Flea Products.       Do you have a tried and tested remedy?

“Just reading ‘a flea product’, this reminded me of the instruction on the cat treatment on for worms etc is it  xxxxx -  I get them mixed up.  It clearly says keep away from naked flames I have visions of the cat going up in a puff of smoke”. 

“These things really frighten me if you look at pesticides you spray on plants it often deforms the leaf or the flower.  Years ago when we went into inoculations in depth we had two girls blood tested they were both about twice the level of immunity they needed even though they had only ever had their initial inoculations.  I know someone else their dog always has a skin problem after his booster could be the time of year I agree grass etc but too much of a coincidence for me.  There is a form at the vets which you can ask for if you get a bad reaction to an inculcation but how many people know about this.  The relevant department always claims that they do not have many reports of problems mainly because no-one is told of the relevant procedure.  How many of us have had a hard lump where the needle goes in or a puppy that cries when you pick it up by the neck.  I have had cats that have had really nasty bare patches appear on the area applied/site for fleas.

Have you ever read the book Who Killed the Darling Buds of May by Catherine O'Driscoll it is all a bit one sided but nevertheless the facts are there.  I have no doubts that in many cases as with the children's measles mumps rubella jabs that they protect a lot of children but like some dogs some children have an allergy which triggers a reaction causing the problems. Without the injection the resulting conditions may never have been triggered.

Years ago we had a problem where a litter of puppies had fits about 2 hours after leaving the vets. There was little doubt that this was reaction to the injection we tried to take it up with   xxx   with the support of our Vet.  We were sent to a local larger Veterinary Surgery for tests.  Some time after this we received a letter from the surgery saying we were not fit to breed dogs and they did not want people like us in the surgery again.  Obviously they didn’t like people who might cause any reduction in their massive income from boosters.

a member recommends; Tea Tree Oil - HEAVILY diluted as a final rinse after bathing to deter fleas.  20 drops to a large bucket of tepid water as a final rinse for your RBT.

Dog Tips,

HOT SPOTS, FLEAS, MOSQUITO BITES, CHEWING FEET

 As I don't like to put chemical sprays on either of my dogs, I'm going to have to try this.

1)       Take a large lemon, preferably with lots of rind, the more rind the better, and slice it as thinly as is possible.

2)       Put it into a bowl (I would think Pyrex or heavy duty plastic of some kind), and a tablespoon of crushed rosemary leaves, or a six inch sprig of fresh rosemary, and pour a quart of hot, as in nearly boiling, water over the lemon and rosemary mixture.

3)       Leave this to steep overnight, and then strain, putting the liquid into a large spray bottle.

4)      Keep this in the fridge, shaking well before applying.

The d-lemone in this spray, together with the rosemary oil will keep the fleas and bugs away, and this includes mosquitoes, and will make the coat beautifully shiny.

This has to be better for your dogs than chemical sprays, and would, I imagine, smell a great deal more pleasant.

5)      Still on the subject of bugs or itches, I've been told that a couple of drops of Oil of Citronella placed at the root of the tail will stop the chewing and/or scratching that can start up a hot spot,

6)       Another remedy to prevent the chewing of feet is a few drops of Oil of Cloves.

 I can remember this one being used to relieve toothache in my childhood, and have adored cloves ever since.