With two cats who come in and out, I worried about flea treatments.
So I did a lot of reading and saw a recipe in a book and online that recommends that you may add garlic and yeast to your cat's food. They said that it will cause a light scent that repels fleas.
I actually found a powder in my health food store, specifically for pets with garlic and yeast and began adding it to my cat's moist food.
When I brought my cat 'children' to the vet for their regular check up I asked my vet about them and learned something pretty interesting.
Garlic (and onions too, they are the same family) are VERY unhealthy and potentially deadly for cats! Two vets confirmed this for me and yet you can find it in some books and the internet! Take warning!
I had been thinking I was helping them, but was actually potentially hurting them. While I was at it I also asked about flea collars and was told that they are useless on cats as well. So, don't waste your money on flea collars and don't give your pets garlic nor onions. Check with your vet first.
There are "no shortcuts" to preventing flea's (sadly.)
Pictured is my Cat "little Orphan Annie" with her opinion of my garlic/yeast home remedy. Notice the tongue sticking out? :D
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have several rescued kitties and there are loads of fleas here in the hot Florida summer. I need a homemade recipe for a flea deterrent, the medicine is way too expensive.
By Joyce from Gulfport, FL
At Tractor supply they have this spray. By Farnam Pet Products Water-Based Flea & Tick Spray For Dogs Plus Citronella Scent. I use it on my cats too. I sprayed them real good. Put them in the laundry room for the night. It is real strong. It wont hurt the animals. I used it on a little kitten that I found in my yard. I also spray their animal bedding and place they sleep. Anyway, I let that set on them for a night.
The next day I gave them a bath with flea and tick shampoo to get rid of any other lingering fleas. I let that set on them for 5 min before I washed it off. Then I wash them with Antibacterial Dish Soap. It repels fleas for some reason. It wont hurt their skin or coat. I use it all the time on all my pets. I have used that cat powder on both my dogs and cats. It works good. Also Sulfer repeals Flees. Some people say some spices and Garlic works. I haven't used that.
I tried yeast in their food, and it gave them wet, runny stools. I have heard Diatomaceous Earth works good, and it don't hurt people or animals. It is supposedly edible. Some put it in horse feed to keep them from getting parasitic worms, and it kills maggots in horse poop. I do know when we moved a year ago into this house. It was already infested with fleas.
My animals became infested too. I took home bug spray that you spray inside. I sprayed all floors in house plus carpet. I let it set over night. Then I mopped the floors, and steamed cleaned the carpets. The spray killed the fleas, and the steam cleaner sucked up all the dead fleas and the eggs and any live fleas. Also pulled the spray out of the carpet to not hurt animals. That took care of the fleas in the house. Fleas are real bad here. Everyone is having problems. I have to keep treating my pets and giving them baths about once a week. Dish soap works well just give them a bath in it. Fleas seem to not like soap. Hope it helps.
Bath them well using a bit of Dawn. Fleas love warm water, but the dawn disrupts their surface adhesion, and they don't float. But the little baby in a colander, and bath it with a warm stream from the faucet. This scares them less than water that is held in the sink, plus gives the fleas a one way ticket to the drain.
I need a home remedy to treat fleas in my apartment. I bathed my dog and cat, but what to use something on the floors and furniture, other than commercial products. The fleas keep coming back.
First off the eggs need to be killed so they stop coming back. Put some salt around the baseboards of your home to kill the eggs. The salt is a good start. You can also use this on your carpets to get rid of the fleas in the carpets. After this use a powerful vacuum to vacuum up the carpets, furniture, and beds in your home. Now go and rent a steam cleaner if you don't have one. Steam clean your home. Wash all your bedding and even the pet's bedding in very hot water. Now create some flea traps in your home.
First - you need to know that fleas breed in cycles so you have to keep killing them as the new eggs hatch as it is almost impossible to do one cleaning and eliminate all of the fleas and flea eggs.
There are several flea treatments that can be used on pets that only kill adult fleas and can be used as often as necessary and it is used by a lot of pet owners. The brand name is Capstar but there are 'generics' that have the same ingredients but cost less. You can check for these at your pet stores or online and they could help you overcome this problems as you rid your house of the flea eggs that keep hatching every 6-7 days.
This is an excellent site for DIY solutions as there are different ways to handle your problem.
This page is about using garlic to repel fleas. The presence of garlic can repel fleas if used safely.
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I just found this little kitten today outside my work and me being a cat lover I took it home. I noticed that this cat is completely covered in fleas. Can someone please give me some safe cheap home remedies. It would be appreciated
I'm looking for a home solution for fleas, both in my house and on my pets. Any suggestions?
