Buddhist way to deal with fleas

[Adamantine]

Other than the author of "The 37 Ways of the Bodhisattvas"
perfect conduct of offering his own body to the hungry fleas--
If one is helping care for dogs who are flea infested--
considering the diseases they can and do carry and how they
can quickly infest an entire home-- does anyone
have any recommendations to get rid of fleas that don't involve killing?

Thanks!

[Josef]

I dont know of any way to get rid of fleas without killing them.
I havent intentionally killed anything is a very long time but would not hesitate to kill any number of fleas that were on my pet.
I have a primary responsibility to the animal that I have chosen to care for.
Its a tough situation but you might just have to kill them and offer mantra to them as you wash the infested pet.

We have to deal with our circumstances as skillfully as we can. By getting rid of the fleas you have now you will be preventing the necessity of getting rid of many more in the future and you will preserve the health of the pet you are directly committed to.

[edearl]

I dont know of any way to get rid of fleas without killing them.
I havent intentionally killed anything is a very long time but would not hesitate to kill any number of fleas that were on my pet.
I have a primary responsibility to the animal that I have chosen to care for.
Its a tough situation but you might just have to kill them and offer mantra to them as you wash the infested pet.

We have to deal with our circumstances as skillfully as we can. By getting rid of the fleas you have now you will be preventing the necessity of getting rid of many more in the future and you will preserve the health of the pet you are directly committed to.

To kill the fewest fleas, don't let them breed, a flea collar works well for control. Seven Dust is good to kill an infestation in the house, as it is supposed to be harmless to people and animals, but avoid making it airborne and breathing it anyway.

[Tilopa]

This:

http://www.joys-of-lavender.com/flea-control.html

[Adamantine]

Thanks everyone... I tried the lavender but the fleas didn't seem totally subdued..
Someone told me feeding dogs brewers yeast eliminated fleas... they wouldn't feed on them anymore.. anyone else know about this?

[LastLegend]

This will be hard on most of you: Don't raise pets. That's it.

[Pema Rigdzin]

This will be hard on most of you: Don't raise pets. That's it.

Uhhhh, how is this advice supposed to help someone who long since took on the responsibility of raising a pet and is trying to handle a flea problem as virtuously and compassionately as possible?

Secondly, for those who don't yet own pets, how does your advice jibe with the fact that millions of dogs and cats are sitting in animal shelters across the US just waiting to be put down because the shelters can't afford to care for them all? In your opinion, should we just wash our hands of them?

[LastLegend]

Uhhhh, how is this advice supposed to help someone who long since took on the responsibility of raising a pet and is trying to handle a flea problem as virtuously and compassionately as possible?

It will help for future reference not to be attached to owning a pet. No, it will not help with the current situation...owning a pet is clearly a case of attachment, now attaching to the pet that some people decide to kill the fleas...but keep searching there should be a natural way to repel the fleas.

Also you can give the pet up to adoption...there are many out there that will not put your pet down. There is also craigslist.

Secondly, for those who don't yet own pets, how does your advice jibe with the fact that millions of dogs and cats are sitting in animal shelters across the US just waiting to be put down because the shelters can't afford to care for them all? In your opinion, should we just wash our hands of them?

What should you do about the hunger problem that the globe is facing?

You want to to help animals, you have to do it systematically or at the root cause of the problem. Adopting a pet will not solve the problem.

[Adamantine]

I don't own pets for this reason among many others: I am temporarily helping take care of my parents dogs, otherwise known as dog-sitting. I've done this many times and never encountered an issue with fleas.

[Adamantine]

millions of dogs and cats are sitting in animal shelters across the US just waiting to be put down because the shelters can't afford to care for them all? In your opinion, should we just wash our hands of them?

These were rescue dogs. But the situation you describe is part of the pervasive nature of samsara, and the fact that we live in an ignorant, barbarian land. In NYC pretty much every apartment building or restaurant regularly exterminates large numbers of rats and roaches... a killing fields of sorts... and yet it is hard to imagine what the city would be like if these were allowed to fully take over these buildings...

[edearl]

millions of dogs and cats are sitting in animal shelters across the US just waiting to be put down because the shelters can't afford to care for them all? In your opinion, should we just wash our hands of them?

These were rescue dogs. But the situation you describe is part of the pervasive nature of samsara, and the fact that we live in an ignorant, barbarian land. In NYC pretty much every apartment building or restaurant regularly exterminates large numbers of rats and roaches... a killing fields of sorts... and yet it is hard to imagine what the city would be like if these were allowed to fully take over these buildings...

Modern man tries to be too sanitary; thus, they eliminate dogs and cats that control rodents. In turn, they must kill the rodents, which kill many insects. In turn, they exterminate insects with pesticides and live houses full of pesticides. Art Linkletter said it, "People are funny."

[Madeliaette]

wild pets are an option for the pets V no pets dilemna - sharing love and time with wildlife, rather than keeping an indoor animal. Where I used to live, we lived close to pigeon breeders. they often let stock they didnt want to keep free. once upon a time a pair of these freed show pigeons found our back yard.... a year or two later we had a family of pigeons living and breeding on our nieghbors roof that ate at our place - they mixed with the city flock and soon we had lots of loving wild pets.

I miss my pigeon friends now....the birds are not very friendly in this country compared to where I lived then. The pigeons taught me a lot... when my heart was tight to humans, it melted to these birds. To see a bird tread so gently across the grasses on the lawen, turned me against eating eggs. They were friends to me - sat on my windowsill listening to music with me, hopped the steps into the house to come find the bird seed and cheese tubs, they knew when i was sad or troubled. they didnt use words, yet i understood them and they me.... sorry, rqambled a bit there...

[edearl]

wild pets are an option for the pets V no pets dilemna - sharing love and time with wildlife, rather than keeping an indoor animal. Where I used to live, we lived close to pigeon breeders. they often let stock they didnt want to keep free. once upon a time a pair of these freed show pigeons found our back yard.... a year or two later we had a family of pigeons living and breeding on our nieghbors roof that ate at our place - they mixed with the city flock and soon we had lots of loving wild pets.

I miss my pigeon friends now....the birds are not very friendly in this country compared to where I lived then. The pigeons taught me a lot... when my heart was tight to humans, it melted to these birds. To see a bird tread so gently across the grasses on the lawen, turned me against eating eggs. They were friends to me - sat on my windowsill listening to music with me, hopped the steps into the house to come find the bird seed and cheese tubs, they knew when i was sad or troubled. they didnt use words, yet i understood them and they me.... sorry, rqambled a bit there...

More
When in my teens, a crow lived on an old refrigerator behind our house, next to the back door. His had a healed, previously injured wing. We took pity and fed him, but he was always too wild to touch. Eventually, we moved, which made me sad, because I worried about him--might have been her, IDK.

Many years later, we got a cat that, which we still have, that was fairly wild, so we fed her outside; though, she could be petted she does not like inside. As a result, we also fed feral cats, and soon had quite a colony. We went on vacation for a couple of weeks and the feral cats were gone when we returned, but our cat remained. Eventually, she came inside to eat and be warm during cold winter nights, but she still does not stay inside except to eat, be petted a little, and be warm on winter nights. Although, she will not be in the house if anyone visits. I am the only person who can pet her--she is my mostly wild pet.

We also have deer in the yard, but they are wild and stay away from anyone who is outside. We usually have wild racoons about the house that we fed occasionally, and once had a opossum that ate with them--all wild. When we moved into the house, a small opossum, probably the one that hung around the house, came sauntering into the house one night when the door was open. I picked him up by the tail and put him outside. He came back in! Again I picked him up by the tail and bowled him a few feet to emphasize we did not want him inside--he was unhurt by rolling across the yard but got the idea not to return inside--they can get rabies.

Wild pets are fun, but I have mixed feelings about feeding them, since it can make them too trustful of people, and they often carry fleas.

[asunthatneversets]

He goes into the reasoning behind having to take action eventually in this interview, which is cut off unfortunately in this video. But... this thread made me remember this interview.

[MalaBeads]

I have heard that pennyroyal is an effective deterrent. I have never used it though because we do not have fleas where I live.

Good luck to you.