Natural Flea Repellents

More and more of my clients, writes veterinarian Dr. Laura Pasten (a founding member of Petlane), are requesting a natural, herbal or holistic flea control - they are concerned with having toxic chemicals on their pets or around their children.  Here are some of my tips for herbal flea control:

Flea control should first start with a diet rich in essential fatty acids - one which doesn’t include chemical preservatives or reed dyes. Pets eating a quality pet food, containing antioxidants and essential fatty acids (I of course recommend Petlane’s Pure Woof Gold and Pure Purr Gold), have fewer problems with fleas - it’s a proven fact.  With a proper diet, most companion animals have a strong immune system and protective factors in their skin to minimize problems with parasites. 

There are two natural flea control products that my clients have given favorable reports for:

• Neem Oil: This is the oil from a Neem tree and is a substance that has been used for many years - over 100 pharmaceutical active substances have been identified in the Neem tree, and it has many medical references for human and pet medication.  One study showed that this decreased the flea load on Greyhounds by 53%-93%. The one cautionary note about Neem Oil is that can and has caused topical reactions. I found Neem Bug Free Repellent at MotherNature.com
• A Homemade Flea Spray:   In a 16 oz. spray bottle, mix the following:  2 tablespoons cider vinegar; 1 cup Avon’s Skin-so-Soft (Avon carries a variety of Skin-So-Soft product - the one most frequently mentioned on the internet is the bath oil); 1 cup water; 1/8 teaspoon oil of citronella (optional - don’t use if your pet hates the smell).  Rub into your pet’s coat to repel fleas and mosquitoes.

So, if you try one of these products, I naturally hope it works for you.  Please share your successes or failures with me so that I can tell others.  Let’s make those fleas flee!

All About Fleas

In yesterday’s blog posting, I talked about alternatives to chemical weed killers. The number one response to this posting: “This is great information! Now what do you have on non-chemical flea repellents?” While I admit that I’m not terribly knowledgeable about this subject, I do have a fantastic resource in Petlane’s partner and friend, veterinarian Dr. Laura Pasten. In response to the cry for help on this topic, Dr. Pasten wrote me a wonderful article on flea control. The article contains lots of great information so I have decided to break it down into three parts with the information parceled out over the next few days. This first posting will tell everything you ever wanted to know about fleas and why it is so important to engage in flea control in the first place.

Fleas are more than an irritant - they are basically used hypodermic needles, spreading disease from one host to another.  This is because they suck blood from their host (usually cats and dogs as far as our companion animals); the blood would clot in their mouth parts if they did not inject an anticoagulant into the capillary first-with this anticoagulant comes some of the blood, including any viruses or bacteria, from the flea’s previous host. 

Fleas like to live around the butt or anus - they ingest tapeworm eggs which mature to become infective within the flea. As a side note, the only premarin in shampoo cipro treating clamydia trachomatis way a dog or cat can get tapeworms is by ingesting a flea (during grooming) which has a tapeworm larva within it. Dogs and cats won’t get infected with tapeworms by eating tapeworms or by eating or sniffing feces with tapeworm eggs - to become infective, the tapeworm egg must mature within a flea and then be ingested. 

Fleas will drink the blood of both pets and people - but they prefer to feed on pets, because pets are closer to the ground and easier to hop onto, and because pets have warmer body temperatures than humans (The average temperature of a person is 98.6, and that of a dog or cat is 101.5).  Female fleas will probe and bite an average of seven times in a grouping before locating a blood vessel in the skin.  The saliva they leave with each bite can cause a localized allergic reaction (flea allergy dermatitis).  After feeding on the pet’s blood, the female flea deposits her eggs and droppings (flea dirt) on the pet’s coat, which drop off, to develop and hatch later, both outside and inside your home.  The pooped out blood and eggs look like grains of pepper.

Many of my clients think these black specks around the tail base are merely dirt.  I either use a flea comb (a very fine toothed comb you can purchase at any pet store) to capture some flea dirt or the fleas themselves, or I ask the guardian to groom their pet (especially the tail region) over a white piece of butcher paper.  Take any of the black specks and put them in a drop of water-if it is flea poop or dried blood, the water will turn pink around the black speck.

Our companion animals can become debilitated (or more prone to disease) as well as anemic from fleas.  And, all of us have seen the terrible cases of itching and dermatitis that flea allergies can cause, driving our pets to distraction.    Flea control is not just recommended - it is essential.

There Is No Such Thing As A Hypo-Allergenic Dog

It’s that time of year again: allergy season. Even if you are not an allergy sufferer yourself, it’s impossible to miss the start of allergy season. During this time of year, it seems that every other television commercial is designed to tout the benefits of the newest anti-allergen nasal spray, and magazines are full of advertisements begging people to talk to their doctors about the latest and greatest non-drowsy antihistamine. For more than 6 million pet owners however, allergy season is no different than any other time of year.

In recent years, a variety of dogs have been bred that are touted as being “hypo-allergenic.” The Labradoodle for example is often said to be a “hypo-allergenic” dog - mainly because it has hair instead of fur and therefore does not shed. Well, I’m afraid I’ve got bad news: there is no such thing as a hypo-allergenic dog. a

This is because, contrary to popular belief, people are not allergic to the fur, hair or feathers of pets. Instead, they are sensitive to the animal’s dander, saliva and urine. Double-coated dogs (e.g. Akitas, Collies, German Sherpherds, Samoyeds, and Shetland Sheepdogs) for instance seem to have excessive allergens, and therefore cause more allergic reactions. Some dogs (e.g. Poodles, Bichon Frises, Maltese, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers and Portuguese Water Dogs) are known to have less dander and therefore cause fewer allergic reactions. So the reason that dogs with hair are considered to be “hypo-allergenic” is because they produce less dander.

Even a dog with hair however, still creates saliva to which people can be allergic. My husband for example has bad eczema that is seriously exacerbated by allergies - and he is highly allergic to pets. It does not matter whether he is licked by our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Jade (who has fur and will lick any person’s face he can reach) or by my parent’s Coton de Tulear Shana (who has hair and prefers to wait until a person has put on sunscreen before helpfully licking it all off) - he still has an allergic reaction.

The good news is that there are a variety of simple steps that pet owners can take to help curtail their allergy symptoms. So over the next few days, I’ll be writing blog posts about managing pet related allergies. So whether you have dogs, cats, birds, or rabbits, be sure to stay tuned because I’ll have advice you can use.

The Problems With All-Natural Flea Control

More and more of my clients are requesting a natural, herbal or holistic flea control, writes Petlane’s veterinarian partner Dr. Laura Pasten - they are concerned with having toxic chemicals on their pets or around their children. However, just because a product is chemical free does not necessarily mean that it is safe or effective. Here are some problems with all-natural flea control:

• Natural flea products aren’t very effective - research shows that they decrease the flea load on your pet by an average of 20% (as opposed to almost 100% with a product like Advantage), and they don’t have any ingredients which will kill the fleas or prevent the eggs or larvae from hatching.
• Natural flea repellents sometimes contain strong odors which cats and dogs really dislike. They can develop some strange behavior problems when you apply these strongly scented natural products.
• Ingredients in natural flea repellent can be toxic – especially to cats. Many animals, especially cats, can’t metabolize many essential oils, so the products accumulate in the body causing toxic levels. Cats also have very thin, delicate skin. Symptoms of toxicity include vomiting, dizziness, clumsiness, lack of appetite, lack of energy and shock. Avoid natural flea repellents containing:

D’Limonene - derived from citrus peels and found in many natural anti-flea products, this substance can be highly toxic to cats.
Chrysanthemums – this flower sounds friendly and innocent but it contains pyrethrins which are no better than other chemical insecticides.
Pennyroyal oil – this is the most deadly ingredient found in natural anti-flea products. Topical applications are frequently toxic to cats, and research has confirmed at least one dog fatality from its application. It is especially toxic if licked or ingested by the animal or a child - it is known to have caused death in humans and caused severe liver and nervous tissue injury.

So what’s a concerned pet parent to do? Dr. Laura Pasten personally recommends one of the monthly flea prevention products, such as Advantage, Frontline or Revolution. I use these products (writes Dr. Pasten) because they are easy to use, so I get good owner compliance, and because they have been tested and used successfully for years and seem to be safe. In my opinion, there is no question that it is safer to use one of these chemical products once a month, rather than have fleas transmitting diseases to pets, children and adults.

Natural Flea Control: Outdoors and Inside

The articles about flea control, writes veterinarian Dr. Laura Pasten, will always remind you that you must treat all the dogs and cats in and outside the household - not just the ones that are scratching.  Otherwise, fleas will reside and breed on the untreated animals and constantly re-infect your home.  Both the outside and inside of your home needs to be treated - if you merely treat the pets, fleas will continue coming into your home or onto your pet from the environment.  You must practice flea management continually; otherwise, you will kill the adult fleas, but flea eggs and larvae will continue to hatch. The best way to manage fleas is to practice flea control in your yard, in your home, and with your pets.

There are some effective environmental things you can do naturally.  Ants can be our friends!  That’s right - ants love to eat flea eggs and larvae, so don’t use poisons or toxins to discourage ants in your yard (these products kill butterflies and birds, so you don’t want to use them anyway).  Many garden stores and Internet sites sell nematodes which eat fleas and other pests; they are microscopic worms which you mix with water and spray in your yard-they gobble up both the adult fleas and larvae, and never bother you or your pets.

Indoors, be sure to vacuum carpets, pet bedding, sofas and chairs (don’t forget to vacuum under the sofa regularly), and alongside the walls, especially in the corners (you will vacuum up many adult fleas, as well as larvae).  It’s a good idea to keep a flea collar inside your vacuum cleaner bag to kill any fleas you sucked up (cut the collar up into 2-inch pieces, putting one piece in the vacuum cleaner bag, and wrapping the rest of the collar in foil inside a plastic baggie to keep it potent; put a new 2-inch piece in the bag every month).  By the way, never use a flea collar on a Persian cat-they are particularly sensitive to chemicals and will oftentimes develop reactions from them.

In addition to engaging in indoor and outdoor flea control, it is vital to use a form of flea control with your pets as well. While tomorrow’s posting will contain suggestions for natural flea control, Dr. Laura Pasten writes that she personally recommends one of the monthly flea prevention products, such as Advantage, Frontline (although there seems to be a number of people complaining about their pets developing a resistance or the product not working very well lately) or Revolution. She writes “I use these products because they are easy to use, so I get good owner compliance, and because they have been tested and used successfully for years and seem to be safe.  In my opinion, there is no question that it is safer to use one of these chemical products once a month, rather than have fleas transmitting diseases to pets, children and adults.”

Tips for Flea and Tick Control

Ticked off by fleas? I am a huge believer in Frontline and Advantage for flea and tick control; here are steps you can take to maximize the effectiveness of these products. The natural oils on your dog’s skin help distribute the product so be sure to apply Frontline or Advantage no less than two days before or after you bathe your dog. You also want to choose a shampoo that leaves flea and tick control intact. Earthbath shampoos are my particular favorite.

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When applying the product, find the spot between the dog’s shoulder blades and part the hair until you can apply the liquid directly onto the dog’s skin. Don’t put the whole amount in place however. A patch of skin can only absorb a portion of the liquid, the rest runs off onto the dog’s fur and does nothing to help kill fleas. Squeeze the liquid out slowly and, as soon as you notice it start to run off onto the skin, move the tip of the applicator to a spot 1/3 of an inch or so away (part the hair again until you come to skin) and continue to apply the liquid. These quick and easy steps will help both you and your dog have an itch-free flea season.