By cybergrannie from Florida
To get a cat to drink the acv water add it before the water they love it. I take kittens that people say there dying and with goats milk bottle feeding and acv people are astonished acv breaks down uti crystals which male cats are susceptible to. I found this out the hard way. I lost my one cat to a uti and since than swear by acv thanks to my vet and animal control officers suggesting it :)
I do have cats and foster. As of now I have 12 cats in my house. If one will check cats are susceptible to utis. Apple cider vinegar helps that issue. I do add acv to my cats water a 1/4 tsp. each water bowl as well as use it to disinfect my house so no cat odor and spray it on my cats (one of the kittens I fostering had fleas and was to young to treat with a bath). About 2 weeks of daily acv and no fleas, and had healthy cats and no it doesn't affect a cats ph level. I did ask my vet it actually hydrates my cats.
I keep seeing people reccommend that you use Capstar for flea removal. Please understand that it is only going to get rid of the fleas on your pet for 24 hours. After that, you'd better have the flea problem under control. The long and short of things is if you're going to spend your money then use one that will last for a month. If the problem is bad, it won't be easy. Using the monthly dosages for a while will keep the fleas down but doesn't eliminate them in house, yard or places pet goes. You will have to follow up with more measures. Read the post on the lemon for on pet and use a safe spray like Talstar for house and yard. I used Talstar last year and still use the monthly Advantage.
I don't know about vinegar, but food grade diatomaceous earth works great! Our outdoor tom likes a dust bath anyway, so I dust him with DE once a week. It also works internally on parasites. We put DE on the hamburger fingers we were feeding our GSH pointer pups, the vet was amazed that none of them had worms on their first puppy visit.
Oh, it also works on people. I know, a yukky fact of life!
I'm focusing on flea dander/dust wherever I can find it, especially in the bedding and carpet. I vacuum often, and change the cat's bedding daily, which seems to be working on my cats which never go outdoors. I still have too many surfaces dust can build up on. I hope to get that corrected when my son can help me in June/ July.
I cannot afford to experiment with various kinds of products, so I prefer to try sanitation and good health. I do plan, however to use Neem Shampoo on them when it's warm enough. I will dilute it to a weaker than straight solution, and rinse well. It may be strong but it should work, I'm told. Good luck. : )
There are several topical applications for fleas Frontlin and advantage are very popular and work.
Also, a pill Capstar is terrific. I get the large dog size and break it up in quarters and put 1 quarter in a pill pocket -soft cat food with a hole and you just put the pill inside it ] and control as fleas in florida are horrible. amazon.com is great place to order products. Good luck, I have 12 cats and am doing really good with flea control now.
I would not use vinegar for cats. Cats need a natural pH 6:00 - 6.50. If the pH drops lower, they can get calcium oxalate crystals in their urine and these are expensive to have a vet remove. Vinegar will lower body pH. If a cat's pH is raised about the optimal pH, it can cause struvite
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2142&aid=2729
Jim in Jax
I believe most people use apple cider vinegar. If they were my pets, I would contact a vet before giving something as acidic as vinegar. Who knows, it might even be good for them. I would think some finicky cats would refuse to drink vinegar water, but there are other ways to use apple cider vinegar to keep fleas off of cats and dogs. One is a vinegar bath or vinegar rinse after a bath or you can use apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle.
I just read the post about vinegar in your dogs water for fleas. My question is can you do the same for cats?
Pam
By guest
By Laine
By Anne
Most traditional vets are not inclined towards natural remedies. The key is to find a traditonally and holistically trained vet. If not, do like I have, and do the research yourself. I'm lucky that my vets are open to just about anything and I bring articles and questions to them all the time. They are always already studied in the subjects. If they weren't I would find another vet. (11/15/2005)
By Vic
By Pam
Fleas seam to be a difficult problem to eradicate, but remember that eggs will hatch about 2 weeks after they have been laid and a simple act like vacuuming will stimulate them to hatch. In severe cases treatment will need to be repeated 2-3 weeks after the first treatment.
If you have been using the same product for a while it could be possible the fleas are becoming resistant to that particular product. So switch products making sure the key ingredients are different and follow instructions to the letter. Just make sure what you use is safe for your pet!
Remember if you use Frontline whether it be the spray or the dropper, your cat or dog should not be bathed for 2 days before use and for 2 days after using it. The reason for this is that Frontline works by sticking to the natural oils in the skin and on the coat. If your pet is washed during this period it will not work as effectively and maybe not at all. (06/22/2007)
By Kfromoz
By Donna
By Charity
By sweetlummi
I've ordered Frontline Plus, which worked well on Fancy before. She's a totally picky cat, so I don't think mixing vinegar with her water would work - she'd stop drinking! She's miserable with all the scratching, but Frontline is so expensive, and finances so bad, we've only just now saved enough to be able to buy it. The med will be here Wednesday, but she's miserable now. I'm going to try the Dawn bath tomorrow, as soon as I go to the store.
One thing I know of that works for infestations in the house, is 20 Mule Team Borax. When we bought our house last year it was over-run with fleas. I did some research, found the 20 MTB suggestion, and bought a box.
I sprinkled it over the carpeted rooms, used a broom to "sweep" it into the fibers of the carpet, before I went to bed. Around noon the next day, I vacuumed it up. Repeated it that night, vacuumed the next day, and never had another flea until this summer. It really does work, and I'm thankful, because I have really bad reactions to fleas. One bite and within 10 minutes I have an open, oozing sore - and that's not from scratching, it's the bite itself (I never scratch bites anymore). Imagine having around 20 fleas on each foot.
Just be sure you get the 20 Mule Team Borax, that's in the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store (I get mine at WalMart). You "don't" want to use pure Borax. When I ran out of Borax, I used salt on the carpet, to kill the fleas. Fancy walked all over the Borax when it was down, and never even sneezed, but don't let your pets walk on a salt-treated carpet, it can burn the pads of their feet.
Good luck! I'm off to put down some 20 MTB now, it's the second (and probably last) treatment. (06/16/2008)
By Kathy
By Alanna
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