Natural Flea Control

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.

Yes...to LAVENDER for flea control. I recommend lavender castile liquid soap to bath them in and diluted essential oil lightly applied to their coats between baths. Initially, I started using lavender because I am so sensitive to chemicals. Now, I use it because it works so well.

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.

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.

I've had incredible good luck ridding my cats of fleas with lemon juice. You can dunk a flea comb into a small dish of juice until the tines are submerged and comb daily until no more fleas are seen. Or you can just pour it on your pet and massage down to the skin 'tho when I tried this on one of my cats, I did dilute the lemon juice by 1/4 with water.

Before spraying on furniture and carpets, check a small area to make sure it won't stain. I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars I've spent on topical treatments, pills, shampoos, sprays etc. and nothing worked. Then a friend suggested lemon juice, which did make sense, since it's a key ingredient in citronella candles, horse fly wipes etc. to keep bugs away.

Homemade Flea Repellent

You can make an effective flea repellent from lemon by cutting it into quarters and immersing it in boiling water. This is then steeped overnight to get you the repellent. By spraying this all over your pet, especially behind the ears and generally around the head, and also at the base of the tail and the 'armpits', you can rid it of fleas.

I am wondering if Grapefruit boiled in pieces in water and then steeped overnight would do the same thing...probably would.

Also as a note...dawn baths, baby shampoo and peroxide mixed together baths, and dove baths afterward are great for killing fleas, and the dove washing makes the skin feel better if it is dry.

Robyn

My dog had fleas when she was four months old, and I didn't feel comfortable using flea medication on her because she was too small for store bought medication, and the stuff from the vet was too expensive. I read that there's something about lemons or lemon juice that repells fleas. I cut some lemons into quarters, and covered them with boiling water. I let the water sit overnight, and in the morning poured it into a spray bottle. I sprayed her several times a day with the lemon water, and also put some crushed garlic into her food. The fleas were gone in no time, and since lemons and garlic only cost a couple of dollars, I saved lots of money!

if you have dogs like we do use homemade lye soap and give them a bath in it every 10 to 14 days apart after the first oneand give them all natural dog treats and then after about a week if they are still scratching some rub some aloe vera on their coats and their stomach and it works thank you. Helen

To get rid of flea eggs or keep them from hatching, use moth balls in your vacuum bag. The flea eggs do not hatch. I was told about this years ago by a professional bug man.

Help! All this rain and I have more fleas than ever. and my new little dog, white broken coat jack russell mix, is in very bad shape. I have a dw liquid flea trap going and have vacuumed many times, but it is so wet outside the grass is almost knee high. I have no place to put the dogs while I sprinkle the carpets. I started her on antiflea daily pills over a month ago- brewers yeast and b vits, I have sprayed her with colloidal silver 7ppm, I have flea bathed her, I have coated her with aloe vera juice, I have coated her with aloe vera gel, I have rubbed coconut oil on the worst chewed bits, I applied a chemical on her neck, all in the past 2 weeks. yesterday I broke down and dipped her in permethrin solution.

This morning she looked good. no rash, no bumps. she went out to pee and came in covered with a bumpy red rash, not every bump is a flea bite, and at least 5 more fleas running thru her now very sparse coat. picked them off and put more aloe gel on her. the fleas just love her. :( I'd spend the 55 for bravecto but I'm afraid that wouldn't work either, and my last dog got cancer from I think comfortis. my big black dog is not as bothered, but the fleas of course jump to her. I'm going crazy. the dogs don't want me near them cuz I keep searching for fleas on them. shall I try the borax? it's the only thing I haven't tried, and that's because the store is out of it lately.

I have a French Bulldog and I fight yeast infection and hair loss every year. I decided to take him off flea chemicals but having a tough time finding a cure for it. I have been bathing him with baking soda then tree oil shampoo and finally a organic apple cider vinegar rinse. So far it has been been working. I also give him a teaspoon of Diatomaceous Earth every evening in his food. Anyone have any better cures?

I too have had the experience of living with itchy dogs. 10 pound Chorkie suffered all night and day. She is one of what began as six dogs so flea prevention is crucial. Our family is now down to 3 dogs due to old dogs going over the rainbow :-) THE Chorkie and our two Blue Heelers/Healers.

Here is our story: flea treatment from a vet, 150.00 per month. Grocery store dog crunchies, 20.00 per month, chorkie illness, 210.00 per one time only. then it occured to me to come here as I do for my own health and well being.

After reading all the information here I realized that while fleas are no day at the dog park it was not my Twinkie's trouble nor was the alleged flea allergy that cost $210.00. She received advantix and a 6 month cortisone/steroid shot along with a pat on the head and well wishes. Advantix left a huge lesion on her shoulder for more than 2 months.

To spare my readers of a long and emotionally driven story I will now get to the point. I changed the diet stopped the chemicals and got over my fear of over bathing my dogs

My dogs get homemade dog food that changes every week. A scant splash of ACV, Oatmeal, salmon fresh parsley fresh, canned pumpkin, garlic and coconut oil, one week, brown rice farm fresh organic free range eggs parsley garlic coconut oil the next. Turkey black beans and rice you get the picture. It cost no more than 5 dollars a week for me to cook it up while I prepare our family meal. The two heelers also get a couple fish oil capsules, Twinkie will not eat it under any circumstances.

They get a bath once a week with baking soda, anti fungal dog shampoo and a nice rinse of ACV. A drop of lavender oil on each neck every night. We have seen a huge improvment in the scratching. The heelers smell so much more like dogs and the ears are getting much better. Everyone'c coats are soft and silky and we are all sleeping much better. Healing is a process just as the illness is. Stick with it and trust in our mother earth to provide all we need for health and wellness.

love,

HiaAma

Here's what's finally gotten my dogs' horrible allergies under control: she's allergic to flea bites and the harmful spot-on treatments had ceased to work, so I took her off and put her on chewable garlic and brewers yeast tabs. They stopped biting her after a few weeks. Combed her everyday to get them off her. I have a huge yard and cats that are indoor/outdoor and are able to wander over to the neighbors' yards so they bring them in. Diatamacious earth on the lawn lessened them but still have to do lots of flea combing. Put the dog on holistic grain free food and at night she gets raw- the chicken in the big sausage kind. Tried various shampoos and AVC rinses, so-so. Tried enzymes etc. Found a spray called Dermacton and a bar shampoo they make. Shea butter oil and essential oils that have moisturized her coat and also repels fleas. She stopped itching like immediately and smells devine. She doesn't really like being sprayed but seems to know it helps. This past week she's been scratching some more and I think it's because she's been off the raw food. So... It seems to be a combination of keeping her on the raw food with a pinch of kelp added, washing her feet to get rid of the stuff she walks through and spraying her every other day or as needed with the spray. The spray has definitely made the biggest difference though. Just wish they'd lower the price.

I used neem tea to relieve my dog of fleas. I made a strong batch, soaked an old t-shirt and rubbed it all over the dog. By the next day, he was no longer scratching. Thanks to whoever posted about using neem!

OMG, I cant believe it, it works!!! All I did was dab a dropperful (twice in once week) around her ears, in betweem her shoulderblades and behind her neck, and shes relaxed, calm mellow, happy and not scratching, I cant believe!!!

Every year my Dog has a horrible time with fleas (Large shepherd), to where she doesnt sleep thru the nite and she licks the hair off her hindquarters, and shes bald and scabbing. Awful.

I had been using finely powdered brewers yeast sprinkled in her dry food (like cinnamon toast, twin labs brand) for a few years and it worked like a charm, but it seemed to stop working.

I did some research online herd rave reviews, except one lady claimed Neem oil killed her dog, as the dog had licked it off its fur, and went into convulsions and died. So I was sure to place the oil where she couldnt lick it off, I was nervous, but desperate, and Ive used Neem oil on myself over the years with great results (yeast infections, etc, lol! Healing skin rashes, ear mites for the cat, and ear infections on my 5 year old)

I was very skeptical, but First I gave her a bath, and rubbed a small amount thruout her fur when she was dry. Then dabbed a dropperful or two in proper areas. She seemed better, then a couple days later, I did it again.

Shes great now, cant believe. Shes not scartching at all.