DISCLAIMER: I am not a veterinarian. I am only speaking from personal experience. Before introducing a new means of flea prevention and control, remember to consult your pet’s vet about the safety of the method.
Et alors, . . .
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Are you impressed with my fancy French post title?
“But what does it mean?” you might ask. “And why French?”
Well, it means “The flealess Aged Cat,” which is the subject of this post. I don’t know why the French, except that sometimes, The Aged and I conversed in French. He seemed to like the sound of it. And why not? C’est une belle langue! A lovely veil for a not so pretty topic.
Why am I writing about fleas, now that The Aged Cat is beyond the reach of the little demons? Yesterday, I was asked to look at some online comments about the toxicity of certain pet products, in particular flea repellents. I’m afraid I can’t comply with that request at present. In an effort to “buck up,” I’ve imposed on myself a temporary moratorium on bad news intake, since news itself can achieve a level of toxicity.
However, animals are suffering needlessly, and preventing that suffering is a cause I can support. To that end, I will share with you how The Aged and The Tortie remained virtually flea-free from the age of 8 or 9 years until their deaths — a period of nearly 10 years.
First let me say, we tried flea collars, flea tags, flea shampoos. They didn’t work. An attempt at flea powder made us all unhappy, and I was deeply suspicious of it, since the cats were liable to lick it off. We also tried a homemade spray of pennyroyal, eucalyptus and citronella — just a few drops diluted in about 2 pints of water — NOT effective and also suspect.
Here’s what worked for us:
• Borax was the most effective and gentlest tool I found to combat fleas. I read about it’s use for this purpose, and so I decided to give it a try. At the time, we were living on what was essentially a sand dune in California, and the fleas there thrived year round. Before using the Borax, I isolated the cats in another room. I then readied the area in much the same manner as I would’ve done before shampooing the carpets — i.e. picking up, vacuuming, moving as much furniture (and other stuff) out of the way as possible. I then poured a line of Borax all along the baseboards, to block the fleas’ line of retreat, and after that, sprinkled Borax over the carpeting. Next, I took a broom and swept the Borax down into the pile of the carpeting. After a few hours, I vacuumed the Borax up. A few months later, I repeated the process.
Why this is effective? — Fleas will drop off of your pets and into your carpets where they lay eggs. Borax contains boric acid and sodium, which burn and dehydrate the fleas and their larvae. Sounds brutal doesn’t it? As Le Vieux would say, “C’est la guerre.”
Nota bene: In large quantities, Borax can be harmful to other living organisms, including cats and humans. Be sure to consult your veterinarian before you try this method. If you try it, distribute the Borax sparingly. Small quantities applied every few months should be sufficient, especially if you combine this approach with combing for fleas, as The Aged Cat, The Tortie and I did. I wear a dust mask, to prevent inhaling the Borax particles when I am spreading it and vacuuming. After vacuuming, you shouldn’t be able to see Borax particles on the surface of your carpet. If you do, you should probably vacuum again.
• The humble but mighty Flea comb + a jar of warm water & dishsoap: Le Vieux aimait beaucoup son peigne anti-puce! The Aged really loved his fleacomb! 5 or 10 minutes a day was all we needed. (If you don’t have 5 or 10 minutes a day to sit with your pet, fleas may not be his only problem.) We sat on the carpet, so that any fleas jumping ship and scurrying down into the pile had the residual Borax to contend with. The jar of soapy water was where I drowned the fleas caught in the Aged’s comb. We always started near the base of the ears and sides of his nose. We started there for 3 reasons:
(1) fleas like to congregate there and are most easily caught where the hair is shorter and less dense;
(2) they’ll start heading toward the other end of the cat/dog, instead of into his ears and nose;
(3) cats luuuuuv being groomed in these spots, and it helps to relax them — very important if you want a cooperative cat!
• A gentle, organic shampoo which is non-toxic to cats. It’s important to keep in mind that as soon as you’re done bathing your cat, your cat’s gonna bathe herself. A lot of shampoos claim to kill and repel fleas. Personally, it seemed to me that the most effective aspects of the bath were the washing off of fleas, eggs, and flea-dirt and then the drowning of fleas in the tub. Don’t forget to wash first and carefully around your pets nose, mouth, ears and anus to discourage the fleas from trying to escape into these orifices.
The best news about the bathing of the cats — by the second or third Borax application, while keeping up the daily combing, it became apparent that I did not have to bathe the cats again. Not for fleas anyway. The Aged and The Tortie went years with no bathing (by me) at all and when, in their last year or two, they had to be bathed by me, fleas were not the reason.
• Other things I think were helpful?
Herbs in the garden, including pennyroyal which is often associated with deterring fleas.
Mouse prevention. If you have mice in your house, they likely have fleas, and the fleas may decide your cats are tastier than mice. This happened to The Aged and The Tortie when some mice, scared out of their nests by some construction in a neighboring building, decided to move into ours. The Aged and The Tortie not only acquired fleas from the mice, but also tapeworms from the fleas. Poor kits! That was an unpleasant occurrence, indeed!
Chanting each morning as the sun comes up: À BAS LES PUCES! À BAS LES PUCES! À BAS LES PUCES!
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Animals, Cats, Pets | Tagged: Animals, Cats, Humane Society, kittens, pet adoption, shelter cats | 
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