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Originally Posted by Bulbie  Ok, I know there are a lot of flea threads on this forum, but most of them point toward taking Frontline or some other pill.
Willie's fleas are bad this year. Really bad. But I do not like the idea of pumping him full of chemicals once a month, especially as we have a cat too, and he would have to be done also. Then we have the complex outside, where other people also own pets. So I can't just go treating the outside. One of our neighbours has also planted some water absorbing shrubs too as we've had problems with flooding here, so I don't want to go killing those off as they're for the benefit of us all at his expense.
Long and short of it is, I need ideas for affordable natural flea treatments, just to keep them under control. I really can't afford ONE dose of Frontline a month, never mind two. Over here it's £30odd for one dose, and add into that the fact we have a cat who will need the same treatment that's 60 odd going out the door each month we really can't afford, and it probably won't be too successful anyway as we live right near a forest and there are other dog and pet owners here, one of which I know for almost certain isn't as vigilant as we are. My boyfriend keeps suggesting Frontline too as that is what's used on his family dog, and she doesn't get fleas, but then he's not the one having to fork out for it every month!
I really don't like the idea of pumping all of those chemicals into Willie's body every month, or the cat's, and the cost is astronomical. My vet recommends Frontline, and just rings it up before I even get a chance to say no we can't afford it. So I can't take Wille to the vet. That's another reason I don't want Frontline or its alternatives. They just seems to recommend it to get money into the till rather than through actual need. One time ages ago Willie was scratching a lot, there were no fleas whatsoever, or any signs of them but the vet recommended Frontline anyway.
Currently to stay on top of them, I'm using a flea killing shampoo, it's doing ok, but the herbal version seemed to work a lot better so when this bottle is finished I'll go back to the herbal one. I do the flea bath once a week right now because I don't want to irritate his skin any more, and I flea comb once a day. Yesterday was gross, I ran the comb along his back just once, and I got a huge cluster of them out at once.
It's really bad this year like I said, so any suggestions? He's really suffering, and is well looked after normally, but I just do not have the money for all of these meds that only have a 50 per cent chance of working anyway. I really don't even want to contemplete the idea of having to give him away to a rescue shelter just so he can get a decent flea treatment. 
I'm sorry if this post initially doesn't make much sense. I'm really not keeping too well right now.  |
We live in Central Texas, hot and humid summers means lots of fleas. Plus I have a corner lot so we get lots of dog walking traffic, pee-mail and the like.
8 years ago the fleas got so bad everytime I took my Maltese out to potty I had to spend 20-30 minutes picking of 15-20 fleas because he is highly allergic to the bites.
Then I started spraying Beneficial Nematodes every 6 months. It costs me $22 for 4,000 sq ft treatment area and about 45 minutes to apply. But we have NO fleas. Occasionally a flea may drop off a dog or cat in the yard but it dies at the end of its life cycle and any eggs it laid that develop into larvae are killed by the beneficial nematodes. The nematodes penetrate and eat ANY larvae in your soil. Ant, flea, grub, etc. As long as there are larvae, your nematodes will keep alive. Once your soil is cleaned of these the nematodes food supply is gone and they will die. Hence, reapply every 6 months.
This is an organic solution that is totally harmless to your pets, birds, plants, etc.
You get the Nematodes from garden supply or garden centers. MAKE SURE to get the LIVE nematodes......they will be refrigerated and come packaged in a little sponge in a little plastic zip bag. You put the sponge in a gallon of water, let it sit a few seconds then start squeezing the sponge in the water to release all the tiny nematodes. Then use the 4 oz per gallon setting on the hose end sprayer bottle and spread them over the area to be treated. Go back over the area with plain water to rinse them all off the grass blades and into the soil. You're done and in about 2-4 weeks the nematodes will be established and killing the larvae and will continue to kill larvae until there is no more.
IN THE MEANTIME you can sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth on your dog (again, organic and harmless to your pet) and the fleas will ingest the DE which will shred their innards. Ugly I know but that's how it works.
The Nematodes will not kill adult fleas but will keep them from coming back once the adults have completed their life cycle.
This takes a little patience but the payoff is worth it and your neighbors will appreciate it, too.