My Dogs Have Fleas

[Zoom-boing]

Just got a call from the vet on Shadow's blood work.

Everything is normal (some things at the high end of normal but within the normal range). He is not hyperthyroid yet but may become so in the future.

The only thing completely off? His white blood count was very, very high ... from a severe allergic reaction. Again, no way to know if the reaction is from the fleas or the FL. She said after the two week course of prednisone it should be resolved and his fur will (eventually) start to grow back.

He has been spending tons of time in my oldest's room and she said that he is like a different cat last night and this morning. And this after only one dose of the prednisone! Poor Shadow, I had no idea that's what an allergic reaction could look like, never experienced anything like it before. I'm so glad I took him to the vet.

With the med, dietary changes (crap food is gone, much better food is in, vitamins and omegas in) maybe he'll gain a bit of weight and not have that 'skinny old cat' thing going on.

On a side note, found two dead fleas in Finn's water dish in the basement last night and one just about dead flea in a plastic toy this morning. The basement is def ground zero in the flea war; the VetKem is def working. Have to remain vigilant. Am applying DE all around the perimeter and will re-VK it in two weeks. I'm gonna git those suckers!

 

[PixieStix]

As I stated early in the thread. I would never use advantage, or frontline. Many animals are allergic, and they only exacerbate the problem.

As I searched for a real solution. I found that revolution works for a few reason. Not only does it kill the fleas, but it also kills the eggs. Plus it repels other fleas. It lasts for a month, on my animals it lasts for 2 months. Because it repels other live fleas, the life cycle of the flea will be diminished inside the home. Outside AND inside the home your pets will repel them.

No need to complicate the issue.

I have had upwards of 6 pets in my home at one time, and I have not had to deal with those little creepy fleas since being introduced to revolution. And some of them are in and out pets.

I refuse to use any more chemical sprays or powders in my home. Have not had to since I started using revolution.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

My confidence with doctors (based on my personal experience) is not very high when is comes to alternative meds/treatment .. I've found that most scoff at anything even resembling 'natural' so I don't usually bring it up.

My experience as well. It was a wake up call for me when I saw that both our homes and our animals were infested with fleas because I believed that Capstar would kill every external parasite on that poor little dumped puppy. It was my fault because I did not stick to what I know is true.

I lived near Tucson for more than 25 years. Ticks, fleas and cockroaches flourish there and I was inundated with all of them for a lot of years because I believed the professionals. It was not until I stated using Borax that we were flea/tick free and my poor animals could finally grow a normal coat and not chew themselves into a frenzy.

I once killed a little black lab puppy by dipping her in Zodiac. It wasn't Zodiac's fault. We had dipped 50 or 60 dogs that day in the same solution but she had an anaphalactic reaction. It took two hours of her screaming before she died. My vet said that even if it had happened in her office, there would not have been anything to save her. That was when I decided I would not put these horrible poisons on my yard or my animals and I've never had a problem since.

We live in an area where there is bobcat fever. ( Cytauxzoon felis) Our cats are inside only but ticks come in on the dog or on us. If it were not for that, I would not put Frontline on the cats. In SW AZ, tick fever was a real problem. Not so much here but that's the biggest reason I use Interceptor on the dog.

I would not go back to all the bombs and spraying for anything. They simply do not work and I've seen the misery the skin irritation causes the animals. Nothing but Borax for me because I know it works.

 

[PixieStix]

Baking Soda is also used to kill via dehydration, it's available in large amounts as a food grade material and safe for family and pets when used inside the home (carpets and floors) a layer can be sprinkled onto a carpet and worked into the fibers down to where the larvae and eggs are to dehydrate and kill them. It can be easily vacuumed up afterwards with safe disposal... often multiple weekly treatments will be required to remove an infestation completely.

 

[Zoom-boing]

My confidence with doctors (based on my personal experience) is not very high when is comes to alternative meds/treatment .. I've found that most scoff at anything even resembling 'natural' so I don't usually bring it up.

My experience as well. It was a wake up call for me when I saw that both our homes and our animals were infested with fleas because I believed that Capstar would kill every external parasite on that poor little dumped puppy. It was my fault because I did not stick to what I know is true.

I lived near Tucson for more than 25 years. Ticks, fleas and cockroaches flourish there and I was inundated with all of them for a lot of years because I believed the professionals. It was not until I stated using Borax that we were flea/tick free and my poor animals could finally grow a normal coat and not chew themselves into a frenzy.

I once killed a little black lab puppy by dipping her in Zodiac. It wasn't Zodiac's fault. We had dipped 50 or 60 dogs that day in the same solution but she had an anaphalactic reaction. It took two hours of her screaming before she died. My vet said that even if it had happened in her office, there would not have been anything to save her. That was when I decided I would not put these horrible poisons on my yard or my animals and I've never had a problem since.

We live in an area where there is bobcat fever. ( Cytauxzoon felis) Our cats are inside only but ticks come in on the dog or on us. If it were not for that, I would not put Frontline on the cats. In SW AZ, tick fever was a real problem. Not so much here but that's the biggest reason I use Interceptor on the dog.

I would not go back to all the bombs and spraying for anything. They simply do not work and I've seen the misery the skin irritation causes the animals. Nothing but Borax for me because I know it works.

Capstar does kill all the adults fleas on a pet (it did with ours) but it only lasts for 24 hours. It does nothing about the eggs/larvae/pupa stages (states it on the packaging), so the fleas just keep coming. The Capstar is a good tool to measure how many adult fleas you are dealing with and as the fleas die off with pet and home treatment, you can measure that reduction against the original count.


Did your dogs or cats ever lick the borax, even by mistake? What if they lay on the carpet and the borax gets on their fur then they lick it? Any problems with it? During the time you used the borax for infestations, I thought you said you didn't use anything on your pets (other than the FL, which you said didn't do anything for the fleas). Weren't your pets bit all the time? I don't see how just treating the environment but not the pets themselves would result in successfully eliminating fleas.

 

[Zoom-boing]

As I stated early in the thread. I would never use advantage, or frontline. Many animals are allergic, and they only exacerbate the problem.

As I searched for a real solution. I found that revolution works for a few reason. Not only does it kill the fleas, but it also kills the eggs. Plus it repels other fleas. It lasts for a month, on my animals it lasts for 2 months. Because it repels other live fleas, the life cycle of the flea will be diminished inside the home. Outside AND inside the home your pets will repel them.

No need to complicate the issue.

I have had upwards of 6 pets in my home at one time, and I have not had to deal with those little creepy fleas since being introduced to revolution. And some of them are in and out pets.

I refuse to use any more chemical sprays or powders in my home. Have not had to since I started using revolution.

Pixie ... did you treat just the animals with the Revolution or did you also treat your home with baking soda and/or other natural products?

 

[PixieStix]

As I stated early in the thread. I would never use advantage, or frontline. Many animals are allergic, and they only exacerbate the problem.

As I searched for a real solution. I found that revolution works for a few reason. Not only does it kill the fleas, but it also kills the eggs. Plus it repels other fleas. It lasts for a month, on my animals it lasts for 2 months. Because it repels other live fleas, the life cycle of the flea will be diminished inside the home. Outside AND inside the home your pets will repel them.

No need to complicate the issue.

I have had upwards of 6 pets in my home at one time, and I have not had to deal with those little creepy fleas since being introduced to revolution. And some of them are in and out pets.

I refuse to use any more chemical sprays or powders in my home. Have not had to since I started using revolution.

Pixie ... did you treat just the animals with the Revolution or did you also treat your home with baking soda and/or other natural products?

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

 

[Zoom-boing]

As I stated early in the thread. I would never use advantage, or frontline. Many animals are allergic, and they only exacerbate the problem.

As I searched for a real solution. I found that revolution works for a few reason. Not only does it kill the fleas, but it also kills the eggs. Plus it repels other fleas. It lasts for a month, on my animals it lasts for 2 months. Because it repels other live fleas, the life cycle of the flea will be diminished inside the home. Outside AND inside the home your pets will repel them.

No need to complicate the issue.

I have had upwards of 6 pets in my home at one time, and I have not had to deal with those little creepy fleas since being introduced to revolution. And some of them are in and out pets.

I refuse to use any more chemical sprays or powders in my home. Have not had to since I started using revolution.

The Revolution product sounds like the AdvantixII for dogs product. That also kills and repels adult fleas, inhibits flea egg and larvae growth, repels and kills mosquitoes, repels biting flies, kills chewing lice.

I loathe using the spray in the house but the DE just wasn't working fast enough. And now that Shadow had a reaction (I think to the FL but possibly to the fleas) I am really trying to get rid of them as fast as possible.

I can not apply the AdvantixII until next week. I am hoping it works because as much as I'm treating the animals I need something that will work continuously for them, killing all stages of fleas. The only thing it doesn't say it works on is the pupa stage of the flea but I don't think anything works on that. Once they emerge and jump on your pet, the flea treatment is suppose to kill that flea. I am also hoping that Finn(cat) doesn't have an adverse reaction to it (well, I don't want the dogs to either) because he is the one with the most fleas.

 

[Zoom-boing]

As I stated early in the thread. I would never use advantage, or frontline. Many animals are allergic, and they only exacerbate the problem.

As I searched for a real solution. I found that revolution works for a few reason. Not only does it kill the fleas, but it also kills the eggs. Plus it repels other fleas. It lasts for a month, on my animals it lasts for 2 months. Because it repels other live fleas, the life cycle of the flea will be diminished inside the home. Outside AND inside the home your pets will repel them.

No need to complicate the issue.

I have had upwards of 6 pets in my home at one time, and I have not had to deal with those little creepy fleas since being introduced to revolution. And some of them are in and out pets.

I refuse to use any more chemical sprays or powders in my home. Have not had to since I started using revolution.

Pixie ... did you treat just the animals with the Revolution or did you also treat your home with baking soda and/or other natural products?

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

 

[PixieStix]

Pixie ... did you treat just the animals with the Revolution or did you also treat your home with baking soda and/or other natural products?

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

I left it sit for a half hour then vacuumed. The flea needs a host that has the PH that they need. They do not desire the ph that humans have. So if you treat the pet with the ph level that fleas love, they will die out and the flea eggs will not hatch.

Another tip, is that revolution makes a chewable tablet for dogs, and if you are putting it on with the liquid form, put a drop from the head down the spine all the way down to the base of the tail.

For cats, put it on the top of their head, because it is less likely that they lick it off

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

You can use Borax on carpet to help get rid of the fleas hidden in it.

Borax for Fleas

 

[Luddly Neddite]

My confidence with doctors (based on my personal experience) is not very high when is comes to alternative meds/treatment .. I've found that most scoff at anything even resembling 'natural' so I don't usually bring it up.

My experience as well. It was a wake up call for me when I saw that both our homes and our animals were infested with fleas because I believed that Capstar would kill every external parasite on that poor little dumped puppy. It was my fault because I did not stick to what I know is true.

I lived near Tucson for more than 25 years. Ticks, fleas and cockroaches flourish there and I was inundated with all of them for a lot of years because I believed the professionals. It was not until I stated using Borax that we were flea/tick free and my poor animals could finally grow a normal coat and not chew themselves into a frenzy.

I once killed a little black lab puppy by dipping her in Zodiac. It wasn't Zodiac's fault. We had dipped 50 or 60 dogs that day in the same solution but she had an anaphalactic reaction. It took two hours of her screaming before she died. My vet said that even if it had happened in her office, there would not have been anything to save her. That was when I decided I would not put these horrible poisons on my yard or my animals and I've never had a problem since.

We live in an area where there is bobcat fever. ( Cytauxzoon felis) Our cats are inside only but ticks come in on the dog or on us. If it were not for that, I would not put Frontline on the cats. In SW AZ, tick fever was a real problem. Not so much here but that's the biggest reason I use Interceptor on the dog.

I would not go back to all the bombs and spraying for anything. They simply do not work and I've seen the misery the skin irritation causes the animals. Nothing but Borax for me because I know it works.

Capstar does kill all the adults fleas on a pet (it did with ours) but it only lasts for 24 hours. It does nothing about the eggs/larvae/pupa stages (states it on the packaging), so the fleas just keep coming. The Capstar is a good tool to measure how many adult fleas you are dealing with and as the fleas die off with pet and home treatment, you can measure that reduction against the original count.


Did your dogs or cats ever lick the borax, even by mistake? What if they lay on the carpet and the borax gets on their fur then they lick it? Any problems with it? During the time you used the borax for infestations, I thought you said you didn't use anything on your pets (other than the FL, which you said didn't do anything for the fleas). Weren't your pets bit all the time? I don't see how just treating the environment but not the pets themselves would result in successfully eliminating fleas.

Earlier in this thread, I wrote that my granddaughter had eaten quite a large amount of Boraxo. I also wrote about my own, non-animal, testing. What I wrote earlier is that the toxicologist at Boraxo told me and poison control repeated, that it would take a couple of cups to cause any reaction and that reaction would be turning the stool green.

Earlier in the this thread I wrote that the reason not to put it directly on the animal is that it, in very large amounts, it can cause the skin to actually break down. It would take an enormous amount to cause that to happen and the DE you are using would do exactly the same thing because it is also a descant.

The biggest difference between using boron (Boraxo) and DE is the cost. With Boraxo, a year's supply will cost you, maybe $10.

I've noticed you don't really read very carefully. Sorry, but its just true. I also didn't go into unnecessary detail but, I never used Frontline when I lived in Tucson. I used ONLY Boraxo for ticks and fleas and the boric acid recipe I described earlier in this thread for cockroaches. I never needed anything else in Tucson.

I now live in a very remote area on a lake. We have wildlife near the house every day, including bobcats which can carry bobcat fever. We treat our cats with Frontline and the dog with Interceptor to stop ticks - hopefully - from giving our cats bobcat fever.

With the puppy we found about a year and a half ago, we found the Capstar did not work and, as a result, fleas were introduced to both our homes. We found the Frontline to be ineffective in stopping the fleas infestation but got rid of every last flea more than a year ago.

Earlier, you wrote that external parasites spend most of their life cycles ON the host animals. That's not true but believe whatever you want. Bottom line is that treating the environment is the only thing that will work and pesticides are useless against the fleas we have in our area.

Humans are the only animals who systematically poison their own nests. We've poured on so much poison, its become ineffective. Just as we're seeing with antibiotics.

Years ago, the biggest pest exterminator in Tucson was quoted in the daily newspaper as saying he does not use his own products because they don't work. Amazingly, no one seemed to notice what he said and he continued to make his living spraying poison in people's homes.

When I lived within the city limits, I had a neighbor a few doors down who made his living as the owner of a small extermination business. Every single member of his family had cancer. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

I left it sit for a half hour then vacuumed. The flea needs a host that has the PH that they need. They do not desire the ph that humans have. So if you treat the pet with the ph level that fleas love, they will die out and the flea eggs will not hatch.

Another tip, is that revolution makes a chewable tablet for dogs, and if you are putting it on with the liquid form, put a drop from the head down the spine all the way down to the base of the tail.

For cats, put it on the top of their head, because it is less likely that they lick it off

Half hour wouldn't really do much if you have an infestation because you have to get all the life cycles.

I hope you're not saying to put liquid all along the spine, from head to tail.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Pixie ... did you treat just the animals with the Revolution or did you also treat your home with baking soda and/or other natural products?

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

Make sure you get the boraxo into the crack where the wall meets the floor and leave it alone for at least a couple of weeks. We left ours for several weeks and added to it if we found spots where the powder was gone. No, its no fun having the powder all over your house but it works and its not poisoning your animals. Just leave it alone and let it do its work. Re-read the directions I wrote on page one and just leave the boraxo alone.

I wouldn't bother mixing stuff together. No need. OTOH, you seem to want to futz with this instead of just treating the problem. If you feel better mixing stuff together, I can't see how it would hurt.

By now, your vet probably has your animals on prednizone and antibiotics for their skin. I wrote about that earlier as well.

 

[Zoom-boing]

My experience as well. It was a wake up call for me when I saw that both our homes and our animals were infested with fleas because I believed that Capstar would kill every external parasite on that poor little dumped puppy. It was my fault because I did not stick to what I know is true.

I lived near Tucson for more than 25 years. Ticks, fleas and cockroaches flourish there and I was inundated with all of them for a lot of years because I believed the professionals. It was not until I stated using Borax that we were flea/tick free and my poor animals could finally grow a normal coat and not chew themselves into a frenzy.

I once killed a little black lab puppy by dipping her in Zodiac. It wasn't Zodiac's fault. We had dipped 50 or 60 dogs that day in the same solution but she had an anaphalactic reaction. It took two hours of her screaming before she died. My vet said that even if it had happened in her office, there would not have been anything to save her. That was when I decided I would not put these horrible poisons on my yard or my animals and I've never had a problem since.

We live in an area where there is bobcat fever. ( Cytauxzoon felis) Our cats are inside only but ticks come in on the dog or on us. If it were not for that, I would not put Frontline on the cats. In SW AZ, tick fever was a real problem. Not so much here but that's the biggest reason I use Interceptor on the dog.

I would not go back to all the bombs and spraying for anything. They simply do not work and I've seen the misery the skin irritation causes the animals. Nothing but Borax for me because I know it works.

Capstar does kill all the adults fleas on a pet (it did with ours) but it only lasts for 24 hours. It does nothing about the eggs/larvae/pupa stages (states it on the packaging), so the fleas just keep coming. The Capstar is a good tool to measure how many adult fleas you are dealing with and as the fleas die off with pet and home treatment, you can measure that reduction against the original count.


Did your dogs or cats ever lick the borax, even by mistake? What if they lay on the carpet and the borax gets on their fur then they lick it? Any problems with it? During the time you used the borax for infestations, I thought you said you didn't use anything on your pets (other than the FL, which you said didn't do anything for the fleas). Weren't your pets bit all the time? I don't see how just treating the environment but not the pets themselves would result in successfully eliminating fleas.

Earlier in this thread, I wrote that my granddaughter had eaten quite a large amount of Boraxo. I also wrote about my own, non-animal, testing. What I wrote earlier is that the toxicologist at Boraxo told me and poison control repeated, that it would take a couple of cups to cause any reaction and that reaction would be turning the stool green.

Earlier in the this thread I wrote that the reason not to put it directly on the animal is that it, in very large amounts, it can cause the skin to actually break down. It would take an enormous amount to cause that to happen and the DE you are using would do exactly the same thing because it is also a descant.

The biggest difference between using boron (Boraxo) and DE is the cost. With Boraxo, a year's supply will cost you, maybe $10.

I've noticed you don't really read very carefully. Sorry, but its just true. I also didn't go into unnecessary detail but, I never used Frontline when I lived in Tucson. I used ONLY Boraxo for ticks and fleas and the boric acid recipe I described earlier in this thread for cockroaches. I never needed anything else in Tucson.

I now live in a very remote area on a lake. We have wildlife near the house every day, including bobcats which can carry bobcat fever. We treat our cats with Frontline and the dog with Interceptor to stop ticks - hopefully - from giving our cats bobcat fever.

With the puppy we found about a year and a half ago, we found the Capstar did not work and, as a result, fleas were introduced to both our homes. We found the Frontline to be ineffective in stopping the fleas infestation but got rid of every last flea more than a year ago.

Earlier, you wrote that external parasites spend most of their life cycles ON the host animals. That's not true but believe whatever you want. Bottom line is that treating the environment is the only thing that will work and pesticides are useless against the fleas we have in our area.

Humans are the only animals who systematically poison their own nests. We've poured on so much poison, its become ineffective. Just as we're seeing with antibiotics.

Years ago, the biggest pest exterminator in Tucson was quoted in the daily newspaper as saying he does not use his own products because they don't work. Amazingly, no one seemed to notice what he said and he continued to make his living spraying poison in people's homes.

When I lived within the city limits, I had a neighbor a few doors down who made his living as the owner of a small extermination business. Every single member of his family had cancer. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

First bolded: DE does not break down human skin (it does dry it out some), it does put tiny slices in the exoskeleton of insects, which in turn causes them to lose moisture and die. It is safe, it is non-toxic to humans and animals; I even pointed out information stating such in links you provided. Again, I am talking about food grade DE. I provided links with a lot of information on the safety, effectiveness, and benefits of DE. You obviously did not read that information and are, therefore, still misinformed.

Second bolded: No, I did not pick up where you were living when you used what product. Perhaps the way you words things is confusing. For example:

Third bolded: "We found the Frontline to be ineffective in stopping the fleas infestation but got rid of every last flea more than a year ago." The way you wrote this sentence reads as if Frontline was ineffective in stopping fleas but we got rid of every last flea ... using Frontline. It is implied, it is how your sentence is structured. I"ll be sure to ask more questions so as not to misunderstand what you write. Also, the Capstar may have killed the adult fleas but since it does not do a thing to the eggs/larvae they fell off, turned into fleas, and started the cycle in your home. Just a thought.

Fourth bolded: I wasn't clear .... adult fleas spend the vast majority of their life on their host. Adult fleas are only a small percent of the fleas, though. Something like 5% are adults, the remaining are in various stages of the cycle and are off the animal (most but not all) during this time. Once they emerge as fleas, they hop, hop, hop right back onto the host.

Appreciate all the info you are providing. Thanks.

 

[Zoom-boing]

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

Make sure you get the boraxo into the crack where the wall meets the floor and leave it alone for at least a couple of weeks. We left ours for several weeks and added to it if we found spots where the powder was gone. No, its no fun having the powder all over your house but it works and its not poisoning your animals. Just leave it alone and let it do its work. Re-read the directions I wrote on page one and just leave the boraxo alone.

I wouldn't bother mixing stuff together. No need. OTOH, you seem to want to futz with this instead of just treating the problem. If you feel better mixing stuff together, I can't see how it would hurt.

By now, your vet probably has your animals on prednizone and antibiotics for their skin. I wrote about that earlier as well.

Apparently mixing DE or Borax with baking soda and salt increases the rate in which the little buggers dry out and die.

The only animal on prednisone is Shadow, our old cat who had a bad reaction to the FL or fleas. Why do you assume that all the other animals are on prednisone and antibiotics? Their skin is fine ... a bit dry from the DE, but fine.

I am hoping that the two dogs and young cat do not have any adverse reactions to the Advantix II (dogs) and Advantage II (cats) when I apply it late next week and that it works.

 

[syrenn]

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

Make sure you get the boraxo into the crack where the wall meets the floor and leave it alone for at least a couple of weeks. We left ours for several weeks and added to it if we found spots where the powder was gone. No, its no fun having the powder all over your house but it works and its not poisoning your animals. Just leave it alone and let it do its work. Re-read the directions I wrote on page one and just leave the boraxo alone.

I wouldn't bother mixing stuff together. No need. OTOH, you seem to want to futz with this instead of just treating the problem. If you feel better mixing stuff together, I can't see how it would hurt.

By now, your vet probably has your animals on prednizone and antibiotics for their skin. I wrote about that earlier as well.

Apparently mixing DE or Borax with baking soda and salt increases the rate in which the little buggers dry out and die.

The only animal on prednisone is Shadow, our old cat who had a bad reaction to the FL or fleas. Why do you assume that all the other animals are on prednisone and antibiotics? Their skin is fine ... a bit dry from the DE, but fine.

I am hoping that the two dogs and young cat do not have any adverse reactions to the Advantix II (dogs) and Advantage II (cats) when I apply it late next week and that it works.

what did the vet say about everything you are doing?

 

[Zoom-boing]

When I realized fleas were in my carpet, I used baking soda once a week for 4 weeks, I also used it on the pets beds. The then washed the pets beds. The same day I started that process, I also treated all my pets with Revolution. Never saw another flea from that day forward. Wish I had known about it sooner. This was 4 years ago, and I will never go back

I still use baking soda occasionally, only for freshening purposes. No fleas involved

AND, I wish I had all the wasted money on all the other so called solutions

Did you not vacuum the entire time and just leave it sit there? I use the DE and leave it sit in the carpet for two days then vacuum to get up any eggs/larvae/fleas ... even ones that didn't die, then reapply another round of DE.

I read you can combine DE/baking soda/salt or Borax/baking soda/salt and it works very well. Haven't done that yet.

I left it sit for a half hour then vacuumed. The flea needs a host that has the PH that they need. They do not desire the ph that humans have. So if you treat the pet with the ph level that fleas love, they will die out and the flea eggs will not hatch.

Another tip, is that revolution makes a chewable tablet for dogs, and if you are putting it on with the liquid form, put a drop from the head down the spine all the way down to the base of the tail.

For cats, put it on the top of their head, because it is less likely that they lick it off

Half hour? I've been leaving the DE in the carpet for a couple of days before vacuuming.

The bolded ... do you mean if you treat the animal with the ph levels that fleas hate? If you treat the pets with a ph level that the fleas love, the fleas will never leave!

 

[Zoom-boing]

Make sure you get the boraxo into the crack where the wall meets the floor and leave it alone for at least a couple of weeks. We left ours for several weeks and added to it if we found spots where the powder was gone. No, its no fun having the powder all over your house but it works and its not poisoning your animals. Just leave it alone and let it do its work. Re-read the directions I wrote on page one and just leave the boraxo alone.

I wouldn't bother mixing stuff together. No need. OTOH, you seem to want to futz with this instead of just treating the problem. If you feel better mixing stuff together, I can't see how it would hurt.

By now, your vet probably has your animals on prednizone and antibiotics for their skin. I wrote about that earlier as well.

Apparently mixing DE or Borax with baking soda and salt increases the rate in which the little buggers dry out and die.

The only animal on prednisone is Shadow, our old cat who had a bad reaction to the FL or fleas. Why do you assume that all the other animals are on prednisone and antibiotics? Their skin is fine ... a bit dry from the DE, but fine.

I am hoping that the two dogs and young cat do not have any adverse reactions to the Advantix II (dogs) and Advantage II (cats) when I apply it late next week and that it works.

what did the vet say about everything you are doing?

Told her we had fleas, that we treated the house and pets w/products including DE, that the FL didn't do anything for three of them, told her I bought Advantix II (dogs) and Advantage II (cats) and double checked that I could re-apply it next week. She said yes, three weeks was fine to reapply (another vet I phoned told us this as well). She said that the FL should be out of Shadow in three weeks (he got it 7/4 so that would mean next Thurs). She mostly just listened and nodded and didn't offer any thing else as far as the fleas go. <sigh>

 

[Mr. H.]

My dogs have bunions.