please please kill the fleas!

[Greenthumb]

I've been treating my beloved boys(yes, they are dogs) with Front line. It works REALLY good, but I worry about the chemicals always being on their skin, and it costs $27.00 a month for them both. So, does anyone have any good home remedies for controlling fleas, that are not real complicated, and "can't stand still to be fussed over" freindly?

Thanks
greenthumb

[Lavender]

I have heard that feeding your dogs raw garlic would help. Unfortunately, that's the ONE thing my dog won't eat. For the dog bed, I stuff it with cedar chips & dried pennyroyal. We also use a soap I made with pennyroyal to help control the fleas. It seems to work until last year. It was so bad, we had to use this stuff that you dab on the dog's back once a month. It sounds like the same kind of stuff you used.

[Yvonne Belisle]

I found a company that has a flea repellent oil for dogs this is a list of the ingredients in case you want to experiment. I'm also including the url incase you would rather consider buying it.


http://www.cybercanine.com/BlueOils.htm

Be flea free all year around with our 100% pure and all natural Flea-less Oil blend!

Ingredients: Essential oils of Geranium, Lemon Tea Tree, Lemongrass, Citronella, Eucalyptus, Calendula infused Jojoba and Neem Oil, Sweet Almond Oil.

How To Use
Apply 2-4 drops on your dog's neck and back. We use it a few drops on a cloth and put it in bedding areas or in the car before traveling.

For external use only. Keep away from eyes, nose and

[Spirahl]

Hi folks, been lurking for a bit, thought I'd join in this time.
I have 3 golden retreivers and a wolf X husky. I make "Mama's Soup" and pour about 1/4 cup on their food at each meal. Since doing this my girls have had no problems with fleas or excessive mosquito bites. All I do is make homemade soup broth with my chicken or turkey bones(I don't eat mammals but I'm sure the dogs would love beef bones if you have those on hand), then add the raw garlic and brewers yeast to that. I guess it makes it more palatable for them. You can also use this broth as the liquid if you make homemade dog bone/cookies.
We have part of our property fenced in for the girls and this year I'm experimenting with planting edibles out there that also have insect-repelling properties, like calendulas and garlic chives, climbing nasturtiums etc. We'll see...makes it prettier anyways!
We live on a pond and every day I take the 3 goldens out for their swim. Perhaps the fact that they smell like THE SWAMP THING has something to do with the bugs not wanting to come near them! :)

[idusty88]

My frontline of defense against fleas is to bath my dogs every two weeks. I use my shampoo (Suave balsam & protein) and sometimes (when needed) conditioner. It's easy to bath them in the tub using a waterpik showerhead.
I vacuum weekly and air or wash their beds then too. I grow pennyroyal in the yard too. The oil Yvonne Thomas mentioned sounds promising.
I feed brewer's yeast to the dogs during the hot months when fleas are worst. I had one dog who actually liked the brewer's yeast powder scattered over his food, but most don't. Now, I use the big tablets and just push it down their throats once a day. I've known of one or two dogs who got flatulence from it; other than that there is nothing to detract from brewer's yeast as a treatment (except the usual - hassel & expense, but fleas are definitely worse) and nutritionally it's a good thing. Garlic pills could be used too, but I've never done so because I was concerned over the amount of gastric distress garlic could cause a dog (there's a reason they don't want to eat it). For me poisons are NOT an option.

[Greenthumb]

So, I'm wondering about being able to add tea tree oil to a shampoo? And, also if the garlic tablets are REALLY effective. The climate here in Florida is a utopia for fleas- year round- so the poor boys never really get a break from the flea war!

greenthumb

[Faery-Wings]

hmmm... We use Frontline on my dog too and have had a lot of concern re: the chemicals. But do any of you know if the oils will keep ticks away? I use the Frontline more for ticks than fleas and we are having a real rough season with ticks. We have all had the large ticks on us so far. And my daughter even had a deer tick embedded just the other day :(

Thanks!

Chris

[Yvonne Belisle]

I dug deep in my herbal formula books for this recipe out of desperation, given that I live in the epicenter of the tick-generated Lyme disease epidemic. I tested the essential oil that is recommended for ticks, Rose Geranium, by putting a few drops—no more!— on our dogs’ collars, to see if it would repel ticks. Lo and behold, we went from 20 ticks a day on each dog, to none. The second best essential oil for repelling ticks is American Pennyroyal (also called tickweed).
Simple Solution: · 2 tablespoons vegetable or nut oil (almond oil contains sulfur, a repellent in its own right) · 10 to 25 drops Rose Geranium essential oil Combine the ingredients in a glass jar; shake to blend.Makes: 2 tablespoonsShelf Life: 6 monthsDab a few drops on your skin or clothing, making sure to avoid eyes. CautionSkip the Pennyroyal if there is anyone pregnant (including pets) in the home, as it can induce miscarriage. And as always, use essential oils with caution as they can burn the skin and harm eyes.

Helpful Hints: · Palmerosa is a sister essential oil to Rose Geranium, and also repels ticks. It is cheaper, and sometimes easier to find than Rose Geranium. · Another good repellent that also worked on our dogs, is to eat garlic pills. A number of people have written me to say that they have had good luck with their pets and themselves, by keeping to the garlic pill eating regimen every day. · The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) reported in their winter of 1996 Journal of Pesticide Reform that nymphal ticks are reduced from 72.7 to 100 percent when dead leaves are removed from the forest areas surrounding residential areas.

[Greenthumb]

Rose- geranium for ticks,,,ok., Does that work on fleas too? Yvonne, what do you think about the tea tree oil added to shampoo?

greenthumb

[Yvonne Belisle]

It's worth a shot. I don't see why you can't try a blend of all of them.

[Greenthumb]

I really love this place.

greenthumb

[Lavender]

Originally posted by Yvonne Thomas
I found a company that has a flea repellent oil for dogs this is a list of the ingredients in case you want to experiment. I'm also including the url incase you would rather consider buying it.


http://www.cybercanine.com/BlueOils.htm

Be flea free all year around with our 100% pure and all natural Flea-less Oil blend!

Ingredients: Essential oils of Geranium, Lemon Tea Tree, Lemongrass, Citronella, Eucalyptus, Calendula infused Jojoba and Neem Oil, Sweet Almond Oil.

How To Use
Apply 2-4 drops on your dog's neck and back. We use it a few drops on a cloth and put it in bedding areas or in the car before traveling.

For external use only. Keep away from eyes, nose and



That sounds very similar to a recipe I use for insect repellant for people! Here's the proportions if anyone's interested...

2 oz sweet almond oil
8 drops lemongrass EO
6 drops rosemary RO
6 drops cedarwood EO
4 drops tea tree EO
4 drops thyme EO
4 drops lavender EO
3 drops eucalyptus EO
3 drops citronella EO

Haven't tried it before with the neem oil. But since smelling that stuff on Sunday, I'll bet it's the smell that keeps fleas & bugs away. Seriously, I remember reading somewhere that neem oil makes an excellent mosquito repellent.

That's a good idea about using brewer's yeast & garlic in doggie cookies. I'm going to try that.

[EasternPriest]

One of the things I have tried in the past for cats (there was also a formula for dogs) was an oil that contained sulfer, which you mixed into dried food. Now that I am in the boonies, fleas aren't as much of a problem, but while in the city, it made a difference.

Also, fleas thrive in humidity. Whatever you can do to de-humidify your home, along with frequent vacuuming, will help.

[Faery-Wings]

Thanks for the suggestions, I am going to print them out and see what oils I have on hand (ooh I do think I have rose geranium too) and which I need to buy ( I know citronella..)

I agree, greenthumb, I love it here!

Chris

[idusty88]

Thanks so much Yvonne Thomas, Wildchild and everyone. This is great info!:cool:

[Lavender]

Since flea & tick season will be starting soon, I thought I'd bump this up....so *bump*!

[Twilight Garden]

What about for cats? Most websites say NOT to use essential oils on cats. Anyone have any suggestions? I have three cats. Only one of which is an indoor/outdoor cat. I don't want him bringing in fleas to the other two indoor-only cats.

[kblackthorne]

I would buy brewer's yeast & garlic powder, and add one cup of each to my 10# bag of catfood.

As long as I did this, no fleas. If I ran out or skipped it: Fleas.

[Twilight Garden]

Thank you so much for the idea. Glad to know there's something out there to try. This is probably a stupid question: Are 'nutritional yeast' and 'brewer's yeast' the same thing? I use nutritional yeast in my cooking for it's vitamins and such. I was wondering if it is the same or if I need to buy some brewer's yeast. They are side by side in the market. I've just always bought the nutritional yeast.

[kblackthorne]

I think they should be interchangable for this purpose. It's the B-complex vitamins you're going for.

Or you could do a dab of both.

[Twilight Garden]

Okies. I'll give it a go, then. ;)