Anyone have a natural flee killer/repellant for puppies? - Page 1

My daughter has a litter of two-week old puppies.  Of the litter, 2 of them have numerous flees.  She says she flee-combs them, has checked the mother (no flees) and the other puppies only have 1 or 2 flees.    Her previous litter, she used a vet recommended product and she said it made the puppies sick.

I haven't had puppies in years and never had flees even then, so, what would you recommend for her flee problem.  I suggested diatomaceous earth around the baseboards. (pups are in her large laundry room).

Thanks for your advice

No, there really isn't.  If there were, everyone would know about it already, and there wouldn't be any need for any other products, right?  Although technically, the pyrethrin flea control products are derived from a natural source...the chrysanthemum plant. But the compounds that have the insect-control properties have to be collected from the plant and concentrated...you won't get much control or knock-down if you try lining the whelping-box with the flowers or anything.  The other problem is that there isn't any one product that is 100% effective 100% of the time--natural or synthetic.

 And your daughter is incorrect.  ALL of the puppies--in fact, all of the fur-bearing animals living there--'have' fleas, because fleas don't live on the animal, they just dine on them, and they excrete their waste on the animal: the animal is a diner, with restroom facilities, for adult fleas. They LIVE and breed in the environment, so if she sees fleas on even one puppy, the others are being fed upon as well, and so is mama dog and any other dogs, cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, and so forth that live in the same place. And if the flea population grows sufficiently, the humans living there are going to be getting bitten as well.

The environment needs to be treated AT THE SAME TIME the animals are being treated; done in any other fashion, and the cycle will not be broken. Remove all bedding, toys etc., and machine wash in warm water; remove all newspaper and burn or bag in plastic so fleas don't escape. Vacuum floors, carpets, furniture, mattresses, thoroughly, and then do it again IMMEDIATELY before you apply the environmental treatment you've chosen to use--you need to select something that will give a quick knockdown of adult fleas, with an insect-growth regulator to address the larvae that will hatch out from eggs that are already in development; the latter will keep the larval stages from maturing into adults that will both feed on the animals and go on to produce more fleas.  Do the same thing with any vehicles used to transport the animals anywhere. 

At the same time these environment treatments are being done, the animals should be getting treated with something that will give fast knockdown of any adult fleas on them; for the adult dogs, one of the fastest knockdowns of adult fleas comes from alcohol-based pyrethrin sprays such as Adams Flea & Tick Mist [the original formula, not the water-based one]--but that type of product doesn't have much in the way of a residual effect.   For newborn puppies that aren't old enough to regulate their body temperatures yet, however, you have to be very careful about using the alcohol-based products because it can cause the pups to become hypothermic if you apply it in an air-conditioned setting.  When working in the vet clinic, we used the original Adams Mist even on newborns, though--if they were flea-infested, we wiped it on with a soft cloth instead of spraying it directly on the pups, to minimize the chilling effect of the alcohol, and then wrapped each pup in a towel for several minutes, until the product had done the job. After we'd combed the dead & dying fleas off the pups, they'd get a warm bath with a mild dog shampoo, rinsed well with warm water, and wrapped up in clean, dry towels until they were returned to their mother [who was being treated by another person while the pups were being treated, and who was also bathed afterward to remove the product after all the fleas had been removed, with special attention paid to her belly where the babies would be nosing and nursing].   Cats and other pets should be treated with products labeled for use on those species, and even though the original Adams Flea & Tick mist is labeled for use on cats, it will often cause the cat to drool and slobber and act erratically--apparently the alcohol-base disagrees with many cats, so use a water-based version of a pyrethrin spray for the quicker knock-down without the drooling, etc. for them instead. 

Once all of the treatment has been accomplished, you'll need to decide how to proceed from there. You can stick with the Adams Mist, but it needs to be used daily; when I lived in South Jersey, with it's flea-friendly sand, I got good control from the Frontline spray.  The spot-on products, not so much...but it might work well for where you're at, just as it works well for my dogs now that we're up in northern Michigan where the climate is less hospitable to fleas most of the year. But without the concurrent, full-on assault on the animals and the living and traveling quarters first, it's a guaranteed losing battle and a waste of good money, no matter what product you choose.

Thanks, I had a similar discussion with her but didn't know any products.  I'll pass this on.   I have no clue what her vet told her to use last time but she certainly doesn't want to do that again.

Western Rider Edit    Can't you be helpful or at the least polite

Western rider edit off topic

 

Do you know what I said that was deleted, Paul? You and many others have said a lot worse.

BTW it was not me who disliked your post.

Blitzen I was going to edit your post as it is way off topic but this one i will leave because of your comment that others have posted far worse.

You are correct but for those who have not noticed PDB is raising the standards of Conduct. 

For all who post take heed  Stay on Topic, be Polite stop the back and forth individual comments ets  I am sure you all understand and those that don't will get deleted.

Western Rider

Fair enough and I'll assume that from now on everyone here will be held to that same high standard of conduct.

I will do my best but don't live here

How about DE (diatomaceous Earth)?

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/benefits-diatomaceous-earth/