If you haven’t figured it out already, the infamous Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn is painfully disgorging long standing difficulties that have been pushed down, denied, and/or ignored for way too long. Furthermore, whatever this “suppurating boil” (as I like to call it) has brought to the surface, will be testing one’s capacity way longer than expected, basically through the end of 2020.
The underlying Saturn/Pluto/Jupiter purgation of corruption as it infects national politics is becoming more and more blatant (e.g. the long festering, deeply disturbing child sex, child porn, child trafficking and ritual murder, child snuff films).
And hey, look at not just government, but other institutions! For example, Harvard, which plans to switch to online education this next academic year and still charge $50K tuition! Think anyone will attend Harvard? Plus, given ICE’s current decision to send any foreign student home who does not transfer to a still-residential college, I wonder what will left of. so-called “higher education” after this purgation is over.
Expect a prolonged, purgative, possibly destructive and/or reconfigurative process for any group, institution, nation, or person whose birthchart features the final third of any of the cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.
For me, with Jupiter in at 23° Cancer directly across from the reigning triple conjunction, I’m not surprised that my own patience, determination, and focus are all being tested mightily during this year. Remember: this conjunction among three planets, two of them intensely difficult and karmic anyway, is then made bigger by Jupiter. What is required, always, is a massive restructuring of whatever structures — visible and invisible, in time and/or space — have been too long taken for granted: new goals, outlooks, habits, routines, are absolutely required in order to make positive use of this trying time.
So for me, it’s FLEAS ON SHADOW. Sound trivial. Easily solved? Guess again.
Dog owners know that a nasty and expensive chemical product called Seresto is the only flea medicine that really works, supposedly for up to eight months. And yet, even the first time I put it on Shadow (after trying numerous other Big Pharma remedies) it worked maybe only five months. The next time three months. This flea season of 2020 (March through October) it doesn’t work at all.
Of course, I keep his hair cut short during flea season, but need to either have him groomed professionally much more than every three months or buy the kind of tools I need to work on his entire body, which is what I think I’ll do, since the alternative is becoming so expensive.
Housemate Dan even bought him a second Seresto collar yesterday, thinking maybe the one I put on a month ago was somehow defective, but I notice today that this collar doesn’t seem to be working either. Every time I use the flea comb on him, even once through from shoulders to butt, there are at least a dozen fleas.
The infestation on him, but not in the house, and not on other animals, is drastic, and growing. Every time he goes outside, they flock to him like a magnet!
Two days ago, when I washed him (again, after one week), with flea shampoo that has soothing oatmeal in it, the fleas apparently didn’t even leave his body, because very few washed off, and I combed him hours later and again a dozen or so, with each pull of the comb! This happens four or five times a day.
This morning I washed him again, with the same flea shampoo. He’s still wet, haven’t pulled the comb through him again yet, but did notice again while washing, that only two or three washed out.
I’ve spent my entire life working to build my own immune system (see Ann’s Chai Tea elixir posts and video); and yet I’ve relied on vets for my animals. I don’t see doctors myself, and yet I both see vets and push all their vaccines into the animals. What am I doing?
Okay. I’m going to start working with the long-festering-and-worsening problem from the inside out, rather than the outside in. I.e., how do I fortify Shadow’s immune system so that he’s not so attractive to fleas? Any suggestions? Does anyone else have this flea-magnet-unrelieved-by-Seresto problem with an animal that lives both inside and outside? This long standing and growing crisis is truly devastating to Shadow, whose scratching sometimes even opens up tiny sores near his butt.
The fleas used to confine themselves to his butt area, but now seem to be enjoying the skin of his entire body.
Preliminary internet findings: rosemary, probiotic or plain yogurt, fish oil, vitamin E, broccoli, brewer’s yeast.
Just gave him broccoli. He loved it! Next time I’ll put fish oil on it.
Preliminary decision: switch from kibble and a small amount of wet food daily (bought at Aldi, so cheap, but seems to be as good as any of the commercial ones) to homemade food. Start with raw hamburger (just pulled an organic pound out of the freezer), with cooked potatoes and broccoli, to which I will add tiny bits of at least some of the above ingredients. (He’s not good at taking pills.)
Podmate Gabby just told me that she discovered last night that there is a family of skunks living somewhere on the Green Acres Village property. Where is their nest? Gabby: “Are they bringing in all the fleas?” Good question. I see that internet says fleas love skunks too. Perhaps they are living under the very front porch where I sit four or five times each day to comb Shadow of fleas (and then drop them off the side, which is no doubt foolish, I realize now, as they must hop back on Shadow whenever he goes up and down).
We have sticky flea traps in each of the rooms he uses here, mostly to know just how much we need to vacuum, and the only one that catches a lot of fleas is the one near the front door, where Shadow walks in off the porch . . .
So there is no general flea infestation.
I do use diotomacious earth on his bed once in a while, but that dries out his skin, already suffering from both fleas and his scratching.
What else? Does anyone else have this problem? Have you found holistic solutions?
19 thoughts on “My Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto Ordeal: Fleas on Puppy Shadow, and no Big Pharma solution works!”
Ann, I have heard that Vitamin B is good to repel fleas although I have not had a dog for 40-ish years. I also remember that my family business sold a sticky trap with a light bulb that was very effective- it was a simple tray with yellow sticky pad and a small Christmas tree sized light bulb…
I’ve got the sticky traps with light bulbs, and have them in each room he frequents. Vitamin B? Hopefully this will increase in his new food regimen. Thanks Lee!
Try Neem Oil. I don’t have a dog now, but I have used it on dogs in the past. Worked well, along with some of the other countermeasures you are already using.
https://www.discoverneem.com/neem-oil-for-dogs.html
Just ordered the spray. Thanks!
If you have carpet, try Fleas Away boric acid. Works for years. It is swept into the carpet.
No obvious residual.
Thanks so much. Two carpets here. Will do.
Organic coconut oil is toxic to fleas and safe for dogs
Done! It’s now in his food.
Try finding safe doses of essential oils…I swear by them…I drop all flea combings into a jar of alcohol, but of course that is now hard to find, especially in Democratic states…
Good luck with this test….Not an easy one….VK
I rubbed a bit of marjoram essential oil on him last night before we went outside . . . Will definitely drop flea droppings into something wet and dispose of carefully rather than continue dropping over side of porch. Duh! Thanks!
Marjoram oil last night rubbed it on his body before we went outside. Thanks!
Don’t know how I forgot this one: my mainstay for getting rid of fleas for years.
It’s called Flea Free food supplement all natural flea control.
Flea Free is made by Natural Pet Products out of Florida. Vinegar, Citrus, garlic
herbs, etc. I advise look it up and it will explain how it works. Enzyme action and
all that. Just put in water or food.
Good for their general health and fur. Can’t say enough about it!
Just ordered it. Thanks so much Joanne. Will also check up on all the other wonderfully helpful comments. Shadow is being supported in so many ways by my readers! P.S. He totally loves his new raw meat food. I also rubbed a bit of marjoram essential oil on him last night before we went outside. Jupiter is helping Saturn/Pluto!
We switched our pup over to raw dog food a few years ago when “The Truth About Pet Cancer” came out. I just decided to do it cold-turkey after doing a bit of research. I found that amazingly, she was much more switched on in her brain and looked/felt great in just a few days and then after a month, she was a completely different dog! Shadow may do well on that if you are open to trying. Organ meat (heart, liver, kidney) is really nutritious but you could just try some good quality ground raw hamburger mixed with a pastured egg. You could also add curcumin and or chlorella if you have them handy. Also, eating a bit of coconut oil or some cod liver oil is also beneficial.
Definitely do a bit of research so you feel comfortable in what you are doing if you feel like raw food may be an option. I found it is definitely way simpler than I thought. Some stores even sell freeze-dried raw dog food where you just add a bit of warm water and then let it sit for a few minutes….soooo ridiculously easy! When I discovered how easy feeding raw was and how well our pup was doing on it, I got inspired to start my own business to take all the yuck and mystery out of feeding raw as that was what stopped me in the past. I really want to start a company making my own raw freeze-dried blend while adding some extra goodies in there like curcumin and chlorella, etc to help make it convenient for people while also helping all the sweet animals out there. After the craziness of this year, I finally invested in a freeze-dryer and I am hoping to dabble with recipes and maybe get a business off the ground next year.
Anyway, hope this helps and I am so sorry about all those fleas. Poor Shadow-pup!
What really bugs (heh heh) me is that I used to mix up raw meat with veggie food for the dog I had prior to Shadow. She was a purebred Coton de Tulear, and cost a lot of money. Is that why I took such special care of her? (She was killed at three years, ran out in front of a car on a long leash.) I wrote about her and what happened, archived under The Grieving Time.
I’m disgusted with myself indeed that is what happened. Because Shadow was a mutt adopted from a shelter on some unconscious level I didn’t think I needed to care for him like I cared for precious little Emma?
Also wanted to add that if you make your own kefir or yogurt, you could give him a bit of that. I usually give our pup some just before a meal and she handles it quite well and loves it.
Organic kefir here we go . . . Thanks!
Hi, Ann: You have plenty of good suggestions, but here is a friend’s response to the flea solution:
“If I were to look for a tick/flea preventative, I’d try an essential oil product at onlynaturalpet.com.”
I will also share your many comments on this topic with said friend.
Will do! Thanks.