Garlic for Fleas and Ticks
Larry (Okla City, Okla ) on 10/12/2008:
I have been feeding my dogs garlic for years. I just put it on top of the food in the diced form or cook it with meat. I always cook meat for them even though raw is supposedly better. I have also always used tumeric too to prevent inflammation, adding herbs last to the cooking process. I am still really fighting parasites. I think I have more of a problem than my dog. I bathe my dog pretty frequently but plan to bathe him more. I will also try cloves and cayenne. My chiropractor told me to drink cider vinegar water daily. I also was curious about the chewing tobacco deal. Thanks for this site. It is very informative.
Kate (London, ON) on 07/28/2008:
I read the topic about garlic and dogs. Needless to say, I had to try it just because I don't believe in all the chemicals that the vets recommend and personally I think they cause alot more harm then good. Leaning towards the natural approach, both my dogs had fleas. I mixed olive oil and garlic powder. I have my lab (the one with the worse case of fleas) a small clove of garlic. The 8 month old pup I didn't give him any. So far my lab has not SCRATCHED ONCE, in the last hour. He was constantly scratching every 3-5 mins. This would go on all day. Finally I bathed them with the oil/garlic powder and then washed them with dish soap. All is well and they are both very happy dogs.
Miles (Oceanside, California) on 06/16/2008:
I use to have a German Shepard, and every year around summer time he would become infested with fleas. Flea/tick shampoo was pretty much useless, as I would have to bathe him with it 4-5 times before all the fleas were gone. However, the eggs would still live on, so a week later he would be infested all over again. I had enough so I took him to the Vet, who strangely gave me garlic pills to give him. He told me most Vets don't recommend it, but he has been giving his dogs garlic for years and they've lived healthy lives. My dog hated it, and it was very difficult to get him to swallow it(even if I put it in the back of his throat, or wrap it in a treat). So I started chopping cloves daily and mixing it with plain white rice(the chopped garlic sticks to the rice so he has to eat it). About a week later, I started to notice something...no more fleas! The only side effect I saw(or smelled) was a bitter smelling flatulence. Every year, around mid-May, I would chop cloves and mix it with rice daily. My neighbor said I was "killing" my dog slowly, but his dog always was sick or had some kind of problem, and he would feed her as much RX pills as your average American family takes(needless to say that's a lot). Of course, his dog died, and it was very sad because he thought synthetic man-made pills wasn't the reason. His exact words were something like "she was an unlucky dog". She never even got to see 10, she died at 9 years old from complications, and they had to put her down. However, my dog lived to see 17, and every time I would take him to the vet they would tell me how healthy my dog was, how healthy his coat looked, and they could never find worms. I only gave my dog garlic daily between May-August, so maybe excessively giving them garlic might lead to anemia. However, I don't believe that since some of my friends give their dogs garlic daily year-round and they're healthy. I now have a year old Boxer, who like many Boxers, has minor digestive problems. When he was a pup he would vomit alot and get diarrhea. He also started getting fleas(not nearly as bad as my Shepard) around 6 months, so I started the garlic treatment with him too. To my surprise not only did it get rid of the fleas, but it cured his digestive problems! I thought the garlic might give him diarrhea, but I wanted his fleas gone so I took a chance. I couldn't believe it, he no longer vomited or had diarrhea after feeding him cloves daily with a cup of white rice. I can honestly say garlic is NOT fatal or even harmful to dogs. Whoever published that statement that it is, was probably just trying to market a new pill for dogs, or doesn't want you to know that $2 a month will cure/treat symptoms that most vets charge $200+ for. Last time I checked, I never heard of anyone getting negative side-effects from natural medicine, but how many negative side-effects are there in your prescription and OTC medicines? Exactly! So to all you "experts" who wanna tell me that some world-renown vet said it's harmful, save your breath. I really don't care. I've seen the results, and it continues to work for me and my dog, and that's all that really matters.
Kathy (Cypress, TX) on 06/13/2008:
To keep fleas off my 70 lb. dog, I juice fresh raw garlic and add 1/8 teaspoon of it to a raw egg yolk. He eats it joyfully. NO MORE FLEAS. Fleas hate the smell of garlic. I may carefully increase the amount of garlic juice some in the future because he is 70 lbs. He eats his food joyfully. He also loves greens such as Alfalfa powder, Wheatgrass powder, Barley powder, etc. Dogs need greens too!
Rod (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) on 05/20/2008:
My two dogs, a five year old and an eleven year old always have had Garlic for repelling fleas and thicks, digestion and overall good health. The big pharmaceutical companies don't want people to know this, but do your research on the net. Garlic is great and cheap, but also uncommon sense tell us to be cautious with anything, allergies to just about anything can occur.
bruce (Hunstville, Al, USA) on 07/02/2007:
I feed my dog Garlic for tick defence. I have been feeding my dog ( 3 yrs old) Garlic shavings for about a year to defend against ticks. He is a neutered collie type. I have not encountered any adverse effects and he is sharp and lively. The ticks he picks up seem to fall off more easily after this diet - I presume they don't like the taste it leaves in the blood. Not sure why it works but I think it makes him more healthy as well.
Tom (Providence, RI) on 04/14/2007:
I have given each of my two dogs (retriever family, 2 and 5 yo) a clove of freshly pressed garlic every day in their dinner. They are never sick. They do Not have fleas and I DO NOT USE commercial flea/tick products which are carcinogenic and neurotoxins, and the dogs are doing great. I have not had their red blood count tested and perhaps I should. Another ? for the holistic vet I guess.
Gavin (Killarney Vale, N.S.W. Australia) on 03/10/2007:
I have fed my Dingo cross bred 1 clove of garlic thinly sliced in his nightly bowl of dry food for 3 weeks so far to cure flea infestation. I have tried both top brand remedies available in Australia, (Frontline & Advantage) to no avail.The dog laps it up and the fleas have gone. No side effect so far. He does not smell like an Italian restaurant, however his coat is also very shiny. Is this too much as I have heard that Garlic is both good & bad. Most reports of bad seem to come from Vets who would lose money by not selling/promoting their sponsored product.
