I know there have been many posts about flea products, but I need some information on this. Going in to 4th week of fleas on cat, dogs, and most likely also in house. One dog is 12, one is 17, cat I don’t have a clue. Tried a flea collar on 12yr old, lemon juice on 17yr old, and Pet Armor on cat. NOTHING WORKING AT ALL!
Also sprayed house. Bathed cat( who started the whole thing:( ) in Dawn. Next day saw lots of fleas on him.
Has anyone had any luck with this stuff? I really don’t care to poison us all with pesticides, would prefer something less dangerous.
I tried it, and it didn’t work in our situation. I used all kinds of natural remedies on my cat because I didn’t want the chemicals either, until an acquaintance who is a long-time cat rescuer told me about Advantage. She said in 20 years she’d never seen a single bad reaction in any cat with that product, unlike a lot of store brands that leave nasty burns and such. I tried it, and it killed all the fleas in about 12 hours. I only had to use one application the entire season. It’s expensive, but effective and most importantly doesn’t harm your animals. By the way, I’m sure you already know this but they recommend to separate your dog/s and cats for a day or so after using any anti flea products on dogs because there is an ingredient that is toxic to cats.
Advantage is safe for dogs and cats. I used it last year for fleas on both and it did the job. It isn’t as expensive as Advantix. My male tabby managed to get to it and lick it. I called in a panic to the clinic and they told me that he would be fine, that Advantage was one of the milder products on the market. And he was fine.
I would never use any of the off brands on my animals…too risky. I’ve heard horror stories about Harts. That’s enough to make me stay away from all of the cheap, buy in a grocery story brands.
As for DE…yep, I’ve used it. Yes, it worked…however, it’s like applying a baking soda to your animal’s coat. It was a PITA and left their coats dry. And you have to do it often. I do keep DE here, but I just use it on the carpets if needed.
I have used DE for decades. It has never failed.
I have had the VET give me a kitten infested with fleas! Or people bring their animals to my farm(WHO DOES THIS?) infested to the gills.
I place it in their bedding, on their fur and in their food. You need to buy the feed through kind.
Lots of vacuuming too.
If your animals are outside as well you may need to get some nematodes for your yard.
It can be done without poisons.
Once they are gone you will not need to do anything further until someone brings an infested animal around.
Make sure the DE you get is FOOD-GRADE. There are insecticide and pool DE. YOU want food-grade. We use it around our home, on our tomato plants, and on our kiddos (when we remember to pick it up and know they’re not going swimming.)
We make a water/DE mixture, put it in a spray bottle, throw on a dust mask and spray and rub into their coat and skin.
The DE is basically tiny organisms’ skeletons (diatoms.) The sharp edges on the skeletons (to us, it’s nothing) cause cuts in the flea and tick bodies, causing them to dry out.
Be careful though as DE kills good bugs, too (like butterflies and honeybees.)
I have 10lbs of food grade DE, should last me through fall. Coated the whole floor, throw rugs, furniture and sprinkled on all three animals. They seem to be scratching less already. I am going to check with vet about Advantage and keep using DE on floors. Am looking into nematodes for outside.
Thanks for your help!
