Comments on How to Get Rid of Fleas

When I took in a stray kitten, who did not weigh enough to be able to use vet-strength flea control (Frontline has a 5-pound minimum), the vet told me to bath her in Dawn liquid. Evidently, Dawn acts as a flea killer.

Someone suggested putting liquid softener directly on cats to soften their skin after they've been washed with Dawn. Fabric softener is nasty stuff, it's full of volatile neurotoxins and carcinogens. With laundry, at least it's diluted a great deal. But putting a 50% mixture directly on an animal seems very dangerous!

Using Dawn on your pets is great for getting rid of fleas, but be careful. It can dry their skin. After washing and rinsing, apply a mixture of any liquid softener diluted in half with water. It works just like conditioner and your pet smells like they just came out of the dryer!

In most health food stores, you can find garlic oil capsules (usually 100 mg). Give one a day for 3-4 weeks, then one a week thereafter. Not only will it keep fleas off your pet, he smells cleaner with no garlic smell. I've been flea-free for 3 years!

Give the animal a really good long soak in a bath since fleas drown. Start on their heads and work down. You don't want fleas in their eyes or ears. Try to submerge the entire animal except for their head.

Before using Hartz or Hartz OneSpot products on your cats to get rid of fleas, ask your vet and/or check the current new. These products were alleged to be responsible for feline deaths and severe poisonings in the past.

We lost our beautiful 8 year old Akita this past year with lymphonia cancer. We had used "Revolution" on him for fleas, heart worm, etc. We now wonder if this could have caused the cancer as we know several other people that lost dogs with cancer that was using the product. We now have a part Blue Heeler puppy I plan to use Essential oils for pest control on her ie Lemongrass, citronella, peppermint etc.

I was told by my Vet to Coat my dog eyes and eye area with a small amount of vaseline. Just for a film protection and to wash my animal in dawn dishwashing detergent. The dawn he said smothers the fleas quickly and the vaseline will protect the eyes so that I can wash the head and face without irritation to the dog.

As soon as your dog comes in the house, run a lint roller (the kind with the tape on it) over the dog's coat. It will pick up fleas and other bugs on their coat.

We recently moved into a new home and with that home came fleas from the previous owners dog. In all my efforts to rid myself of these pests I am constantly vacuuming. I am a 'vacuum once a day' person anyway. But with constant bathing of my pets and using Frontline Plus (which can take at least 3 months to control the problem its by no means an overnight cure) I also bought a flea collar to place directly in my vacuum bag. I can't use powders and sprays since I have two small children, so we are trying to solve this problem with as simple solutions as possible. I actually saw the tip on TV and it has seemed to help.

This may sound a little nuts, but I bought cedar mothballs and put them around my house in various hidden areas (corners, underneath furniture and appliances, in cabinets) for moth problems. They actually helped rid my house of spiders, fleas, ants and other unwanted pests! Of course, do a good job of vacuuming first. Not only did they help get rid of the pests, it doesn't smell like moth balls in here! There is a sweet smell of cedar, which is wonderful! I couldn't believe it either. I wouldn't advise people with small children doing this, however, unless you have all the mothballs in a well hidden place that your little ones cannot get to. They haven't had any effect on my cat being in the house, but all animals are different and some may have an allergic reaction to the smell. Just be cautious.

Unfortunately veterinarians promote products which do work, but one is not warned about the side effects. Please do research on these products which are truly toxic to animals and could be to humans. Try alternative safer methods. Try 100% Neem oil and place a few drops in the dogs shampoo and conditioner. It smells awful, but it kills and deters fleas. However some animals find it irritating. Unfortunately something that works for one person's animal may not work for another. So trial and error is the key.

watch your cat in baby shampoo to rid of them of fleas...it will not hurt their eyes and the baby shampoo is gentle to the animal...also leave the shampoo on the cat for 5-10 minutes to kill the hard to kill fleas....monica flannery

Mix Lemon Dawn with water and apply with a flea comb. This works - must be the lemon. Also makes the cat's fur nice and soft.

Get an 8 inch or 9 inch cake pan. Put a couple drops of Dawn liquid dish soap in it and fill it with water. Then place the pan on the floor underneath a nightlight before you go to bed (the room has to be dark for this to work). You will be amazed how the fleas jump in and drown. You may need to change the soap and water mixture daily.

Fleas come into the home by your sink and tub drains also. And they like coffee, so check whenever you open a can or jar of instant or regular coffee. For the drains; before you go to bed, sprinkle Comet or Ajax (or any other powered cleanser that contains bleach) around your bath and kitchen sinks. Leave over night and repeat for 3/4 nights, then twice a month or so.

Put a white towel over a RELIABLE heating pad set on low. Cat will sleep on pad. Put Vaseline on a Q-Tip and "dab" the fleas you see on the towel. They can't escape the Vaseline. Also put a bit of Vaseline on flea comb (where the teeth go into handle).

Sprinkle Borax on carpets and area rugs and leave it there for about a week. All you need to do next is vacuum carpets and area rugs. This product has helped me get rid of a bad infestation of fleas in a home that we bought. The treatment will last for some time. If possible, sprinkle extra Borax around the baseboards, as this is an area where fleas congregate.

Comb your cat in addition to all your other remedies. Stay away from all the commercial sprays and baths, it's a devestating experience for your dog/cat.

Hartz can be very toxic to cat and dogs, causing serious illness or even death. So please do not use this product! Use either Frontline or Advantage. You can pick them up at your local veterinarian.

I've found that a product called Advantage works the best. It kills fleas on your pets as well as fleas in your home. Only a very small number of fleas actually live on your animal so it's very important to get the whole house clean! Get it from a vet.

I've read most of the additional advice people have posted on fleas. I can't say that I agree with everything, but 2 important things stand out. First, Jennifer is absolutely right - stay away from over-the-counter pesticides. I've seen 2 cats die and 2 others come close to dying shortly after application. Second, ask your veterinarian what works best for fleas. Doctor knows best.

After nearly poisoning my cat and myself with flea sprays, I decided to try Diatomaceous Earth as outlined by some posts here. My goodness! The fleas are gone, and my cat looks so much happier! To all who posted, my cat and I thank you so much for your advice. I'll never use poisons in my home again, as I'd rather get rid of pests with natural methods.

Please be very careful when applying the tube of flea killing oil that is put on the neck or down the back of the cat. The similar product for dogs can kill a cat. We put on the flea killer for dog onto our cat and he started twitching and I thought it was a heat stroke. I called the label and they explained the symptoms so we figured we must have used the wrong tube. We had to wash our cat in soapy water then take him to the vet for observation. You have to be careful if you have dogs and cats because sometimes they play and will ingest some that is meant for dogs. I found a product that uses all natural ingredients so it is a lot safer.

I got 2 kittens from a friend and they were covered with fleas. The kittens were too young to use commercial products to get rid of the fleas. Having read all the suggestions here, I decided to use SkinSoSoft bath oil. I put the oil on the kittens and left it on for 2 hours. Then I bathed them with Dawn dishwashing liquid. There were no more fleas. Since I had kept the kittens quarantined to the bathroom, I didn't have to worry about fleas in the rest of the house. I just washed all the towels in hot water, and mopped the floor with bleach water.