Dear Shiela: Can understand your dilemma. Will Bubba allow you to comb him for fleas?? If so, use one of the fine-toothed metal flea combs (the plastic ones don't work as well) and a bowl of water with a bit of dish detergent to rinse the fleas from the comb...the surfacants in the detergent will suffocate the fleas.
Other non-toxic things to try are ruffling a bit of garlic powder and/or yeast through his fur to make it inhospitable for the fleas. Garlic ingested in large quantity over time is said to potentially cause anemia in cats, but a small amount is not harmful. I used to routinely mix garlic in my raw food mix along with nutritional yeast for B-vites and fleas were much less of a problem when I did. Then I learned on a holistic website that garlic might be harmful for cats and stopped. This year, the fleas have been so bad I have started adding garlic to their food again and the situation has improved. They all seem to like it and it surely makes the otherwise bland raw food smell delicious. You may need to start by adding a tiny bit and then gradually increasing the amount. I throw whole cloves in the mini food processor to chop it finely or you can use a garlic press to extract just the jice. In his book, The Nature of Animal Healing, Dr. Martin Goldstein (holistic vet) has a section on fleas and provides enlightenment about those supposedly safe commercial flea treatments and the entire rationale of chemically assaulting the flea problem. Fleas, like most parasites, tend to afflict hosts whose immune systems are less able to repel them. The use of chemicals in our homes and on our pets to try and control such pests only serves to further weaken the immune system of the pets we are trying to protect. When dealing with FeLV+ kittys whose immune system is already compromised, the use of such chemicals is even more risky. Dr G's recommendations include: "In all cases, I recommend two natural substances: garlic and brewer's yeast. Both exude odors or tastes that discourage fleas. Garlic is as close to a panacea as a natural product can get. Grate or chop a clove or two into each meal, both to combat fleas and for general health and longevity. Add a Tbsp. of brewer's yeast (half that for small dogs and cats). Every day or two, also sprinkle brewer's yeast on your pet's coat, working it in with your hands. Among the many herbal flea preparations that can be useful, I'm partial to Earth Animal's Herbal Internal Powder, a powdered mix of natural ingredients which includes garlic as well as alfalfa, wormwood, yellowdock and pennyroyal. Sprinkle the powder liberally into your pet's food; it smells so good you may want to sprinkle it into your own! (I do, especially when cooking pasta.)" You can safely treat carpeting and bedding with boric acid powder (that is what eye wash is made from). It is not toxic...it dessicates (dehydrates) the bugs and they die. That is the active ingredient in many ant/roach powders...just make sure there are no other toxic ingredients added. FleaBusters markets a carpet powder (which Dr. G. also mentions in his book) that just contains boric acid as its active ingredient, but it is a bit pricier...a large jug (which has lasted me two years) is around $35. You sprinkle it on the carpeting and work it in with a brush and then vaccuum up any excess. One application lasts about a year. If you hire Flea Busters to come treat your home, they guarantee it to be flea free for a year, and will come back and re-treat at no charge if it isn't. When my daughter was living in S. Calif. she had FBers come treat her apartment and it was totally flea-free...of course her 3 cats did not go outside and she didn't have a dog. I have had good results with it even though I do have some cats who go outside in the daytime and a dog. In the two bedrooms where I have adoptable rescues and FeLV+ cats, respectively, that do not go out of their rooms, I do not have a flea problem. In the rest of the house, I've had to re-treat more often than once/year to keep them under control. While Dr. G's approach is to help his clients get their pets so healthy (through a healthy, natural diet, etc.) that they are resistant to fleas, he does not take a holier than thou approach to address an existing flea problem where a pet is suffering, and in regards to helping break the cycle of an existing flea infestation will advise his clients to choose a product containing citrus-based d-limonene, the "herbal insecticide." One spray he personally uses is Quantum's Flea & Tick Repellent which contains the herb erigeron (flea bane), as well as rose geranium, which is one of the effective herbal tick repellents. Only in very severe cases would he recommend the use of Front Line or Advantage, which he views as two of the more benign brands, but not without trepidation. Dr. G. also advises clients to have their carpeting steam cleaned at the beginning of flea season and to vaccuum carpeting weekly. While I can understand your reluctance to bathe Bubba (his frail condition and the stess factor) that may be the most effective way to kill off as many fleas as possible at once in that even with shampoos that are completely insecticide-free, the surfacants will suffocate most of the fleas. I would try combing and using garlic/yeast powder in his fur and adding some to his food first, as well as boric acid powder in any carpeting/bedding, but if that doesn't do it, a bath may be necessary. Hopefully that will not be the case. Hope this info is helpful. Sally in San Jose
