It seems everyone is itching and scratching - we have fleas! A fact of life during the summer months in Brooklyn with only one or two summers in memory where we avoided them completely.
Since we try to handle this summer scourge naturally we spend our time vacuuming daily and constantly grooming Annie and the boys with a flea comb to capture the little buggers. We grab any fleas that turn up in the teeth of the comb between our fingers immediately putting them in a bowl of water to flush into oblivion at the end of the grooming session. Weekly baths for Annie are part of our regimen. I use an olive oil soap on her which is very soothing.
The battle will be ongoing because Belle who is still living outside will not let us handle her so I'm sure she is the major source of fleas.
Annie gets some garlic in her food which will discourage most of the fleas from bothering her but garlic is dangerous to cats so we have to be very careful to confine Handsome when she's eating then clean her bowl thoroughly before releasing him from his carrier. Handsome is an opportunist always on the hunt for someone else's meal or treats to eat and that includes human meals and desserts! Definitely great survival instincts he developed during his years on the streets not appropriate behavior as part of a family of 4 pets and 2 humans. On the other hand, Orphee is never interested in anything Annie is eating but is definitely interested in anything Handsome, Artie or I have.
Recently I read using salt water to wash the floors, sprinkling salt on the carpets before vacuuming and misting the cats with equal parts apple cider vinegar and water will deter fleas. I'll be testing those remedies out this summer for sure.
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| Sorry about the fleas, Mom but there's a lot of them out here! |
