I dusted my entire yard with Borax over a week ago. Never tried this before - hope it is one more step to keeping fleas out of the house

Did you use straight borax of the borax detergent?

man that is SO NOT RIGHT he had fleas that bad - poor baby - they give me the willies.....I only saw ONE Flea but man my girls were scratching so I can't imagine an infestation.....

We just had our Annual and they tested A-OK for everything and I have a supply of Frontline Plus now and as of the last bath - no bugs. I think I nipped the problem before it became a problem.

We just switched from Heartgard to Interceptor and that also has an ingredient for parasites - so hopefully, we're fully armed for apartment life. We better be ....with the money I just spent at that new vet (that I will NEVER go back to)....let's just say they were VERY proud of their 'services' :eek:

Oh good about your girls being set! Ouch for the former vet. :(

Judy - you have no idea....I've always brought in 2 together for about 210-220 $ - this bill was almost FOUR HUNDRED bucks :eek::eek:..... for an annual & 6 months of heartguard preventative ??

MY Fault for not checking every little charge - and believe me - they charged ....it's nuts how prices are so different at different vets but at least they're on record close to home now....but still....my jaw dropped

shoot - we didn't even get a nail trim or free treat for that price.:( I wasn't too happy with the vet but didn't say anything - I just won't go back.

I would be like...$400!! :eek: Did you at least do a dental cleaning??!!!

Holy cow!!

I can't get over this....$400??? Gizmo's neuter, extra blood work and baby teeth removal didn't even come to $250! That's it....you're moving to Waco! ;)

Great, I am glad you found them, You know I forgot all about the Dawn detergent, thanks for the info. I had just bought 2 bottles from the dollar store that was on sale for 89 cents last week.

I used 20 Mule Team Borax. I poured it into a great big Dannon yogurt container - I had punched holes in the lid of the container and just walked the entire yard sprinkling it on. There is a bunch of info on the internet - just google Borax fleas

a lot of people use it indoors - I haven't had any fleas, so I haven't used it indoors - but I read you can even use it on hard wood floors and sweep it into the cracks to kill any fleas and eggs

LOL Send me directions !!!:D

Be careful using the Borax ladies. It kills plants very easily. In fact I have a recipe for a mixture using it to kill of chickweed in your lawn.

well from what I read online the Borax detergent wouldn't kill the lawn itself - what are you mixing with it? Perhaps a mixture activates something. I didn't put it on any plants/flowers just the grass

Plus when I was reading online - there were folks who said they have used it for years - treating the yard more than once in the flea season without any harm to their yards - I was concerned about that

My apologies, it isn't chicken weed it is creeping charlie that Borax kills off. I don't have the recipe with me here at work but I found this on the Internet:

Creeping Charlie Control - Borax


You may have heard about using Borax to control creeping charlie. You have to use Borax very carefully. Boron, the active ingredient in Borax, is an essential nutrient, needed in minute quantities for healthy plant growth. Amounts even slightly over what is needed are toxic to plants. Borax can be used against creeping charlie because the weed is more sensitive to boron than grass is. Small amounts can kill creeping charlie without permanently harming the lawn. (Grass may brown a bit, but it will grow out of it.)
The problem is, boron does not dissipate or break down like standard weed-killers. If it's applied repeatedly or at too strong a rate, you will end up with an area where you can't grow anything until the boron leaches out. That may take years.
The most you should treat your lawn with borax is once each spring for two years. Here's the formula: [LIST][*]Dissolve ten ounces of Twenty Mule Team Borax into four ounces of warm water, then dilute it in 2 1/2 gallons of water. This should be sprayed evenly over 1,000 square feet of lawn, no more, no less.[/LIST]
Title:Creeping Charlie Control - BoraxNumber:522Script writer:Deborah BrownSource:U of MN Extension Service, Yard & Garden Line.Date:1998, 2006, 2007Reviewer:Carl Rosen

Frontline rep replied and said Buddy Wash should be just fine. She said the only thing she worried about was the tea tree oil but it only has a small amount and won't wash off the Frontline. She said the shampoos they test with are very, very strong and a little bit of tea tree oil won't hurt. Frontline is expensive but after 11 years in the vet business it is one of the best. It does leave an oily residue in the hair for a couple days and that would be my only complaint.

Gee Judy, I have no idea why your vet is trying to steer you away from Frontline. It amazes me how many clients we have that will not use anything else even tho it is more expensive. We have tried carrying several different things and Frontline is our best seller. I will tell you that it is very hard for veterinarians to mark it up very much because of all the on-line pharmacies selling it. It might be that he is trying to get you to buy something he can make more money on. There was some rumors going around that it was beginning to lose its efficacy because people had been using it for so long. No truth to that.

That confirms what my suspicions were. Thanks! I just wanted to make sure. Is the Frontline from the online places the same as the stuff we buy at the vet? Would that be a good way to go to help control the cost?

Thanks for letting me bug you. :rolleyes:

You are not bugging me. I am glad I can help. That is a hard question to answer. Of course as veterinarians we discourage it because of the lack of quality control most of them have. We have had people bring it in with the packages written in a foreign language. We even had one client bring in a 3 pack that had the 3 vials completely empty. We have to wonder how long stuff has sat in trucks and ships in hot temperatures waiting to get to where it is suppose to be. The one that we use here and highly recommend is VetCentric. You might have to have a prescription to order it but the price should be around $48 for a three pack. They are a vet-only pharmacy and also do compounding for us. (That is what our price is) I think you can sign on as a customer and may be able to order Frontline, Advantage without your vet giving you a prescription. If that is less than your vet is charging I would just call them and ask for a prescription and if they tell you no ask if they will match Vetcentric's price. If you do decide to go with another on-line pharmacy I would suggest PetMed Express. I know several clients that have used them and everything was ok. Just check the package good. Hope this helps. I have had a flea allergy schnauzer in the past when all we had was Program and I have always called Frontline - "God's gift to flea allergy dogs.":)

Thank you for the information. I appreciate it. :)

:thumbup::thumbup: Pet Meds is where I got my frontline Plus. ALSO - I walked into a vets office and bought a one month tube for each so I could nip this problem before it got worse - Everything arrived in 2 days and all in all - it was a good experience and I'm covered for the next 7 months or so -

Izzy has been itching like CRAZY! I have been thinking it is fleas but haven't seen anything! I am so glad I am taking her to get groomed 2morw. Poor little girl scratches like crazy! SHE KIND OF MAKES ME ITCHY!