Treats are for Fleas
I know for some of you spring seems far off but here in Southern California it’s right around the corner. While many of us look forward to spring, the warmer weather brings one of our dog’s biggest pests, fleas.
Fleas can create a variety of problems for our dogs ranging from itchy skin to flea allergy dermatitis and even to tapeworms. While many people use the traditional topical flea treatments, like Frontline, or the newer pill form of flea control, Comfortis, many are unaware of a more natural option available to them and their dogs.
The traditional flea preventatives contain insecticides and toxins and dogs can experience a range of side effects including irritation or redness where a topical product was placed, hair loss, vomiting, lethargy, and diarrhea. In severe cases I have even seen dogs who have suffered from seizures and death after using these products. Certainly these cases aren’t the norm but like all medications these preventatives carry risks. Read a package of your favorite flea preventative and notice how it recommends you not allow it to come in to contact with your skin and instructs you to wash thoroughly if it does. If it’s not safe for our skin why would we want to put this on our pets?
One of my bassets, Dharma, has a range of allergies, including flea allergy dermatitis. When she gets fleas she turns in to a chewed up, red, bloody mess so we absolutely must keep them off her. So I set out searching for natural ways to prevent fleas. One that I came across was feeding small amounts of garlic, too much can be harmful to your dog, and gave it a try. It seemed to work for a while but eventually I found fleas on my dogs.
I expressed my concerns to my holistic vet at an appointment one day and he told me about Flea Treats. After doing some research I decided to give them a whirl. Flea Treats are a chewable tablet that guards against fleas and ticks using a vitamin B complex, which is known to reply bugs by creating a smell that they (not us) can detect. I even know of people who were given vitamin B shots to keep mosquitos away. One thing to keep in mind is that you will need to give them for around 10-20 days before you see their effectiveness.
There are a lot of pros to using this alternative. They’re not only natural and harmless, but they repel pests before they land on your pet, a major difference compared to traditional methods that kill fleas only after contact. Because vitamin B is water-soluble, your pet would not become ill even from eating an entire bottle. They’re also inexpensive, costing around $3 per month for a small dog and $6 for a 70 pounder. They’re safe for puppies, pregnant dogs and cats too. Best of all the company offers a money back guarantee.
But do they work?
Months later I’m happy to report that we are flea free using Flea Treats.