We also use diatomaceous earth around the house, inside the house & also on Ruby. We put the d. earth into an old sock, & just dust her down every couple of days. I even rub it on her face & ears; rear end private parts. We don't give her any more medications than necessary since she's still intact & her co owner keeps talking about breeding her(personally I don't think she's good breeding quality but that's another story). The d. earth keeps down the fleas, but also keeps down the palmetto bugs & ants. We have a problem with them since the lemurs are such sloppy eaters. It doesn't bother the feral cats, who hunt under the lemur cage (fruit rats). Florida is a whole different world; all the pests can run you over since it never gets cold enough to kill them off. The rest of the dogs get comfortis; the house cat Lucky gets revolution(I think).
We also pull out all the bottom drawers in the kitchen & dust there. Dust all the upholstered furniture. My mother used to buy a flea collar & cut up a chunk of it & suck it up in the vacuum cleaner so that it might kill any fleas she would vacuum.
Years ago when I was really poor, I lived in Tulsa OK. It's kind of semi-tropical there & the fleas & ticks could really be a problem. I couldn't really afford to treat the dog with anything fancy, so he would get a bath once a week with Joy dish detergent. The fleas would die off, but of course it didn't have any effect on the eggs. We also would spray the entire house with a spray from the feed store. The house had wood floors, & wood paneling; ticks loved it. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever was a big problem so we had to be diligent about the ticks too. I would soak the dog down, massage the Joy into him, & let it sit for about 5 - 10 minutes; rinse it off. Then comb him with a flea comb.
---------- Post added at 10:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 AM ----------
I forgot to tell you: I do volunteer work with an animal rescue who has kangaroos & wallabies. The roos have their own special little huts. Every day, twice a day, they throw d. earth all over the floor & walls of their huts to keep the pests down. Naturally it gets on the roos as they come & go & turn around & lay down. Doesn't seem to bother them at all.
