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A reader (Bloomington MN) on 10/05/2005

We run a foster-care home for cats. We take the animals from a shelters dealing with an overflow population problem. I've been including apple cider vinegar in cats diet, which is helping, but am still having the following problems - even with meds from the vet. Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to get rid of the following:

FLEAS - currently on Frontline, ACV dip, and I've flea bombed the house 4 times and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. FVR - upper respitory infection that keeps going bacterial and can't shake
the viral. Feed cats ACV in soft food and vet put animals on an antibiotic, Clavamox.

CONJUNCTIVITIS - Cats are on eye drop meds from vet but not getting rid of problem

EAR MITES AND EAR YEAST INFECTIONS - On two ear drop meds from vet for both. The ears are looking better but cats are still trying to scratch way down inside their ears. I've made a wash with ACV, Witch Hazel, Olive Oil and Distilled Water. Is there something else I should be putting in wash to get rid of the problem?

RINGWORM - vet is having me pick up another drug from our local pharmacy today. We are having an adoption weekend a month from now and we will be taking in 13 more cats to get them healthy before the event. We are really looking for any kind of guidance. We are really not happy with the amount of drugs we are using and the vet doesn't offer any holistic remedies. Most cats range from 2-4 months in age. If you could even get me pointed in the right direction we'd all really appreciate it. This is a wonderful website and I wanted to thank you for creating it.

Replied By Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 10/12/2005

Here is how I would do it differently:

I've been including apple cider vinegar in cats diet, which is helping, but am still having the following problems - even with meds from the vet.

This is o.k.

FLEAS - currently on Frontline, ACV dip, and I've flea bombed the house 4 times and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.

You will never ever get rid of it doing this old method. Try this. One to Two Tablespoon of Tannic acid per Gallon of water. And spray lightly on the carpet or floor. Leave it then vaccum. The tannic acid will denature the eggs and kill them on contact. Follow this with another sprayer, using one tablespoon of sodium perborate per gallon and spray. The sodium perborate will kill all the eggs and mites in case tannic acid does not. don't mix sodium perborate and tannic acid just yet I haven't done experiments on that yet! However, if you take baths with a cat. Always use this. Get 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water. And wash the ears, and the whole of the cat. DO NOT DRY. The sodium perborate will kill all the eggs. And you will save a ton of money when you finally found out you don't need Frontline at all!

FVR - upper respitory infection that keeps going bacterial and can't shake the viral. Feed cats ACV in soft food and vet put animals on an antibiotic, Clavamox.

Cats seem to like colloidal silver. Perhaps mix that might help too. The best formula to solve the FVR I found is liquid fulvic acid you buy from garden shops, 1 teaspoon per liter of water. Works everytime!

CONJUNCTIVITIS - Cats are on eye drop meds from vet but not getting rid of problem

A weak solution of borax or boric acid (they sell in drugs stores might help. Colloidal silver when sprayed to their eyes seems to work very well.

Washing them with sodium perborate should solve the problems. The mix has been mentioned.

Replied By Rachel (Underwood, IN) on 10/20/2008

Just a question about the reply. Where can I get Tannic Acid? I have looked online and even called stores. One form of the tannic acid I can find is a powder which I am hesitant to buy because of the handeling of it seems a little too much to be around my pets. Scarey!!

There is also some that you can order that is for medicinal perposes. Tannic acid has anti-bacterial, anti-enzymatic and astringent properties. Tannic acid has constringing action upon mucous tissues such as tongue and inside of mouth. The ingestion of tannic acid caused constipation and can be used to treat diarrhoea (in the absence of fever or inflammation). The anti-oxidant and anti-mutagenic properties of tannic acid are beneficial.

However, tannic acid should not be used continuously or in high quantities ad it slows down the absorption of iron and possibly other trace minerals. A study by Afsana K et al entitled Reducing effect of ingesting tannic acid on the absorption of iron, but not of zinc, copper and manganese by rats. published by Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry (March 2004) concluded that the usual intake of polyphenols is relatively safe, but that a high intake by supplementation or by dietary habit of tannin affects only the iron level. Tannic acid can also reduce the effectiveness of digestive enzymes.

Also sodium perborate? Is that Borax powder? It is used as a bleaching agent for laundry.

Replied By Rachel (Bangkok, Thailand) on 10/21/2008

Dear Rachel,

Actually tannic acid is found in tea and more in green teas. The concentration of green teas or ordinary tea contains tannic acid around 1/8 teaspoon per liter of water. So preparing an ordinary tea of one liter will have that same concentration of tannic acid. In certain research studies where the concentration has no effect on healthy cells at all its maximum concentration were around 1/4 teaspoon of tannic acid per one liter of water. However at that concentration it kills microbes and pathogens.

I used tannic acid myself mixed in drinking water at 1/4 per liter of water as a way to remove heavy metals from my body such as the dreaded cadmium and lead. Tannic acid is also a wonderful chelator of the major cause aging - free metal iron, which is a free iron radical known in chemistry as the Fenton Reaction, the primary theory of free radical of aging.

Tannic acid is the major factor of how black inks are made, whenever tannic acid is reacted with any iron salts or iron compounds. Tannic acid in traditional medicine they actually used far more higher dose than those mentioned here to relieved of diarrhea and loose stool. The use of tannic acid in traditional folk medicine has been around for a very long time in the United States.

Athletes used this mixture in foot powder to kill fungus on their feet, so it becomes a drying agent. In fact the 2 tablespoons of tannic acid per gallon on water is relatively too weak to have health effects, except positive ones on removal of cadmium, which is found in lead free gasoline, but is extremely toxic in humans. Parts per billion of cadmium is more then enough to cause serious health effects and may be more toxic then mercury. Cadmium also causes high blood pressure and other problems.

The only effective remedy to remove cadmium I know of in research studies is the tannic acid. So even if people have qualms about the use of tannic acid, then just make a strong green tea in a glass teapot. The problem about this is the cost of green tea is very high, compared to a similar preparation at similar concentrations when preparing tannic acid of same concentration as those of green tea.

Much of the warnings of anything is the extreme uses. You can die from drinking too much water and you can also die from eating too much salt. The key is always moderation.

Ted

Replied By Kelly (Athens, Georgia) on 01/02/2009

I have been using diatomaceous Earth (food Grade) and have completely rid my home and pets of fleas, ticks and any other critters that have an exoskeleton. It is completely harmless to warm bloded animals/people and will also take care of internal parasites as well. Make sure it is food grade. Just google it. It is very inexpensive and will kill fleas and such on contact. You can also dust the pet beds, furniture and such with no worries.

Replied By Dianna (Austin, Tx) on 01/03/2009

i know that some people say that garlic is poisonous to cats - but my vet disagrees and i have used garlic capsules on ALL my cats for years - and i've had a LOT of cats. it is very easy to just push a couple of capsules (coat them with olive oil) down a kittens throat. this will make fleas not want to live on the cats and may help with other health problems - including worms. start with a couple of small capsules first and later only one a day will work. it must be the smelly kind - de-odorized does not work. also i have put the oil from the capsules in their ears for relief from ear mites and it works well. i would even try the garlic on the ringworm directly. ACV is supposed to help with ringworm too - but you may need to apply the ACV full strength. virgin coconut oil also has similar properties - antifungal.

i would not try tea tree oil on cats - but someone wrote recently about collodial silver working in ear mites. i've never tried it though.

Replied By Holly (Martinsville, In) on 12/03/2009

Hi Ted. Just wondering if a mixture of borax and hydrogen peroxide would work instead of the sodium perborate, saw that it was composed of the former two above....would be much cheaper for me as i already have them both... If so, how much of each? thanks

Replied By Srheadale (Las Vegas, Nv) on 04/17/2010

I have a stray that decided to move in, she was pretty wild it took us a year and 1/2 to get her to trust us. she developed terrible ear mite infection, I couldnt hardly stand the smell and a friend suggested using a dishwashing detergent a couple of drops in a small bowel of water. I started out with a very wet rag to loosen the build up, would do this 1X per day until I could see into the ear again. then I used an old rx bottle and "concentrated" the solution and used an 1cc dropper squirted into the ear rubbed the ear to work it around. used the concentrated solution about 3 to 4 days, she has been fine since then.

Replied By Jill (San Diego) on 03/17/2014

Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth on carpets & in kitty bedding, just a light even dusting. Also may be used safely directly on cats & kittens. Comb out dead fleas next day, and vacuum carpets. It is best to buy food grade diatomaceous earth.

Replied By Denise ( Florida) on 04/23/2015

As far as fleas go, diatamateous earth (food grade) works for me. We have for dogs, a cat and a ferret. You can put it on the animal but sometimes drys their skin. Just sprinkle DE in your carpet, on your tile and under the bed and in pretty areas. The DE gets on the evidently exoskeleton of the flea and slices it. Be careful with ferrets because of their respiratory issues. A dab of tea tree oil at the nap of the neck works well as fleas don't like the smell.

Replied By Denise ( Florida) on 04/23/2015

To Reader from Bloomington, Mn. I rescued a kitten that weighed 1 & 1/2lbs. And was covered with ringworm, after spending $300 and was not cured & I got it, I mixed 1 part bleach to 10 parts of water & tried it on myself for 3 days to try for skin irritation before I tried it on my kitten. Oh, very important, I bought a blacklight to spot the affected areas as they will glow under the light. I had no irritation and it killed the ringworm on the spot. I tried it on kitty with the same results. I did rub vitamin e oil and allow on the area just in case. It worked immediately with no adverse reaction.

Replied By Vicki (Tx) on 11/22/2015

Food grade diatomaceous earth.

Replied By Susan (Miami Springs, Fl) on 01/11/2016

Food grade Diatomaceous Earth Is the best remedy for killing any insects! Fleas, ticks, bedbugs, cockroaches, spiders! Also great against mange! And when the animal licks it off, it kills internals parasites! Wonderful stuff! Buy in any feed store or online!

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