Natural Flea Control

If you have access to a black walnut tree, you can get rid of fleas in the house by putting the leaves around the edges of each room. My mother was told this by a wise old country woman in Georgia many years ago and it worked for her. Much later, I came back after a long absence to a severe infestation of fleas in my apartment (also in GA). Black walnut leaves did the trick again. I left them long after they had dried up, a couple of months, and then swept them up and tossed them out. The fleas were long gone from both the cats and the apartment by this time and never came back. I've often wondered if the thick green/yellow nut cases (not the shells) would also work, as they have the same strong, staining oil as the leaves, but I've never tried it.

I grow peppermint in a large pot on my deck - it comes back like wildfire every spring. It dries by the beginning of June and once it dries, I pull it out of the pot by its roots - throw it all over my fenced in backyard - then mow over it to distribute it more evenly. It keeps the fleas and ticks out the area until August. In March - when it's rainy - we treat the yard with salt. The salt breaks down the outer shell of fleas and ticks. We make sure to put the salt down right before it's going to rain because it could burn your dog's paws if left just lying on the grass. We treat again with salt in August - if there is no rain in the forecast - we just water the lawn really good after we salt. You can buy 20-50 pound bags of salt pretty cheap. I use a lavender spray on the dogs once a week from March through October - which seems to repel mosquitos too. We have been flea free!

I used to use the Soresto collars - but those made my older dog really sick a couple years ago - and the fleas were still biting both my dogs when they had the collars on.I think it's best to find something that repels as well as kills, so our poor babies don't have to go through getting bit.

*Note: this post is geared toward dogs and not cats.

Grind salt in a blender or food processor until its a powder and sprinkle everywhere even on pets. You will see the fleas jump up and then die! Wonderful, fast & cheap! Good luck. I just sprinkled my whole apt. I have 4 month old twins & a 7 yr old and we tried advantage, vacuuming & knockout. When I found out salt worked I had to try it and I watched those blood suckers die lol. They have bitten me all over my body and have started biting my 7 yr old. I was desperate and frustrated. I was about to give up my cat. I wish u the best!

I am so happy to read this! Finally someone with common sense about garlic!

Garlic is 100% safe as long as you don't feed one garlic (like 15 cloves) to a Chihuahua or so ;-) My dogs get garlic, they are both small sized dogs, and they get half a clove per meal, twice a day.

Against flees and ticks I prepare an oil, with the cloves of 1 organic garlic, chopped, some ginger cloves, and about 1/8 of the bottle with AVC, then fill it up with (organic) sunflower oil (you can use any oil of course), let this stand for 24 to 48 hours, shake every few hours.

When ready, simply add a few drops to your hands and massage it in the coat of your dog, that is enough to keep any flee and/or tick away for at least 24 hours. Repeat daily!

I never have flees or ticks or other nasty small beasts that hunt my dogs. This recipe is great for cats too. I wouldn't try it on your canary or parakeet, but even for rabits and of course for horses (use more than a few drop, I'd say a hand full of oil), any animal that can get flees/ticks!

I have two Golden Retrievers that had a serious flea condition. After washing the dogs with flea shampoo and I then went around the entire carpeted house and lightly sprinkled Borax (yes, the 20 Mule Team type)on the carpet. I sprinkled extra on the dog's bedding and areas where they hung out. It was amazing but I got rid of the fleas completely within a week. I later learned that the Borax dries out the flea eggs and they don't hatch. After a week I vacuumed the house and I never had another problem.

Natural Flea & Tick Remedy

Hi everyone! After almost losing our Baby Kitty to those dangerous advantage medications, I decided to figure out a way to live without using them year after year. So I did searches and found out about, " Diatomaceous Earth". This stuff is miraculous! I found mine at the local True Value Store, but you can also buy online at different retailers. BUY: FOOD GRADE! I spread this in all different areas of my lawn as well, and within 48 hours you have no more ticks or fleas. It harms all insects. I have plenty of flowers bees, and other wonderful insects roaming around, but this gets rid of the fleas and ticks really great. And I put it down on the ground on a NON-Windy day. ALSO: WEAR A MASK TO PREVENT BREATHING THIS SUBSTANCE! It worked great and I will never have to buy pesticide and put it on my animals again!! Late fall I again had fleas on my dog and all I did was put small quantity on his fur and within 48 hours all fleas were dead, then I washed him, the fur was slightly dry, but so well worth it to keep him flea free. After 3 days I washed him and put some good conditioner on him and he felt great. Usually you just have to put the Diatomaceous Earth around their tail and back area. Again in the fall, I put more of the earth around the areas that he lays in and no more fleas, after it rains you will have to put it back down again, but it's cheap. I also put it on all my fruit tree's and surrounding tree's to keep the leaf hoppers off, and my tree's look great too! Hope this works for all of you looking for a natural approach. With carefully placing it on the ground, I did not harm any beneficial bugs that roamed freely on my flowers. Lot's-O-Love to all our Animal Lovers out there! Pennie

I've had a bad flea problem for about a week and tried everything but nothing worked. As a last resort I tried salt. Instead of sprinkling it on the carpets I mixed table salt and hot water in a spray bottle. I sprayed all the carpets, furniture and dog bedding. It worked great, as the water dried it left an even coat of salt on the carpets, was easy to spray under beds and couch and was much less messy then sprinkling a layer of powdered salt over everything. Within an hour I noticed that there was a drastic decrease in the number of fleas and it took less than 10 minutes to spray the entire apartment.

After finding and reading your web site I found the dish soap worked but I hesitate to use it too often. The night light under a pan of soapy water worked for inside the house. The flea comb has been wonderful. He likes the attention and will readily let me comb him.(Male Cat) Now I dip the comb in 7 dust He hated the dust before but he doesn't mind the comb dipped in it. I pick the fleas off the comb and put them into soapy water. They drown. The OVER THE COUNTER flea applications on the back of the neck did not work.

In response to doglover in NC, NATURAL diatomaceous earth does not emit a poisonous vapor. All it contains is ground up diatoms (fossils). It is about 86% silicon, so you don't want to breathe the dust (like any other dust). However it can be very drying, and may cause dry skin. It is included in some dog foods at about 2% by volume. Swimming pool DE is another story, it IS toxic. Do NOT use it anywhere except in the pool filters.

Flea removal remedy: Our indoor Yorkie got several fleas in her fur and they moved so fast that when we tried to catch and kill them they would scurry or hop away. Finally in desperation I rubbed some coconut oil in her fur and the oil literally reduced the fleas to slow motion where we could easily pick them out and kill them. We found that the oil would cause them to stick to the teeth of a very fine comb making them easier to immobilize and kill. I have only used coconut oil so far but feel reasonably sure that almost any cream would work as well.

I recommend this effective flea removal technique that has worked for me in the past. Plug a nightlight in near the infested floor area and using a shallow plastic pan or even a cake pan--a large size 9x13 or so fill with water and dishwashing liquid mixed together. The fleas will jump toward that light during the nighttime hours and fall into the soapy water and die. Empty and repeat several days. Continue this treatment until the fleas are gone. If you have a bad infestation you might want to try in several locations throughout your house. Good Luck

Yea: It is true garlic is the trick for fleas. Last lear we treated our three dog repeatedly with the usual brands of flea control but they couldn't keep up. This year a friend recomended the garlic. He said they have used this remedy for years. Its safe and it works. We mix the garlic in with their food and they love it. I think it helps with tics and mosquitos as well.

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.

Hello again. I need to seriously update previous post. The 15 yr old did pass away from old age. We spent most of his life in Ft Lauderdale and have since moved to a semi rural area with lots of woods. Got a new pup and continued with the garlic tabs. However he was itching and seemed a little "off" I brushed him daily and didn't think he could possibly have fleas but took him to the vet and yes indeed under his thick coat was fleas. So my garlic pills were useless in this environment. Vet put him on Simparica and poor dog gets agitated and SEVERE diarrhea. After 2 doses I am NOT giving this poison to him anymore. Am going back to the vet because at 20 dollars a pill and 4 left I want a refund. I don't know what my next step will be but I will find a non toxic remedy. I guess if you live in a city and not the country garlic tabs will work but out here it's a battle. Maybe garlic doesn't work all the time but these poisons will shorten their lives. Maybe you might not notice it right away but ask yourself if you would drink a poison cocktail once a month. Check out petbucket.com/what are the side effects of Simpirica. Best wishes all

Yikes!! The only thing I ever used that actually worked was salt. Sprinkle it on the carpet/rugs, the pet's bedding and all around where the floor meets the walls. And around the bottom of furniture legs. If you're a neatnick, you'll want to vacuum first and toss your vacuum cleaner bag. then just get the salt down there - cheapo, iodized table salt is perfect and cheap - and leave it. And by "leave it", I mean skip vacuuming for a few days and let it do its thing.

Hi there, I just read your post about Amethysts in your pet's water. Recharging is what I thought they need. : ) But full moon doesn't come too often, haha. A smudge stick made of sage is the best solution for cleansing not just crystals but your house as well. I use smudge sticks and incense on a regular basis and some crystals not only feel energised and revived but my Lemon Chrysoprases even change their apearance. One can literally see the difference! Another way to cleanse your crystals is with a singing bowl. Crystals respond to sound as well. You can also hold them under runing water. The most important thing is to have a clear idea of the outcome. Intention is what starts the process. : ) Because they are in daily use, I'd make sure that your Amethysts are cleansed at least once a week. Good luck and lots of joy with your animal and crystal friends!

I have 2 cats that both became infested with fleas. I put frontline on them a little more than a week ago. It did not work. They still had fleas, much to my astonishment, being as frontline is supposed to be good stuff... Not to mention, expensive! I just got done giving them both dawn dish soap baths. Got them wet, lathered them up very good, head toe, very good and thoroughly. Then let them sit for a few minutes in the lather. I almost immediately saw all the fleas dropping off, dead. Rinsed them down the drain and now I have a huge weight off my shoulders!

I use dawn dish liquid to wash my dogs and it instantly kills most fleas.

Started brushing my dogs and cats with baking soda about 2 years ago. I originally did this as a dry bath. It definitely helped with the smell. But I have also noticed that I have not seen any fleas in this time. Usually I have to treat every year. I brush them once a week. It's worth a try right?

I noticed that you are recommending adding garlic to every meal your dog eats to help prevent flea and tick infestations. At one point, I was a small business owner and one of my products was all-natural dog biscuits. Despite the fact that most DIY dog biscuit recipes call for garlic as an ingredient, I found out through further research that this is actually very harmful to the dogs. Garlic, onions and many other alliums contain a particular natural chemical that builds up in a dog's kidneys over the course of their life. This build up can eventually lead to kidney failure or death for the animal. It has also been known to cause a rare form of kidney cancer in some dogs. This is something that I thought you should know....

Thanks, Josh