Garlic as flea repellant? (or, "o/~Smelly cat, smelly cat.... o/~ )

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

in article , Dennis Carr at
wrote on 12/2/03 9:20 PM:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?
I know a woman who does this to reduce shedding but I've heard garlic is bad
for cats.
Karen

in article , Dennis Carr at
wrote on 12/2/03 9:20 PM:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?
I know a woman who does this to reduce shedding but I've heard garlic is bad
for cats.
Karen

From: Karen OAWAY

in article , Dennis Carr at
wrote on 12/2/03 9:20 PM:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?
I know a woman who does this to reduce shedding but I've heard garlic is bad
for cats.
Karen

I've read that it's bad too but they were talking about feeding a good portion
of it I think. Maybe in very small amounts it would be ok, but since it's
supposed to build up, I don't know. I stay away from it. I know in my raw
feeding list people who let their cats outdoors say that since being on a raw
diet their cats don't get fleas. My cats are indoors only so I've never had a
problem.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: Karen OAWAY

in article , Dennis Carr at
wrote on 12/2/03 9:20 PM:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?
I know a woman who does this to reduce shedding but I've heard garlic is bad
for cats.
Karen

I've read that it's bad too but they were talking about feeding a good portion
of it I think. Maybe in very small amounts it would be ok, but since it's
supposed to build up, I don't know. I stay away from it. I know in my raw
feeding list people who let their cats outdoors say that since being on a raw
diet their cats don't get fleas. My cats are indoors only so I've never had a
problem.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 19:20:34 -0800, Dennis Carr
wrote:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?


Read Dr. Noxon's page for an overview of fleas and recommendations. He
is an animal dermatologist at Iowa State.
http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/services/vth/clinical/derm/flea/fleaold.html#fleafleacontrol

He has this to say about garlic, "Garlic has not been shown to
consistently repel fleas (despite the evidence that garlic has many
beneficial effects in humans)". There is a chapter there on natural
products for flea control ( Natural FCPs) that you might find
educational.

If cost is a factor, you might do what many people with multiple cats
do, and buy the large dog size Advantage or Revolution and split it.
It costs the same no matter what size you buy. You pull it out of the
container with a syringe and then dispose of the needle.

I use about .05cc/lb of Advantage. That's just a drop for a kitten.
One 4 cc large-dog size will do all my 8 cats over 10 lbs.

Advantage Dosage instructions are he
http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

For Revolution you need between .025 and .05 ml/lb.
http://www.revolutionvet.com/prescribing.htm#CAUTION

BarB

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 19:20:34 -0800, Dennis Carr
wrote:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?


Read Dr. Noxon's page for an overview of fleas and recommendations. He
is an animal dermatologist at Iowa State.
http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/services/vth/clinical/derm/flea/fleaold.html#fleafleacontrol

He has this to say about garlic, "Garlic has not been shown to
consistently repel fleas (despite the evidence that garlic has many
beneficial effects in humans)". There is a chapter there on natural
products for flea control ( Natural FCPs) that you might find
educational.

If cost is a factor, you might do what many people with multiple cats
do, and buy the large dog size Advantage or Revolution and split it.
It costs the same no matter what size you buy. You pull it out of the
container with a syringe and then dispose of the needle.

I use about .05cc/lb of Advantage. That's just a drop for a kitten.
One 4 cc large-dog size will do all my 8 cats over 10 lbs.

Advantage Dosage instructions are he
http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

For Revolution you need between .025 and .05 ml/lb.
http://www.revolutionvet.com/prescribing.htm#CAUTION

BarB

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 17:27:48 GMT, BarB wrote:

For Revolution you need between .025 and .05 ml/lb.
http://www.revolutionvet.com/prescribing.htm#CAUTION

I should mention that the big-dog sizes of Revolution are twice the
potency of the cat sizes (120mg/cc as opposed to 60 mg/cc for the cat
product). If anyone has been using Revolution for cats, they will need
half as much if they use the large dog product.

BarB

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 17:27:48 GMT, BarB wrote:

For Revolution you need between .025 and .05 ml/lb.
http://www.revolutionvet.com/prescribing.htm#CAUTION

I should mention that the big-dog sizes of Revolution are twice the
potency of the cat sizes (120mg/cc as opposed to 60 mg/cc for the cat
product). If anyone has been using Revolution for cats, they will need
half as much if they use the large dog product.

BarB

I used to feed garlic to my dog in an attempt to keep fleas away. I'm not
sure about the fleas but it certainly seemed to keep ticks from hanging on
for days. She stank ALL THE TIME though and in the end I stopped giving it
her because the house started to smell like a pizzaria!

Jeannie


"Dennis Carr" wrote in message
news
Sorry, couldn't resist.

While at the vet last night with a handful (!) of ten week old kittens,
one thing we discussed was the idea of using more natural means of
treating the kids' more common maladies - and amongst these, there was one
I heard about a while ago about feeding cats garlic. (The one about mites
and peanut oil came up to, but the viability of that strikes me as
questionable.)

Now, granted that if you or I eat garlic frequently, it'll keep
*everybody* away, but what about fleas on cats? Has anyone ever done any
testing on this as to how effective it is?

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------