safe pet flea maintenance?

[katie9143]

its getting warmer here and i have no idea what to put on our cat to keep her free of fleas!?! dd loves to play with her and she lays on our bed and couch so there is no way i can put the old stuff on her that i used to...does anyone know of any safe products?

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[katie9143]

gosh no one seems to have any ideas. i even asked over in toddlers too cuz i thought more ppl would hang out over there...nothing. maybe i should link from tao or something. im desperate. im sure i have a couple flea bites on one of my legs already!!!

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oh crap! you need help fast!

you can use tto on you----i dont think on a pet though.

[swd12422]

I've heard Neem oil is good for flea prevention, and safe for animals, but I bought some and the smell is so foul I can't open the bottle!

I also read that lavender and mint oils are good flea repellents, but they didn't work 100% for me. Good luck -- I hope someone else here has better advice!

[mountainsun]

'We bathe the dogs with Dr Bronner's peppermint soap, diluted with water and add a few drops of tto and lavender oil. We do this fairly often in the summer months, maybe every other week or so. I live in south Florida and we have horrible fleas here. I also will give them capstar which is pill that will kill all adult fleas within a couple of hours if they get too bad. I do n ot do this often,only if I find fleas on them. You can order this online.

Also vacuum every other day, throwing out the vacuum bag each time. And washing bedding/ blenkets that they sleep on often. Also, I sprinkle borax on the carpets if I feel the need, this is supposed to kill any larvae that may be in the carpeting. Let it sit for 30 min or so, then vacuum it up.

If you are seeing fleas, I would get the capstar. Give it to them and then vacuum (using the borax) and wash everything.......then bathe the dogs. Vacuum every day after that for 3 or 4 days to make sure you got all the fleas out, making sure to toss the vacuum bags each time.

Good luck! I have done some research on this, and even living where we do, these steps seem to control the fleas. I hate using the drops on my doggies, too

[Jojo F.]

Garlic is good too. http://www.healthyfoodforpets.com/FleaFree.html

There is a nother product out there you can use outdoors which is made from a really strong strain of garlic to repel fleas, mosquitoes, ticks, and black flies from your yard. Found it! http://www.mosquitobarrier.com/

[dogmom327]

When our dog was on a raw diet, we never had any flea issues. I think the theory is that when they are eating a biologically appropriate diet, their blood just doesn't taste good to fleas. I suppose this makes sense since wild animals couldn't be too overrun with fleas or their bodies would eventually break down under the pressure. I used garlic as well as nutritional yeast in the raw food which may also have helped.

[lary]

I started mixing garlic and brewer's yeast in my cats' food and it seems to be working for now. I use a clove of garlic between the two of them a day and maybe 1/2 tsp of brewer's yeast.

I also heard that Rosemary is supposed to be good.

Hope this helps...

[delphiniumpansy]

My dh is an environmental scientist and a biologist and he specializes in risk assessment. We use advantage on our pets in the spring and summer because the risk associated with that product are less than the risks from flea infestation. And, it works. End of story.

[Eben'sMama]

Originally Posted by swd12422

I've heard Neem oil is good for flea prevention, and safe for animals, but I bought some and the smell is so foul I can't open the bottle!

I've tried neem oil and it didn't work for us and our . I was bummed, because I actually really like the smell of it--reminds me of the days long ago when I was really into Ayurveda.