Diatomaceous Earth?

[panophobia]

We have a pretty big flea problem on our hands.  We've gone through two doses of Frontline and a dose of Revolution to no avail.  That's too much money to be spending, both as a preventative and killer.  Our pets are suffering!  It got so bad that our puppy has developed an allergy (to fleas, to medication - the vet couldn't be certain), and one of

Comments

[i_luv_hipp0s]

Nver had a negative experience with it. We've had 2 flea infestations and DE was the only thing that solved the problem.

[leatherfemme]

Ditto the no breathing it - especially with a puppy.

If you need/want a quick relief treatment for your puppy, original Dawn is a very effective and safe for puppies treatment (though not natural).

Also, we've found Frontline to be totally ineffective. We use Advantage when we use a spot-on treatment. The rest of the time we use this:
http://www.naturalanimal.com/Herbal-Shampoo-and-Dip-Concentrate-for-Dogs-and-Cats-64oz-D264-C264.htm
keeps the fleas away, their coats are soft & shiny and they smell good.

[panophobia]

We're giving her a Dawn bath tomorrow! Poor thing just got spayed too...but tomorrow is the day she can finally get wet. Bath time!

I do use this a lot - we have a lot of strays in our neighborhood and every so often I sit out there with my flea comb and some Dawn and go to town to help them out a bit. We've already taken in three rescues. I wish we could do more. :(

[raeth]

Please note that, if you wash your dog with Dawn, it will remove any protection that the spray offered by stripping all the oils (which includes those from the chemical treatment immersion) from the dog's coat. So, while Dawn will remove any live fleas, it won't prevent them from hopping right back on the dog as soon as you put him/her down on the ground.

If you're considering the spray to be "ineffective," then, by all means, give a Dawn bath, but I just wanted to make sure you knew what effect it would have on the product! Good Luck; fleas are a nasty business.

[amazonvera]

I've heard from a couple of people that dc has screwed up their vacuum, so if your vacuum tends to clog, take care.

We've had excellent luck with Revolution as both treatment and preventative, and it's what my vet recommends for managing one of my dogs' flea allergy in concert with the treatment for his other skin issues. We have to use it on all pets on time and had to treat the house when we had an outbreak for it to be completely effective, though. You might also talk to your dermatologist about Comfortis. That helped our allergic dog while he was still working through the worst of his allergies. He didn't have to take it long term, but some dogs do.

[panophobia]

Thanks for the tip! Our vacuum does clog - with a dog, three cats, and five chinchillas I just go nuts and it always clogs. I'll pull out the shop vac when sucking up the DE

[amazonvera]

Are all of the animals in your house getting Revolution (or the equivalent, I don't know that it's safe for chinchillas or what the equivalent for them would be)? And did you manage to clear up any existing infestations in the house at the same time? If not, it won't be fully effective. If you did, I'm concerned about what you're going to find that's going to work better for you, because that's pretty top of the line in terms of effectiveness. Unfortunately, many treatments either aren't advisable for long term (like steroids), are frequently ineffective with dogs when used without assisting meds (like anti-histamines), or, like many natural treatments, not typically 100% effective, which may be fine for a lot of dogs but not one with an acute flea allergy like my dog and, potentially, yours

[rainbow]

my vet warned me away from d.e. many years ago. it's great for killing fleas and other exoskeleton critters, but it's also great at scarring lung tissue, so it needs to be used where no people or pets can get into it (ie don't use on furniture, carpets, in closets or cupboars where pets or children can get, anywhere that children or pets could stir up the dust and breathe

[fallconsmate]

I've also used borax to treat fleas in the yard and house. It worked well, using a spreader (like for fertilizer or weed control, I used a hand-held one that worked by cranking it, and it spread it easily) and sweeping it into the rug , leaving it a couple days then vaccuming. It didn't log the vaccum, either.

It works like the DE, too. You can find it in the laundry products aisle at the grocery.