Feedback on Fleas & Ticks
(Page 2 of 2)
January/February 1973
By the Mother Earth News editors
More on prevention: Keep weeds and brush under control and, if you must, use a pesticide such as chlordane. (We haven't done this, but a county health official here suggests it if the situation is desperate.
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Please remember that ticks are dangerous, especially in summer. They can carry spotted tick fever, which may be fatal . . . especially, if it isn't treated in time. It looks and feels a lot like flu, so it's very tricky. If you pull a tick off your dog, never squash it with a finger or fingernail . . . that's a good way to get infected.
Hope this works for you, Larry and Nina. Good luck, and than MOTHER for being a go-between.
Debbi K
Durham, N.C.
Fleas on dogs could probably be handled by powdered pennyroyal, also called tickweed, which is probably good for ticks, too . . . it does a thorough job on goat lice. Indiana Botanic Gardens, Hammond, Indiana carries the American pennyroyal. But don't let anyone tell you that herbs don't have side effects . . . some do.
Orissa Rines
Alton, N.H.
Larry and Nina Knapp asked in Dear MOTHER NO, 16 for a remedy for ticks. Had the same problem myself in Arizona—our house, three dogs were full of them—and found a remedy that really works. Purina Dog Powder (from your Purina Chow dealer) is great stuff. It smells like talcum powder and keeps the animals free from ticks, fleas, lice, etc. Even the house became free of the pests (they would crawl on the dogs every night but be killed by the powder as soon as they did. We used to pick ticks off our pets by the hundreds every evening . . . but after we applied this powder several times our dogs became completely free of the pests. I wouldn't be without it.
Mrs. R.L. Sossaman
Riverside, Calif.
Readers who aren't dead set against all chemical pest control method might want to try the Purina product. Our veterinary consultant, however, tells us that although it's not harmful to dogs, the Purina "cure" should never be used on cats because some of its ingredients are toxic to them . . . which would also make me think twice about havingthe product around humans.—MOTHER.
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