Hi All

As you all know my westie is currently suffering from ichy face and gland problems, we have now gone onto an exclusion diet which is zd ultra have been on this for a few days, have started him on piriton on the vets agreement he is having half twice a day but have now been on this for 3 days with no sign of much improvement he said if after 5 days there is no great improvement it won't be worth staying on it and that there are 2 more which we could try, he said improvements are usually quite quick on these drugs if they are gonna work.
Somebody on here the other night mentioned flash is not good to use to mop the laminate floors over with and that some dogs have had reactions in using this, just wondered what other people use to keep their laminate floors clean as we have always used flash and had never thought about this before.

Zoflora

Animal Safe at the moment.

snap wish they did it by the liter  zoflora

I have always used Flash.  Both my previous dogs (setters) had problems with their paws and odd rashes on the tummy - our last one had anal gland problems occasionally as well as ear infections.  I mentioned it to the vet and he said that it could be what I clean the floor with which has started it off but testing for allergies can be a long and expensive process.  I suggested changing his food to Burns and he just shrugged as if it wasn't going to make any difference.  It did and his skin cleared up.  My present dog (touch wood) hasn't had any skin problems.  I don't use a strong solution to clean the floor though. 

I love the smell of Zoflora, bit too easy to make too strong though, lol. Then it sticks to the back of your throat. Worth it though, makes your house smell sparkling clean

Steam cleaner and I love the smell afterwards it smells no fresh with no chemicals used.

Zoflora here too.  But - why on earth don't they sell it in bigger bottles?

> Zoflora here too.  But - why on earth don't they sell it in bigger bottles?

They do - but I don't know if it's easy to get.
http://www.zoflora.co.uk/products/professional/

I'm not sure if quarternary ammonium compounds are safe around cats.

Thanks for that.  I just had a go at googling "Zoflora 500ml" and there are places you can buy the bigger bottles online, though I don't know if it works out cheaper than the smaller bottles you can get at the supermarket by the time you've paid postage charges.

> I'm not sure if quarternary ammonium compounds are safe around cats.

Just been googling and it appears it is safe despite it turning white in water (one thing cat owners are often told to avoid). In case non-cat ppl are curious, many common disinfectants are highly toxic to cats - but not dogs - and they can absorb the toxins through their paws when walking over treated surfaces. Cats are unable to process/excrete certain chemicals from their systems, which humans and dogs can, hence the difficulty if you have cats as well as dogs.

Piqued my curiosity now - out of the available Zoflora frangrances (?!) which is most popular? Some are overpowering, some smell like something you might have encountered at a boarding school or in your granny's toilet, others are just plain 'not right'.

nomal size zofloa is a £1 in the the pound shop in aldershot,
in sainburys it £1,30 to 50

We use Ecover All Purpose Cleaner.

I use the stuff they use in my Vets, Trigene, which I also use for cleaning my grooming table, dog crates etc.

Steam cleaner.  Quick and easy.  I use as few chemicals as I can both in my home and what I eat, and I've apply the same policy to my dogs. :)

> out of the available Zoflora frangrances (?!) which is most popular?

I have only smelt Bouquet (sp?), which I love and is normally the only one I use. The other I've smelt is Rose, I do like it, however it is a bit strong smelling so wouldn't want to use it all over the floors, but is great for making the kitchen bin smell lovely. I had bought the rose one by mistake when I got a box of them from Macro. Can't remeber how much it cost to buy like that.

As the Rose fragrance is so strong, it's great for making the whole house smell nice, just by wiping over the skirting boards with it :)

Thanks for your replies, is this okay to use on laminate floors then? Has anybody on here found that flash has affected their dogs?

I think this has solved a mystery for me! Recently all my dogs started sniffing the tiled kitchen floor, thinking I may have dropped some liquid I set about about hoovering and washing the tiles (with Flash which I don't normally use) The sniffing continued, so I washed it again and again, scrubbing into the grout with Flash, still the snioffing continued.

This has actually caused a few scuffles between the oldest boy who is insistent that the "smell was his to sniff" and one of my girls.

I have changed to another floor cleaner and the sniffing (and scuffles) have stopped. It  could have been a coincidence?

Zoflora the lilly one is lovely, i also use safe 4, the apple 1, its so fresh and clean,

> I have changed to another floor cleaner and the sniffing (and scuffles) have stopped. It  could<I/> have been a coincidence?

Some cleaners contain ammonia, which of course is also a constituent of wee, so that might have been the reason! That's why they say never clean up any pet 'accidents' with an ammonia-based cleaner or they will return to the same spot.

Of course, amonia! why didn't I think of that? Sometimes it needs someone else to point out what you have missed - thanks.

We've always used Zoflora on laminate and it hasn't done ours any damage, as far as I know. We've used it about 10 years I think (just trying to work out when we put laminate down). We get it from Home Bargains a normal size for 39p, large size (when they have them in) 65p... BARGAIN!

I have laminate in the kitchen and have used all sorts over about 7 years its fine. Currently using safe 4 must try apple I like the minty one

I use a laminate floor cleaner by Mr Sheen seems ok with our two I add zoflora for the clean smell.

> Thanks for your replies, is this okay to use on laminate floors then?

I've had laminate for years, Zoflora is fine on it, in fact, I've used pretty much every cleaner going at one time or another (icluding bleach). With laminate, as long as you don't leave it really wet it's fine (if left really wet the water will soak between the 'planks' and make it swell up - thanks kids for leaving dripping wet boots on it overnight, to prove that theory right ) .

Ohhh, I'm pleased!! I had posted earlier in this thread that I'd bought a box Rose zoflora by mistake, well, I discoverd today that not all the bottles are Rose, I also have Lilac, Sweetpea & Hiacynth. I'm LOVING the Sweetpea one :)

I'm not fussy, Flash, Zoflora anything thats to hand really.

But now and then I do slosh the trigene about to get rid of any nasties.

I use cheap non-bio detergent - it's supposed to get rid of the smells to the dog - that can be made worse by ammonia especially.  Lots of products can get rid of smells to us but don't fool the dogs' sensitive noses.  I also believe that non-bio detergent has few chemicals that can cause irritation; I've used it for years for my hyper-allergenic children.

I'd really like to know more about steam cleaners [Perrodogue/Westcoast]. I've seen one in Netto but it just said for kitchens and bathrooms.  I wondered what you use and whether it'd be good for all surfaces.  I can't afford an expensive machine, but like others have said; I'd love to get away from any chemicals.

> I'd really like to know more about steam cleaners [Perrodogue/Westcoast]. I've seen one in Netto but it just said for kitchens and bathrooms.  I wondered what you use and whether it'd be good for all surfaces.  I can't afford an expensive machine, but like others have said; I'd love to get away from any chemicals.

I have a small hand-held steam cleaner and I rarely use it - more trouble than its worth waiting for it to heat up, and it doesn't hold very much water. I saw in Robert Dyas they have a Steam Floor Mop for £30 at the monent but no idea if it's any good!
BTW: I thought it was Bio detergent that was better for getting rid of smells - the enzymes in it digesting them? I divert the waste water from my washing machine into a bucket to scrub down the patio... smells lovely.

>BTW: I thought it was Bio detergent that was better for getting rid of smells - the enzymes in it digesting them? I divert the waste water from my washing machine into a bucket to scrub down the patio... smells lovely.

BIG OOPS - you're absolutely right - must be having a blonde day (:- !!! . My only excuse is my mind was on allergies and so not using biological.  The reason I use cheap bio is that I can't use it for our clothes washing - allergies etc..                       I like your idea re re-using washing water.
Well spotted and thanks for your info on steam cleaners.

Makro sell the 500ml bottles of Zoflora around £3