Conference misery::feline_v1

    If you can get them to eat garlic this will keep the fleas off.
    You can by garlic capsules that have garlic extract in them. If
    you put this in thier food they should eat it. Then when they sweat
    the garlic comes out through thier pores and the fleas and misquitos
    stay away. I guess it's true that garlic keeps away vampires. Good
    luck
    						Geoff

    
    
    RE:  814
    
    
    TRY BREWER'S YEAST TABLETS.  THESE HAVE ALWAYS WORKED FOR MY CATS,
    AND THEY LOVE THEM.  I GIVE THEM THE TABLETS AS "TREATS" INSTEAD
    OF COMMERCIAL "JUNK" TREATS THAT YOU BUY AT THE SUPERMARKET.
    
    HOPE IT WORKS !
    
    

    Does anyone have further details on dosage (amounts) that 
    can be given, and how much is too much?  If the brewer's yeast
    is used, how many pills do you give a 10 lb cat and how many
    mgs is that - are there any known side effects?  For the garlic,
    does this have any adverse effect on the cats?  How much do you 
    give them and how often?  Have your vets approved or disapproved
    of either of these methods?

    We give our cats one garlic capsule a day during the flea season.
    Yes it was approved, even suggested, by a vet.
    					Geoff

    When I tried it with my cats (and dog) all it seems to do was give
    them gas.  I asked my vet about the brewers yeast/garlic tabs and
    he said they've found no evidence that it works.  He suggested I
    stay with flea spray/powder and flea collars when not a kitten.
    
    Good luck.
    

    
    RE: .3
    
    With regard to garlic.  1/2 clove chopped up is sufficient.  Garlic
    has absolutely no adverse effects.  It purifys the blood.
    Veterinarians, unless they are holistic in nature and into natural
    healing, probably won't have any comment one way or the other. 
    But, I can tell you it does work!
    
    Regarding brewer's yeast.  Any health food store probably stocks
    these and the tablets are around 7 1/2 grains each.  Brewer's yeast
    is chock full of B vitamins (vitamins which are water soluable,
    so you needn't worry about toxicity).  I give my Abys 2 or 3 tablets
    a day -- It's a game with them.  I roll them on the floor and they
    attack the tablet before eating it.  It's the live yeast, I'm sure.
    And, their coats are magnificent, no fleas, and their appetites
    are great!
    
    Diane
    
    

    
    REF:  .5
    
    Fea collars are constantly emitting poisons to kill the fleas and
    obviously this is being absorbed, to some extent, into the cats
    pores.  Brewers yeast takes time to be built up into the system.
    Possibly 2 months.
    
    And the garlic, over a period of time, does purify the blood.  I
    conducted by own personal analysis on my cats, and can attest to
    its virtues.
    
    Most veterinarians no little to nothing about holistic medicine,
    and not only that but if we, as owners, turn to holistic means of
    caring for our pets, we wouldn't need traditional veterinarians,
    nor would we need gross chemical flea collars -- which would put
    companies like Zodiac and Hartz Mountain out of business !!
    
    For more info. on natural ways to care for you cat. . . .I highly
    recommend the book "The Natural Cat" by Anitra Frazier.  This can
    be purchased from The Felix Company in Seattle, Washington.  (Sorry,
    I don't have the number)  --  They're the company which manufactures
    the "best scratching post made".
    
    Diane
    
                       "PURRING IS MUSIC TO MY EARS"
    
    
    

    Previous to using yeast/garlic tablets and/or powder we'd have to
    have our cats dipped, powdered, bomb the house...etc.  We've been
    mixing the yeast and garlic powder with their food on a daily basis
    for three years and have not had any flea problems since.  It DOES
    work and you can find the this stuff at many pet stores and health
    food stores.
    
    A secondary benefit of using this is that yeast is very high in
    vitamin B, anti stress, nerve vitamin.  One of my cats developed
    a nerve problem that the vet tried to treat with drugs.  The
    drugs did not work.  I realized that I had run out of the yeast
    and garlic several weeks previous to this problem occuring.  I bought
    some and started mixing it back with their food.  Three days later
    the cat was back to his old self and has not had the problem since.

    Good stuff!
    

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that most vets don't recommend flea 
collars, especially the store bought variety, because that are not very 
effective themselves!

Apparently, the formulas are not changed enough and/or quality control is not 
very good, and the flea population becomes immune to them.  As an example, 
Marlboro Animal Hospital (MA) has the "higher grade" collars available but 
discourages you from buying them.  They of course point you to other flea 
control products by the same companies!  :^)

This is independent of the fact that the collar irritates many cats resulting
in lost fur around the neck area, and that it releases pesticides continuously 
on the pet.

I don't know much about the yeast/garlic techniques mentioned here, but the 
alternative doesn't seem any better.

    I've never heard of using brewer's yeast/garlic for fleas, but it
    sounds terrific.  A few questions... are they separate tablets/powders,
    or is it a combo product?  Does the cat's breath smell like garlic
    (like mine does if I eat garlic)?
    
    

    The product comes in both tablet and powder form.  Use the one that
    you find works best for your pet.  I use the powder form since one 
    of my three did not like chewing the tablet.  The other two liked 
    them as treats and would come running when I shook the jar.  So each
    feeding I just mix a tablespoon or so in with their wet food and they 
    chow it down.
    
    There is no smell you'll be able to detect either in their breath
    or body odor.
    
    
    

	re: Garlic extract/Brewer's yeast
	
	I just  got  a  brochure  on  a product called 'Hop-Off' from the
	local pet shop.    It  goes  on  to  explain  the benefits of the
	organic approach to ridding  your  pet  of fleas.  From what I've
	read in this conference (this  note) you all seem to believe that
	this works. 
	
	I'm at my wit's end with  the  fleas on Shadow and Oreo (longhair
	and  shorthair  'Alley'  types).    Bathing/powdering, etc  isn't
	effective. They are miserable and I want to stop it.
	
	Hop-Off  comes  in  a  16  oz bottle for  about  $9  and  can  be
	administered  either  by dosing the food or by eyedropper.    The
	paper  says  that it's about 90% effective, causing the fleas  to
	not want to live on their hosts. 
	
	Any of you heard of the product? Is it worth a shot?
	
	Chris

         The flea collar works well for us.  We generally buy
    one every spring for the cat and dog and have never had 
    a problem with fleas and ticks on either animal.  They
    don't bring fleas in the house with them and they don't
    appear to suffer any ill effects from the collars.  The 
    dog is 10 years old and the cat is 6 and they both spend more than
    50% of their time outside.  I don't do cats with long
    claws in bathtub situations!!
                     My 2 cents worth.
    

    I agree with 814.13 - we tried powder (didn't work), sprays (cruel
    because the cats were terrified) so all that was left was either
    shampoo or flea collars.
    
    Because I'm rather attached to living I thought we'd try the collars
    first and after a bit of preliminary sulking the cats have got used
    to them and the fleas have gone.                        
    
    814.12 - even if you do use this organic stuff you will still have
    to buy a chemical spray to do all the places in the house where
    your pets sleep, skirting boards etc otherwise they'll just be
    re-infested.  I believe fleas can lay dormant for up to 2 years
    - accurate info anyone?
    
    Regards
    
    Kate
    UK