Fleas - Editor's Choice

Once get stationed in an old house while on a job in a city, it was a duplex with a door to other side. The neighbors had used this nasty old side for their dog's house. I got eaten alive by fleas the first night, woke with blood all over my chest and went right to work cleaning then spread borax over everything the fleas might be in and on all the floors in the place. No more fleas, the next morning: NO BITES.

We bought a house and the former owners clearly had pets that were not treated and did not treat the house. No one told us anything. Never had flea problems before and then this house was so badly infested that our GSD literally chewed himself naked and raw. He even got a serious skin infection due to the chewing because of the fleas. Ugh!

We first put all the animals out on the deck and literally treated EVERY surface (windowsills, carpets, baseboards, mattresses and box springs, furniture including under the cushions) with a mix of diatomaceous earth, borax, baking soda, with a few drops of lemon oil and eucalyptus oil.

Before bringing the pets in, bathed all of them with a mix of Dawn dish soap, baby shampoo, and a few drops of tea tree oil; rinsed; applied a 50/50 of the ACV and water as another rinse; let the ACV rinse dry on the coat! ; then applied a mix of 1/2 to 3/4c coconut oil gently melted and mixed with 1/4 c olive oil along with about 8 drops of lemon oil, rosemary oil, 10-20 drops collodial silver, 2 drops clove oil, and 8 drops lavender oil rubbed well into fur and on skin. Dogs liked the conditioner and tried to lick it all off. :) Fleas hated the ACV mix rinse and the coconut oil mix conditioner.

The fleas with the conditioner were jumping ship and twitching and dying all over the deck where we were treating our pets. Left the carpet mix on for 5 days, vaccuumed, repeat mix, vaccuum in 3 days, repeat mix, vaccuum daily for about a month. No more flea problems and all without chemicals! Also we have treated our yard here, where there is no flea down time, with nematodes to kill fleas, their eggs, and their larvae for two years straight. Does wonders.

I found that diatomaceous earth and tea tree oil were not effective for a flea infestation. Luckily, I tried lemon juice spray and was amazed by how effective it was.

I took a few small whole lemons, skin, seeds and all, and blended them with some water (not too much) and strained the mixture. I spray some on my hands and rub it into my kitty from head to tail. I also spray it outside and indoors. Smells great. She licks it off and is perfectly healthy and much happier now that the fleas are gone.

Plz read my post under tea tree oil for more info.

Posted by Theresa

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Theresa

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.

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(Mpls., Mn) on 02/21/2015

ACV works to prevent fleas in two ways; topically in a spray or after bath rinse it helps balance the PH of the skin and smells not attractive to the fleas. Internally in the diet be it food or water it helps balance the ph of your dog's system to make them less appetizing to the fleas -and also has proven helpful in many other ways when taken internally.

For a spray, I use white vinegar and save the expensive for food use; 1 part vinegar into 5 or 10 parts water. In the water bowl it is 2-3 tablespoons per quart or same amount in the food am and pm.

If you are sure you are dealing with a bad case of fleas, consider a simple flea trap made with a small desk lamp and a white plate. Put the lamp on the floor in the area where your pet sleeps or spends a lot of time, and the plate under the lamp. Add water to the plate and then put a few drops of dish soap. Turn the light on at night and check for black specks in the morning. This simple trap can be moved from room to room and can quickly halt an infestation.

First off let me say that Earth Clinic is my "go to" site for getting informaion and answers and help. It is my starting point on whatever questions I might have. - I start here, google what I've found, and end up right back here again. This is an amazing community of people helping people.

I have recently had a bout of fleas on my poor dogs. There were only a few so I didn't know what it was for a couple of weeks. I kept checking them for fleas or mites, but never saw anything. They were miserable, would welt up, then get better. Then the cycle started all over again. After discovering the fleas, I did a test. In small, separate containers I put, hydrogen peroxide, aloe vera juice, white vinegar, and apple cider vinegar. I deposited a few fleas in each container. Surprisingly, they lasted less than 5 seconds in the aloe vera juice! The others took considerably longer... They swam in the white vinegar for about 20 minutes, in the ACV for about 5 minutes, and in the hydrogen peroxide for about 5 minutes. I had a 1 gallon container of organic 100% aloe vera juice so gave both boys a sponge bath in it... Really soaked them down. The welts have diminished quite a bit and they are finally resting comfortably.

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.

Please do not ever put coconut oil, water or food in the microwave!! It distroys all of the vitamins etc and body goes into attack with all food and liguids in microwaves. It kills plants with microwaved water for instance. I quit using microwaves 3 years ago after I learned it helps to/does kill living beings. Coconut oil easily warms up at room temp and immediately melts once on hands or tongue.

Coconut oil is also outstanding in ridding and preventing fleas and ticks on cats and dogs. I've witnessed it with both my own cat and puppy. For my cat I leave out a teaspoon on a plate and she'll lick as much as she needs. If she finished that up I'll put more out. If she doesn't eat all or refuses it then I know she doesn't need anymore at this time and I toss it out so it doesn't go rancid and collect dust. Sometimes she'll eat a lot for a week or two.. To sometimes won't eat any for a week. Dogs I just give a teaspoon once or twice a day during warm/hot months and randomly in winter and fall.

If their fur has fleas I coat their fur with coconut oil, use a fleas comb to rid fleas and then shampoo. Fleas and ticks cannot tolerate the smell of coconut oil and by their eating it goes through their pores. They can't move in the oil so is easy to rid them. This method not only saves one money, but from harsh pesticides that are no longer effective as they once were, helps save your pets health.

Make certain cats are not cold for the oil will make them much cooler while oil is on. One may need to wash them twice. Coconut soap is good to wash off of cats. Must try to get all oil off cats because it will collect dust and go rancid.

I've personally heard vets tell me not to use coconut oil that it doesn't work. Yet they never tried. They insist on meds like human doctors to make them money. I've had two vets tell me that coconut oil does work and they also give me many holistic remedies. One yet I took a homeless cat in to get checked out I told him about coconut oil and he asked me not to tell anyone so he doesn't lose money. That angers me quite a bit. He'd rather poison animals and something not effective rather than something healthy and works.

Using Lavender essential oil does get rid of fleas on the dogs just like others have said. It will also keep them from getting fleas in the first place. If they do come in contact with them outside, they won't stay on them long.

Here's what I do. I make an all-purpose cleaner for most of my house cleaning that keeps all bugs out. Here's the recipe:

1-cup alcohol
1-cup distilled water
5 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops peppermint oil

Mix in a 24 to 32 oz. Spray bottle. Shake to mix then spray on and wipe with soft cloth, if needed, use a different dry cloth to buff. Use on just about anything and most surfaces.

My dogs, since they were puppies have slept in a wire cage each. They go to bed at night at the same time and they stay in their home cages while I run errands. They feel safe and secure there. I clean the wire cages with this mix and there have been no bugs on or in the cages. We've not had one bug of any kind (not even spiders) in our house since I started using this mix.Bugs of all kinds hate lavender. This recipe can be altered without any problems. You may use only lavender oil and omit the peppermint oil. You may use different amounts of any of the ingredients and it will still work fine. Also by using this mix, everything will be sparkling clean.

Thanks for a great site.