breck076
Harmless
Posts: 5
Registered: 12-11-2011
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Flea Control Substitute
We've been using Advantage 100 (Dogs-Over 55 lbs.) for our cats for many years now. The active ingredient in this particular product is Imidacloprid
9.1% (% by weight). We use a much smaller dose for each cat.
I frequent another non-technical forum and we're trying to figure out which product containing Imidacloprid would be more suitable, price-wise, as a
substitute for controlling fleas.
I was wondering if anyone here uses any product that contains this ingredient for their pets and at what dose. Or how you would calculate dosing per
percentage of active ingredient. And also, what to look out for as far as inactive ingredients that might be toxic for pets, if any.
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zed
International Hazard
Posts: 2278
Registered: 6-9-2008
Location: Great State of Jefferson, City of Portland
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The best flea control is frequent washing. In days of yore, I would take my dogs outside weekly, wet them down
with the hose, lather them up with Ivory bar soap, and let them soak for 5 to 10 minutes, while the fleas drowned. Then, I'd rinse 'em off good.
And, generally speaking, all of their fleas had been killed.
Fleas don't have lungs. They breath through their "skin". If you wet them down via soap and water, they expire quickly. The same treatment works
very well on aphids, though only a slightly soapy solution is required.
[Edited on 11-9-2012 by zed]
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AJKOER
Radically Dubious
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Soapy water works on ants and spiders as well.
As copper salts are highly toxic to lower organisms including bacteria, fungi, etc., but also fish, cats, rats, dogs,.., perhaps adding a very small
amount of Copper acetate (from dissolving pennies in vinegar and H2O2), might be a preventative measure as well. I would not classify soap washing
alone as a disease control measure, however, it being more like killing a mosquito after it has bitten you.
The obvious danger is too large a dose and even a large animal may die, so do proper research. However, fleas do bear dangerous diseases that can be
transmitted to adults and children, so doing noting based on cost considerations may also prove to be unwise.
[Edited on 27-9-2012 by AJKOER]
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zed
International Hazard
Posts: 2278
Registered: 6-9-2008
Location: Great State of Jefferson, City of Portland
Member Is Offline
Mood: Semi-repentant Sith Lord
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Also, there is a nice little machine for removing fleas from your home environment.
Your standard duct tape type adhesive, heated by a Christmas tree type light bulb, traps the little suckers admirably.
The fleas detect the nearby warmth, mistake it for a warm blooded animal...And, Bingo! They jump to the warm spot, land on the adhesive, and they
never jump again.
They are trapped on a modern day version of the LaBrea Tar-Pits.
I've seen this work very well.
Fleas drink your dogs blood, and possibly weaken it(enough fleas constitute a real health menace). Your also dog may chew itself raw, or catch
tapeworms via eating the fleas. Finally, fleas do carry Yersinia Pestis, the Black Plague.
There was a case of Black Plague recently, near my hometown of Portland, Oregon.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/oregon-man-survives-black-plagu...
[Edited on 27-9-2012 by zed]
[Edited on 28-9-2012 by zed]
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