Garlic...Good or Bad?

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

I have been doing a lot of searching on the food group for information on garlic. I've seen a few posts of people saying they use it and that it's great,but a few people have implied that it could be bad. We have Timbow on flee medicine, but with this summer starting out hot and wet, I'm wanting to add some garlic to his diet to keep them away. My question is....Is garlic good or bad and if I give it to him, how much and how often is a normal amount?

[Lynne B]

Here's a link I found about it: http://www.sojos.com/garlicarticle.html

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A little bit of garlic is fine, Lynne uses it regularly in her homecooked meals, but too much is toxic; garlic is from the same family as onions, which are verboten for dogs. The problem is theosulfite, which can cause hemolytic anemia in dogs. Onions contain a much greater concentration of it than garlic does, but garlic contains it too.
Unfortunately, despite what you read on "natural" remedy websites, the amount of garlic that you would actually need to be effective in repelling fleas would kill your dog. It may be "natural", but it isn't a very good way to prevent a flea infestation. There is a very serious allergic condition called flea allergy dermatitis which is much worse than the risk from the chemicals in Frontline or other flea preventatives. If you're using flea preventative, you really don't need anything else.
If on the other hand, you just want to add a little garlic to his food because he likes it, go ahead. But use a very small amount. One guideline I read said garlic is safe up to one clove per 10 lbs of body weight per day.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

That is great information. He is on Frontline now, but I found flea dirt and a couple fleas on him the other day. He is an inside dog and is only outside when playing with us, going for walks, or going to the bathroom. I'm not going to use garlic now because if it's harmful to him at all it's not worth it to me. Any other advice for the fleas?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you live in an area where fleas are a problem, use Frontline Plus. Make sure you don't skip a dose, and don't bathe Timbow for a few days after the application. That is all you need. Any fleas that bite him will die, and the Frontline breaks the flea life cycle so the eggs are killed too. It is very effective.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

I'll have to check again, but I think we are using Frontline Plus. We've had to go one dose at a time though since he's still growing. We haven't had to buy a whole box yet. If it is just Frontline then I'll have to switch to Frontline Plus.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

IMPORTANT Onions and Garlic!!!!

Onions and garlic can trigger a form of anemia where the body’s red blood cells burst. This results in poor oxygen supply to the vital organs and tissues. When fed regularly in small doses, serious and potentially deadly nutritional deficiencies can also result. So dog owners should always check ingredients of prepared foods before offering these foods to pets. Baby food very often contains onion powder. So French onion soup and other food items containing onions and garlic should be crossed off the list of dog-safe foods.

Read more: http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/toxic_foods_for_dogs#ixzz0G...

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Onions...bad. Garlic...good - in moderation. I put garlic in every batch of DF I make. I have been using it for 2.5 years now without incident. I have read that it is excreted through the skin and keeps flies, mosquitoes and fleas away. I have not had any buggies in all that time.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Another good flea deterrent is "revolution" It kills eggs, fleas, ticks, and heartworm I heard. I myself have never had fleas on any of my dogs except my first (we bought a house - the people had cats and I think the fleas were in the house)- I have been lucky and havent seen a flea on any of mine in16 yrs. Knock on wood. But if it becomes an issue I will go with Revolution.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Timbow only had a couple on him and they were hard to find. I just noticed that he was scratching a lot. I don't know if they had just jumped on him and would soon die or not. I'm going to really keep my eye on him the next couple of days and if I keep seeing them I'll be contacting my vet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not only can they make a dog very sick, but you cannot imagine what a flea infestation is until you have one. I had dogs all my life and never had a problem with fleas, never thought about it, until my last dog got them. It cost me $5000 and most of my sanity, I think it cost my dog a year of her life, I still have scars myself from the bites, and i will never go through that again. Fleas can live dormant in an empty house for years. They can survive a nuclear blast. They drop millions of eggs into your carpet, bedding, sofas, the cracks in the floor, everywhere. We had to replace all the mattresses in the house, move out of the house, have the house bombed three times, board the dog & cat for special treatments; it took a month to get rid of them. You have to vaccuum everyday with a vaccuum that has a bag, and dispose of the bag outdoors in covered cans. I could go on & on, but you get the idea. I will do anything to keep from having fleas again...and I mean anything.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In my opinion, the Frontline Plus is foolproof. That is what finally ended the flea nightmare for good.
I know I talked about this here before, but last fall, Jackdoodle was put on Revolution for an unrelated skin problem. When I saw that it worked not just for fleas but for heartworm, I asked Jack's specialist why I shouldn't just use that all the time instead of the separate Heartgard & Frontline. She said that it doesn't work as well against any of the things it's supposed to protect against as the individual products do. I don't buy any of it from her, so I don't think she had any ulterior motives for saying that.
With Jack's allergy and immune system problems, he might not survivie a flea infestation. I do titers instead of vaccines, I do rabies and bordatella separately, I am very careful about overloading his immune system. But he is getting that Frontline Plus every month, come hell or high water.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Just a thought to share... We have had a horrendous flea problem in FL so far this year, like we have never seen before from reports of many. 2 weeks into Frontline, Advantage, whatever people are reporting fleas with some doing treatments every 3 weeks along with Capstar in between. I am trying a little experiment alternating frontline plus and advantage every other month ~ see if it causes the little buggers to never know what is coming along and catch them!

We use diatomaceous earth outside, borax inside (much cleaner than the diatomaceous earth), we have also been using Natural Chemistry De Flea, kills them immediately ~ for my kids it is great entertainment, better than salt on slugs (sorry if there are any slug lovers who are offended by this)