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.
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Rick (Woburn, Ma) on 08/23/2010
★★★★★
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.
Brewer's Yeast
Posted by Robyn (Hampton, Tn) on 05/16/2010
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!
Brewer's Yeast
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.
Soap Nuts
Posted by Namooni1974 (Portland, Oregon, Usa) on 02/18/2010
Natural Flea, Tick, and Lice remedy
So we have had so many different animals in our family over the years that fleas have been a problem. We have tried so many different products with as many results. All have eventually failed except one. Soap nuts!
A friend introduced us to them for allergies to laundry soap. I found recipies online to make liquid soap out of them. We all now use it as our only household soap (bodywash, shampoo, house keeping,ect..) I bathe the animals monthly with it and stopped having any problems with fleas. We also do not get bitten by mosquitos. I buy my soap nut online, and they last a very long time.They are 100% natural with no side effects and are compostable.
Lemons
Posted by Robyn (Hampton, Tn) on 12/21/2009
★★★★★
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
Brewer's Yeast
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!
Dish Soap
Posted by G (Ny) on 03/16/2013
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.
Essential Oils
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.
Brewer's Yeast
Posted by London (Sandusky, Ohio) on 04/29/2009
★★★★★
I had the worst flea infestation EVER, last year. I have two Dogs, and I live in Ohio, right near the lake, so the humidity here is terrible. The infestation was so bad, my 2 year old was getting bitten all over. I didn't know what to do. I tried ACV, in their water, and It didn't really improve anything. Although, I think I was a little impatient, I read that you have to wait 6 weeks for results. Tried Garlic, the kind you get in the jar in olive oil, AND powedered. Did not workat all.
Brewers yeast seems to be working well, so far. I started in March, now it is almost May. They are a lot better now then last year at this time. I also use flea collars, because, I have to do something aggressive for these dogs, they suffered so much last year. My German Shepherd actually liked off all of her hair on her hind side, and was bald. I used Tea tree oil, about a dropperful in some Castile soap for their baths last year, but this year, I'm planning on trying Neem Oil. I'm going to try rubbing it on their fur as a repellent as well. See how that goes. Wish me luck!!
Brewer's Yeast
Posted by Ann (Castle Rock, Co) on 08/17/2009
We are getting ready to move to Washington state and I wanted to try and get a head start of protecting my dogs from fleas. I have a begale and 2 mini-dashunds and was wondering how much brewers yeast they should get? I bought tablets, but not sure if they should get the whole tablet (if so how often) or if it should get crushed up (and still how often) I already give they fish oil tablets 2x a week to help w/the dry skin that happens here. Also I'm seeing that my little ones don't care for the garlic powder on their food, will it be just as effective if it is cooked (say in biscuits)? Thanks for all the great advice on here! Glad I found this site!!!!
Salt
Posted by T (Maryland, USA) on 01/11/2009
Try diatomaceous earth, which can be found at the big name home improvement stores in the lawn and garden section.
Also, when you vacuum, if using a bag be sure to seal and dispose of it EVERY time you vacuum. Bagless vacs can have the canisters thoroughly washed in hot soapy water - wash the filters too, every time. Fleas/eggs stuck in there will perpetuate the problem if you don't.
Dish Soap
Posted by Rachel (Underwood, Indiana) on 11/13/2008
★★★★★
I found out about dish soap years ago it works great. Kills the fleas instantly. But yes, they tend to run to the eyes and mouth area to escape the suds. My Mom was a dog groomer and taught me a way of protecting the eyes from the sting of soap,put a drop of MINERAL OIL in each eye before bathing the animal. the animal will not get soap in their eyes and you can make sure you can get close without hurting them. Now you still need to be careful around the nose and mouth areas. So try to put a barrier of soap around them so the fleas will not go there. Keep in mind though that you do not want to get Dawn in their nose or mouth, so be really careful when rinsing off. Try a wet rag in these areas. Also Dawn does tend to dry the skin out, so the animal may start itching the dry skin. If you put Avon's Intensive Treatment Lotion on the animal it helps with their dry skin and really lushes the coat. It also repells the fleas for several days, but it does make the coat oily when you first put it on, after a day tho the oil soaks in. You will notice a HUGE change in a very short time.
Dawn will also kill lice and mites. If you have a bird mite problem, wash the cage down with dish soap and spray the bird with a mite spray specially for birds.
I really love ___ for killing fleas. As a matter of fact, when I see someone at the store looking at flea shampoos I stop them and tell them not to waste their money, just buy a $1 bottle of ___. It kills fleas instantly and you don't have to have your animal sitting shivering waiting for 5-15 minutes with the flea shampoo which does not work anyway.
Cedarwood Oil
Posted by Doug (Knoxville, Tn) on 09/18/2012
★★★★☆
This summer has been the worst for fleas. Have been fighting the critters for a few months on our lab and cocker. spot-on chemicals did nothing. I'm done spending money on monthly treatments and have read some of the research that is a bit scarey. I called the company of the one I recently used and was told, "the product works, your dog must be picking up new fleas daily. " So what good is it if they stay covered in fleas??? I am currently using the cedarwood oil I bought on line from a company in texas. It came with a 1oz. Spritzer you can refill from the jug. easy to use. It works as well as advertised, will kill a flea in seconds. We have used it frequently on the dogs with no harmful side affects. The only draw back is that it doesn't continue to work for any length of time. If the problem is bad, like ours has been this summer, the fleas return. But a heck of a lot cheaper and safer than spot on treatment. The 32 oz bottle should last quite a while. We've started a more aggressive approach with some of the ideas we found here, I. E. Brewers yeast, ACV, etc.. The cedarwood oil spray has worked well, but as you probably know.... the little critters tend to stay out of sight most of the time.
Garlic
Posted by Karen (Hillsdale, Mi.) on 10/08/2008
★★★★★
I have been having flea problems also, so I search and search for things to use naturally...Garlic kept coming up...so, I took out the garlic powder, and rubbed it into my cats furr starting around the neck and head area, making sure not to get into eyes and such. Then worked it down under the belly area and back. I waited a few hours, and checked them...no fleas!!
Garlic
Posted by Shore1204 (North Cape May, New Jersey) on 08/27/2012
I am having the worst time with fleas this year. I have bathed my dogs in the lavendar dog shampoos, used advantage 11& armor spot treatments and cant seem to keep them away. My poor choc. Lab has it worst to where she is starting to lose hair. She dosent like the vet every vet I try is patient with her but I do not want to stress her out on top of what she is going through. What can I do. Somebody please help me.
Borax
Posted by Diane Hacker (Emerald Isle, North Carolina) on 05/29/2008
★★★★★
re: fleas in the house: sprinkle 20 mule team borax around the house. it dehydrates all insects.
Borax
Posted by Cait (Waycross, GA) on 12/22/2008
I read on here you could sprinkle borax and salt on your carpet to get rid of indoor fleas. Would the borax have any effect on indoor cats?
Salt
Posted by Chu (Edmond, Oklahoma) on 05/13/2008
★★★★★
FLEAS: hi, i've been using salt in my carpet for flea infestations, i have a cat that goes in and out of the house like 7-11, so i will get reinfestation every once in a while, the first thing i tried was salt, i sprinkle it all over the carpets and leave it there from 3-7 days, and then vacuum it up, and no more fleas.
i had also tried diatomaceous earth but it didn't really work for me i used permaguard food grade fossil flour, and i was uncomfortable using it cause it is bad for your lungs, so from now on i will only use salt cause if its safe enough to eat i won't have to worry. i use the cheapest one i could find at 33 cents a can. i bought idolized and unidolized i don't know if it matters though.
Dish Soap
Posted by Michael (Shell Beach, Ca) on 03/03/2008
★★★★★
We just bathed one of our cats with the ___ dish soap method and it was amazing. It was like instant the fleas had no time to run and hide and didn't even know what hit them. By the end of the bath we had a not so happy but flea ridden cat. Thank you so much Michael and Christin
Neem Seed Oil
Posted by Gabriela (Pahoa, Hawaii) on 02/24/2008
★★★★★
My pet recipe: Neem Seed Oil (100% pure only). I use it on everything, when our pets have itching, they scratch constantly and inflict wounds on themselves. If they have tics in their ears, they might inflict a wound somewhere by constantly scratching on the outside.
Neem Seed Oil is against parasites, mites and tics and fleas. It is also anti-bacterial. I used it on little turtles, chickens and cats. These are our only animals. I am so confident with this. I have solved problems, the vet said, were psychological. In one case, it truly was. Our cat was not stopping to scratch herself and inflicted wounds on herself because we had been away for some time and she was traumatized. I solved this problem by using Neem Seed Oil on her wounds first and then I put a little dog-shirt on her (like a T-shirt for tiny doggies you can buy). She was so estranged about the funny thing on her body that she forgot about her licking and couldn't anyway. After a few days, she got it off herself and had all forgotten her obsessive licking. When I use Neem Seed Oil, I put it on my hands, and oil the animals generously on all the spots necessary. They hate it - but usually one or two treatments are enough.
Neem Seed Oil
Posted by Sue (Hazel Green, WI) on 10/23/2008
★★★★★
I tried the 1 oz Neem oil with 8 oz. vinegar in a spray bottle. It is working fantastic. I have 3 cats and are having a bad time with fleas this season. This spray has worked wonderful on them. They are enjoying not scratching and playing around more. Thanks so much for this web site. Keep up the great ideas.
Neem Seed Oil
Posted by Sassy (Gold Coast, Qld) on 12/20/2010
★★★★★
Hi all, Neem oil is really fantastic stuff. But just I little bit of info, its classed as an insecticide, so using this if you have frontline etc on you animal will actually cause the frontline to stop working. Also, the drop things you put on the back of your animals. These actually work in the natural oils on the skin, so they don't really work until the flea actually bites the animal. Thanks :)
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Nancy (Reddick, Florida) on 01/02/2008
I have been raising westies for many years, which are a very happy healthy breed. Last spring I bought one of the two major spot on flea products here in the USA and administered it to all of my dogs. All 10 got blisters from it. I asked my Vet what to do and he said I must have gotten a bad batch. Well, this whole year of 2007 none of my females had puppies, thats two heat cycles. They would come into season' normally and everything seemed right, but could not get bred. I started researching the ingredience on the flea product since they had a reaction to it. Boy was I shocked !!! This product is the first ingredient listed and everything my girls were going through showed up as side effects from this man made chemical. Drastic alterations in thyroid functions, changes in the levels of sex hormones, the list goes on. Needless to say, I spent alot of time and money at the Vets for tests on my girls/boys and they couldn't give me an answer.I contacted the manufacturer and they denied having any problems with the product. This chemical CAN also stay in the pets system for up to 56 days. So, if you give your dog this product as recommended every 4 wks. you're double dosing him with chemical. I also have friends that live in diferent parts of Florida who breed and used this product this year. The same thing happened to them, I will never use commerical flea products again.Please everyone, Take a minute and research the ingredience on anything you buy for your pets.
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Debbie (Northville, MI) on 07/20/2008
PLEASE REPORT THE FRONTLINE PROBLEM TO THE EPA. Last week I had the vet put Frontline on both my Yorkie and Silkie.They were perfectly healthy five year old dogs. They both almost died. Started with them being lethargic and edema developed at the application site, this went to seizures, shock, hair loss you name it. Keep in mind that the head person from Frontline contradicted herself by saying "this is impossible and in the next sentence when I told her she would be paying my bills she replied by saying "we handle all such cases on a case by case review" huh? sounds like this is a problem-check out some links by doing frontline poisoning online. you will find hundreds of such reports. Also the UK puts this right on the label--can cause lethargy, seizures, shock, hairloss, sores and death. Gee, too bad our country doesn't do this--it is the EPA that controls this-have your vet report it too. I am desperately trying to decide what chemical free options to try.
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Dianna (Austin, Tx) on 01/01/2009
you do not ever have to use poison every again for fleas!!! i have a tiny chihuahua who had fleas so bad that i was bathing and flea combing him twice a day. finally i found grandpa's pine tar soap and washed him with it and immediately the fleas were gone. it only took one other time to wash him and he has not had fleas since and it has been months. i live out int he country and fleas can get really out of hand here in the summer. this was really a god send for me. try it! you may have to wash a couple of times - but just lather it up and let the foam sit and then flea comb and the fleas just jump off. good luck.
Side Effects From Frontline
Posted by Kelly (Rogers, Ar) on 06/11/2008
I used the squeeze on my 7 yr old lab I thought he was going to die 30 min later. He was foaming at the mouth wouldn't eat or drink, he just lay there. I called the poison control number on package and they told me it coats their mouth if they lick it. So to give him tuna packed in water and give a bath in dish soap such as Dawn then watch and make sure he didn't have any other problems.It and other products of this kind can cause diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration. The tuna worked for that but he had an allergic reaction and now has hot spots he did not start getting until after sentry was used. I have tried so many things I hope the acv and peppermint works just tried tonight.
Lemons
Posted by Donna (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) on 06/30/2007
★★★★★
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!
Essential Oils
Posted by Alison (Houston, TX) on 11/05/2008
★★★★★
I am so happy I found your site! I read your suggestion for bathing your pet in essential oils such as lavender, bergamot and cedar. I went on line trying to find a product with these ingredients and found something called Wondercide which you spray on your animals fur - and it is working! I have an older Mastiff who suffers from major flea allergies. Her rear and tail were raw and hairless. All I did was spray the stuff on her and now she is doing great. Her hair is back, she smells better, she is free of fleas, and she is no longer incessantly licking and biting herself. I also sprayed her bed with the product and use it in my home and yard. Our home and family are now finally without fleas. BTW I live in the flea capital of the world - Houston.
Essential Oils
Posted by Sarah (Portland, OR) on 11/12/2008
Be careful with essential oils like lavendar, tea tree, eucalyptus and others around pets. They can act as endocrine disrupters and are toxic to pets.
Dish Soap
Posted by Robin (Mansfield, OH) on 07/19/2006
★★★★★
We have two dogs and four cats. Needless to say, fleas are a major problem in the summer. Upon searching for a flea killing product, we were told by a local store employee to try ___ Dishwashing liquid. She had used it on her animals and claimed that it worked. We were desperate and would try anything reasonable. Sure enough it worked!!. While bathing the animals, we saw the fleas literally running from the soaped areas. We scrubbed the animals throughly with a brush while bathing them, making sure that the soap was completely throughout the fur. We reallly found dead fleas in the water and on the floor after the bathing was done. Wash your animals once a week with this product and the fleas will not be a problem.
Dish Soap
Posted by Casper (Port Crane, Ny) on 09/03/2009
★★★★★
Any dishwashing liquid will kill fleas. The ones containing lemon will work even faster. Fleas have an oily surface to them that keeps them alive. Mess that up with a little soap and they suffocate. You can always kill a few fleas taking your four legged friends for a swim. FLEAS CAN'T SWIM AND WILL ONLY DROWN IF IMMERSED IN WATER! I have black labs that swim most every day and fleas are never a problem.
