I have a very old, blind, infirm Eskimo Spitz who I love dearly, and would be afraid to use any sort of medication or chemical on, or in, because his system is delicate now and his skin is also tender from age. I have been using this method on him, and he is just fine. I think you will love my solution:
If your pet has really thick or matted fur, or has scratched until she or he has sores, you should probably trim it back as close as possible the first time with just some scissors, so the skin can get plenty of air to help the healing process. Then go to Dollar General; they have lice killing shampoo in two-bottle packages for around $8.00. It contains pyrethrins, a natural insecticide derived from chrysanthemums, and is safe enough for small children, obviously.
Bathe your pet by diluting the shampoo a tiny bit and rubbing it deeply into her fur and skin, for several minutes, just a nice, slow all-over massage (ears too). Then submerse her into a medium amount of warm water. Rinse her off, and do not rinse her again. This will not only kill the fleas, it will keep them off for several weeks.
You can also use the garden center variety of liquid intended to spray for aphids on roses (which is also pyrethrins) in the washer for laundering her bedding and in your carpet shampooer to rid your home of the fleas.
I know this will help her, and you, feel better and you can get back to doing what you do best: lovin' that furry baby!
By dollyslaffn from Darien, GA
When I lived in OK, I lived in the country as it was less expensive. However, there were fields and woods in my neighborhood. Fields and woods means lots of wild animals; including deer and mice. I constantly had fleas and ticks and they were a nasty problem, for a while. They were in the yard, in the house, in my bed and everywhere. I finally spoke with a Veterinarian and I was told to sprinkle salt everywhere I had fleas and ticks. "The rock salt you get when you make ice cream is best for the yard, but just regular table salt works great also." the vet said. I used the rock salt in the yard and the table salt in the house because I really didn't want to vacuum up rock salt. It worked great. No more fleas or ticks, and the yard did not suffer any damage to it, like when you put ice melt down.
The rest of the time I lived in OK and since I moved to NE, I have not had severe problems with fleas or ticks. When I notice some in the house, I just get the salt shaker out and get rid of them. Then, I sprinkle some rock salt in the yard to make sure I don't bring anymore into the house. My dog has only had fleas once.
By Donna S. from Beatrice, NE
Caution; It MUST be food grade, the type used for pool filtering is lethal. Putting DE powder on your animals and around the home will penetrate the hard shell of a flea, dehydrate it, therefore killing the flea. It can be used outside, in the doghouse, kennel, pen, entryways, etc.
This is best used as a prevention. It doesn't work well if you are infested with fleas. DE can be sprinkled on food as a dog wormer also. Quite often when you have fleas, the dogs will have worms from ingesting the fleas.
Source: This tip comes from years working as a volunteer Golden Retriever Rescue unit and passionate dog lover.
By wlee from Northeast NH
What can I put on my furniture to rid it of fleas? They are driving me nuts; I have used borax and diatomaceous earth. I need to use all natural because both my dog and I have allergies. Any help is greatly appreciated!
By sbobo from Tacoma, WA
By robynfederspiel08/26/2011Do not use frontline. It doesn't work on my dogs and cats and on many other peoples pets. They must have changed something in the formula.
Get one of the other vet topical treatments. Discuss this with the vet. Animals cost money and this is one of the areas not to scrimp on, for their sakes and yours.
Blessings, Robyn
I recently started to get bit. I didn't know if it was fleas or bed bugs because it was only in one room of the house until they started to spread. I have no pets so I have no idea where they are coming from. I need help. I have a two month old, so I don't want to use chemicals, but willing to try anything because I just killed two fleas in her baby crib. :[
By Fatima
By frugalsunnie08/21/2012UPDATE: we thought we had the fleas under control when I posted on the 19th. We were wrong, walking from the shower to the bedroom yesterday morning I 'collected' several fleas on my legs!
At first skeptical but made hopeful by further Internet research, my husband hotfooted it down to ASDA (British WalMart) and brought home 20lbs of cooking salt (cost £3). We sprinkled a thick layer, worked it onto carpet and upholstery with a broom. We over bought on the salt, btw, it took less than 5lbs of salt to completely cover our aprx 700 sqft of carpet and upholstery.
WOW!!! The salt works, and works very quickly! We picked a couple of fleas off of our trouser legs after we'd spread it, threw the fleas into the salted carpet and watched them die. They hopped, shorter lengths and lower heights with every hop. Finally (within seconds) those fleas went over on their sides, writhed for another couple of seconds and then simply stopped moving. Dead as doornails.
We left the salt down and this morning walked all through the house in short trousers-not one single flea.
We'll leave it down until tomorrow and then vacuum it up. We'll also repeat once a week until freezing winter hits. My husband is seriously considering going under the house and salting the crawl space to keep the fleas from congregating under the house to await our going lax with the salting (which isn't going to happen, salting the carpet and upholstery just became a regular part of my housekeeping routine).
Stefanilynn deserves a HUGE prize for tipping the Thrifty Fun community to this, it really does work, we're shocked. Salt is so much safer and so much less expensive than commercial pesticides, I am truly grateful to her for posting her reply to Fatima's question.
Please help me. My dogs have never had fleas before. I think since the Houston drought and heat last year and heat and rain this year, the fleas are terrible. My whole subdivision is having problems. We are having mosquitoes and fleas. What is the best natural flea killer for pets, home, and yard? Your help is so much appreciated.
By Helen B
By muttmom07/29/2012Biggest flea breeder is your carpet. Sift 2 cups of 20 mule team borax for average room into carpet, their bed and furniture. Leave for 2 weeks before vacuuming. Natural, effective - good thing. No flea shampoo. That is poison. No flea collars. That enters their liver and kidneys.
Use 2 soapings of dawn or any bar soap. Cedercide (internet order) for the yard. No corn wheat or soy in the diet and - no vaccines. Part raw diet. Nothing from the pet aisle at the grocers. Improve immune system with granules from nzymes.Com. Kibble that is no more expensive than Purina is diamond lamb and rice available at feed store or co op. Fungal itch, foot itch, use the amber only colored Listerine. No pink no blue no blue or any other color. Skin issues on horses/livestock often cleared with brownish/amber colored Listerine. Dip feet too. No rinse. Don't put it in their eyes, please. Kiss them regularly, spoil them rotten as they are family members. My girlfriend has a pit bull who has saved her life 3 times now. Robbers,rattlesnake and rapist.
For the past few days I have been sitting on my couch picking fleas off my puppy putting them in a cup of water then washing them down the drain. I can't use any of the flea combs because her hair is too short. This is especially true during the summer because she has her summer coat on. I am just wondering if there is a better way to take them off. She is a Chihuahua and too small for any treatments. Any suggestions?
By jonathanha
By muttmom05/21/2012Dry 20 Mule Team Borax (2 to 2 and 1/2 cups per average carpeted room), I put it in a sifter or veggie drainer and spread over carpet, dog bed, couch etc. Leave for 2 weeks and vacuum. 2 weeks to complete life cycle of egg - larvae - and adult. Good reports although I have not tried is rock salt in the yard.
Looking for a safe way to rid our trailer of fleas that won't be harmful to us or our little dog?
Thank you in advance for any and all helpful hints.
By Fazy from FL
By cybergrannie05/18/2012Hi - be sure to give your dog a bath with Original Dawn dish soap to kill their "personal" fleas in addition to everything else you try. I have been told that flea eggs hatch everyday for 7-10 days so that is how long you will have to work on getting rid of them.
Don't forget the outside even if your dog is an "inside" dog as fleas are carried in on animals and people. Try to treat the area you use the most.
Look up flea control on Thrifty as there are lots of good suggestions.
Fleas are very bad for small animals and I even had to have a small dog given a blood transfusion years ago so this is something you will want to work on until they are gone - and then keep a weekly schedule as a preventive measure.
Someone mentioned using Seven Dust but I do not believe this available anymore as I have tried everywhere in Florida and the stores say they can no longer sell straight Seven Dust (either 5% or 10%). If someone finds it I sure would like to know if it is in the state of Florida! I loved it for plants and bug control.
How can I rid my dogs of fleas without using chemicals?
By Lucy
I really need to get rid of fleas on my cat. I am wondering if baking soda will help in the carpet and maybe on the cat.
By Karen K from Lowell, MI
By arlene3333412/16/2011Not baking soda, but boric acid. Obviously do not put on your cat but you can sprinkle it in between furniture cushions, carpet areas the cat can't walk on, around baseboards. It has worked much better for me (and less expensive!) than flea treatments or exterminators.
Should the salt be made into a powder before putting it on the carpet?
By Ann G.
By Cricketnc10/24/2011Salt should not be used at all on the carpet or furniture.
Think about it. Your pets (and children if you have any, especially little ones) will be walking, laying, playing and everything else on those carpets. No matter how well you vacuum there will still be salt in the fibers, which will get into their paws and fur (and onto children's hands and feet). Then the pets and children will be using those same paws, hands and feet to rub their eyes with from the irritation the salt has caused their eyes. It can be extremely painful and extremely dangerous to your pets and to your children.
The same thing goes for Borax. Either one can possibly cause blindness.
I have used Frontline on my dogs and cat. One dog almost died. I have used salt on the carpet and still have fleas. What can I do now?
By Becky from CA
By gaye_mcgann10/08/2012Where are you buying the Dry Borax ? I can't seem to find it any where. Also I was told that garlic is deadly to dogs.
is it just the fresh garlic ? Gaye
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Getting Rid of Fleas Naturally