Flea prevention, let's chat.

So a lady my mom works with got a pug and she emailed me today to ask me some questions. One thing she asked was about flea prevention, her "breeder" said to put lemon in the water, have you EVER heard of that? What about baking soda in the water? Both sound odd to me.

We use Sentinal here for both flea and heartworm prevention.

What do you use and have you heard of the above methods?

I use Sentinel year round. But in the south, I have to add in Frontline for the summer months. I am going to start Frontline on myself May 1st because I found a tick on my head Friday morning! I wish there was something all natural that would really work for the pugs, but with ticks and mosquitos all over the south, I have to go with the chemicals. I may have to leave the Frontline off Lola though because Baby Girl likes her back and all over her neck all the time.

I'm a Frontline Plus girl, from about March until November or so.

We use Frontline Plus here too. Though I did order Kathy Santos Defeat da Fleas to try this year and see how it works. http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/product_detail.aspx?item_guid=3664E91F-44B2-4662-9C24-8BA5CF4B6128&click=2083&mf=2 I figured we'd give it a try and see if it might be an effective alternative to Frontline. Though, I'm afraid we have more of an issue with ticks than fleas, so I may still end up having to use Frontline after all. We'll see.

Stella gets Revolution year-round. I was only giving it to her in the warmer weather but she somehow ended up with fleas in February. I wonder if you have to worry about lemon and the enamel in their teeth like you do for people?

I use brewer's yeast and we've never had a flea or tick problem. I've never been crazy about the flea/ticket products. I used them for a few years on Hoover but never on the girls. When Michael had that awful experience with Sugar Ray it just sealed the deal for me.

Amanda wrote:I use brewer's yeast and we've never had a flea or tick problem. I've never been crazy about the flea/ticket products. I used them for a few years on Hoover but never on the girls. When Michael had that awful experience with Sugar Ray it just sealed the deal for me.

Amanda, do you just sprinkle it on their food? I've heard a lot of people using it, but never knew if it really worked. I also heard people use it in conjunction with garlic? Do you use garlic also or just the brewers yeast?

To each their own I suppose. I use advantix right now, although was using frontline or many years. My vet warned me about 2 months ago that ticks here were going to be bad so I changed. For heartwork I use Ivromectin, most normal people would use heartguard (but we all know I am not normal).

we use frontline plus

tell me about the brewers yeast. i have a huge canister of the stuff for logan. will it keep fleas off him, too?

Revolution for both cats and dogs. It protects from ticks and prevents heartworm as well.

BDazzpugs wrote:To each their own I suppose. I use advantix right now, although was using frontline or many years. My vet warned me about 2 months ago that ticks here were going to be bad so I changed. For heartwork I use Ivromectin, most normal people would use heartguard (but we all know I am not normal).

I know your cat hides from the dogs, but did you know Advantix for dogs causes neurological disorders in cats? Maybe THAT is what is wrong with your cat!

Anyway, I am not loving the chemicals on the skin, but I am very happy with the Sentinal. Heart worm is very rare here, but I would still rather be on the prevention side.

I have my thoughts about this "breeder" I have NEVER heard of the drinking lemon water, but I did google and they talk about putting lemon juice ON the dog for fleas, but even that seems like a bad idea.

We use Heartguard for heartworm and Frontline Plus for fleas/ticks when we go to the lake. Last year, it made My Boys very itchy. I'd really like to hear about the brewer's yeast, too.

Never heard of the lemon thing. My girls get Revolution, year round. That's the first thing the vet had me do when Izzy started with allergy problems.

Frontline Plus here, I am leary of changing since both of mine have done well on it.
I've never heard of lemon and water but I have not done to much research on alternative methods.

I use heartworm preventative, just nothing "chemical" for fleas/ticks.

Kendie, I use the tablets but I'm sure the powder would also work fine. I personally don't use garlic but you can buy brewer's yeast that has garlic in it.

As for the lemon, I've heard of a lemon skin tonic (Dr. Pitcairn I think) but never about putting it in their water.

When I had my very short "show career", one of the breeders told me she used lemon dishwashing soap to treat flea problems. Not sure about any lemon water.

I use Revolution since it does fleas, ticks, many internal parasites, HW and sarcoptic mange. Don't use it year round, however. If I didn't have foster dogs coming in so often and many from the shelter system, I might be less chemical in my approach--but I need to avoid the numerous bugs that shelter dogs especially bring in. Some of you may remember my sarcoptic mange outbreak when I became addicted to orange Pine Sol........

Lemon is an old remedy for many "bugs". It's why citronella candles work for mosquitos, etc. Many anti-mosquito products use citrus oil. I've not heard of it for fleas, but don't see why is couldn't/shouldn't work. Can't use the brewer's yeast here due to allergies. Tank has enough trouble with yeast without me adding it to his food.

northernwitch wrote:I use Revolution since it does fleas, ticks, many internal parasites, HW and sarcoptic mange. Don't use it year round, however. If I didn't have foster dogs coming in so often and many from the shelter system, I might be less chemical in my approach--but I need to avoid the numerous bugs that shelter dogs especially bring in.

Similar to my reasons for using Revolution. Thurston is around so my other dogs nd we go hiking quite a bit, so I always want to protect him as much s possible. I'd prefer him not use any chemicals at all, but that idea doesn't seem prudent for my situation.

The cat along with Bean are "Chemical Free", neither of them get any treatments. The cat never leaves her room and well Bean being seizure free is far more important that using treatments. Although having a concrete back yard helps keep critters away. The only thing we have a problem with is sand fleas, I wonder if the Advantix would work on Adrian?

Sara wrote:

BDazzpugs wrote:To each their own I suppose. I use advantix right now, although was using frontline or many years. My vet warned me about 2 months ago that ticks here were going to be bad so I changed. For heartwork I use Ivromectin, most normal people would use heartguard (but we all know I am not normal).

I know your cat hides from the dogs, but did you know Advantix for dogs causes neurological disorders in cats? Maybe THAT is what is wrong with your cat!

Anyway, I am not loving the chemicals on the skin, but I am very happy with the Sentinal. Heart worm is very rare here, but I would still rather be on the prevention side.

I have my thoughts about this "breeder" I have NEVER heard of the drinking lemon water, but I did google and they talk about putting lemon juice ON the dog for fleas, but even that seems like a bad idea.

Mine gets Heartgard monthly and Frontline Plus every 3 months or so unless I see the need to do it more often. My babies are quite homebodies and don't go out much so exposure is limited. Now if I bring in a foster, they all will get theirs for precaution.

BDazzpugs wrote:The only thing we have a problem with is sand fleas, I wonder if the Advantix would work on Adrian?

Why don't you feed him some brewer's yeast and let us know?

I'm not a huge fan of the chemical flea and tick products. But I do understand the need for them, especially in places where there is an abundance of these pests. I like to search for herbal remedies for most things I can help prevent. I found a little article I bookmarked that lists a few natural alternatives to preventing fleas and ticks. http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Natural-Fle... I've been following this for 2 years now and it's been working great. Keep in mind we do go out often to parks and hiking trails. Even if it isn't 100% effective, the general health of my dog has improved.

Mine get Interceptor monthly for HW and other parasites then I use Frontline plus every 2-3 months from April until October.

Pugs4me wrote:Mine get Interceptor monthly for HW and other parasites then I use Frontline plus every 2-3 months from April until October.

Me too...

good thing about living in the desert....no fleas.