Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Natural Flea Prevention and Control

I have been doing a lot of research about natural solutions to managing fleas in the home and on your kitty. I do not like to use flea bombs. They are just to toxic for cats and humans.

If your cat will let you bathe him or her, I hear a very successful remedy is washing your cat with dish washing liquid. This was repeated over and over as a good solution. The soapy suds kill the fleas. You want to let he suds stay on your pet for a while so the suds can kill the fleas. I have read that the flea eggs will still be alive and they need to be combed out with a flea comb. My cats do not like to get wet so this will not work at our house.

Flea combs. If your cat will let you comb them, have use a flea comb and have a soapy water solution nearby to dip the comb in. The fleas will die in the soapy water. It was suggested by our friends, Dushi and Paddy's Mom at Cats in Trees that if you wait for your cat to be sleepy, they are sometimes easier with letting you groom them.

Two ideas that have been suggested are salt and baking powder. The baking soda kills the live fleas and the salt kills the flea eggs by dehydration. You can sprinkle one or both on your carpeting. Leave them on for as long as possible, 12 hours or more. then vacuum up. You can also powder your cat with the baking soda. Be careful not to get the powder in their eyes because it will burn.

Citrus oils. Cut a lemon in half, leaving the peel on, and soak in 12 oz. of water overnight. Put it in a spray bottle and you can spray your rugs, not soak them, and let them dry. Fleas do not like citrus. The lemon will kill the fleas on contact and repel them. You can also spray your cat with the solution but it is recommended that you add more water to dilute it. If your cat has any open wounds from scratching themselves, this is not a good idea because the lemon water will sting at the location of the wound. Also make sure you do not get the lemon water in your cats eyes.

Brewers or nutritional yeast, added to your cats wet food is both good for the cats health and a flea deterrent. I use about 1/8 a teaspoon per 1/6-1/4 can of food. they don't seem to mind the taste.

The last tip I have read about is apple cider vinegar. I put 2 drops in their drinking water every time I freshen their water. Their water bowl holds about 5 cups of water. After they get used to the taste, you can slowly increase the vinegar amount to 1/2-1 teaspoon every time you change the water. You can also make a diluted solution of the vinegar with water and spray or rub it on your cat. Fleas do not like the acidic nature of vinegar.

So I am trying all of these methods to see what will work best in our home. So far the salt in the rug worked well. I also powdered my cats with the baking soda. They did not like it but they had some relief from scratching for a few days. All of these methods may need to be repeated a few times until the fleas are controlled.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spending lots of time outside, my kittens and fleas are no strangers. Luckily, the flea comb works wonderfully well. And, once they have tired themselves out, the kittens adore the attention and the grooming.

Gillian said...

I found all the information that you have gathered here very useful and informative. I don't know what to try first the cider vinegar or the bicarb. Thanks alot.

Aunt Toma said...

Thanks for the information, all of which I plan on using this week.

susan r castillo said...

I got the flea medicine for my cats but my house got infested anyway because the medicine I bought at my Vets didn't work well. So here I was with a flea infested house and all the cats itching. I read and was told by my Aunt to use salt and baking soda on the rugs and couch. I had nothing to loose so I tried them and they worked fast. Within a few days my family was no longer getting bit.
I just heard of the yeast for cats. So I am going to try that this time instead of the expensive Vet medicine. Hope it works as well as the backing soda and salt.
Thanks for posting this blog to confirm natural ways for flea control. So sick of fleas and the expense of medicine.

RunWolf007 said...

Apple cider vinegar works good in laundry to get cat urine smell out too.... If I am lax my one cat will remind me by peeing on any available dirty clothes.

Haven't had enough time go by but got home tonight and tried the baking soda on my cats as well as some of the places on the carpet they have been hanging out. Will do the whole place (carpets) night before I have a day off.

RunWolf007 said...

Apple cider vinegar works good in laundry to get cat urine smell out too.... If I am lax my one cat will remind me by peeing on any available dirty clothes.

Haven't had enough time go by but got home tonight and tried the baking soda on my cats as well as some of the places on the carpet they have been hanging out. Will do the whole place (carpets) night before I have a day off.

K. Robinson said...

I am cat sitting for a friend. She was supposed to bathe them before she left, but she forgot. The constant scratching was driving me crazy, so I tried the baking soda. I coated both my hands and petted them while they would sit still. The results were immediate. All four cats calmed down, and the one that had started to develop sores from all of the scratching is acting the calmest I have ever seen her. She's not even picking fights with the other three cats like she was before.

Anonymous said...

Great article with excellent idea!Thank you for such a valuable article. I really appreciate for this great information.. Flea treatment for cats

Anjelica said...

We use the baking soda and it works but its messy. We love the acv idea though. Gonna use that soon! Thank you for this post.

jameswillians said...

I am a pet lover and I have two dogs and two cats. I have a cat that is three years old. When my cat was suffering from fleas then I have used so many medicines unfortunately, none of them worked. Actually she is allergic to every topical medicine. Then my one of my friends told me to use home remedies for fleas . Natural remedies are very effective and after 2 weeks my cat’s fleas are almost gone and now my cat is free from this problem completely. If you too want to get rid of fleas, you can visit this site .

jameswillians said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jameswillians said...

I am a pet lover and I have two dogs and two cats. I have a cat that is three years old. When my cat was suffering from fleas then I have used so many medicines unfortunately, none of them worked. Actually she is allergic to every topical medicine. Then my one of my friends told me to use home remedies for fleas . Natural remedies are very effective and after 2 weeks my cat’s fleas are almost gone and now my cat is free from this problem completely. If you too want to get rid of fleas, you can visit this site .

John Grehhem said...

As i know you can use a flea collars, or for example Essential oils like citronella. One more way is vacuum cleaner.

Dawn said...

That's a herpies site asshole

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