Following are selected posts to the Holisticat (TM) Mailing List on the subject of fleas and worms (yum!). There's a lot of information here, and the posts are arranged in ascending chronological order. If there is a particular word you're looking for, it's probably best to utilize the "Find in Page" function in your edit menu!

Happy hunting :)

One helpful and very safe solution is to use a flower essence product called Flea Free. You can put it in the animal's m outh or in the drinking water.  In addition, you can mix 30 drops to one cup of water and mist in on the animal.

Another excellent product is a homeopathic remedy called Flea Relief-used in the mouth or drinking water.

Shampooing kittens and cats with anything but a safe, natural cat shampoo should be avoided.  Even an herbal shampoo with the wrong ingredients not intended for cats can be dangerous.

Jane

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From: Kate B <catoninetail@>
<<What is a good thing to put on a young kitten for fleas. I'm guessing  its age at 6 to 7 weeks. My grand kids found it, and of course they  brought  it home to me. The kitty has medium length hair and is hopping  with fleas. My neighbor flea shampooed a young kitten last summer,  it  went into shock and almost died. So I do not want to do repeat that.  Your ideas would be appreciated.>>

GoForaSail@ wrote:
<<All I ever needed was vitamineral mix, a few moth balls in my vacuum bag and  a few flea bombs for my house. >>

I don't know anything about flea bombs, but moth balls in the vacuum cleaner bag is not safe.  Moth balls can cause kidney disease.  They have a very pudgent odor and don't need to be swollowed to be toxic.  As a matter of fact, I'm pretty certain that this is what caused my baby Sammy to contract that chronic disease :(  I had an ant problem, and it was suggested to me to use moth balls in the vac bag, to kill the ants, incase I had vacummed any up.

Hi List,

It seems like all I do is ask questions; someday after I have processed some of the info I am reading on this list and in about 10 books on holistic cat care, which I ordered all at once because I love books and holistic cat care is my latest subject of interest, I hope to contribute to the list.

My latest concern is my new additions (from the shelter) Frankie and Tillie.  I had them spayed on Friday at which time I also had blood panels done and discovered that Frankie is very anemic (hemocrit: 18.5 and hemoglobin: 6.5) and Tillie is slightly anemic (HCT:23.3 and HGB: 7.9).  My vet (allo) said all I need to do is feed them good food (which I am doing--raw food diet w/ vitamineral mix, enzymes, and vit. C).  Their appetites & attitudes are very good.  But I believe I should also supplement
their diets with cod liver oil and B vitamins.  Can any of you tell me if I should be doing something else for the new girls?  Kathy, I have the crabapple essence in their water to help cleanse the anesthesia from their bodies.  Thanks for that tip.

One other thing: both kitties have intestinal worms, not tape worms but hook worms and maybe some other type. The doc gave me a single pill for each cat: Drontal (praziquante/pyrantel pamoate).  Do any of you have exp. w/ this med.?  I have been waiting to give it to the girls because it seems to me it must be a pretty powerful drug,  and I want them to be fully
recovered from the operation; however the doc said to just give it to them on Sat. OTOH, I'm sure these parasites aren't helping the anemia at the very least.

Okay, here's what the Cornell Book of Cats has to say about hooks:

• They are extremely long-lived, and can possibly live the life of the cat
• they cause *ANEMIA* (my emphasis) due to blood loss
• the feces become black becuz of blood being let into the bowel from the small intestinal wall (where the little ba$tards attach)
• in acute cases, such as those that occur in kittens, there will be very black or even bloody stools and the animal may die from blood  loss
• in chronic cases, the animal may show no outward signs of  infestation, but will be suffering from anemia
• the animal should recover quickly after treatment w/ a dewormer

<<One other thing: both kitties have intestinal worms, not tape worms  but hook worms and maybe some other type. The doc gave me a single  pill for each cat: Drontal (praziquante/pyrantel pamoate).  Do any of  you have exp. w/ this med.?  I have been waiting to give it to the>>

About the anemia itself- according to Pitcairn it's "often caused by  blood loss from wounds or parasites such as fleas and worms". He says a  diet "rich in iron, protein and Vitamin B-12" is the way to go. For foods he suggests:

• Beef liver (Protein, B-complex, B-12 and iron)
• Nutritional yeast supplemented w/ B-12 (same benefits as liver)
• Green veggies (iron and other minerals)
• Kelp powder (iodine and other trace minerals)
• Vit C, 500-2,000 mg a day, depending on the animal's size (promotes absorption of iron from the intestinal tract)

So, on that note, she suggests as much raw food as possible, and adding 1/8 teaspoon of her 'Delicious Garlic Condiment'. However, I don't know if I'd do that until the anemia is gone, as garlic is thought by some to be associated w/ anemia..... Anyone else feel confident answering this one one way or the other?

<<discovered that Frankie is very anemic (hemocrit: 18.5 and hemoglobin:  6.5) and Tillie is slightly anemic (HCT:23.3 and HGB: 7.9).  My vet (allo) said all I need to do is feed them good food (which I am doing--raw food diet w/ vitamineral mix, enzymes, and vit. C).  Their appetites & attitudes are very good.  But I believe I should also supplement their diets with cod liver oil and B vitamins.  Can any of you tell me if I should be doing something else for the new girls? >>

So I guess sticking w/ all-raw and using some of Pitcairn's suggestions  would be the best way to go for the anemia. Good luck w/ the girls and  let me know if I can look anything else up for ya.

Vick, Skippy, Sam, (Mad)Max, and Jezebel

Terri-

Re fleas. My Maine Coon cat didn't finally stop having a flea problem til I started to give him the Vita-mineral mix recipe in Anitra Frazier's book, The New Natural Cat which is as follows:

• 1 1/2 c yeast
• 1/4 c kelp
• 1 c. lecithin
• 2 c. wheat bran
• 2 c bone meal or calcium gluconate or lactate

At 09:04 AM 7/28/98 -0400, you wrote:
<<I'm having a flea situation in our boat.   I've spritzed Griffin with a mix of witch hazel, vinegar and essential oils (just a  tiny amount . .. citronella, etc...) and covered the carpets and cat areas with borax (ground into the carpet) for a few days.   We still have lots of fleas.   I have a product by Safers called insecticide soap that I have used in the past (supposed to be harmless . . . main ingredient is potassium salts of fatty acids . . . basically soap) and that seems to work to a degree.   I'm planning on a cat bath and a dilution to spray over the boat floors etc.
I used Program last year and didn't have any problems but I don't want to expose my cat to more chemicals than he is already.   The vet I went to reccommended front line but the warnings are scary.   The prgram, at least, has no warnings and no KNOWN side effects.    I comb Griffin daily and find lots of flea dirt but not fleas.   His fur is very thick with lots of undercoat.  You wouldn't notice this cuase his fur looks to be short as it lies close to his body but its about 2 & 1/2 inches long.>>
 

Hi Terri,

Start off with using a carpet treatment.  This is what I use to scare the fleas out of the house:

Combine 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of "flea" oils (essential oils of one of the following or a combination of the following: rosemary, citronella, lemon, pennyroyal (strongest), cedarwood, peppermint, tea tree, etc.).  Keep in a closed container after mixing well for 30 minutes.  Then sprinkle in your carpet.  Allow to sit for 30 minutes. While it sits, try to keep all windows and doors open so that your fleas can flee!  Then vacuum up (discard the bag).  A nice smell will remain and you should notice immediately that the fleas in your carpet are gone. You can also sprinkle the oils on your furniture (but be careful-you don't want it to stain any delicate fabric) and on tiles or wood floors.  I use the oils diluted in mop water for my tile floors.   The oils on your pets are ok, [ed. note: essential oils should bever be applied to cats] but some oils are dangerous for cats to ingest (such as tea tree and citronella, I think!), but the only problem with them is that they have to be constantly reapplied and and you have to make sure it gets in there
thoroughly--also, the cats absolutely HATE it (from my experience).  I assume you have them on a homemade diet.  It does take a while for their health to totally recover and be capable of fighting of fleas naturally. Until then, I would encourage you to keep them off of any pesticides or Frontline or any of that.  Just my opinion, though! :-)

Kristine

I succesfully got rid of fleas by: bathing my Persians using Levy's herbal flea bath formula  and by  using Diatomaceous Earth, lavender, cornstarch, baking soda on the carpets and upholstery.

But then my cats were and are, strictly indoors.

If u let your cats out, then it's a lot more tricky cuz u  have to treat the outside areas where they hang out.  Are they restricted to your yard or do they go wherever they please?  If it is the former, I would think nematodes would help.  But if it is the latter, then they're gonna get fleas jumping on them from other people's yards, cats, etc.:(

Fleas spend a lot more time off the kitty than on so just bathing kitty isn't gonna help.  Some people swear by brewer's yeast and garlic in kitty's food but if yours don't like stuff added to the food, then that won't do much good, huh.

Bottom line, keep their immune systems up.  Some people say fleas, worms etc. don't mess w/ healthy cats. ther herbs that usually are recommended for making "herbal" flea collars.

About the pyrethrum, I could swear I read someplace it was ok for dogs but harmful for kitties.  I better go finish
unpacking my books so I can find that reference cuz it's driving me crazy to not be able to remember!  Hope I'm wrong, and it is ok for kitties after all <paws crossed>

To healthy, happy flea-free cats everywhere!:)

Sandy and the flea-hating kitties

 S. Arora wrote:
<<About the pyrethrum, I could swear I read someplace it was  ok for dogs but harmful for kitties.>>

Pyrethrum is toxic to fish. Pyrethrum should be ok for cats too. But if not, let me know. Chemical in Pyrethrum does not last lone time, and it is light sensitive. So, many manufacture synthetic pyrethrum look a like, made to last longer, Pyrethrin. This is not safe for cat.

Yumi

Super way to get rid of the fleas inside the house:

Take a plate, fill with H20 - add 1 - 2 drops liquid detergent.  Swish to blend.  Put plate (or many plates) around house.  Most Important: On top of plate put an upside-down dish drain (so cat's can't drink contents).  Then put a small lamp on top of dish drain.  Leave lamp on at night.  In morning, see all the dead fleas in the H20!  Flush down toilet.  Refill plates & repeat till no more in plates!  Works! I've done it!  No fumes, no chemicals - pretty much natural!  Of course, you will have to treat the cats as well - my Sister uses Eucalyptus oil on a cloth cat collar to get rid of the fleas on the Kits - [ed. note: please read article on essential oils
before using them] Good Luck!

Linda & The Brats