Natural Flea & Tick Repellent

With the flea & tick season fast approaching now is a great time to start thinking about building your dog's natural defences against these parasites.

With more and more dogs coming through our doors with allergies or sensitive skin issues, we wanted to be able to offer a more natural, gentle approach to parasite control than some of the harsh

 pharmaceutical chemical options that are out there. 

Chemical flea and tick treatments are powerful toxic pesticides that can accumulate in your dog’s blood and skin. Ticks and fleas must bite and suck blood from your dog’s body before becoming paralysed and dying from the pesticides. It can take many hours for this to happen, in which time they are still able to spread disease and lay eggs.

These chemical pesticides also come with a long list of side effects for your pet, including nuerological issues in otherwise fit and healthy dogs. In September 2018 the FDA put a warning on Isoxazoline flea and tick products for this reason. Side effects can range from seizures, convulsions, skin disorders, ataxia and even death.

Isoxazoline products include:

Bravecto Fluralaner

Nexgaurd Afoxalner

Simparoca sarolaner

Easecto Sarolaner 3

Credelio Lotilaner

Nexgaurd Spectra milbemycin oxime + Afoxalaner

Bravecto Plus fluralaner/moxidectin

Revolution Plus Selamectin and Sarolaner

Simparica Triple Sarolaner moxidectin 

Using a natural preventative is much safer and equally effective if done correctly. The main differences using natural prevention is your aim is to repel fleas and ticks so that they don’t go on to your dog in the first place.

Using monthly chemical treatments for fleas and ticks on a dog without a parasite issue would be the same as us treating monthly for headlice just on the off chance that we might catch them.

To prevent against fleas and ticks Neem Oil, and Neem Powder are very effective if used topically on your pet's coat.

We stock a great natural supplement in store that can be added to your pet's food daily to boost their defences and make them less appealing to parasites. 

Hackney Dog House Flea & Tick Repellent is made with 8 natural human grade ingredients, it is completely safe for your dog and your home. It comes with no side effects and doesn’t require you to isolate pets or avoid contact after application like you do when using chemical treatments.

Ingredients:

Fenugreek, Ginger, Rosemary, Thyme, Mint, Neem, Asco, Lemon Balm.

Suitable for use in dogs over 12 weeks of age, not to be used for pregnant or whelping bitches.

For maximum effect we recommend starting this product 1 month before the start of flea and tick season to allow your dog to build up their defences.

When using all natural methods for flea and tick control we recommend using a multi layered approach for best results. Pop in and speak to a member of the team to find out more about this.

Worms.

Pumpkin Seeds

To prevent worms in your pet you can use ground pumpkin seeds in their food. Pumpkin seeds are from the Gourd family, they contain an amino acid called curcurbitacin which paralyses and eliminates worms.

Dosage: 1/2 tsp per 10kg of body weight per day.

Garlic

You can also use fresh garlic, it is a common misconception that garlic is highly toxic to dogs. When these studies were first carried out garlic was given to dogs in huge amounts which caused adverse effects, if we consumed garlic in the same quantities it is likely to have caused the same effects for us. The important thing to remember here is “The dose makes the poison”, everything has a lethal dose. Given in the correct amounts garlic is far from toxic and has many benefits.

To get the full benefits garlic needs to be chopped, and left out for 15 minutes to release the allicin (the active ingredient), you can also use a garlic press.

Dosage: 1/2tsp per 10kg of body weight, 2-3 times per week.

(Garlic should not be used for puppies under 6 months of age, pregnant or whelping  bitches, Japanese breeds such as Akitas and Shiba-Inus. It should not be used for dogs with a history of seizures, and dogs on certain medications.)

Furry Treats

Feeding furry treats such as hairy rabbits ears or hairy cows ears can act as a natural cleanser throughout the digestive tract. They can help to pass through any worms or eggs that may be present in your dog, think of them like natures pipe cleaner.

Hairy treats should be given 2-3 times a week to help prevent worms.

Worm counts.

When using natural worming preventatives it a good idea to carry out worm counts, this can be done through companies such as Feclab. Worm counts check for the presence of eggs, and allow you to only treat your dogs when necessary.

Worm counts should be carried out every 3 months.