Garlic supplement as flea preventative alternative?

I've head a lot about this from friends and was wondering what you guys thought about it. Many people I know use it for dogs but I'm a little wary about using it for cats. Here's a link to an example product:

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/produc...ts/999045.aspx

Originally Posted by xcourtney3

I've head a lot about this from friends and was wondering what you guys thought about it. Many people I know use it for dogs but I'm a little wary about using it for cats. Here's a link to an example product:

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/produc...ts/999045.aspx

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Garlic is toxic for cats - do NOT use it.

Look up Heinz anemia in cats... it is a blood disorder caused by garlic and onions

I tried garlic supplements with my dogs and all it did was to make them gassy. Even if garlic was safe for cats, which it is not, I wouldn't bother with it.

Originally Posted by sharky

Look up Heinz anemia in cats... it is a blood disorder caused by garlic and onions

Click to expand...

Garlic is a major no-no for kitties.

This is exactly what the site says about this:
A note about garlic: Though long known and used as a safe medicinal plant in holistic medicine for people and pets, garlic has come under scrutiny recently for the role one of its compounds may play in a condition affecting the red blood cells in some pets (the development of Heinz bodies). Please know that the amount of garlic found in our brewer's yeast and garlic tablets, as well as any of the natural health products, treats and foods we carry is included at levels known to be safe for our animal companions. Garlic would need to be ingested at extremely high levels for an extended period of time to have a detrimental effect on a companion animal's health. Please see our article, Garlic's Many Health Benefits, in our Holistic Healthcare Library for more information about the safety of garlic.

I give Attitude and Nuts the Dr Foster and Smith ones and I have had no problem at all with them(and the vet has no issue with me using them.) That said- I don't give them to them when they are on medication or after surgery. They haven't been getting them recently due to Attitude being on antibiotics and I just haven't started them up again.

Taryn

Garlic is toxic for both dogs and cats. Perhaps in "small amounts" it does not cause any immediate problems, but it is possible the toxins will build up in their systems, causing problems in the future.

I would not recommend giving garlic to a cat, in any quantity, ever. (or a dog)

I noticed that Drs Foster & Smith have changed the ingrediants in their brewer's yeast to no longer include garlic. Here is what the new ones now contain:
Ingredients: Brewers Dried Yeast, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Safflower Oil, Fish Oil, Ferrous Carbonate, Zinc Oxide, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride and Biotin.
Here is what the bottle that I have(the old ones) contain:
Debittered brewers dried yeast, Glycerin, Stearic acid, Dehydrated garlic, safflower oil, Marine lipid concentrate, Ferrous Carbonate, Zinc Oxide, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Copper sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin

So the new ones lack garlic so I'd say they are a safe choice if you want to forgo garlic and personally had I had the choice at the time I would have gone garlic free. I trust them on this since they are vets and I highly doubt they would put anything out that was dangerous to an animals health. Most tablets do not contain much garlic. I feel safe giving them to both)even though Nuts has decided he is the only one willing to take them so I'm not stressing it. His last blood work in June came out fine and my vet said I could use it for them.

They are useful for flea prevention or so I heard. I don't know since Attitude was sick and on antibiotic so I wasn't giving them to them at that time when I found the single flea on Attitude.

It's up to you but I would go for garlic free ones as they are apparently now available.

Here is the link to the new ones:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...6&pcatid=22056

Taryn