Effective Natural Remedies for Flea Control in Pets
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.
Posted by Dee (Fresno, California) on 11/24/2012 ★★★★★
My dog started to get really bad fleas and she was constantly scratching. I needed something to hold us over until a few days after her bath so I could give her frontline so I tried mixing about 10 drops of lavender essential oil with water in a spray bottle and spraying it directly on her and brushing it through. She stopped scratching almost completely the second day I used it. I don't think I'll be using the frontline anymore.
Posted by Pamela (Huron, South Dakota) on 11/13/2012 ★★★★★
We discovered, after fighting fleas from June until November, that our DRYER WAS HALF THE PROBLEM! We were dragging back in loads of folded, clean laundry full of clean, fresh, healthy fleas every time we washed bedding, towels, clothing, robes, blankets, pillows, you name it. CHECK YOUR LINT TRAP TO SEE IF THEY'RE ALIVE. Ours were.
Posted by Carlos (San Francisco, Ca) on 10/20/2012 ★★★★★
I went to the pet store the other day and I told the clerk that despite using Advantix or Frontline my dog still have fleas. He told me that fleas have developed a resistence to them.
I have found regular baths with shampoo and a lice or flea comb works well. To get rid of an infestation I suggest a trick a friend of mine told me about.
Get a white shallow bowl like a pyrex. Fill it with soap and water. Place a lamp next to it and turn off all other lights.
The Fleas will jump in, the soap and water will drown them. Works like a charm.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
My husband tried the lamp/white saucer trap, and it worked like a charm. While my dogs are not infested, a flea from outside will jump on them and catch a ride to inside the house. My husband said he thought he saw a tiny black speck in the bed with him and the dog, so he thought of the lamp trick; I had been collecting small lamps just for this moment :-) He got a small white saucer and placed it under the lamp on the floor with soapy water in it, turned out the lights and shut the door; 4 hours later there was a flea! We then deployed the lamp trap in various locations around the house to see if there were more - nope! Caught all manner of tiny winged things flying loose in the house, but just the 1 flea. I suspect that the flea season is just beginning so I will have the lamp traps working for me from now on, rotating them around the house to catch those fleas who hitch hike their way into my house. Great trap, easy to afford as lamps are just a few dollars from the thrift store, it does not use any poisons and it works like a charm.
Posted by Hkington (Cocoa, Fl) on 05/29/2012 ★★★★★
Using the 20 mule team borax from the laundry section works well for carpet, but you must work it into the carpet with a broom and let it sit for at least 2 weeks without vacuuming. This is done to kill the eggs, if you vacuumed after a couple of hours and do not reapply it will NOT stop the cycle. The key is to let it sit for 2 weeks then reapply every time you have vacuumed during flea season..This was told to me by my vet years ago, and it works great!!!!!!
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
Please provide evidence for your claims, garlic is widely used by dog owners with no negative outcomes, the warning against garlic only seems to benefit profit hungry vets.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
Facts: The primary toxic ingredient in garlic and onions is n-propyl disulfide, an oxidant. [Other toxins are S-methylcysteine sulfoxide, methyl disulfide, and allyl disulfide]. Compared to humans, dogs and cats are more sensitive to “oxidative damage” on their red blood cells. Dogs have more “areas” on their red blood cells that oxidizing agents such as n-propyl disulfide can attach to. This attachment is recognized by the body as a foreign invader, and in the attempt to remove this invader, the body also destroys the red blood cell. This is called “hemolysis” – the breaking down of the red blood cells. Garlic is more toxic than onions – with raw garlic, toxic ingestion is around 1 gram per pound, and with onions it is 1 gram per 5 pounds. To put this into perspective, if you feed 50 cloves of garlic to your pet in one sitting you will induce hemolytic anemia in your pet.
The result of all this is that our dogs and cats are sicker than ever. Ask any vet who's been practicing for more than ten years: They've never seen such an increase in the rate of liver disease, nervous system disorders, cancers and diabetes. Ever wonder why?
Just to thank you, Mark, for your post. You said it and yet, people still believe and trust the veterinarian association. Health is a business and disease is desired for profit.
Posted by Sudsy88888 (Seattle, Wa Usa) on 08/30/2011 ★★★★★
use a pie plate filled with water and add a few drops of dish soap to discover fleas in the house. I agree with the borax natural treatment to rid the house. Both my cat and dog get a garlic oil supplement vitamin down their throat once a week and absolutely no fleas on their mugs. Hallelujah!!!!
Posted by Teri In T Town (Tacoma, Wa, Usa) on 08/05/2011 ★★★★★
My last dog never had fleas and we never used a thing on him, so I was really baffled when my current dog had a significant problem. I had my last dog, a chocolate lab, when we lived in a house that had slopes in the back yard covered with Lavender and Rosemary. Everyday he rolled around in the herbs, and seemed to enjoy the heck out of it, and would sun himself laying in the middle of them. I always thought it was because they were soft and made for a nice cushion. But, I think he was giving himself a flea treatment and I really loved the way he smelled when he came back inside.
After we moved, we got another lab who plays a lot with dogs in the neighborhood, and we were faced with a very significant problem!! I use a very dilute amount of lavender oil on her, combined with the orange peel treatment, premium raw dog food diet, and lots of vacuuming. You do have to keep up the routine to keep the fleas from coming back, but we have not been bothered with them since.
Posted by Jennifer (Gainesville, Fl) on 04/19/2011 ★★★★★
I've read that you can use the desk lamp and dish wtih soap but I modified this to be more successful at least in my case. I have found that CLEAR containers work much better than opaque. Fleas seem to be attracted to white so under each clear container I have placed either a white paper towel or a white piece of printer paper. The best light source has actually proven to be an LED battery powered lantern (dorcy) and I have placed a small bowl in the clear container with the lantern sitting in it. Then put water in the clear container with a few drops of dish soap. The separate bowl for the lantern keeps it from getting wet but attracts the fleas quite well. I have also had luck with the clear dish and soap with white paper under when I have just used a glow bracelet or stick. Pink or red sticks don't seem to work but those that are white or green attract them like crazy. Using the above methods I have caught around 200 fleas in the last 3 days since I started setting these traps--I set two with lanterns and 3 with glow sticks/bracelets. I am hesitant to use an actual lamp or anythign with a cord since my cats tend to knock things over which could prove quite dangerous. The battery powered LED lanters work better than the glow sticks but the glow sticks are nice in that you can just toss them in the water and they work without risk of damage.
Posted by Bonnie (Torrance, Ca) on 12/02/2010 ★★★★★
I had a nasty flea infestation, and the ONLY thing that worked was borax powder. This stuff is amazing! You can buy it at a hardward or gardening store, and it is pretty inexpensive. I take the powder, and sprinkle a lot of it into all the carpets... I find that using a stiff broom to brush it in really helps to get it deep into the carpets. Then wait a few days and vaccuum! The cool part is that borax powder is less harmful than table salt... A win/win if you ask me!
I noticed an article mentions using Geranium, Citronella and Eucalyptus to bath the cat for fleas. I just hope that everyone reading realizes that these are very toxic and poisonous to cats. While I will always go the natural route to aide in matters of health with my cats, you have to become educated as to what plants and essential oils, etc are toxic to our little cat children. There are very good natural cat shampoos that use safe ingredients. And people are getting good results with Diatomaceous Earth. The food grade kind not the Pool chemical kind. This kills the fleas and their larvae without threatening the environment you or your pet live in. I hope that everyone researches carefully what natural means and that not everything that is organic or natural is good for your pet children.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
I started adding a small amount of home made colloidal silver to my cats drinking water for the recommended health benefits about 6 months ago(maybe a tablespoon per pint). I noticed that he hasn't come home with any fleas or ticks this summer which was a big problem last year.
I bought a bottle of brewers yeast at walmart for flea control as I read somewhere it might help.
It made my german shepherd so sick and he got an ear infection right away. I had to take him to the vets to get meds. The vet would not give me oral antibiotics, but gave me ear drops. I wish I had bought fish antibiotics and looked up the dosage from revival animal health or drs foster and smith for him. He ended up biting me really badly because he didnt want the drops put in his ear and I ignored the threat display to get them in his ear and he attacked me...not that it was his fault..he is a wolf hybrid german shepherd and he has a large set of teeth.
Never use brewers yeast for flea control it doesnt work and it causes illness.
ON the contrary, I have a big steel pot I use for all my animals water and every time I fill it up I put a cap ful of apple cider vinegar in it, the best kind is the kind at the health food store but I just use the kind at the dollar store, and it starts working in about two weeks. They dont even notice it is there and it cuts the yeast out of their bodies and the fleas dont really like the taste of it and I also mop with it and I love it for all it does!
Posted by Blankie (Fajardo, PR USA) on 12/13/2010 ★★★★★
For years I have used Brewer's Yeast until now and that is because it has been difficult to find it here in Puerto Rico. I used to buy it at Walmarts and Walgreens Pharmarcy but it has been discontinued. I have always used it for my dog and her hair is shiny, she is quite healthy. She is always outside and she loves to sleep on sand (major factor for fleas and ticks) and she has no fleas nor ticks. I have used it on all the dogs I have had. The ones that died were of all ages (15 yrs) but never due to anything they ate or that I gave them.
Posted by Fireball92 (Carbondale, Il, USA) on 11/08/2009 ★★★★★
You really ought to try cedar oil... Especially- there is a company that uses a special blend that is deadly to ALL exoskeleton type insects (and their eggs and larvae). I had a terrible 2-year infestation. Tried every home-grown remedy and commercial remedy on my dogs and in my home... Spent $100'S of dollars but the darn things were indestructible! After another day on the net, I decided to try a cedar oil based product (so safe I apply it to the SKIN of my 2 yr-old granddaughter as a repellant for fleas and mosquitos) One treatment of my home and dog the hopping, biting critters were magically gone. The stuff is fabulous I think when comes to fleas and bedbugs - IT IS INFALLIBLE! - Dr. John
Posted by Westwind (Orlando, Fl) on 05/03/2010 ★★★★★
Brewer's Yeast works! I started using it early last spring, throughout the summer and into early winter. I never saw a flea on my Bassett Hound. I had my doubts living in a humid, hot climate where fleas thrive, but I never saw even 1 flea. I put about a teaspoon on her food at night (she's a small bassett, about 40 lbs). She loves the taste! Brewer's Yeast is natural and filled with other nutritional stuff your dog needs. Give it a try!
Posted by Xara (Belmont, California) on 09/27/2009 ★★★★★
Thank you so much for this remedy! I have 5 cat's, so buying the stuff that you squeeze on the back of their neck can get VERY expensive, not to mention the fact that they HATE it. Last monday morning I was noticing they were all getting pretty itchy again, so I decided to check out the pet section here, and boy am I glad I did! Instaed of spending my usual $100.00, I stopped at a new age bookstore and picked up 4 chunks of amethyst for well under $10.00. By thursday evening they were all itch free,....it's amazing! Not sure how or why it works, but it does!
I don't believe that only Dawn dish soap works. Any dish soap will do. What happens is the soap coats the flea so it cannot breath. (I have read that they breath through their skin. ) Try the dish soap that you have available. I have used whatever I had in the bowls under a night light, or even a few drops in a glass of water to place fleas I have picked off of one of my animals. The fleas will sink with just the few drops mixed in. Good luck.
Posted by Fraizer (Venice, Fl) on 07/20/2009 ★★★★★
I too have been searching for a natural remedy to rid my 2 cats of fleas. I tried the Vinegar and some home remedies, but none of them worked for me. I refuse to put any pesticides or chemicals on my pets because they are really harmful to them, and my cats have had bad reactions to them. I will not mention brand names, but I finally found success with a store bought product. Go to your pet store and look for a natural flea powder or spray containing natural oils (peppermint, cloves, etc.) that will kill fleas. They are more expensive, but are non toxic to humans and pets and WORK GREAT! My girls are no longer biting & scratching. Be sure to spray or sprinkle the powder over your entire house as well. My cats smell like TEA BAGS but are no longer FLEA BAGS!!! Please do not put poison on your pets. Find a natural remedy.
Posted by Pierre (Phuket, Thailand) on 07/11/2009 ★★★★★
YEA - Hi all, I have been infected by flea and teaks, now is the raining season in Thailand where I living at the moment. I owned 3 dogs and have a see what is the Flea infection , but like this one I never see before! They was there, a millions and millions!!! I take under control this infestation using Borax, mix 4 part of Borax, 1.5 part of Salt 1.5 Soda. I cover all my garden and all place they the dogs playing. Left over night plus 24 hours. I added to the drink water ACV but not much because the dogs do not liked. Finally I prepare mix Hydrogen Peroxide, ACV, Borax and spraying the dogs.
Now I am on the second week and thats work, thats more then miracle, the dogs are more calm and can sleep over night, and not toxic for the dogs and for the human.
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