How to Use Apple Cider Vinegar for Fleas in Pets

Great Picture of Flea Trap

Where did you get your flea traps? Would love to know if possible to still purchase this type.

What are the flea traps that are mentioned and in every room?

In case no one answers, I know of one successful method: put out some white, and only white, flat dishes on your floor at night in areas you would like. For the average living room, 3 to 5 would be good. You want them small'ish and not too deep. To the dish add water & dish soap. If you can, have some floor lamps near the water dishes. The warmth will help attract the fleas, where they jump in and are trapped by the soap. I used it in a small room so only had 2 dishes out and 1 lamp, left out overnight and there were fleas in those dishes in the morning. Also, Diamotaceous Earth is great at killing fleas! The thing is, it kills them right away on conract (by microscopically cutting them up), but they are still embedded in your pet. A good flea comb afterwards and my scamps are both good to go. Best of luck in being flea-free!!

You have to use the dawn soap like a dip. The thick lather has to sit on the animal long enough to smother the fleas. Then follow up with ACV spray. Can also put 1 tbsp per one gallon water for drinking water. Pit Bulls especially ones that have blue coloring in their bloodline have very sensitive skin. A quality MSM supplement or sulphur can help tons if fighting skin issues due to flea allergies. - former holistic vet tech

Hi, I've got 4 cats, 3 boys and 1 girl. 1 boy and 1 girl drink the water with what we call the Mother in I (acv) and the two other boys will not drink from the bowl. I've administered the Apple Cider Vinegar on cotton balls and washed their neck with it. What I need to know is will my two boys benefit from this? T.I.A. For a reply...

How much Dawn do you add to the spray? My Bassett hound is miserable!

Do you run it in or just spray and go?

Have you tried Brewers Yeast? It's supposed to keep fleas off pets. I've been giving it to my two dogs for years now and they've never had fleas.

Thanks .I will try I haven't heard of brewers yeast for fleas. How much would you give to a small poodle?

Bombs do not work well for fleas or roaches. They hide too well for the gas to reach thier hiding spaces. Also u have to wash every "living" surface down after the bomb. If u enter too soon without waiting for the air to clear, u can get respiratory problems. These can and do cause people's death. How I lost my sister.

Your better choice for inside and outside is to use food grade diatomaceous earth. Safe for u and pets to ingest, but not death. Wear dust mask until extremely fine dust settles. Do one room @a time, so u can keep your pets from breathing airborne dust. Check internet. AMAZING STUFF.

Can I just use regular apple cider vinegar or does it have to be raw organic apple cider vinegar in order to work?

Try making a flea trap with a lamp. Use a small desk lamp and place it on the floor of the room you wish to treat. Place a shallow plate under the lamp and then add water and a few drops of dish soap - stir gently to mix. Turn the lights out and wait and see what you catch. Works well for fleas and many other biting bugs.

20 mule power borax sprinkled into carpet and around the kitchen cabinets kills the fleas. Leave it there so when the eggs hatch in 7 days the new fleas will also die off. Also keeps bugs out of cabinets

Hey Matthew!

It surely is flea season in MN right now. Try the lamp flea trap - I have them deployed right now and they are very effective at catching fleas that your pets bring into the house. Search EC pages for the details on the lamp flea trap.

I went to Cole's.

supermarket and apple cider vinegar it's called the mother on the bottle and unfiltered I'll be using it tonight also what is good is organic coconut oil.

When you start out spraying Apple Cider Vinegar for fleas, spray every day for a week then every second day, then a top up once or twice a week.

I don't understand how that helps to put on less than I am already putting on???

Terry Ann, is your dog long hair? If so, you will have to saturate coat and try brushing through.

You might want to look into garlic pills. it takes about 3 weeks for the pills to permeate all tissue. I know a gentleman who breeds Scottish terriers and that's all he uses. Not one flea on them. Also don't be afraid of garlic for dogs, it does give hemolytic anemia but only in high doses. You'd have to give about 20 garlic cloves to be harmful. It's made by springtime bug off garlic. I just put my Airedale on it a couple weeks ago.

My vet told me to stop using garlic as he says it builds up in the system and can cause problems…that you do NOT have to give large doses.

I have saturated it many times. It does not deter them, not at all.

What a resistant lot of fleas you have: tea tree eucalyptus or penny royal oil, add to shampoo and bathe once a week, a tea made from lemon, lime, pour one pint boiling water over them, put a lid on leave overnight and spray on animal and let dry. You can add lavender as well if you want. Please report back

Hey Terryann,

If the fleas are impervious to the smell of the ACV, you might try a cedar oil spray or other insect repelling essential oils.

Ideas:

• Apple Cider Vinegar – The smell of vinegar alone, is enough to repel a mosquito, but apple cider vinegar is more than just a repellent. It is a natural conditioner to the skin and hair. It is also great for adding shine and luster to the coat. A really great way to utilize ACV to repel bugs, is to steep apple cider vinegar in rosemary, lavender, neem leaf, and/or other bug repelling herbs for two weeks, shaking the jar daily. Strain herbs from the ACV and spray onto your dog. Allow to dry and do not rinse! Works great on people too and is safe on and around children as well.
• Essential Oils – There are many essential oils that help repel all sorts of bugs and are safe to use in dog sprays! You can substitute these essential oils into your dog's homemade Flea & Tick spray, based off of what you have on hand. PLEASE REMEMBER – dogs should be thought of like babies when it comes to essential oils and the amount to use. Not only do they have sensitive noses but they also have smaller organs than we do. Some of the essential oils you can safely use on dogs for flea and tick prevention are: lavender, lemon, citronella, sage/clary sage, bergamot, cedarwood, lemon eucalyptus, lemongrass, peppermint, geranium, sweet orange, and rosemary.

Source: http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/diy-natural-flea-tick-spray/

I feel your frustration. My old cat, several years back, also was allergic to flea bites and he would get wobbly, start drooling & pant from a flea bite! Then a nice expensive trip to the vet ER :(

Fighting fleas sucks, but if you wage an all out attack immediately, it gets things in control. This is what I did, and it was very effective.

1. Bath the cat in flea shampoo. And SATURATE the cat! And let the flea shampoo set in the fur 5+ minutes then rinse.

2. AFTER the cat is bathed & dry, use a spot treatment like Frontline or Advantage. Don't apply this before the bath or it simply gets washed off.

3. Throw everything possible, that the cat has slept or laid on, into the wash with HOT water. Then completely dry it on high. It's the intense dry heat from the dryer that actually kills the fleas and dehydrates any eggs.

4. Use a spray, like Advantage Carpet & Upholstry spray. Spray the cats bed, carpets, sofa, chairs, anything that cat goes on. Fleas hate sun so a well lit room is unlikely to have many fleas.

5. VACUUM VACUUM VACUUM. Take a cheap flea collar, such as Hartz, and cut it into pieces and put it in your vacuum bag. Any fleas that you vacuum up then will be killed in the bag and you don't have to worry about them hatching & coming out. Vacuum 2x each day for week 1.

Also, an excellent way to tell if they are gone, & to kill fleas, take a white bowl, fill with a couple inches of water and add a teaspoon of dish soap. Set it in a room that has a lot of fleas, and put it on the floor under an outlet. Put a nightlight in the outlet above the bowl. At night, fleas are attracted to the light. They jump toward the night light, fall into the bowl of soapy water, and can't escape. Once you no longer are seeing flees in the bowl each morning, you can pretty much know your flea problem is in control.

If needed, you can completely repeat all the steps on week 2, only don't bath the cat again & don't reapply flea treatment as it can only applied once/month on the cat.

Treating with an equivalent of Frontline for 2 dogs and a cat. Bought from PetSmart store. The flea cycle does not seem to be breaking. We had a lot of success years ago with Frontline but not this time. I am seeing baby fleas all over...particularly hitching a ride on my socks! I am going to try some of these ideas. My husband bought ACV last week to make a spray but I really want to kill the cycle. Will ACV help?

Oh yes spray every day for a week, then every second day. I will have to have a look what a flea looks like. Haven't seen one in years.

I'm having the same problem. Way too much time taking fleas off my dog and she's allergic to fleas. One flea drives her into a itching rage.

Are you using organic ACV or regular? If you are using anything but organic, that may be your issue.

The best way to treat pets is without the poison chemical in Advantix and other formulas.

More and more people are realising that dog food and flea meds cause fatal diseases.

Theresa, Frontline and other topicals aren't working this year at all. Do you know of other meds that are working?

Hey Christine!

I don't use chemical flea products on my pack. I fight fleas by keeping grass trimmed in the dog areas to reduce their habitat. I will treat the dog areas with a simple green cleaning solution for odors, which also discourages fleas in those areas. I check my dogs for parasites regularly and use a flea comb to remove any fleas I do find. I use floor lamp flea traps in the house to catch any hitchhikers. If we go for a walk in the woods everyone goes into the tub for a bath and flea comb when we get home. If I *had* to use a topical flea deterrent I would consider an essential oil spray - google recipes for home made topical flea sprays using essential oils like cedar or geranium. Spray down the feet and feathering and under carriage before walks - fleas and ticks do not want to hitchhike on a pet that smells like cedar! I do think that a healthy pet is simply not as appealing to a parasite than an unhealthy host. So having your dog in top condition, on great groceries and on a rotating water schedule with baking soda to alkalize goes a long way at deterring fleas. I hope something here helps you! Fingers crossed for a killing frost [followed up by weeks of Indian Summer, yes?].

I was told by my local SPCA that Frontline and other topical treatments are completely ineffective in the flea battle this year. The fleas are immune to them. Was told that revolution is working but I am afraid of that one. I heard that cats were having seizures and some died....so I am trying the vinegar for my animals.

My dog has the same and I got ACV with the mother and she is almost flea free. I have only used it for 2 days now but I was useing plain ACV without the mother.

Please be careful with rosemary and dogs. Some dogs react badly and have seizures from ingesting rosemary (if you spray your dog with this and he licks it).

Do not use pennyroyal essential oil on any animal. It is very toxic and can cause death.

Can you use these essential oils and herbs on kittens also?

Essential oils are too strong for kittens and most cats.

Try a few drops of 1/2 apple cider vinegar 1/2 water on the scruff of the neck twice a day for a week or so.

A bath with a few drops of Dawn or Joy soap if the kitten is infested may help also.

Those don't work tried all that - Bathed them put pennyroyal on the collars and still fleas. The best way I have found is a good flea comb and a once a week bath.

Hey Crystal,

You might consider a basic flea trap. Make a trap by using a small desk lamp with a regular watt bulb placed on the floor in the pet area. Put a white rimmed plate or dish under the lamp. Add water that has some dish soap added to it. Turn the lamp on over night and see what you catch. If you are infested you will see many black specks. This type of trap can clear out an infested room if you use it every night.

I purchased a hockey puck size light with a cord attached and hung it from the wall outlet over a glass oven pan with Dawn dish soap. Someone said that the fleas can swim but the addition of soap makes them sink. I am presently sprinkling borax mixed with salt on the rugs and in the cracks of the wooden and vinyl tile floors. I am in the country (woods) and I've tried everything, diatomaceous earth (stopped when I found out it was not food grade - didn't want to have my little one eating it), baking soda, Cedarcide spray for a year now and still have fleas.

HOW DOES one get rid of every stinking flea when they lay sixty eggs a day and then they don't hatch right a way either?

The latest attempt is the borax. Will see what happens. And a new approach to combing: every time I see my little love scratch in an area (she has taken over the window sill over the sink so I have a mug of water handy on the counter and can quickly get the comb back into the water hopefully before a flea can jump and they do) I take the comb out of the Dish soap in water and comb there in that spot. That is my latest combing plan. Seems like it could work.

She would run from the comb so I started this approach and I think now she knows I am trying to stop the constant scratching. She I scratching less.

Have you tried diatomaceous earth?

Yes. Diatomaceous earth, baking soda, cedarcide and still have fleas.

I read the instructions for the borax remedy from a link found on earth clinic. A second link she gave said that boric acid doesn't kill fleas and the larvae.

I am right in the middle of stripping the living room and closets and under all the furniture and leaving the borax over night.

Going to vacuum up tomorrow. the only thing I didn't do was the closet last time. Hope to move the computer table tomorrow too.

Problem is if there is just one flea left on my cat then I lose the fight.

Maybe the diatomaceous earth or baking soda do work because I was never as thorough as what I am doing now.

Also I found out the DE I was using wasn't food grade and I stopped because I didn't want it to get into my cat.

Patricia, have you tried salt for fleas? Sprinkle over carpet. Also we have flea bombs here. Not sure if you would have them there. You set them off in house and they fumigate while you out they work great.

I am in a similar predicament as you. I have a multi cat household and for the first time in fifteen years my kitties and little house are infested. I have no carpets or rugs.

I am using cedar spray on floors and baseboards and organic apple cider vinegar/water spray on cats and white vinegar/water spray on stuffed furniture and floors and baseboards. I too have to get under furniture and in closets. The veterinarian said vacuuming is a major part. He sold me pyrithrine house spray, but after reading the label, there is no way I could use it safely.

Washing cats in pure soap liquid and organic apple cider vinegar. Spraying OACV/water in between.

Just set out one plate and light trap. I only see living fleas on cat bedding.

I have always been hesitant about spot on treatments and I use them, but they stopped working suddenly. Used now they do absolutely nothing.

Going to try the OACV in drinking water.

This is alarming.

How are you using baking soda? Do you use salt and borax in crevices?

20 years ago I had many cats who went in and out - and in the fall fleas jumped on my many cats and hitched a ride indoors to wait out the winter - not fun! And since my cats lived everywhere in the house, everywhere needed to be treated - this is what I did.

I used food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) - it is light and cheap and 10 pounds will last you decades. I started with my bed room - I stripped the bed, and dusted the room wearing a face mask. I worked - pounded - the DE into the crevices of the mattress, under the mattress, into the floor boards, against the wall where the wooden molding edges the floor - everywhere; the room was one billowing cloud of dust when I left and closed the door. I let it sit for 25 hours, and in the mean time I used another bedroom. Once I had established a 'ground zero' I stood the mattress up and gently beat off the excess DE and again the room was a dust bowl. I gave it a few hours and let the dust settle and then gently swept up the excess, leaving plenty behind in the cracks and crevices in both the mattress and the floor boards. The floor was still very dusty - you could feel it on your feet if you walked bear foot. I then laundered the bedding and dried it thoroughly and back on the bed; no cats were allowed to sleep on the bed during this process, as to avoid re-infesting the room. I then did the second room and created another 'ground zero' space. Into this now cleared room went freshly flea bathed cats with sanitized liter boxes and all fresh laundered kitty bedding. The cats were not allowed to leave this room until treatment was completed. Then room by room I did the same - I dusted the couch cushions and put them into large plastic bags, dust and all, and let them sit for 24-48 hours. I had to put a bag over the electronics to avoid getting DE dust in them as it is very hard on moving parts. I left the DE sit for 24-48 hours, and in the mean time washed every piece of bedding, every rug, anything the cats could encounter. I had carpeting in one room and I sprinkled the DE on and worked it deep into the carpet fibers with a broom. Again, wear a face mask as you will be working in a billowing cloud of dust that will irritate your sinuses and mucous membranes. After the wait time/working time was up I gently swept and brushed off the carpet, taking care to leave plenty behind deep in the carpet fibers and in all floor cracks and crevices; for under the couch I didn't even bother to vacuum, I just left it down - in fact anyplace that I could not see, or had to lift up furniture to get under, I just left the DE down. Doing all laundry at the same time is crucial, so I bagged up items until I could process them. A proper flea bath is crucial to the process as well. I used dish soap, starting with the cat in a dry bath tub [clip claws before you start] and started with soapy water and a wash cloth at the nose and worked from the nose outward; once I had the head and behind the ears saturated with the soapy water I then went on to the next cat. When all of the cats' heads were treated I filled the tub and did the bodies, again in the dish soapy water. I then drained the tub and used clear water with a cup of white vinegar to remove all traces of the dish soap and to balance the PH of the skin to avoid drying. You could see the fleas as black specks as the water drained. I followed up by blow drying the cats and flea coming. It was work, I was persistent, and the cats hated it, but I got them clean and clear and into the holding room they went while the rest of the house was treated. I want to say it took me 4 days to get the house treated and before I could release the cats. The basement and attic were not used by the cats so they were not treated. I did not have to treat the house again ever - and 10 years later I still found DE in the floor cracks. I made a point to stop letting the cats out in the late summer and fall until the first frost. I also dusted the cats with DE by putting them in a sack with DE - the head was out but it was snug at the neck so the cat was dusting ala 'shake-n-bake' style. By not letting them out during prime flea-hitch-a-ride-inside time, and by dusting the cats in the fall, plus the initial house debugging, I never had a problem again. I have since moved to a more rural location and have only 2 cats, and experienced fleas in my first year at the new house. I learned about the lamp flea traps and deployed 4-5 of them with great success: I firmly believe the lamp trap is easier to use, far less labor intensive, and just as effective as dosing the entire house in DE - or any other sprinkled substance. Now if I see my cat twitching the hair on her back as if she has the heebie jeebies, I dust the cat ala shake-n-bake style, and turn on the lamp traps.

Hey Barbara,

I have no experience with using baking soda, salt or borax in dry applications, so cannot comment there. I just wanted to agree with your vet - vacuuming daily is key to staying on top of an infestation, as well as daily washing of the bedding. Also, place those lamp traps in the heavy traffic areas and by the kitty beds. Please report back!

Barbara, when you vacuum, put a flea collar inside cleaner in dust compartment or sprinkle a little borax to kill fleas so they dont escape, because they can.

The borax didn't work because the flea trap has at least a dozen fleas each day.

She went under the deck today and came back with more fleas. I sprayed her with Cedarcide and combed her tonight and she looks like I might have gotten them.

Are there any bombs that won't leave a residue that my cat will lick off her feet?

Aren't flea bombs harmful to your health?

Patricia I suggested salt, when I was a kid my mother used this and it seemed to work and its cheap, now flea bombs if you dont make a habit of it works real good but you need to leave with your animals for a whole day, I have had cats in the past I have used it probably half a dozen times over the years no bad outcome, but don't forget fleas are not good for health either, I used a bomb when we had cockys in car and they never came back again

This is what I'm doing this weekend: bathe cats, scrub carpets with Apple Cider Vinegar rinse, let you know if it works.

Don't use DE on anything you plan to vacuum. It is highly abrasive and my Vac motor was shot after a month.

DE is good but best used outside (in dry weather) or in barns, stall, on farm animals, etc. I used it inside my fabric furniture never to escape, as well as in cracks where I would not vacuum. Slow but does work.

We are using Cedarcide right now; only a trial size, but one shot dropped a big fly in mid flight. dropped like a rock. I have high hopes for them to help with the fleas. The eggs seem to have tapered off and I also use EVO Apple Cider Vinegar, along with cheap white vinegar, on fabric but not wood.

Is it safe to use the soap flea traps with my dog around? Will she naturally not want to drink the soapy water?

Hey Amy,

I have these around my house and my dogs sometimes taste the water but that's about it, they don't drink from them. Please make sure your pet has access to fresh water should you use this type of trap.