Weird flea question

muttigreemom

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Ok so I was just otp with my mom and she's having a weird problem that she asked me to ask you all about...

We have (well, mostly her I guess) a feral colony that lives in her back yard. They were all TNR, so no babies... just the original hmm... I think there are 6 that are all a few years old now.

Ok so out of the 6, only one of them, Max, is friendly enough to people that you can actually touch him. Actually, he's a lap cat
The others are friendly in that they know we won't do any harm to them and will get close to us, but just out of arms reach. (This becomes important in a minute).

So since they're outside and itching from the fleas, my mom tried to put flea medicine on Max. Two years ago she tried advantage and within seconds his eyes dilated, he ran like a madman and started foaming at the mouth. He didn't lick at it or anything... this was pretty much instantaneous. Doc said he was probably allergic to it, so try frontline instead. So last year she tries frontline on him and the same thing happens.

Ok so, she wants to give them something to help with the flea problem, but advantage and frontline are out for Max, and she can't get close enough to the others to try it on them. And since she can't get close, a bath with dawn is also not an option.

So, she's hoping there might be something she can put in their food that will, if not stop the problem completely, at least make them 'less tasty' to the fleas. Any ideas on something that might help?
 

zissou'smom

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My only guess would be to treat the yard and give up on trying to do a spot-on... Diatomaceous earth works well inside but I remember someone trying it in their yard and not having good results, it's cheap enough it might be worth a shot though. They make products for your yard, but I don't know if you'd want them around a cat who has allergies to two different flea products.
 
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muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

My only guess would be to treat the yard and give up on trying to do a spot-on... Diatomaceous earth works well inside but I remember someone trying it in their yard and not having good results, it's cheap enough it might be worth a shot though. They make products for your yard, but I don't know if you'd want them around a cat who has allergies to two different flea products.
I don't know if treating the yard would help... not that she wouldn't try it... but they don't stay confined to her yard. The cats travel the neighborhood for parts of the day and then come back to my mom for food and a place to sleep (she keeps an insulated dog house in her backyard... next to the chimney in the winter to keep them warm) So I'm thinking treating her yard would only help part of the problem.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

If you can find the food grade DE, you could try to sprinkle it on them.
Ok run this one by me again... is that food grade 'Diatomaceous Earth'? And sprinkle it on the food for them to eat or sprinkle it on the cats? I'm lost
 

karmasmom

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You can try a few things. I found some links to help with the situation. The ideas range from treating the yard to treating the animal, all naturally.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Lives...a-Control.aspx

http://www.eartheasy.com/article_nat...ea_control.htm

http://www.myhealthycat.com/outdoor-flea-control.html

They all have some great ideas. I may just utalize some of them. Especially planting Pennyroyal. Apparently this little plant kills fleas, how I don't know but I would love to have some growing. Also I learned that ants are the natural enemy to fleas. I may not be so swift to kill them next time I have them in the house.
 

zissou'smom

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Originally Posted by MuttigreeMom

I don't know if treating the yard would help... not that she wouldn't try it... but they don't stay confined to her yard. The cats travel the neighborhood for parts of the day and then come back to my mom for food and a place to sleep (she keeps an insulated dog house in her backyard... next to the chimney in the winter to keep them warm) So I'm thinking treating her yard would only help part of the problem.

Ok run this one by me again... is that food grade 'Diatomaceous Earth'? And sprinkle it on the food for them to eat or sprinkle it on the cats? I'm lost
Yes, the DE is diatomaceous earth, and yes, you put it on the cats and everywhere else. It won't hurt if they end up eating some, but that's not the goal. If they sleep in your mom's yard, that's where most of the eggs are. DE kills all stages of flea-- egg, larva, adult, etc. Yes, they'd probably still have some fleas, but you could definitely get it under control. Walking through the other yards they would maybe pick some up, but if they have the DE in their fur it will kill them, and if they bring them back it will kill them and their eggs.

In theory. Sometimes it seems to work miracles, sometimes it doesn't seem to work...
 
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muttigreemom

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Ah neat ok. I'm sure she could sprinkle it where they sleep and stuff, but I know getting it on them is just not possible. She can't get close enough, except Max of course. I'll send this info to her.
 
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muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by KarmasMom

You can try a few things. I found some links to help with the situation. The ideas range from treating the yard to treating the animal, all naturally.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Lives...a-Control.aspx

http://www.eartheasy.com/article_nat...ea_control.htm

http://www.myhealthycat.com/outdoor-flea-control.html

They all have some great ideas. I may just utalize some of them. Especially planting Pennyroyal. Apparently this little plant kills fleas, how I don't know but I would love to have some growing. Also I learned that ants are the natural enemy to fleas. I may not be so swift to kill them next time I have them in the house.
Thanks for that. I sent her the links so she can try some of this stuff out. It makes a lot of sense too because we used to give our old dog brewers yeast for fleas/mosquitoes. Worked well!

Thanks!
 

goldenkitty45

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Well they say Brewer's Yeast will help - worth a try to sprinkle on the food. I wonder if BioSpot would work - that's what we use on our lab with good results - you can order it from Foster & Smith catalog.

Another thing that works is Seven (its in the garden supplies) - you may have to ask a nursery or garden shop for it. It kinda makes the coats dry but it keep fleas off.
 
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