flea and tick products

That's my fear, even though my cats are indoors, they spend time on the screened patio & the dogs go in & out.  My previous vet, since changed, recommended the Revolution, but with each app. I noticed my cats getting more irritated by it.  They'd want to scratch & have a bald spot for days, so I vowed to find something less irritating.  Since I've had such good success with the Frontline on my dogs, & having read the horror story(ies), I'll get some for my cats too.  Thanks.

I wouldn't use anything chemical unless I got it FROM A VET. Too many things can go wrong. One of my dogs was burned from correctly dosed Frontline Plus. I don't use any chemical flea preventatives, any more.

Forgive me if this seems like a dumb question...but what does the burn look like? Shelties have long fur (obviously []) and it wouldn't be so noticable unless one was looking for it.

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

I wouldn't use anything chemical unless I got it FROM A VET. Too many things can go wrong. One of my dogs was burned from correctly dosed Frontline Plus. I don't use any chemical flea preventatives, any more.

What natural flea preventative do you use?

--Sara

I wouldn't use chemical flea treatments, even if they did come from a vet.  I use Ark Naturals Neem Protect shampoo and the matching spray all summer long and they don't get fleas. 

The burn looked like peeling skin, and hair falling out in big clumps.

I use essential oils, very diluted. I also feed a very good diet, with raw garlic.

I don't use chemicals either and so far, not one flea!  (knock on wood).  This is our first flea season together and I'm very pleased with what I'm using.  I'm at work so don't have the name of it, but it's basically an herbal tincture with Rose Geranium, Citronella, Neem and Lavender.  Since I didn't know if it was going to work, I have a stash of Frontline, just in case! 

Jennie, Labcrab,
 
I would love to know what exactly you guys use.  Advantage hasn't worked a bit!  I have one dog that has flea allergy - and it's a problem. She rolls over and over trying to get the fleas off and cries from the bites.   They both have tapes - have treated twice in last 2 months, had bad reaction to the tapeworm treatment last time, still have tapes.  Aarrggh![:@] 
 
I'm worried about using Frontline on my somewhat immune-system deficit dogs.  Don't know if it's true, but read somewhere that it is supposed to last longer than Advantage. Don't won't to put more chemicals that may stay in the system longer on them -- if they were to be allergic, then that might cause more problems.  One is a herding dog, so might possibly have MDR1 problems.  Not sure, but trying to err on caution.      And, I would want to make sure the Advantage is completely out of their system before applying anything else.
 
I *suspect* that minced garlic hurt my girls tummy.  I used 1/2 minced clove once a day, but she showed signs of some discomfort after just a few days of this.   I have some very good powdered garlic from a health food store that is more potent than what you get in a grocery store.  I may try very small amounts of that. I know it takes a lot less powdered garlic than the real thing.  I might try 1/16 of a tsp. and see how that works.  I *suspect* it won't hurt her tummy as much as the minced garlic.  I cut it as small as I could, but it is hard to cut garlic to be very small.  And raw pieces can be irritating to the stomach lining.
 
Still, would love to know about the essential oils.  I pm'd spiritdogs since a previous post said she sells the oils, but got no reply.  I can purchase at local health food store, but don't know the amounts that are acceptable to use, and how frequent it must be sprayed / wiped on.
 
Thanks!

I'll get you the name of the product I'm using tonight (I'm at work at the moment).   Again - not a single flea...  I don't know if that's because the EO's really work, or if there just aren't any fleas here.  I live in NYC and Slick is both in Central Park and romping/wrestling with other dogs every single day.  Oh - and we went to Newport for a week and I found a tick on me, but nothing on Slick.

Powdered garlic isn't raw. Raw is different I use one clove, per dog, per week, and they are 13 and 17 pounds. If she gets an upset stomach from that, you might try Kyolic. It has been through some process to remove the irritant. It's not as good as raw (IMO, nothing is as good as raw--for any of us), but it's still very beneficial.

I mostly use tea tree oil. Emma is very allergic to fleas. She breaks out in hives. She itches like crazy. It's not fun, at all. I keep her shaved down, to watch for them. After her bath (she gets bathed very, very often), I put 1/2 teaspoon of tea tree oil in a couple of gallons of warm water, and pour it over her, til the water cools. She reeks of tea tree oil for at least a week. This is pretty effective in repelling fleas. I've been washing my scrubs in Dr Bronner's tea tree castille soap, and it seems to be repelling them, at work. For Teenie, who rarely gets bathed, I diluted 1/2 teaspoon of tea tree oil in a good sized spray bottle of peppermint tea (because it smells good, and is cooling, and repels fleas) and spray her daily, especially paying attention to her belly and feet. They both get sprayed if we're going to a flea place, like the vet's office, the groomer, the beach, the park, or the pet store. Teenie will still pick up a tick, on occasion, because she gets in the deep grass, where the deer sleep, and rolls around like a crazy Weenie dog[] She had a lime vaccine last year, so I'm not horribly worried (evil Banfield vaccinated her against stuff I've never even HEARD of!). I do try to keep her out of the tall grass, because it gives her a rash on her belly. She has some mild contact allergies.

Okay, I'm actually using 2 different formulas and sort of rotating between them. They are:

Best Shot all natural bug spray which contains - Tea Tree, Rosemary, Sage, Cedarwood, Peppermint, Orange, Eucalyptus, Citronella and Pine oils
Quantum Herbal Products Flea and Tick spray which contains - Erigeron, Rose Geranium, Eucalyptus and Tea Tree oils, Extracts of St. John's Wort, Rue, Neem, Wormwood, Holy Basil and Black Walnut in a base of super oxygenated distilled water. Grain Alcohol content 5%.

He also gets a brewers yeast and garlic tab every day which is supposed to help as well. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly which of these is doing the trick. I spray both of these on all the humans as well. HTH...

THANK YOU both, guys!!  Oops, Girls!!
 
I'm printing this out and will start my own trial / error.  The spray is a good idea for when going somewhere. And, labcrab, I've used Quantum products before, just didn't know if it was alright for dogs.   I think I will try the after bath rinse first, b/c it sounds like it will be "stronger" smelling  -- although I think I will try adding peppermint to the tea tree oil to give my nose a break! []  Thanks for the warning about the strong smell.  The past few days, I have put  fresh lemon rinse (thinkly sliced lemons slightly heated in small amount of water and then left to marinate overnight) on the back legs and lower back and a little bit of the tail area  It leaves it kinda sticky and funny looking.  It hasn't stopped them all, but it has cut down on her whining -- so it has helped.  I was afraid leaving oils on them would hurt them when they licked their hair.  But, of course, I realize this is greatly diluted with water -- still I had worried about the safety.
 
And, yes, Jennie, I do realize that powdered isn't raw - but you know, the fresh kind I have still stinks - so maybe it's the stinkiness of the garlic that affects the fleas.  It might work.  Maybe others who have tried it have not seen success b/c most herbs in the grocery store is totally devoid of the oils.  I just have to be careful to use only a very small pinch at a time.  But, first I'll try the oils.   
 
THANKS AGAIN!!
 
Lynn