Fleas, please...

What a timely issue for me and my two fur-girls, Daisy (dog, age 11) and Lily (kitty, age 10). Michele, I hope you don't mind me jumping in on your post but I could use some help in this department too!

We have never had a problem with fleas up until just recently. I attribute this to the fact that up until a few months ago, we have always lived in a house with hardwood floors. Well, imagine my surprise when I notice my dog has flea dirt on her! Ya, flea dirt...it's disgusting! I didn't even know what it was, had to look it up on the internet. Turns out it's flea fecal matter, basically blood from my dear dog.

So...I've really been struggling with how to handle this. I didn't want to use one of those product like Frontline or whatever, even though I understand they work pretty well. I just don't want to expose them to unnecessary chemicals. But at the same time, I didn't really know what to do.

So here's what I have done so far. It actually has turned out to be a little simpler than I thought. First of all, I just bought a hose attachment for the shower and gave her a bath. I could see fleas coming to the surface and I did my best to flush them out and off of her. Keep in mind, she's a large dog so there's a lot of surface area to cover. That worked a bit, but they just weren't letting go like I wanted so I applied some of my own herbal shampoo to her (lemon verbana, I believe) and let it sit for a few minutes. Well that did the trick! It knocked those darn fleas right out. I was able to wash them right off of her. Took her for a bonus walk right after as a reward and to dry off.

So now, what to do about the poor cat. I timidly attempted to give her a bath knowing all along that it probably wasn't going to work. It didn't. I am not sure what to do for her. I bought an herbal collar from the health food store but I just read the package and it says nothing about helping with fleas. I also have some chemical stuff, but I just can't bring myself to do it. She has been really lazy for the last few days and it is starting to worry me a bit.

I also need to make sure that I kill any of those suckers (and their eggs) that may be lurking in the carpet. I feel pretty happy that the first step was so easy but I definitely still have work to do.

I will definitely peruse the options posted above. Any further tips would be welcome!

We all thank you in advance!

Love,
Bugsy (how ironic!)
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What a timely issue for me and my two fur-girls, Daisy (dog, age 11) and Lily (kitty, age 10).

We have never had a problem with fleas up until just recently. I attribute this to the fact that up until a few months ago, we have always lived in a house with hardwood floors. Well, imagine my surprise when I notice my dog has flea dirt on her! Ya, flea dirt...it's disgusting! I didn't even know what it was, had to look it up on the internet. Turns out it's flea fecal matter, basically blood from my dear dog.

So...I've really been struggling with how to handle this. I didn't want to use one of those product like Frontline or whatever, even though I understand they work pretty well. I just don't want to expose them to unnecessary chemicals. But at the same time, I didn't really know what to do.

So here's what I have done so far. It actually has turned out to be a little simpler than I thought. First of all, I just bought a hose attachment for the shower and gave her a bath. I could see fleas coming to the surface and I did my best to flush them out and off of her. Keep in mind, she's a large dog so there's a lot of surface area to cover. That worked a bit, but they just weren't letting go like I wanted so I applied some of my own herbal shampoo to her (lemon verbana, I believe) and let it sit for a few minutes. Well that did the trick! It knocked those darn fleas right out. I was able to wash them right off of her. Took for a bonus walk right after as a reward and to dry off.

So now, what to do about the poor cat. I timidly attempted to give her a bath knowing all along that it probably wasn't going to work. It didn't. I am not sure what to do for her. I bought an herbal collar from the health food store but I just read the package and it says nothing about helping with fleas. I also have some chemical stuff, but I just can't bring myself to do it. She has been really lazy for the last few days and it is starting to worry me a bit.

I also need to make sure that I kill any of those suckers (and their eggs) that may be lurking in the carpet. I feel pretty happy that the first step was so easy but I definitely still have work to do.

I will definitely peruse the options posted above. Any further tips would be welcome!

We all thank you in advance!

Love,
Bugsy (how ironic!) Tweet