It’s that time of year again when we have to start thinking about flea and tick prevention and control.  If you live in an area where fleas can take over your dog, your house and your life or where ticks are everywhere, you may, as much as you don’t want to, resort to using some sort of chemical to keep things under control. As usual, the GreenPaws Flea and Tick Products Directory is a good guide to use when selecting various chemical means of flea control.  As they say on their website:

Flea and tick treatments may contain toxic chemicals that can poison pets and harm people. Even when applied as instructed on the box, these chemicals are not safe, either for pets or for humans. Avoid toxic chemicals by taking care of your pet. Regular combing, bathing and vacuuming can reduce and control fleas. When chemical control is necessary, choose a safer treatment and avoid the most toxic chemicals. All pesticides should be used with caution and in consultation with a veterinarian. Ask your vet about one of the products or treatments marked with one crossed-out paw in our Greenpaws Flea and Tick Products Directory.

I’m going to continue what I did last year to control Gracie’s fleas because, while I had to stay vigilant, I was able to eliminate most fleas most of the time using natural products only. I spent hours flea combing like crazy; bathing her when necessary; dusting Gracie’s coat with diatomaceous earth; and I sprayed various kinds of natural sprays that I made myself using lemons or basil leaves. And I had to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. I can’t say I eliminated all fleas but I kept them down to a manageable level. And since Gracie has gone through treatment for cancer, there is no way I’m going to use any of the chemical spot-on treatments with all their risks.

A friend brought to my attention another product that I wasn’t familiar with called CedarCide and I’m going to cautiously try that this year too. The ingredients are 10-20% Cedar Oil and 80-90% Hydrated Silica (Silicic Acid). Here’s how the manufacturer or CedarCide says it works:

BEST YET (the name of the flea CedarCide product) is considered a contact killer. The objective is to apply a mist or spray directly on the flea or in the alternative, close enough to him that he can breathe the mist from the sprayer. All insects breathe through their body and when their many breathing pores are exposed to the solution, it triggers a suicide response by commanding the closure of the arthropods breathing pores. Insects must have the available heat found in air to survive, or their internal organs immediately cease to function creating instant death. Use the product liberally the first time making the animal wet with the solution. You will observe fleas falling from the animal at once. Take a moment and make sure the feet, leg pits, groin, belly, neck, tail and rectum are treated well. Cedar Oil is a anti-bacterial and will promote the healing of any sore or dry flaky spots on the Pet often referred to as flea dermatitis. It will also moisten the animals skin with cedar oil, eliminating the dry skin often caused naturally or by bathing the animal. Feel free to use as much BEST YET on the animal as you wish. You cannot overdo the treatment. You will find that this process will stimulate the animals hair making it healthy and attractive. As with any repellent, human or animal, repeat applications depend on exposure to insects. Keep your Pets feet, legs and underbelly treated with a spray prior to entry into flea infested areas. This will help eliminate the fleas that insist on hitching a ride on the animal and returning to your home. Repeated liberal applications on a daily basis to HOT SPOTS or MANGE areas will trigger the mite demise and hair growth will resume immediately. A application into the ear canal with a subsequent external ear massage will destroy any ear mites or chronic fungal organism issues the animal has in that part of its bod

You can read what GreenPaws says about Oil of Cedar but to sum it up, they basially say that we should be cautious with all essential oils if they’re too concentrated. They put Oil of Cedar in the category of “use only if chemical control is necessary” and they label it as a “safer essential oil.” But there’s not a lot of information available on the internet about the product and most of it comes from the manufacturer’s website. If anyone has more information about BEST YET, please write in. And I’ll keep you posted on how it works with Gracie. The flea battle is on…..

By: Edie Lau for The VIN News Service

At least nine class-action lawsuits are pending against makers of topical flea and tick products in the wake of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation into safety of the pesticides used on dogs and cats.

One law firm in New Jersey has filed seven of the suits — one each against Merial Ltd., and its parent companies Merck & Co., Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis U.S., Inc., maker of Frontline; Summit VetPharm LLC and its parent company, Sumitomo Corp. of America, maker of Vectra; The Hartz Mountain Corp. and its parent, Sumitomo, maker of UltraGuard; Bayer Healthcare LLC, maker of Advantage and K9 Advantix; Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc., maker of SentryPro; Farnam Companies, Inc., maker of Bio Spot and Adams; and Wellmark International, Inc., maker of Zodiac.

An eighth suit filed by a lawyer in California working with another New Jersey firm targets Hartz, Sergeant’s and Summit VetPharm.

A ninth suit filed by lawyers in Chicago and New York names Central Garden & Pet Co., Farnam, Hartz, Sergeant’s and Sumitomo as defendants.

The lawyers involved said more suits may be coming.

The burst of litigation represents increasing public awareness of potential problems with the popular parasite-control treatments, especially since an announcement by the EPA on March 17 that safety concerns are real and that tighter regulation and oversight are justified.

Jacqueline Mottek, a class-action and consumer advocacy attorney in Sausalito, Calif., said she has been “absolutely inundated” with calls from pet owners as a result of the EPA action and subsequent news reports.

She said the proliferation of suits reflects the fact that victims number in the thousands. The lawyers, she said, want “to make sure that people are represented. We also want to make sure that the courts understand the gravity and extent of this problem.”

The EPA’s investigation began about a year ago when it saw that the number of reported adverse events in pets exposed to topical flea and tick products topped 44,000 in 2008, an increase of 53 percent compared with the previous year.

The rate of incidents was 16 per 100,000 doses sold.  Story continues at the VIN News website.

On Tuesday, July 22nd, little Gidget, the Chihuahua that Taco Bell made famous, died at 15 of a stroke  and people all over the world are mourning her passing.  And I feel that same sadness.  But what about the animals that were killed to make the Taco Bell food that Gidget was made to help sell?  Do we mourn for them?  Well of course not.  Apparently “farm animals” don’t count as real animals with souls and personalities so it’s OK to eat them.  And the fact that many companies use animals to help sell other animals that are to be eaten as food is just plain wrong.  When I see billboards of  cows trying to sell chickens as a more desirable food, I get so angry.

But what about feeding meat to our dogs?  Is it really necessary?  I think about this question frequently especially since there’s now raw meat involved when I feed my dogs.  I see blood and ground up organs and I am so aware that an animal died so I could feed this food to my dog.   I know there are people who feed their dogs a vegetarian diet and there’s vegetarian dog food that I could switch to.    In a study of vegan and vegetarian dogs, these dogs were healthier and had less chronic health problems than they did when they were fed meat.  Also, the dogs who were on a vegan diet did better than the ones on a vegetarian diet.

Making the decision to switch is a big one and I need to do more research to make sure I can provide healthy vegan food to my dogs.  What do you think we should be feeding our dogs?

On a lighter note, these two Taco Bell toys are available to buy at happydogsplay.com.

In the ASPCA newsletter this morning, there was a reminder about how deadly the Sago Palm can be.  Please make sure your puppies, dogs, kittens and cats do not have access to these plants.  For more information, visit the ASPCA website.

Sago Palm

Additional Common Names: Coontie Palm, Cardboard Palm, cycads and zamias

Scientific Name: Cycas revoluta, zamia species

Family: Cycadaceae

Toxicity: Toxic to Cats, Toxic to Dogs, Toxic to Horses

Toxic Principles: Cycasin

Clinical Signs: Vomiting, melena, icterus, increased thirst, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, bruising, coagulopathy, liver damage, liver failure, death