Cat mommy woes

[nisaa]

I had to give Xander a flea bath last night. He's been so uncomfortable. I'd never know him to have fleas until T pointed them out. I felt like a bad cat mommy. Last night I felt like an EVIL cat mommy by locking him in the bathroom, dousing him in water and sudsing him up. He hated me for it. But now I think he understands since he's not itching quite so much. And he's all clean and fluffy and soft.

Anyone have any natural recommendations for keeping the fleas at bay between flea baths? The herbal flea collar doesn't seem to work. I might as well throw it out.

Comments

[calialleykat.livejournal.com]

pennyroyal oil is good for fleas as is cedar..but if you use cedar watch out for skin irritation as its a fairly potent oil. Put some on a cotton glove and smooth over Xander lightly. even if it only works briefly it smells wonderful.
It should keep them down but the eggs are still there so you need to flea bomb your house:(

[nisaa.livejournal.com]

Flea bomb the house? How do I do that?

Re:

[calialleykat.livejournal.com]

Get 4 or 5 cans of Raid flea killer, the ones that say they kill larvae as well(nothing kills the eggs)
Place the cans on newspaper in each room of your house(usually they cover 500sq feet) cover your dishes but leave the door open, find a place outside for Xander to stay for 4 hours or so, and set the bombs off(like a spray can but it locks open) and get the hell out ASAP, find someplace for you and your loved ones to stay for 4-5 hours, come back, open doors and windows and let it air out for half an hour, resume life as normal.

It is chemical, but I know of no natural remedy that will get them out of your house.
You will have to do the whole process in 14 days to kill the larvae that were still eggs the first time. After that you shouldnt have much trouble

[greenness.livejournal.com]

I have had good luck with the Advantage drops (you put a bunch of drops of the medicine between the cat's shoulderblades) - still chemical, but I didn't react to (nor did my brother who is allergic to other flea stuff) and it seemed to solve the whole problem without bombing the house. It's a less radical chemical solution and my vet recommended it. Kitties are tastier (or warmer?) than people so fleas will almost always go for the kitty instead of the person when given the choice. Advantage shuts down the whole flea reproductive cycle. It only lasts 3-4 months, so if Xander is an outdoor cat, you'll probably want to research it for real to decide if it's a good solution for you. You can get it from your vet or any of the vet-supply catalogs like Dr Foster & Smith.

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

brewers yeast is a natural flea repellent and most cats like the taste of the tablets and will eat them like a treat. the b vitamins are good for them too. you can get loose brewers yeast and mix it into wet food (but that will change the taste and he might not like it so much) or get brewers yeast tablets, like Solgar brand, and feed him one or two a day. I don't have any problems with fleas using this, but you're in a warmer climate which may help to breed this stuff.

[kyra.livejournal.com]

PetGuard or some similar mix of yeast and garlic. A spoonful in their food morning and night, if I recall. Makes the cat taste bad to fleas, so they stay away.

[nisaa.livejournal.com]

I started giving him garlic and yeast bits a week ago and it has helped a lot!