Are Chemical Flea Treatments the Only Answer?

[NettleTea]

nevermind

[Noelle C.]

Once upon a time humans lived with fleas on themselves too. Treating for fleas just didn't happen with the rest of the work to be done.

[Pepper44]

I've had a flea infestation in my house. It was horrible. Really horrible. I'm so glad I don't live in the dark ages, because flea infestations aren't cool with me.

We have tried DE on our pets also. It works on contact but it rubs off fast and doesn't keep working. And on our long haired cats it doesn't work at all since it can't penetrate all the way into their fur. Plus I think the cats groom it off of themselves.

I have yet to find a good natural flea treatment. I've tried all kinds of all natural products, not so natural flea collars, and flea shampoos of all kinds. At the height of flea season this year we did Revolution on our four cats and two big dogs, and that didn't even get rid of all the fleas.

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by Pepper44

I've had a flea infestation in my house. It was horrible. Really horrible. I'm so glad I don't live in the dark ages, because flea infestations aren't cool with me.

We have tried DE on our pets also. It works on contact but it rubs off fast and doesn't keep working. And on our long haired cats it doesn't work at all since it can't penetrate all the way into their fur. Plus I think the cats groom it off of themselves.

I have yet to find a good natural flea treatment. I've tried all kinds of all natural products, not so natural flea collars, and flea shampoos of all kinds. At the height of flea season this year we did Revolution on our four cats and two big dogs, and that didn't even get rid of all the fleas.

Thank you. I've been thinking that I will try being more persistent with the DE as I don't see many other options outside of going back to chemicals...and I hope to never do that again. One of the things keeping me from it is that we have a child now and I really don't want to have any chemicals around if it can be helped.

Something in particular that really annoys me about the flea infestation is that we unknowingly came into it. We moved into our current house in August and were completely unaware that there were fleas here. Even though we found a can of flea spray under the sink it didn't click until sometime later (when we began finding fleas everywhere and getting bites all over) that the last people evidently left behind a flea problem. This is something that the landlords should have taken care of before renting the house out again.

[FrodoLives!]

Wash your pet with tea tree Bronner's and water, and comb her fur thoroughly with a fine metal comb.

You can add garlic powder and nutritional yeast to their food, and this will repell fleas. Our vet says that will take a few weeks to really work, though. You can also rub yeast or garlic through their fur.

Do you have carpets?

To get fleas out of carpets, sprinkle down salt and or baking soda on all carpeting and upholstry. Leave it on overnight, and then vacuum it up in the morning. I'm not sure how long it takes for eggs to hatch, so I don't know how often to repeat. We did it ever 3 days for about a week and a half, even though we didn't see any fleas after the first time.

Fleas don't concern me as much as ticks. We had a serious problem with ticks a couple of years ago. Didn't seem to be anything to keep the little bloodsucking creeps away.

[NettleTea]

Thank you!