How to Get Rid of Fleas from your home and pets naturally

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By navyrpwife
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Article Rating: (4 Ratings)

The thought of fleas in your home or on your pets giving you the itchies? This summer, my poor Boston Terriers were infested with them and nothing I did made them go away. Expensive medications killed the fleas, but nothing kept them away permenantly. That is until I tried semi-chemical free ways. And now we are a happy flea free home.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

1. Essential oils are not only affective in treating many different things, they smell great and are completely safe for dogs and children. A good mixture to use is 8 oz. distilled water in a spray bottle, vegetable glycerin (to help the oil break down in the water) and 5 drops each of the following: lavender, peppermint, spearmint and lemon grass. Close, shake well and spray on your dog. Their coat will be shiny and soft. DO NOT USE ON CATS!!! As cats bath themselves, the oils will make the cat sick.
Step 2

2. Put a thin sliver of fresh garlic in your dogs food bowl daily as fleas do not like the taste of garlic and therefore is a natural repellant. NOT TO BE USED ON CATS, as garlic is toxic to them. For cats, a teaspoon of brewers yeast sprinkled over their food daily will act as a natural repellant also. Dogs may also use brewers yeast.
Step 3

3. If your pet already has fleas on them, they will need to be bathed to kill the fleas. Even cats need a bath. Any shampoo will work as fleas can't survive the suds. There is no need to use flea shampoo. A vet recommended I use Dawn dish soap on my animals. Start at their neck so the fleas cant climb to their face. Leave the soap on for about 5 minutes. During this time, comb them with a flea comb to get all eggs and dead fleas off of the animal. My dogs have dry skin, so I followed bath with a good skin/coat conditioner.
*an easy way to bath cats: fill kitchen sink with warm water. Pick cat up by the scruff of their neck like momma cat does, this will cause them to curl up. Place cat in sink with chin resting on the edge of the sink. This "paralyzes" them so you can get them bathed. They will make all kinds of noise, but will be grateful when the fleas aren't eating them up!!
Step 4

4. Wash all pets bedding, and anything your pet may sleep on in the hottest water safe for the fabric. Vacuum all carpets, mattresses, furniture, etc. If you have a bagless vacuum, dump the contents in an old plastic bag, tie it shut and place in the freezer overnight: this will kill the fleas. If you have a bagged vacuum, do the same thing. This is important, you need to kill the fleas and make sure they can't come back in on your pet.
Step 5

5. Get a box of borax laundry powder. Sprinkle lightly over your carpets. Leave on the floor as long as you can tolerate your floor being dirty and gritty. The longer the better: I made it 5 days before I went nuts. Vacuum thoroughly and follow the above step to dispose. The fleas eat the borax, it dehydrates them and they die. If you have concerns about toxicity, you can also use table salt or baking soda for the same affect.
Step 6

6. Table salt sprinkled around the outside of your home will kill fleas in your yard. Its more expensive, but works and is safe.

Comments

babyhype said

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on 10/19/2009 I love any excuse to use baking soda. Great article. It makes a lot of sense.

yellowstar2000 said

on 10/16/2009 Nice article on how to get rid of fleas from your home and pets naturally. And just another tip; you can also make effective flea collars by rubbing essential oil of eucalyptus , tea tree , citronella , lavender or geranium on a homemade rope collar, a doggy bandanna, or by using a cotton ball stuffed into their collar. Also don't forget that they, as well as YOU can pick up fleas outside on walks and in the park, etc. so spray yourself too when you leave and when you come home. :)