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Locally Family Owned & Operated Since 2010
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Welcome Warm Weather...Fleas & Ticks Not So Much!
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Are We Killing Fleas & Ticks At The Expense Of Our Pets Health?
If you're a pet parent, you know how important it is to keep your pet free of parasites, especially those pesky fleas and ticks. But are the monthly spot-on's, oral tablets & flea collars that you are using highly toxic not only to your pets, but also to you and your children?
As the weather warms up and the fear of seeing fleas and ticks rises, so does the urge to poison those horribly dreaded bugs at any cost.
Were you aware that j
ust 50 years ago, 1 in 100 dogs got cancer? Today it is a staggering 1 in 1.65 dogs.
It is more important than ever to decrease our pet's toxin load and one way we can do this is to stop using toxic pesticides.
Before you put another pesticide on your dog, or give them a oral pill for fleas and ticks, be sure to scroll down to the article below to see what Holistic Veterinarian Dr. Will Falconer writes about some of the more common flea & tick "preventatives".
To help you with finding a natural approach to flea & tick prevention, we have listed some of our favorites that we have found to be effective and safe. All can be found at Bark Avenue.
- Cedarcide - Powered By Nature - Protect your pet, home and lawn with these naturally-sourced sprays, dips, cedar granules and more. This product is also used to rid your lawn of ants. Non-toxic to pets and children.
- Buck Mountain Parasite Dust - Made with Organic Neem and Yarrow, this is a great preventative product to have on hand. Can be placed directly on your pet, on their bedding, etc.
- Earth Animal Herbal Flea & Tick Collar - This 100% herbal flea collar is a safe alternative to traditional toxic flea & tick collars
- Only Natural Pet Flea & Tick Tag - This non-toxic tag consists of steel & nickel with crystals that prevent fleas and ticks from staying on your pet.
- Urth Pet Flea Powder - This formula is based on Diatomacous Earth, which is another safe alternative to pesticides. It can also be placed directly on your pet and on their bedding and at doorways, etc.
- Ark Naturals Flea Flicker! Tick Kicker! - A botanical formula that was developed as a natural, botanical alternative to chemical pesticides in controlling fleas and ticks on your pet.
- Wondercide - Natural Flea & Tick Control is a fast-acting product that kills and repels fleas, ticks and mosquitoes and offers prevention and treatment in a safe, effective spray. As a natural alternative to monthly chemical treatments like drops and pills, this powerful repellent both kills and repels with no toxic effects to pets or children.
- Essential Oils - We have some recipes regarding the best essential oil combinations to kill and repel fleas & ticks.
Don't forget to read the article below from Dr. Will Falconer regarding safety and flea & tick prevention.
Right below Dr. Falconer's article you will find details regarding events scheduled in June.
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Poisoning Fleas, Pets, & Kids
Dr. Will Falconer
Dogs Naturally Magazine
If you knew something was poison, you'd want to keep it away from your pet, right? Protecting your loved ones is natural, but countless dogs and cats get poisoned on a regular basis, all in the name of "flea control."
Score: Clever Marketing 1, Pets 0.
Most flea control products are pesticides. Period. Pesticides put your pet at risk.
You have natural flea control options, so please Stop. Using. Poisons.
The best flea treatments are the ones that kill fleas without making your animals (or your family) sick.
Cancer and More
It's been known for over 20 years that exposure to pesticides increases the risk of cancer. An early
study showed dogs getting malignant lymphoma in far higher incidence than expected when their owners used lawn pesticides.
Fipronil, the active ingredient in a popular topical flea product (Frontline) has been associated with aggressive behavior, kidney damage, and "drastic alterations in thyroid function." It's extremely toxic to fish, birds, and bees.
How These Products Cannot Be Safe
Labels tell a lot, but you have to read the fine print to keep your animal out of harm's way. You'll see warnings accompanying all pesticides, if you look for them.
In the case of the most popular products, the "topical tubes" like Frontline, Advantage, and their cousins, the warning is largely aimed at you, the user.
"Keep out of the reach of children.
Children should not come in contact with the application site for 30 minutes after application.
Causes eye irritation. Harmful if swallowed. Do not get in eyes or on clothing. Avoid contact with skin. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling.
If contact with skin or clothing occurs, take off contaminated clothing. Wash skin immediately with plenty of soap and water."
The companies are warning you not to get this in or on your body and especially your child's body, but it's somehow just fine to put on your pet's skin?
Umm, where's the logic, there, exactly?
The claim is that these topical flea control poisons somehow magically don't get absorbed. They supposedly stay only in the sebum, the fat layer of the outer skin, and don't get inside your animal.
But wait. Skin is not lifeless, right? It's not like some impervious shell we and our pets live in. It's a living, breathing
organ, supplied with blood capillaries, and full of pores.
[You remember pores, don't you? Those damned things that filled with sebum or got clogged up in other nasty ways when you went through adolescence? There were a lot of them on your face, remember? Well, they are all over.]
Living, breathing, feeling organ: skin
These same pores are points of exchange. Oil or sebum is there to give that shine to hair or skin, sweat issues forth to cool the core when they open, goose bumps rise, hair stands on end when a dog feels threatened - in short, this is an active, living surface!
Safe for my Dog, Not for my Child?
Common sense should tell you to think twice about these pesticides being risky to you and your kids but not your dog or cat.
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These are poisons that we are applying to our pets," said EPA Assistant Administrator Steve Owens in 2010.
Bigger, Better, Faster: The Story of Resistance
There's a movie called
Sweet Land, about Scandinavian immigrants in Minnesota in the early part of the 20th century. It's one of the sweetest, most human movies I've ever seen, and I highly recommend it.
In the 1920s, as portrayed here, the land was largely untouched, and farming it was the goal to make a life for one's family. The draft horse was the farmer's means to getting the land worked. Plowing, disking, planting, hauling off trees, pulling the thresher, taking the crops to the mill - the horse was indispensable in all this work.
The movie is set right at the beginning of the industrial age, so tractors had just been introduced. Frandsen, one of the main characters, a lovable fool, has one, and is so proud of his new mechanical horse that can do the work of an entire team of six or more draft horses.
"Bigger, better, faster," he grins, telling his friend's new bride, who's just arrived from Norway, in awe at this new country.
Like the pesticides used in farming, against weed or weevil, the problem of resistance develops in the targeted victims. A certain percentage of any living population of pest has a gene or three that confer resistance to the chemical coming at them. It's the way nature is made.
We're Alive, Pass It On!
These resistant ones breed with the other resistant survivors, and those genes naturally get selected for. They are passed on to subsequent offspring, who grow increasingly resistant to the poison with each new generation.
This drives the poison makers crazy. They lose money if they can't kill the pest, and so, they make their poisons "bigger, better, faster."
Antibiotics are a classic example. When penicillin first appeared, it killed most bacteria and was the miracle drug of its day. Now, several generations of people later, its powers are greatly reduced, and successively more toxic classes of antibiotics have been created.
And people taking these new generations of drugs experience more toxic side effects than plain old penicillin ever brought them.
The same course happened in weed control and herbicides, and it's happening as we go down the path of flea poisons.
The label for Merial's latest and greatest claims "The killing action of FRONTLINE TRITAK For Dogs kills fleas fast..."
Unfortunately, "bigger, better, faster" in the pesticide world also means "more toxic."
Natural Flea Control to the Rescue
You don't want fleas sucking your pet's blood, causing itching and discomfort, that's a given.
But poisoning your pet to kill the fleas isn't much of an option either, is it? The price for that is illness and early death. A bit like torching your house to kill the ants in your cupboards.
There are safe, natural flea control alternatives, and they are still convenient and easy to use, but don't poison your dog or cat (or your kids!).
In our rush for convenience, we may forget the baby as we toss out the dirty bath water. Far better will be to spend a bit of time understanding the enemy (here, the flea or tick), and choosing your best flea treatment wisely.
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Upcoming Events
No Events Scheduled for May. Three Events Are Scheduled for June.
June
Saturday, June 2nd
12 - 1pm
Flea & Tick Control Naturally, Featuring Austin Lilley from Cedercide
Join us to learn more about treating your pet, home and lawn naturally for pests. Austin Lilley from Cedarcide visited with our staff recently to give us information and usage about all Cedarcide products. We found Austin's training to be so informative that we asked him to come back and speak to our customers.
If you are interested in joining us, please call 817-656-2275 to sign up. There is no fee for this, however there space is limited.
Saturday, June 9th
12 - 1pm
The Benefits of Chiropractic Work For Your Pet
We are pleased to host Dr. Jacqueline Botts, D.C. to discuss the benefits of chiropractic therapies for our companion animals. Dr. Botts is a practicing chiropractor for both humans and animals. We are looking forward to hearing more about how chiropractic work can bring your pets into balance.
If you are interested in joining us, please call 817-656-2275 to sign up
. There is no fee for this, however there space is limited.
Saturday, June 16th
10:30 - 5:00 pm
The Pet Fur'tographer
The Pet fur'tographer will be returning for more super cute themed photos. This time, her themes include July 4th, Baseball, Beach, Red Dog House and Spring Flowers!
If you are interested in signing up for an appointment, please call 817-656-2275.
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Dr Will Falconer has written the e-book, "Vital Animals Don't Get Heartworms".
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