Non-Toxic Flea Control

Posted on 19. Jun, 2009 by Cheryl in Pet Care

There are many flea control products on the market today, but most of the products are harmful to both the pet and the people around them. However, there are ways to control these pests without poisoning pets, people, plants and the environment. Here are some steps you can take:

Stop the flea population from growing. The backyard is one place where fleas thrive. There’s a natural way to eradicate fleas; apply nematodes to your lawn via a sprayer. A nematode is a tiny worm that preys on flea larvae. This biological type of pest control has no adverse effects. Once the entire flea population is gone, the nematodes will naturally die from lack of food. It is recommended to wet the soil prior to application to give the nematodes a good start.

Be sure to keep your pets healthy. What they put in their mouths is important for flea control. Flaxseed oil, available in most health food stores, is a good way to maintain your pet’s healthy skin. You can also buy whole flaxseeds, grind them, and add to food. Vitamin C and B-complex are also important to keep your pet healthy. Nutritional yeast adds B vitamins to your pet’s diet. As with all parasites, the healthier the animal, the less attractive it is to the flea. To repel fleas, very small amounts of garlic may be added to food (from one small to several large cloves of garlic daily, depending on the weight of the animal) Even easier are treats containing garlic and yeast. However, cats are sensitive to foods in the onion family, so garlic is better used for dogs only.

If your pet already has fleas, use a fine-toothed comb. When combing your pet, keep a bowl of soapy water nearby. Dip the comb in the water after each sweep through your pet. Once you’re done, put the water into a container and freeze it to kill the fleas.

Food-grade diatomaceous earth is a powder you can rub onto your pet and sprinkle on bedding and carpets to kill existing fleas. Sprinkle the powder on your pets and on your carpets. The silicon-based microskeletons of tiny dead critters rub the exoskeletons of the fleas and go into their respiratory holes, blocking and damaging them, so the fleas can’t breathe. It also works by damaging the exoskeletons so that they lose water and die of dehydration. If you mix a little with food, this also works on worms in the digestive tract.

During flea season, vacuum the rugs and furniture often. Flea eggs are gathered by vacuuming but they will still hatch in the bag. The bag must be sealed immediately and thrown away or frozen. Also, wash your pet’s bed covers at least once a week.

There are gentle herbal shampoos specially formulated for flea control which can be used as often as once per week. (Shampooing too often will dry out your pet’s skin.) Anything that makes lather will drown fleas if you leave the lather on for three to five minutes. So you don’t need to use a toxic shampoo! When shampooing your pet, it is best to use warm water and start with a rich lather around the animal’s neck. That way, fleas can’t go up the face.

Herbs that repel fleas are St. John’s Wort, rue, neem, basil. Use these externally. External applications of the essential oils of rose geranium, eucalyptus and tea tree may be sprayed on the fur and bedding of dogs, but not cats.

If you want to give your pet herbs in their food, to help repel fleas, the result may be that their little bodies will start to eliminate parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms, heartworms, tapeworms, etc. One way the dead parasites will exit the body will be by way of the kidneys and bladder, so these must be kept in good working order with fluid flowing freely. For this purpose, Hulda Clark recommends that you feed your pet parsley water for a week before starting a parasite program. Just cook a bunch in a quart of water for three minutes and throw away the wet parsley. Pour the resulting parsley water into ice cube trays and freeze, then store in zip-lock bags in the freezer. Thaw out a few cubes each day and feed to your pet, who will probably come to love it.

Once your pet has had his parsley water for a week, you can start feeding him (green) black walnut hulls, which repels fleas due to the tannic acid juglone. This is available in liquid tincture or capsule form. Be sure it is pale green, not black, to be sure the hulls were harvested at the right time. Be sure to give only the minimum effective dose , since too high a dose is toxic. Cats should get 1/2 to 1 drop, twice a week, depending on size. For dogs, start with one drop each day. Work up to 2 drops a day if the dog weighs twice as much as a cat, and so forth for larger dogs. If a dog weighs ten times as much as a cat, work up to 10 drops. Your pet may vomit or have diarrhea with worms in it. If so, disinfect the mess before cleaning it up. You can pour salt and iodine on it and let stand for 5 minutes. Wash your hands carefully, preferably with food-grade alcohol, and scrub your nails.

As part of an overall parasite-ridding program, you can add the smallest pinch possible of wormwood and clove to dry food, after your pet has had walnut for a week.

These are just some of the methods of non-toxic flea control. Pesticides commonly used by humans may be hazardous to pets. With these methods you can be sure that you are not adding a toxic load to your beloved dog or cat.

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Tags: Basil, Carpets, clove, diarrhea, diatomaceous earth, Environment, Essential Oils, eucalyptus oil, fine-toothed comb, flaxseed oil, fleas, Food, Garlic, green black walnut hulls, Health, Health Food, heartworms, Herbs, hookworms, Kidneys, Logic, Lt, Nutrition, nutritional yeast, onion, parasites, parsley, pesticides, rose geranium oil, roundworms, Span, tapeworms, Tea, tea tree oil, Vitamin C, vomiting, Water, wormwood

21 Responses to “Non-Toxic Flea Control”

Marisa Herrera (1 comments)

19. Jun, 2009

Excellent advise! No need to use toxic products that harm our precious companion animals, the environment and us.
Non-Toxic Solution for Fleas | beingstray.com

20. Jun, 2009

[...] reprinted from Non Toxic Living [...]
Vass from Organic Carpet Cleaners Surrey (1 comments)

26. Jun, 2009

Thanks for the great advice about non-toxic flea control! We are so used – almost addicted – to chemicals for cleaning, but there are always natural ways and organic products for anything that one could ever need!
Cheryl (78 comments)

26. Jun, 2009

That is so true, Vass. Thinking about what I saw around the house when I was growing up, the cleaners under the sink and the chemicals in the bathroom medicine cabinet all seemed normal. Last night, we called the vet because a kitten had eaten a little of a daylily flower. Not being sure how toxic this was, we asked his advice. He said, “Give the kitten some Pepto-Bismol”. We said we didn’t have any, but had given him charcoal. The vet said that was fine; he just hadn’t thought we would have HAD any charcoal. Once you get used to using non-toxic and natural products, you have them around the house and you think of them in an emergency.
Cheryl (78 comments)

26. Jun, 2009

Marisa, what you’ve said here is very important. There is no NEED to use toxic products. When I had cancer, I had to examine all my household products, body products, and foods for toxins. I found that, surprisingly, I didn’t actually HAVE to even clean my oven with oven cleaner or the sink with standard cleanser. There were non-toxic alternatives. Sometimes, the results were not as clean-looking as with the chemicals. But how can something be “clean” if it is coated with poison? If you “clean” an animal with toxic shampoo; the dirt is gone, the fleas and flea eggs and flea dirt are all gone, but invisibly left on the skin is poison. Not really clean, after all.
Vaporite Vaporizer (1 comments)

01. Jul, 2009

We have pets and they got a lot of fleas. The one that we are using to kill the fleas can poison the pets. So now I know what to use the next time they get fleas. Thank you for sharing this info.
Cheryl (78 comments)

03. Jul, 2009

I am very happy to learn that you have a new, safe way to deal with fleas. I grew up with cats, and my skin always had little scars from scratching flea bites. I grew adept at catching the pesky things and killing them with two fingernails, but that was just a drop in the bucket. These safer ways makes it possible for me to enjoy cats again!
Brian from New York Pest Control (1 comments)

20. Jul, 2009

Great list! When we treat homes, everything on the ground that the pet has gotten near must be washed in addition to the pets blankets and such
David from Neem Oil Remedies (1 comments)

26. Aug, 2009

Hi! My name is David. I take care of a stray dog who is suffering on a daily basis from fleas. I did know that Neem oil is great for treating fleas but did not know about St John’s Wort and Basil. I’ll definitely try these out and I’m sure the dog will appreciate it a lot! -david
Cheryl (78 comments)

26. Aug, 2009

Hi, David. Thanks for visiting. Good luck with your dog! I’d like to hear about any success you have with any of the non-toxic flea-control methods. In my experience, when people are used to using chemical means, they might not be aware that you need to do everything you can when you are going non-toxic. The more of these methods you can use, the better! Since a dog goes outside, I think it’s especially important to try the lawn treatment, to avoid constant re-infestation.
Vivian from How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs (1 comments)

29. Sep, 2009

Hi, Cheryl. Thanks for the advice. I had a flea infestation at the beginning of the summer with my kitten. I did try the DE powder on her and the carpet as well. It seemed to help. I let her out to play in our screened lanai and that is probably where she attracted the fleas. Any advice on how to treat out there. It has indoor/outdoor carpeting. She loves to go out there. We do not let her go outdoors and roam. I do not want to have a repeat next year.
Thanks
~Viv
Cheryl (78 comments)

29. Sep, 2009

Welcome, Vivian. Have you tried DE on the indoor/outdoor carpet, with repeated applications and vacuuming? By the way, when vacuuming, be sure you discard the bag afterward (in a closed plastic bag). If there is no vacuum bag, empty the dust container into a plastic bag (outdoors) and seal it well. Also, whenever you turn off the vacuum, put a piece of tape over the hose opening, so the fleas can’t escape. They are so tough!
Pet from cat urinary infection (1 comments)

13. Nov, 2009

There is some excellent advice here, Much of it I haven’t come across before. I’m so glad I came across your site. Here is a rich source of ideas for natural and non toxic treatment of pets. Many thanks
Pet @ cat urinary infection´s last blog ..Vaccinating Your Puppy
Shaun from Reels (1 comments)

01. Jan, 2010

I wrote an article similar to this one on my blog about industrial products and equipment. Keep up the good work!
Cheryl (78 comments)

01. Jan, 2010

Welcome, Shaun.
Do you want to give us the link to your article?
Jenny from Conservatories Surrey (1 comments)

15. Jan, 2010

I never knew you could use these natural products to treat fleas on your animal. It’s great, I have a tom, and he is out and about all the time so is prone to picking up fleas. I will try these tips, and hopefully they will work. It will save me a lot of money, too, and it will be nice to not use harmful products in the household! Thanks
Cheryl (78 comments)

15. Jan, 2010

Welcome, Jenny.
I would love to hear how this works out for you. Our cats are indoor cats, because we are in coyote and bobcat country, but when we had outdoor cats, they too were prone to pick up fleas. At the time, I didn’t know about the lawn treatment. If you decide to treat your lawn, I’d love to hear back how it works out. In fact, it would be great if you could come back with some feedback after trying any of the tips.
James from Get Rid of Bed Bugs (1 comments)

16. Jan, 2010

These are some excellent tips to control fleas without using toxic products. Another way to make sure you control them is to steam clean the carpet once a month. You will have to have a steam cleaner though. But your home will be flea-free and your carpet will be very clean
Cheryl (78 comments)

18. Jan, 2010

Thanks for a great idea, James. In addition to steam carpet cleaners, there are other steam devices, such as those made for clothes, that could be used on some cloth furniture.
Michael from do it yourself pest control (1 comments)

06. Feb, 2010

I’m always pleased to find non-toxic forms of pest control. This keeps us all safe. Kids, pets, and the environment. Well done and thanks for this great information.

Best Regards,
Michael Younger
adam from dog barking collars (1 comments)

08. Mar, 2010

I’ve actually got some St John’s Wort that I never use in my house. I’ll have to use this on my Golden Retriever today. Poor thing has a bad case of fleas.
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21 Responses to “Non-Toxic Flea Control”

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