How to get rid of those pesky fleas...

The plague of every pet owner, are their best friends pesky parasites: Fleas. There are many natural and commercial remedies. What ever method you choose, you will have to treat for them several times before your infestation is gone.

 Understanding their life cycle is important in eliminating them. Also understanding how a flea works will help in making them not work. 

What is a Flea? 

A flea is a tiny,  flat, wingless insect with an amazing jump . They have hard plates called sclerites that cover their body. This protects them from injury when they land after a big jump, to protect from dog teeth and other dangers. The exoskeleton is also covered in tiny hairs that point backwards. This allows them to move about on the pets body easily, but to hang on if the dog shakes its body, or if the coat is brushed. The flea has several tiny mouth parts that work together to cut and puncture the skin and suck the blood. The flea uses suction pumps in its mouth and gut to get the blood into its body. Are you grossed out yet?!

There are two, well three, ways to kill a flea. The first is to breakdown the exoskeleton and cause dehydration. The second is by poison. Lastly, you can squish them between your finger nails. 

Treating Your Pet

Flea collars are a thing of the past. I personally never found them very useful. My favorite product is Capstar®. Its a very safe pill that you give your pet orally. It can be used for cats and dogs and it begins working within 30 minutes. It can be used on puppies and kittens and pregnant and nursing puppies. There are side effects to pets allergic to Nitenpyram, the active ingredient in this product, so be sure to do your homework. I prefer to use this product when pets come in for grooming. The pill works for up to 24 hours and creates a great buffer between the grooming and when its recommended to apply a topical treatment.

There are 1,000 flea shampoos sand dips that can be used during the grooming process. Many have harsh chemicals and its is best not to use them if you plan to use a topical. I prefer to use more natural ones and salt dips. Salt dips use an abrasive to kill fleas. Many are non-toxic. 

When it comes to topicals ( flea and tick products placed on the back of the neck) , I cannot stress enough,  do not skimp on these. In my personal research, Advantage® is the safest most effective topical flea treatment. Frontline® is recommended only when ticks are also an issue. My personal opinion is to stay clear of the off brands and never never never, give a cat a dog treatment. Always check. Just today, a client was telling us he had to put his cat down as there was a simple careless mistake and they gave their cat a product specified for dogs. 

Other ways of battling fleas on your pets is to use repellents. Garlic and brewers yeast added to your pets diet can help keep the pests away. 

Treating Your Home 

I personally prefer non-toxic or low-toxic ways to treat the home. Boric acid, salts and diatomacious earth are all safe and effective methods of flea control. I recommend vacuuming frequently. These products are safe to use and you can get food grade diatomacious earth for indoors. These are excellent products especially if you have young children crawling on the floors.

If you want something a bit more powerful most insect control products have a line for fleas. Look for ones that contain and IGA. Insect Growth Regulators will help prevent the cycle of the pupa.

Always remember the life cycle and plan to treat again in a few weeks to ensure you have it under control. 

Grooming Drop Coated Dogs

Drop coat refers to a long, straight and flowing coat. Dogs breeds such as Shih Tzu's, Lhasa's, Yorkshire Terrier and Maltese all have drop coats. These coats have their pro's and con's. One benefit of these breeds is that they are single coated, meaning one hair per follicle. These breeds shed less and they are less allergenic. I use a light mist of conditioning spray to keep the hair tame and free from static.

While these coats can be stunning, its alot of work to maintain them. The photo above shows how I brush out most drop coated dogs. As you can see, I am using a comb. I use a slicker brush on mats and the comb on the rest of the coat. If you are brushing regularly, you may just need to run a comb through their hair every day or every other day. Once you get into a routine, I should take 10 min or less. Pets coats grown in layers, so be sure to hold up the hair as you see here, and comb through each layer and work my way around the body. I use a black anti static teflon comb.

Many pet owners keep their drop coated dogs in short haircuts. These are cute and easy to maintain and can be of any length. Most owners have their pets in short pet trims ranging from 1/4" and longer. This Maltese is kept in a long scissor cut.

This Shih tzu mix is in a short hair cut

Lets talk Fleas

Fleas are the lice of the animal world. And like children, if you have pets, you will have to deal with fleas at least once, if not more.

A flea has amazing skill and can jump 200x its body lenght, about 13 inches. Fleas live not only on pets, but wild critters as well. So even if you dont have neighbor dogs, or wandering cats, the squirrels will make sure you don't miss out on all the flea fun.

A andult flea starts off as an egg. Flea eggs account for about 50% of your flea population. After a feeding, a female flea will lay about eggs, usually about 20 a day and about 600 in her lifetime, preferably on her host.Flea eggs are white and are the smaller than a grain of salt. They are round and usually fall off the coat of the animal and fall into carpet, furniture, grass, etc, whereever the pet lays.

After a few days or even a few weeks, the larva emerges from its shell. The flea larva make up about 35% of your flea population.  They have no legs so they dont move far and they feeds on flea feces. This is the "black dirt" you find on your pets body. It looks like black salt. Since fleas feed on blood, they poop blood. If you were to wash this off of your dog, the water would have an orange to red tint, that is from the "flea poop".. Gross, isnt it...

The larvae begin to pupate and form a cocoon. Fleas are almost impossible to detect and even harder to kill at this stage. The pupae make up about 10% of your flea population. They stay in the cocoon until the timing is right. They can detect heat, carbon dioxide and movement. This means a host is nearby. This is when the fleas will emerge from their shells and begin feeding on their hosts..

If an adult flea can live on dead skin cells etc, they do not have to suck blood. If a flea never feeds on blood they can live an extensive amount of time. However, once it has a blood feeding it has to feed every few hours or it dies.

Fleas excrete a saliva before they bite that makes feeding easier. This saliva compound causes an allergic reaction, some more severe than others.

Once the flea begins feeding on blood, it is able to start the flea life cycle. This lifecycle can be two weeks to two years, depinding on enviornmental factors. This is why flea treatment in several stages is important. We will talk about flea treatments later....

Grooming

I have been grooming since June 1995.

I groom little dogs

I groom big dogs

I groom cats

I even groom birds

Grooming is an art form. I am blessed to have a talent to do so!

Cows

While my primary work has been with dogs, I enjoy working with other animals, livestock included.

Back in May we took a job caring for 5 cows. The owner is in another state working on her way to move to Kentucky. She has some great cows and we love visiting with them. Its a fun little job.

This is Maggie. She was put down on May 23rd. She was 20 years old! She was a very sweet cow.

This is Domino. Domino is a clown. He reminds me of a giant puppy. He is very playful and loves the children.

This is Moses. He is a handsome fella who stands his ground. He is a gentle giant.

                                                                                                                                                     This is BlackBerry. He is a very sweet boy. He knows we always bring treats and is usually the first one to greet us. He and my husband are quite fond of each other. 

                                                                                               This big fella is Baby Messiah. He is usually to himself once he gets his treats. I think he is the leader of the bulls here. He just kind of stands watch over the other ones. 

 

More Photos 

* cell phone photos are poor quality. I apologize, I take these to text to the owner

Life with Cats

Every homestead should have a cat or two to control the mice and other pests. I am not a cat person per se, but I have trained all of my cats, which is a must. I prefer, hands down, male cats. I have trained all my cats to come when called, to be affectionate, and obedient.. and to be child proof. They must also serve their purpose. They mostly survive off of table scraps and the food they catch. Preferably, mice.

Our cat Sweetie is a year old. He is an excellent hunter. He has taken our new kitten Thor, who is about 4 mos old under his wing and has trained him to be an excellent hunter. This morning however, I am not pleased, but cant help admire their skill and teamwork. Sweetie caught a robin. The robins family is making a huge fuss outside in the yard. The robin is squaking. The other birds are swooping in chasing the cat. I tell Sweetie to drop it, and he does. I can see the robin is injured so I let him have the bird. Thor comes running to see the commotion. He watches Sweetie for a few moments then walks over for a closer look. Sweetie gives Thor the bird. He is too young to catch a bird that size, but he is parading it around like a champion. Sweetie finds a spot to relax on the porch while Thor enjoys his treat.

I have always been fascinated with animal behavior. Watching this scene unfold this morning was no exception. The robins teaming up to save one in danger, chasing and attacking this cat who has captured their friend. My older cat catching this bird for his meal, and then giving it to the kitten. The kitten could not have overpowered him and taken it, he somehow felt the need to care for his fellow friend (family).

We can learn alot from a cat. Remember, our children watch our every move. Our younger generations learn everything from us. We are their teachers. Make sure your lesson is a good one.

Callie

Every groomer has a dog or two that has left a big spot on their heart. This is one such story.

Callie was a sweet fun loving Australian Shepherd. She loved coming to the grooming shop. Callie's owner was a very successful business woman. She was also very busy. Callie would come in for a bath and stay 2-3 days at a time. Callie really didn't seem to mind, as she was spoiled by everyone who worked at the Grooming Shop. When her owner would come to get her, we would all offer to adopt Callie, if she ever decided to give her up. We would all joke about who would get to keep her.. Any one of us would have taken her home

In early 2001, I had been having a rough week. My husband was out of town, I was getting prepared to move into a new home and my Shih Tzu was having kidney failure and had to be put down. Three days later, my Lhasa went out into the road and was hit. I say she was missing her friend and went looking for him as she never ventured to the road before. I was heartbroken. I remember thinking how empty my new house was without a dog around. 

Two days after I moved in, Callie's owner called up to the shop. Our manager, called out to everyone, "Callie's owner said she is bringing Callie in for us to adopt her out". I called dibs before anyone even had a chance to respond. 

I took Callie home in February 2001. She was a blessing to me. She loved the boys and having a family who would spend time with her. Callie loved to play fetch. Callie was loyal and loving. She was a chubby little Aussie, as her previous owner gave her treats  in lieu of attention. She was working it off now tho! 

In March, Callie started to pee on our wood floors. Callie was such an obedient dog, I knew there was another issue. I suspected a urinary tract infection. I treated with natural remedies and when that didn't work I took her in to the vet. I was stateside to find out that Callie was not plagued with a UTI, she was in the later stages of Type -1 diabetes. Her doctor said that with insulin she could live a few more years, without, less than a year. I began giving Callie injections twice a day. 

Callie lost weight over the summer, more than we had planned. When I took her to her first vet appt she was 65lbs.  I put her on a premium holistic puppy food and a seaweed supplement to help boost her immune system. She started to lose her eyesight as well. By fall, Callie was 40lbs and 90% blind, but she was happy. Callie woke up wagging her tail, and went to bed with a smile every day. 

Callie was a strong dog. She loved being a dog, more than any other dog I have met in my 16 years of working with pets. Callie went downhill fast that fall. It was hard to see her begin to suffer. But I waited for her to make that call. One day in November, she told me it was time. I took her in and said good-bye. We buried her in our back yard. I had never loved a dog as much as I loved Callie. I still cry every time I tell this story, even 11 years later.. She was a very special dog. 

For more information on Pet Diabetes, click here

A Little Bit About Me

As a teen I struggled with the decision to work with animals or go into the field of photography. I had dreams of working in wildlife rehabilitation and being a freelance photographer for National Geographic or a similar venue.

Life went forward and I found my way into a little pet grooming shop in Austin Tx. I worked there for about 8 years and moved out on my own. It wasn't till after I got out on my own that I began dabbling into pet photography taking before and after photos of my clients. 

I started taking portrait style photos about 4 years ago, although I prefer natural lifestyle photos. Animals are far easier to photograph in their natural environment.

Here are a few of my photos I am particularly fond of. Sadly, I lost many of my photos to a hard drive crash. Just all the more reason to create more photos.