The above photo is of my sister’s cat Egypt, this wonderful looking kitten is the offspring of a stray female black cat, that my sister adopted. 

In my shed, in a cage, as I write this, is a stray ginger and white tom cat who I have been feeding, he is going to be neutered tomorrow. I had no idea that trapping a cat would be such a long and drawn out affair.  It has taken me a full week to coax him into the trap, far enough to be able to catch him. I hate doing this, but as my veterinary nurse neighbour says ‘It has to be done’.

Natural Flea Control

I’ve been finding out about Natural Flea Control and will share what I have discovered so far with you.  I don’t know about you, but over the last few years, I have become less and less happy with using preparatory flea sprays. If you look at the advice on the product’s label, there are warnings to the human who is doing the spraying (or spot on treatment) not to breathe in the fumes, or let the spray make contact with the skin, for even a minute.  The poor cat has to live encased in this spray for months on end.

Nutrition and Exercise As Part Of Flea Prevention

I have been made very much aware recently, that the very best way to keep fleas at bay, is to have healthy cats and that the best way to do this, is to give them a good varied diet and make sure that they have plenty of exercise. 

I tried out the Brewer’s Yeast method on my cats for the first time last year, together with making improvements to their diet. I made sure that their food was varied and alternated between raw meat, cooked fish and good quality tinned food.  As a result, the only one of the cats to suffer from fleas to any great extent, was my oldest and most unhealthy cat, Ginge. The rest of the cats were virtually flea free.  I was pleasantly surprised that these methods worked.

Brewer’s Yeast Flea Prevention Treatment 

Brewers Yeast is an effective flea prevention method, it is both inexpensive, safe and relatively easy to administer. Apparently, fleas don’t like the taste and smell of the Thiamine that is found in abundance in Brewers Yeast and they will avoid animals whose skin and blood tastes of it. You can imagine the flea taking a bite, pulling a face and saying ‘Yuck, how disgusting’ and then jumping off the cat!. 

Dosage

To keep a cat clear of fleas, the recommended dosage of brewer’s yeast is 1 teaspoon per day.  You will need to begin supplementing your cats diet well before the onset of the flea season (here its July – September) as this method takes at least a month to become effective. 

Keep a vigilant eye on your cat while you are following this regime, as although excess B vitamins will naturally be flushed out of your cat’s body in his or her urine, excess amounts of brewer’s yeast can cause skin allergies in some cats.

Brewers Yeast is easily available and inexpensive.  Obtainable in powder or tablet form, it can be ordered online, or bought from you local pharmacy or home brew shop.

For  advice on natural cat care and keeping your companion animal in optimum shape, I  recommend: Veterinary Secrets Revealed

You can find useful information about raw food diets for cats at: http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/bybrawdiets.htm

You can read a very good article on the subject of natural flea control here: http://www.eartheasy.com/live_non-toxic_flea_control.html

Brewers Yeast, cats we love you, flea prevention, flea prevention treatment, natural flea control