Immunization poses problems for older cat

I surprised the fleas still bother you...

 

Naw. Garlic works for vampires and keeps the deer away from the garden. Fleas love me, garlic and all.

 

Why are you so loaded with fleas to begin with? If they are in your house you have to vacuum everyday to suck up the eggs. Borax on the rugs or diatomaceous earth, food grade on your rugs... You can even sprinkle that into to your animals fur as well for flea control... Maybe get some essential oils like lemongrass or peppermint , place a drop in your hands , rub your hands together and then rub on your legs if they are biting you there... Lavender, cedarwood, etc all work as well..

 

Fleas, don't have them and haven't for years. When we did, they were horrid. I bombed the house twice, and I sprayed around the foundation and lawn for three years in a row. Once they were gone, that was the end of it, at least for now.
Most of our carpets are gone. Carpets and pets, not a good mix. I spray vinegar on the weeds. Not toxic to the pets, but the bugs and weeds don't like it.

 

It (like so many things I post here) is a west coast thing. There are trillions of fleas up and down the west coast because winters are mild here. There are also hundreds of different types of fleas. In the SF Bay Area its so bad they even have streets there named after them. Like Avaneda de las Pulgas on the peninsula. They are everywhere. At the stores, markets, shopping malls. Anywhere people or pets are, fleas are dripping off of them. Most people are not allergic to them or their bites, so they simply go unnoticed. I am allergic and I get bitten whenever I go to town here. All year round. Also the vermin here are covered in them. This area is teaming with moles, voles, mice, bats, birds and shrews, as well as neighbor's dogs, deer and other critters. They are all riddled with fleas. So my cat brings them in, and they die if they stay on him for very long. There are also a lot of ticks here, but I never get bitten by them for some mysterious reason.

The mild stuff just does not work for me. I grow garlic, lavender, rosemary, bay laurel trees, etc. They ignore that stuff. This house was abandoned for 2 years before I moved here, and it was overrun by small rodents. I bombed and sprayed it with industrial bug killer, but the flea eggs... flea eggs last for many years, laying dormant in carpets and crevices until they feel vibrations, and they hatch. So I ripped all the old carpeting out of this place (it was pet stained anyway) and laid down laminate flooring. I spray with a flea control called Enforcer that kills fleas and their eggs on contact. I have gotten ahead of the original infestation, but... I drag fleas in, and my cat does as well. Mainly on the mice that he catches and brings in before he tortures and eats them. I wash my clothes in Borax which helps. I do not have much carpeting here any more, and what I do have gets Enforcer every 6 months, along with the furniture and bedding. I go the industrial route, which I have been doing now for about 30 years. From San Diego to Portland, and many places between.

 

I just worry about your health using all those industrial products. I figure that garlic will keep you immune to all the chemicals Wow, never realized the fleas were that bad there!

 

Well, the products are safe as long as you apply them properly. Usually they are only toxic to humans when they are wet. Once dry, they are fine. I would also rather put up with some toxicity than the insanity of allergic reactions all the time. Never mind the diseases that fleas carry around here. And I do not take stupid OTC drugs, like Tylenol that is basically wiping out peoples' livers, or Advil that is causing havoc on millions of GI tracts.

Yah, mild low humidity climates, trillions of fleas. Go to any PetCo on the west coast and they will dine on you in a hurry. I avoid that place like the plague. Some Home Depots here allow dogs, and I do not go to them any more. They are flea infested havens. And when you think about it, the people going there and those pets are absolutely riddled with parasites, their homes, their cars, their yards... they are all being gorged on 24/7. And they are not even aware of it.

 

Scarey stuff...amazing how insects can get so out of hand given an opportunity.

 

2012 was awful for us when it came to pets. We lost a cat to cancer and a dog to old age. Both were brutal to deal with in different ways. The dog was a particularly painful event as he was so happy on the car read to the vet to put him down. Losing pets blows. It blows hard.

I have an indoors 14 year old cat that I've had since my ex-wife picked her up at the shelter when she was only 2 weeks old (no idea how they thought that was a good idea). Still going strong, though, when she does take a down turn, it will be quick as she has deformed kidneys that will eventually just "go."

 

Sorry to hear you had to go through that.. So far we lost all our dogs naturally at home..I dread the day we have to put one down... Our 16 old mixed shepard is probably going to be the first, unless she passes in her sleep, which I hope.. Yup, without a doubt it sucks losing your pets.. Don't realize how much until you come back home and feel the silence,,ugh

 

I share your pain. We lost a three year old lab in late March. I think it was bloat. We had gone shopping, came home and found her. There were signs of a struggle. Some nights I swear I can hear her nails clicking on the hardwood floor.

 

They say your pets never leave you... We lost a 2 year old mutt to a twisted stomach,,, wife found her at the foot of our bed in the morning.. What a great dog she was too,, she would run and dive off our dock to retrieve a stick , going right under water on the initial dive, then come running up on the dock for more.. She never showed a sign of being in trouble...we figure she must have just died in her sleep... Our vet felt so bad after seeing us all balled up when we carried her in, that he never charged us a dime to autopsy her.. At only 2 years old, we had to know what happened...

 

I don't know about that. I thought the same way with my dog until the cat passed away first. I had a hell of a time digging a decent hole with all of this rocky field stone I have around me. I broke two shovels just trying to dig a grave for the cat.

Couldn't image how many shovels and how much whiskey I'd go through digging one for a 70 lbs dog.

On a lighter note, I developed a new found appreciation for the mob's ability to dispose of bodies. That chit isn't easy.

 

With the warmer temps here in Oregon in the last decade, more species of mosquitos are staying here year round, and the ones that carry dengue and yellow fever have recently arrived and been ID'd. Then there was the guy on the other side of the Cascades here that got the plague from a feral cat, which would have gotten it from infected fleas.

 

Sounds like you probably hate to even venture out!

 

I go out, but not to the city that much. I am outside most of the time here when it is not raining, actually, but with Deet on if the bugs are out. Otherwise I wind up being the buffet. I went up the mountain today to look at the cascade peaks. It was 76 and clear here today. Also I ski patrol on Mt Hood, and fleas die about 5,000 ft up, so its a flea-free zone there.

 

Sounds like you at least have a way to deal with those bugs..