontline plus and it didn’t work very well in my opinion. I’m currently using K9 Advantix II and it seems to be working great but then I read some articles and it made it seem like this was dangerous and I would just really like some unbiased opinions! Please help, I just want to do what is best for my dog.
How old is your dog? Two of my dogs had an elevated liver enzyme at one check up and then normal the next. It is not just diet that can affect it but also things like medications and pesticides (ingested or topical like heartworm/flea/tick meds) that are filtered through the liver. Ask you vet about milk thistle and have the enzymes rechecked. What are you currently feeding your dog?
Well the heatwave was short-lived – I checked the forecast and it’s supposed to be back into the low 50’s (daytime) and mid 30’s (nighttime) by the weekend. So I may be able to postpone the first dose until the end of May after all.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 11 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
I think that if daytime temps are in the 80s, the overnight temp may not be assumed to be low enough long enough to affect the larva.
Really? I’m going to have to look into that. I know I’ve always read that if at any point in time the temperature dips below 57 the cycle needs to start again. Dr. Becker’s article says: “During the time the heartworm larvae are developing from L1 to L3 inside an infected mosquito, which is approximately a two-week period, the temperature must not dip below 57Ā°F at any point in time. If it does, the maturation cycle is halted. According to Washington State University heartworm report from 2006, full development of the larvae requires ‘the equivalent of a steady 24-hour daily temperature in excess of 64Ā°F (18Ā°C) for approximately one month.'” So I suppose – according to Washington State University – if the overall temperature averages over 64 for a month you’d need the preventative even if it dips below 57 at times. Well it’s only been up to the 80’s for about a week (it was snowing only three weeks couple weeks ago – north country lol) – definitely has not averaged over 64 for a month. I put my sticker on the calendar to start the first dose Thursday so I’m sure they’ll be fine either way.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 11 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
2 months, 1 week ago
