Flea med

[fuzbuttsheltie]

I've been giving Vectra 3D for almost 2+ spring/summer/fall seasons and have not seen any side effects nor have my dogs had fleas or tick bites. What I like about Vectra 3D is it repels and kills tick/flea/mosquitos prior to the bite. Unless you're using something such as lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, etc, all of these items are poison. If the holistic methods don't work in your area, are there other options than using poison? Are there useable less toxic poisons?

Unfortunately I live close to an military base where they are testing the effects of lyme disease. I think many of their research subjects have escaped and invaded my neighborhood.

Dani

 

[Firespinner]

I must admit that I also do not like the idea of giving a dog a pill to prevent fleas or worms but I wonder how much better it is to put a systemic preparation on either. I use Revolution and Advantix. Last year it was Advantix because of the increase in likelihood of ticks - it was a really bad year here. Prior to that, if we were going to camp it would be Advantix for that month because of the tick issue and Revolution the rest of the time but then there was the worry about heartworm. I bought Heartguard but then was afraid to use it. I wouldn't used DE because I can't believe that feeding little grains of fossilized algae is not likely to cause some internal damage especially when you realize that you have to be sooooo careful not to breathe it in as it can cause lung damage. I guess there is no really safe solution that doesn't have some side effect to worry about.

DE is perfectly safe as long as you don't inhale it. Its the same as its perfectly safe to use babypowder but you shouldn't inhale it. Inhalation will cause lung irritation BUT ingestion causes NO problem. Its used all the time as an additive for sheep feed (kills intenstinal parasites) and many humans ingest it too. Our vet has us on Nexguard because it works better but I have DE on hand as well to put on small critters that are too young (ie...I end up rescuing lots of kittens and even a field mouse or two). DE is fossilized diatoms and although they are sharp on a microscopic level and then interfered with the flea exoskeleton causing it to die, they do NOT harm us or other animals due to how small diatoms are. Inhalation is dangerous due to lung irritation just like talc powder. As long as you don't create a dust cloud or let the dog sniff the open container, its fine. I use a small pinch, part the hair and rub it directly on the skin. Then move to a new spot. I've also de-flea'ed my house by working DE into the cracks of the hardwood floor and baseboards as well as rubbing it into my couch cushions. Don't sprinkle and vacuum like carpet fresh because it will cause dust clouds that you could inhale but rubbing it into the dog's skin is just fine. (feeding it to the dog would help with intestinal parasites but it will do NOTHING for fleas unless its on the skin where the flea is).