Danger- If you love your pet, you could end their life quickly with the topical flea control they put on the back of the neck. I have heard enough horror stories to make this a priority article for August. I recently watched a home-video recorded as a family took their cat to the vet for a simple flea treatment. It died while being given the normal dose of flea control at the Vet’s office. The poor cat started shaking and went into convulsions. It died in the arms of the owner. Cause – toxic poisoning, administered to kill fleas! Then yesterday a friend of mine told me of another deadly situation. She had a Koi pond in her yard. Their Basset hound was given the normal dosage of flea control on his neck. Later that day he decided to take a quick dip in the Koi Pond to cool off. When he jumped into the pond all of the fish died immediately! They had over 200 fish in this pond and the flea poison killed them all with one small dose! Imagine what power this “flea control” has over a small lake where people fish and others let their dogs swim and play! Imagine the damage done over all from this toxic concoction and our environment!

My sweet neighbor was wanting to keep fleas off his kittens. He bought them each a flea collar and draped it over them. Hours later they all had runny eyes and noses and became very sick. I took the collars off and rushed them to my Veterinarian’s office. He advised that flea collars are not for kittens. They are trying to build a healthy immune system and the collars poisoned them.  The same thing happens when I put a flea collar on my older cat. He get’s very sick and lethargic. Fleas are a huge concern and can cause many health problems to our pets, however I will never purchase these harsh chemicals again.

My resolution to this: Bath your pet in a warm bath using a solution of 1 cup of vinegar to 2 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of Blue Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. It will kill the fleas without killing the pet. There is a product called Flea & Tick by Pet Naturals. These are natural wipes that you rub on your pet before they go out to go potty and they help repel fleas. I have indoor cats and rub each one with a wipe weekly. These Pet Natural wipes are made with essential oils instead of deadly poison. You can find them at a Health Food Store Online, or search for a retailer by going to PetNaturals.com