Dear Marsha,
I am very fond of my dogs. I have 2 dogs that live indoors and 2 that live outdoors. We are out in the country where there are plenty of fields and trees. This is accompanied by plenty of ticks and fleas. I was wondering if you knew of any Home Remedies that may work to rid my babies of these awful fleas. I have tried those expensive brands that my vet referred and have had very little success. I have spent a fortune trying all of the different kinds of flea shampoos and collars on the market. At this point, I am willing to try anything to rid these little creatures from my dogs.
Thanks for your time,
Pet Peeve
Dear Pet Peeve,
It is annoying to spend so much money on something and to have so little outcome in our favor.
I have heard of several Home Remedies over the years for a little bit of everything, and luckily fleas is one of them.
The first step one must take to rid their pets from fleas is to remove the fleas from the house, their bedding, carpets, and perhaps even in the yard. This is the hardest step, but there are plenty of home remedy suggestions that may help. I am just going to list a few of the ideas, as there are a ton of suggestions.
1. Fill a water bottle up with warm water and “Dawn” dish washing liquid, and spray your carpets and your pets bedding area with it.
2. Sprinkle 7 Dust on your yard. You can find 7 Dust at most all Lawn and Garden stores.
3. Some say to sprinkle salt on your carpets and let it stay for a week. They say that the fleas will eat the salt and cause them to dehydrate. After a week, you are to vacuum the floors and repeat once more to kill any larva that may have hatched.
4. Use a nightlight plugged into a low outlet near the floor. Below the nightlight, place a white or light colored bowl full of water and “Dawn” Dish washing liquid on the floor. The light attracts the fleas, and the bowl of Dawn water kills them as they jump toward the light. This remedy has also been done with using “sticky paper” instead of the bowl of dawn water.
5. Vacuum Daily. Inside your vacuum, you can place a flea collar to kill the fleas you sweep up. If you have a vacuum bag, just place the collar in the bag. If you have a canister, then you would want to tape the collar with a strong tape such as Duct Tape to the inside bottom of your canister.
All of these remedies and more can be found at:
http://www.myhomeremedies.com/topic.cgi?topicid=293&page=1
Now for remedies to rid your pet of fleas:
1. I have heard of using Tea Tree Oil drops on your pets as a flea repellent.
2. I have also heard of using Lavender oil.
3. Bathing your pet in Dawn Dish washing liquid soap water also helps kill fleas on contact.
4. Placing a little apple cider vinegar in the pets drinking water has been mentioned to help.
I also found this site that has other home remedies mentioned that are said to be effective against fleas.
http://www.grandmashomeremedies.com/fleas.html
On a last note, If your pet is irritated and needs special treatment for the itchy skin, you can purchase T-Gel Shampoo and use it instead of the expensive brands offered by your veterinarian.
Please note that these are all Home Remedies that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Not all will be effective, nor will all pets be able to tolerate such treatments. Use with caution and keep an eye on your pets behavior during each treatment to note of any allergic reactions.
Always,
Marsha
Hmm, very interesting homemade remedies. I would like to add one solution, even though it’s not homemade. What we do for my dog is inject him. You see, we inject him and that makes him kind of “immune” to ticks and fleas. You would need to research a little more about that, since I can’t provide a name for it. It isn’t expensive at all(under 100 bucks), and you can inject your dogs yourself. It lasts for around 6 months and when I mean not expensive.
Now, as far as the ticks already living in the house, I don’t think I have solutions for that yet. You can always fumigate, but that would be kind of expensive(I think). Though, you should be aware that ticks and fleas(or at least one them) stick to humans too, which wouldn’t be too healthy, so you should find a solution for this too.