The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Garlic
Posted by Janice (Bodmin, Cornwall, UK) on 11/30/2008
★★★★★
my gran used to breed dogs for crufts many years ago, she told me she never brought flea or worm products but used cloves of garlic chopped up and put with the dog food once a month,i was dubious about this old wives tale, but there is always an element of truth in the old tales, ive tried garlic on my four dogs, ages ranging fom 16 down to 5 months, they are all healthy, havent seen no fleas or worms, im a believer.
Garlic
Posted by Nena (Johnson City, TN) on 11/25/2008
★★★★★
i have use garlic on my dog for years and they have no fleas and very heathly.and havent had to treat my home for fleas in years and i bath them in tea tree shampoo that adds to help flealess in tenn....just a speakle of garlic powder on their food each day
Rubbing Alcohol for Flea Infestations
Posted by Michelle (Milford, OH) on 03/24/2009
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
A word of Warning: Rubbing Alcohol can discolor certain wood stains and some paint. We used it and it left streaks on our woodstained doors and walls. Test it out on a small area before you spray the whole floor!
Cedarwood Oil
Posted by Mar (San Diego, Ca) on 10/12/2012
Just so you know.. "melted quartz rock" is actually petroleum distillates. Ie: paint thinner. I bought this product back in 2010 only to find this out when it arrived & I read the label. "Ingredients:10% Cedar Oil, 90% Petroleum Distillates. " Needless to say I was beyond disappointed.
Dish Soap
Posted by Celine (Pine City, MN USA) on 10/22/2008
★★★★★
I came to this site looking for a remedy for the three cats we have. For the first time in two years of having them they have acquired fleas. I know I had allergy reactions to the Hartz formula for dogs so I switched to switched to frontline and no longer let the dogs on our bed. But keeping the cats off the bed wasn't going to happen so I needed a remedy that I wouldn't react to so I went to search for a natural one. After all fleas have been around for ages. I found this site to the answer to my prayers and my animals. I first tried dish soap. The cats didn't seem to mind it. I used a flea comb to make sure they really got lathered up with it. I started at the very top of the neck with just the dawn, as a contributor suggested. Because the fleas will move upward to where they can go where there is no soap. Then I wet the cats down. Then I lathered them up real good. The dish soap killed them! The cats have no fleas. I'm going to spray them down with Apple Cider Vinager to make sure they stay off of them before I let them outside. (The dogs are inside with no fleas) I will report back how well the ACV works at keeping them off but I'm confident it will. Thank you for having this site!
Dish Soap
Posted by Stephanie (Ft. Worth, Texas) on 10/16/2008
★★★★★
We just tried the ___ Dish Soap method for getting rid of fleas. It appears that it worked like a charm. In the past, when using standard over the counter flea shampoos, we would see them crawling and have to pick them off by the dozens. With the Dawn, there were NO crawling fleas--only dead ones. And...the best part of all is that the cats didn't seem to mind it nearly as much. My guess is that it didn't sting them like the other shampoo.
Thank you very much for giving us a better and safer alternative for flea removal.
We have used the ___ in a dish with the light for home flea removal in the past. Thanks for the reminder of this "forgotten" rememdy as well. We are about to try it today as well.
Stephanie and 2 grateful cats
Dish Soap
Posted by Amanda (Palmetto, Ga) on 09/14/2010
★★★★★
This method works great... Thanks so much.
Dish Soap
Posted by Heather (Monticello, IN) on 10/09/2008
★★★★★
I used ___ dish soap on my cat and watched the fleas drop off of her instantly. I used it also on my dog. The ___ is worth it.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by London (Sandusky, Ohio) on 10/08/2008
★★★★★
Tea tree oil will kill fleas, on your dog immediately, when mixed with baby shampoo. Leave it on and lather well, and most if not all the fleas will die, and wash out. This will not prevent the fleas from returning. You have to use a collar.
EC: WARNING! Tea Tree oil may be toxic to cats and dogs!
From Wikipedia:
Pet Flea Control use
Tea tree oil has long been used as a method of all natural effective flea control by adding the oil directly to dogs, horses and sheep fur or their bathing water. Use on cats has been known to make them sick and in some cases kill them, this is due to cats licking their fur and consuming the oil.[23]
According to National Animal Poison Control Center, the use of tea tree oil in dogs has been associated with hypothermia, muscle weakness, ataxia, tremors, altered behavior, paralysis. A case report has been published in which three cats had clinical signs and one cat died after being treated with the oil. [24]
Also read this feedback on Earth Clinic: https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/tea_tree_oil.html#TOXICCATSDOGS
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Sherry (Columbus, Ohio) on 12/26/2008
While researching tea tree oil as a skin healer, I noted that tea tree oil can be very toxic to cats. A couple of comments here mention tea tree oil use for cats to help prevent fleas. Thought I should just mention it.
Benadryl
Posted by Nancy (Plant City, Fl) on 09/09/2008
★★★★★
My pomeranian can get a sigle flea bite, and itch really bad, my vet gave her predisone, and an antibiotic, also said to use childrens benadryl for her itch, please use according to their weight, just like a child, my pomerain is about 8 pounds, I give her around a l /2 tsp, it is a
temporary fix for the itch, believe me, they are in pure torture,
I had a skin problem, I itched for four months, inbetween taking medicine such as benedry, and applying cortozine. You can also apply cortozoine for itch to your dog, really rub in it will temporally releive their itch, and also give them the benedryl. Take to a vet, use flea prevention, I just saw a web site that says use vinegar (diluted), and dawn dish soap. The little animals can't help this skin condition, please do all you can to help them. Remember, we have to speak for them... I know my little dog would do all she could for me.
Good luck to all you pet lovers.....
Salt
Posted by Katie (Westland , MI) on 09/09/2008
★★★★★
Salt worked for us too. After using frontline, carpet powders, carpet sprays, baths etc. I put salt on the carpets and used some of those lighted flea traps. That worked the best.
Essential Oils
Posted by Amanda (Trenton, Ontario) on 08/08/2008
★★★★★
I was reading your site as my cats were going crazy. I didn't have any of the things you recommend to hand. but after reading your shampoo advice, I realized I did have some lavender essential oil so I tried that and a few drops rubbed into their coat did bring immediate relief.
Dish Soap, Garlic and Lemon
Posted by Jami (Largo, Fl) on 05/15/2009
What is the mixture for the lemon juice spray. Where can I get the Neem shampoo, oil
Salt
Posted by Kim (Gadsden, AL) on 07/04/2008
★★★★★
The best all natural way to rid fleas in the home is salt! It works like magic! Just use your blender to grind regular table salt into a powder. Then sprinkle the powder onto carpet, beds, etc.... use a broom to "sweep" it down deep into the fibers. I let it settle in over night on my carpets before vacuuming it up. The powdered salt dries up the fleas and the eggs. You'll notice a huge difference the first time you try it. Also, if you are giving your dog a heart worm medication make sure to use Sentinel. Sentinel acts as birth control on fleas. They can lay the eggs but the eggs are dead so that helps clear up the flea infestations in your home.
Garlic
Posted by Jess (Polkton, NC) on 07/01/2008
★★★★★
garlic pills cured my dogs fleas just give it 2 daily
Garlic
Posted by Kathy (Cypress, TX) on 06/13/2008
★★★★★
NO MORE FLEAS. 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!
Garlic
Posted by 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!
EC: Read much more about Garlic for Dogs here, including the reported controversy.
Dish Soap
Posted by Melissa (Belpre, OH) on 06/08/2008
★★★★★
___Dish soap truly kills fleas! I took in a stray cat and tried using the flea shampoos from Walmart several time and the fleas kept coming back... So my mom told me about it. So we gave the poor cat one last bath and it killed every flea on his body within minutes!! Make sure to avoid the eyes and mouth. A little soap goes a long way. His fur was also soft afterwards!
Dish Soap
Posted by Kay (USA) on 06/05/2008
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
For those of you who are bathing your pets in ___ Dish Soap. I thought you might be interested in a bit of info.
Toxin Detergents.
Detergents are divided into several categories.
Soaps: Bar soaps, laundry soaps, and homemade soaps.
Anionic detergents: Laundry detergents, shampoos, dish soaps, and electric dishwashing detergents
Cationic detergents: Fabric softeners, sanitizers, disinfectants, and rust inhibitors in petroleum products. This category includes quaternary ammoniums.
Non-ionic detergents: Dishwashing detergents, shampoos, and some laundry detergents.
General Information
Detergents come in a variety of forms with each having a different level of toxicity. Every home has these common products in some form, and all family members need to be aware of the dangers.
Soaps: True soaps are usually not toxic.
Anionic: Slightly to moderately toxic; may result in illness but generally not fatalities.
Cationic: Highly to extremely toxic; 1% solutions are damaging to mucous membranes .
Non-ionic: Less toxic than the anionic and cationic detergents
Signs
Soaps: Vomiting and diarrhea.
Homemade soap may cause corrosive GI lesions (burns).
Anionic: Irritated mucous membranes, vomiting, lack of appetite, diarrhea, and GI distention. May have corrosive injuries in the mouth and GI tract. Eye exposure may result in edema around the cornea reddening and swelling of the conjunctiva and corneal erosions or ulcers.
Cationic: Vomiting, lack of appetite, drooling, muscle weakness, depression, seizures, collapse coma, and burns to the mouth and GI tract. Eye exposure may cause redness and severe corneal erosions and ulcers. Skin exposure may result in hair loss and skin irritation. Non-ionic: Vomiting and diarrhea. Immediate Action
DO NOT induce vomiting if ingested. It may cause more harm. Seek veterinary attention. In the case of dermal contact, flush the skin for at least 30 minutes with running water. In the case of eye contact, flush the eye with sterile saline or water for 20 minutes. Seek veterinary attention while you are performing the decontamination. General treatment: Administration of milk or water in the case of soap, anionic, or non-ionic detergent ingestion, or administration of milk, water, or egg whites in the case of cationic detergent ingestion. If dermal (skin) or ocular exposure occurred, the affected areas will continue to be flushed with sterile saline.
Prognosis
Fair to good, depending on detergent ingested. Keep this and all other medications out of the reach of children and pets. If you think your pet has been poisoned...Contact your veterinarian or one of the Animal Poison Hotlines (listed below) if you think your pet may have accidentally received or been given an overdose of the medication.
**ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center 1-900-443-0000 ($55.00 per case. The charge is billed directly to caller's phone.) 1-888-4ANI-HELP (1-888-426-4435. $55.00 per case, billed to caller's credit card only.) Follow-up calls can be made for no additional charge by dialing 888-299-2973. There is no charge when the call involves a product covered by the Animal Product Safety Service. **Animal Poison Hotline - a joint service provided by North Shore Animal League America (NSAL) and PROSAR International Animal Poison Center (IAPC). 1-888-232-8870 ($35.00 per incident. The charge is billed to caller's credit card only.) Staffed 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
Borax
Posted by Sharon (San Clemente, Calif) on 09/03/2008
One reader recommended Borax. Can it be used indoors if so full strength on carpets? I see lots of flea/dog remedies. Can anyone help me with cat fleas? Thank you, Sharon
Borax
Posted by Rosy (Orlando, Fl) on 12/23/2008
★★★★★
I use Borax in my carpet for fleas and it didn't hurt my cats, but they didn't like it on their feet. It works best if you leave it on for a while. What I did was sprinkle under furnature and leave it there. I applied to the carpet that we see and let it sit for 5 hours. I just confined the kitties to a screaned porch for treatment. The borax left a film on the carpet, so wear socks after you vacume. Also vacume before and after the treatment. Empty your bag/canister, and spray filter with tea tree or neem oil. That way the eggs in the filter don't hatch and reinfest your house.
Borax
Posted by Pkt2313 (Collierville, Tn) on 05/03/2009
great information, i am going to try these remedies.
Borax
Posted by Amym (Boulder, Co) on 08/01/2009
★☆☆☆☆
NEY-Borax was terrible. Although it did kill the fleas, it got caught in my loop carpet and I could not get it out. I steam cleaned it 3 times, carpet raked and vacumed countless times. It dried out my skin and caused a weird reaction in my ear. I had to stay with friends because I could not stay at my apartment and eventually had to replace the entire carpet so I could sleep there again. Apparently other people have also had a terrible reaction to Borax. Borax came out, took samples but refused replace my carpet because I did not keep the box.
Borax
Posted by Christopher (Brooksville, Florida) on 07/14/2011
Can any tell me where I can buy BOREX detergent? I used it for flea control, but can't seem to find it in my area stores.
Dish Soap
Posted by Marjie (Texarkana, Texas) on 06/05/2008
I am considering using a steam vacuum with dawn soap instead of the usual steam cleaner. I am moving into a home that has a horrible flea infestation (thank you, previous owners!) I hope it works.
Dish Soap
Posted by Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 06/05/2008 490 posts
Hi Marjie, I've never checked it out but I read in some hint column or book that if you have fleas in the house and didn't want to use chemicals (who does) that you should place a bright table lamp on the on the floor, place a container filled with water and a few drops of dishwashing detergent in it about a foot to the side of the lamp. I think the idea was that the light attracted the fleas, which came jumping in the light, landed in the water, which dispatched them to the happy hunting grounds.
Dish Soap
Posted by Leslie (Martin, TN) on 07/16/2008
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
re: Flea remedies -- You can't put dawn dish soap in your steam cleaner, it will ruin it. It also will take forever to come out of the carpet.
Dish Soap
Posted by Lawrence (Cebu, Philippines) on 08/19/2008
Re: ___ DISH SOAP - Natural Flea Remedies - To Paul from Oakland, CA - You can try putting a wire mesh or chicken wire on top of the glass pie plate to prevent your cat from drinking the water. Just make sure the weave is dense enough so the cats can't stick their tongues through the spaces.
Neem Seed Oil
Posted by Nannah (Baltimore, Md) on 10/18/2011
??? now we just got the drops to place on the shoulder blades of our cats and I was thinking of doing this neem seed oil.... Help me to understand please... I should not use while using the drops but should after the 1 month of the drop so that it will be the most effective?
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Cait (Waycross, Georgia) on 12/31/2008
I would not ever use this AGAIN! I know its supposed to be the best preventative remedy for fleas on pets, but the side effects are just not worth it. After moving into this duplex and it being infested with fleas, I bought Frontline for my 2 indoor cats. I put it on them, and within a few days started noticing little spatters of blood on my tile. One of my cats had a severe allergic reaction and his poor neck broke out in bloody sores! I ended up spending $200 at the vet to get his poor skin back to normal. a month later, he is still scabbing up and has to get frequent (and expensive) steroid injections from the vet. I felt like the worse mommy ever, and my poor boy was in so much pain!
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Dianna (Austin, Tx) on 01/01/2009
i had forgotten to say that when i first got my little chihuahua that the breeder had used frontline on him and that he had a big red sore that didn't go away for months on the back of his neck and between his shoulder-blades where they had put it. all his hair had fallen out in that location and he scratched constantly. he didn't have ANY fleas - but you could tell that the front-line was not good for him in any way. try the pine tar soap! when the frontline wore off and his hair grew back and the irritation went away he got bad fleas and the pine tar soap worked a miracle! no more fleas and no poison necessary!
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Glenessary9 (Salt Lake City, Utah) on 10/24/2009
Pine tar will eventionally give your pet kidney failure. It's better to wash the animal in ___ [dish soap] , and then use regular table salt or salt water on carpets, furniture and, floors. to keep the fleas out of the house.
