What do you use? What experiences have you had?

I use Frontline on my dogs (nothing on my cats who are all indoor). The Frontline is applied once a month, April - October and we have NEVER had a flea problem! When I got my 2nd dog from a shelter, she had fleas but our vet gave her an oral medication for a few days plus the Frontline and they were gone in about 72 hours and they never bothered my other dog.

I use Frontline for my big dogs and Advantage for my little guy and two cats. My little guy loves to ruff and tumble with one of my cats. Frontline for dogs isn't compatible with cats so this is why I use Advantage on him.

I use Frontline for cats. It's pretty expensive, but we don't need a prescription for it over here and it works well, so I figure it's worth it. That and *lots* of preventive vacuuming :lol:

Fortunatly I dont have any flea problems but my moms dogs get them every year. She uses a capstar pill when she first spots them (this kills all the fleas living on them,) and then frontline which keeps more from getting on them.

I use hartz drops on the indoor-only cats with good results.
Max, the 81 lb, indoor/outdoor dog, has a flea allergy and Frontline is the only thing that we have found works for him. We usually spray the yard with pet-safe nemotodes at the beginning of summer to cut back on the flea population. We notice a huge difference when using th nemotodes (sp?)

cheryl

Just for the record ... reactions can occur to any product - ANY!

Hartz is, as far as I know, as reliable and safe as any and if you have used it successfully already I recommend staying with what has worked, as changing always has a risk ...

GD uses Advantage topical plus Tick Arrest collar

BD uses Frontline topical

Some of you have been subject to more than a bit of negative hype (to put it mildly) ... that problem is gone unless we encounter some identity crises :gabigrin:

I use Frontline on my animals too. The dog gets it every other month or so and the cats will get it once or twice in the summer. The only problem I've had is when my white cat is treated, the hair will fall out wherever the poison touches his skin. No irritation or anything, it just falls out. So I have a pink spotted kitty running around for a few weeks until the fur fills in again.

Garlic Oil!
I don't use this on animals but to treat the yard. The only downfall is it needs to be reapplied avery 3-4 weeks. It is safe and non-poisonous to humans and animals. Make sure you let it dry before letting your animals roam on the grass. I spray my porch with it too.

You can buy it or make your own. To make your own:
The directions say 4 whole garlic, 3 cups of mineral oil, and 1 cup castille soap.

I never could follow directions:
~8 whole garlic- seperated and pealed put them in a heavy duty baggy and smash cloves with hammer
~2 cups of mineral oil and 1 cup veg oil (mineral oil came in 16oz and I didn't want to spend more $$)
~Place bashed garlic in a jar and pour mineral oil/veg oil over it and put it in the fridge for 7-10 days. Store any leftover in the fridge too.
~Strain out the garlic (I don't strain it, I am lazy) and add 1 cup of soap (I use lemon scent Joy). I reuse the garlic for the next batch of spray and just re-bash it before I start the new mix.
~Fill up a hose attachment spreader and spray on the most concentrated setting. I spray everything twice. Spray only in the evening and avoid any delicate plants.

LINA! That's Brilliant!!! love it, and will pass it along...

Garlic Oil!
I don't use this on animals but to treat the yard. The only downfall is it needs to be reapplied avery 3-4 weeks. It is safe and non-poisonous to humans and animals. Make sure you let it dry before letting your animals roam on the grass. I spray my porch with it too.

You can buy it or make your own. To make your own:
The directions say 4 whole garlic, 3 cups of mineral oil, and 1 cup castille soap.

I never could follow directions:
~8 whole garlic- seperated and pealed put them in a heavy duty baggy and smash cloves with hammer
~2 cups of mineral oil and 1 cup veg oil (mineral oil came in 16oz and I didn't want to spend more $$)
~Place bashed garlic in a jar and pour mineral oil/veg oil over it and put it in the fridge for 7-10 days. Store any leftover in the fridge too.
~Strain out the garlic (I don't strain it, I am lazy) and add 1 cup of soap (I use lemon scent Joy). I reuse the garlic for the next batch of spray and just re-bash it before I start the new mix.
~Fill up a hose attachment spreader and spray on the most concentrated setting. I spray everything twice. Spray only in the evening and avoid any delicate plants.

I LIKE the sound of this! We have a terrible tick problem (live in woods with many deer lurking about) and I usually have to end up treating our yard. I try not to because most of us have well water and I DO NOT want to take a chance of contamination, so I find something that is *supposed* to be safe. :rolleyes:

I'm wondering if this garlic oil is mainly for fleas or is it good for ticks too?

It is good for fleas, ticks, mosquitos and white flies. Let me look for the entire list-

It is good for fleas, ticks, mosquitos and white flies. Let me look for the entire list-

Hey, this list is good enough for me! I think I'll be giving this a try this weekend. I'm SO glad you posted this and crossing my fingers it'll work for the 4th of July cook out!

complete list: aphids, bagworms, beetles, borers, chafers, curculios, cutworm, fleas, leafhoppers, leafminers, leafrollers, maggots, mealybugs, mites, mosquitoes, plant bugs, sawflies, scale, spittlebugs, ticks, webworms, whiteflies. worms and other soft bodied insects.

This was something I got from the fair from the Texas Agricultural School. Garlic is a repellant and the mineral oil and soap is a laxative- essentually making the insect sick. The soap also does something to the exoskeletan that makes the mineral oil penatrate on contact. I am going off of memory because I didn't write this down. Someone may have more info than I do on this. I just needed something that didn't kill my frogs and geckos but got rid of the bad bugs. This stuff stinks like garlic BAD! The smell does go away after a few hours- so do the bugs :wink: . It is supposed to last 3-4 weeks and I spray everything with it.

Hey, this list is good enough for me! I think I'll be giving this a try this weekend. I'm SO glad you posted this and crossing my fingers it'll work for the 4th of July cook out!


Make it soon- it feally needs to fester in the fridge to get the garlic fused into the oil for about a week. I just keep a batch going all the time. It is pretty cheap and really effective.

I use Frontline for my baby and have had good results. However, if you have a loser room-mate who lets the flea problem on her German Shepherd get out of hand, fleas will still bite. They just die and don't get too bad. Fortunately, this is no longer a problem for me since I ditched the loser room-mate.