We recently discovered that our dog has fleas even though it is winter. My boyfriend is now insistent that we bomb the house just in case the are also in our home even though he knows how I feel about using chemicals. I am especially worried since we have a one year old and it's winter so we can't just throw open the windows and doors like we would in the summer. Does anyone have any suggestions for a more natural alternative to ridding our home of potential fleas or pros/cons of doing so? Thanks.
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Tue, Dec. 14, 2010
Flea bombs
Posted by
jlnels02
jlnels02
Comments (16)
Garlic
We give our cats a garlic supplement in their food. It comes in powder and tablet form. The tablet you can give like a treat. Dogs love them, but some cats won't eat them that way (we have 1 that will, 2 that won't) so they get the powder in their food. Just a teaspoon a day keeps them healthy and strong and flea free. Our cats go outside, and haven't had fleas (or Frontline) in years!
FLEAS
I dont have any thing to add. I do use diatomaceous earth for fleas and other "critters". I really like the desk lamp and dish soap and water. Just be sure your pet doesnt drink any of it. But if its Seventh Generation soap it probably wont hurt it if it does.
Rose Geranium Oil, Garlic, and Borax
I have 3 large dogs. I haven't used a chemical flea killer or repellant in 5 years. I put rose geranium essential oil on their collars about twice a year; it smells great and it's a very effective insect repellant. I also put ground-up fresh garlic in their food, and I use Borax on the floors and furniture. Yes, in large quantities, Borax can be toxic, but it is FAR less toxic than a chemical flea preventive or bomb. If your child can stay with a relative for 24 hours while you give the Borax time to work, then vacuum it up, the risk will be basically nonexistent. And it has the added benefit of killing other pesky bugs like ants.
desk lamp and dish soap and water
I used to put a pan of warm water with dish soap under my desk lamp on the floor. The fleas assumably are attracted to the heat because they would jump toward the lamp and land in the water in die.
I was amazed at how many dead fleas would be in the water a couple of hours later.
fleas!
By all means, Cedarcide! It's all natural! We discovered it when our mini Dachshund had seizures and became very ill after spot-on treatments (no more vaccinations for her, either- same problem). The Cedarcide factory is close by us in Old Town Spring, Texas, and we love their products! You'll probably have to bathe your dog more often (natural stuff breaks down quicker), but he'll smell great! We try to bathe ours weekly. Use it on cats, too; I rub it into my 17 year old Burmese cat's fur when needed. And spray their beds; cedar shavings are excellent in their bedding, as well. My best friend in Florida had the same problem with her long-haired chihuahua- seizures from spot-on treatment- so I sent her Cedarcide, and she sewars by it, too. Just google "Cedarcide"!
What I use
I used to have major flea problems and am sensitive to chemicals, as well as having kids. My mom, who works in a vet hospital and she recommended I try Fleabusters powder. It is a desiccant powder like borax, but developed to be alot more gentle. It has a one year guarantee, but I have lived in a house for 5 years after an application and not had any re-infestations. I applied it to my most recent house before I even moved in.
I am not affiliated with this company in any way other that a very happy customer.
Alternatives to chemicals
I stopped using Frontline because it seemed to burn my dog's skin (she ran if she saw the vial), it is becoming ineffective as the fleas develop immunity, and because I've lost too many pets to cancer. My holistic vet recommends a number of products, many of which you can find on this site: http://www.thepetwhisperer.com/health-tips/natural-flea-and-tick-care/
My dog-a black Lab-and a number of my friend's dogs wore the Medipatch flea & tick collar this summer with great success. No chemicals, no odor, lasts a whole year and is guaranteed to work. I still had to comb her to check for fleas and once in a while found a few hitchhikers (which were combed off & dunked in a bowl of soapy water), but otherwise, even after the hottest summer on record here, she stayed free of fleas. We spend a lot of time at a lake which has lots of ticks but not once did she bring any home (unlike previous years). The Pet Whisperer is a great resource for information and products. I highly recommend it.
flea bombs
I wouldn't use flea bombs. They really don't work that well anyway. Just use frontline on your dog. It will break the life cycle of the fleas so that they can't reproduce, and with one or two treatments you should be flea-free. Vacuuming really well is a good idea too.
About Borax...
I would have to agree with the previous poster who warned about using Borax. Borax is generally safe to use for cleaning things where it will be rinsed away quickly (e.g., counters, laundry, bathroom, etc.), but I would not use it on carpets when there are small children in the house who are close to the floor and would breathe it in.
Debra Lynn Dadd (creator of Debra's List) is something of an expert on all organic/healthy things. Debra's List has an entire section dedicated to non-toxic pest control, with several of them working with fleas, so I would recommend using her suggestions.
http://dld123.com/debraslist/list.php?topic=Pest%20Control
She also has a Q&A blog where she answers questions if you don't know which to choose.
Arsenic is natural, too, but not recommended!
Be careful of the term natural. Borax, a.k.a. as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. This may be natural, BUT IT IS a NEUROTOXIN. And, is not something you or your pets want to breathe repeatedly. It is may damage your brain.
While "flea bombs that contain pyrethrins are actually 'natural' - they are derived from chrysanthemums," but that's not all that is in the product. They also may control volatile organic compounds as part of the misnamed "inert" ingredients --those that are not required to be listed on the label. This may mean that even so called "natural" active ingredients are made more toxic due to the synergistic effects of the inerts.
As someone who has been poisoned with pesticides, let me say that you don't want to go there.
Biocontrol Network has beneficial nematodes which can boost the natural supply in your yard, and along with watering during dry spells, can totally control the outdoor fleas in your yard.
After using them once, my dogs never had fleas again as long as they lived.
Go to: http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/nemas.html to learn more and to order.
Baking soda is a terrific idea.
After we set off a flea bomb in our house, I coughed up blood for nearly a year due to breathing the emissions. I lost my sense of smell, the ability to put puzzles together with my young daughter, could not even do simple arithmetic problems, that I once understood. Confusion, short term memory loss, health problems taught me that the emissions remain despite the best plans to avoid them.
Eventually the fleas returned, but this time, I used Diatomaceous Earth in the cracks along baseboards and they work. Don't use the swimming pool variety, as they contain chemicals. But, the kind for the garden.
We also bought and spread beneficial nematodes in the grass and garden. They are microscopic worms that attack fleas and infect them with bacteria, killing the insects rapidly. The beneficial nematodes are naturally in the soil. We just boosted their population.
More at: http://tinyurl.com/28hztch
They can be purchased at the Biocontrol Network.
http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/nemas.html
The owner, Eric, is a wonderfully helpful with pest problems! There are many non-toxic solutions.
fleas
My grandson and his wife moved into an apartment infested with fleas. They, like me, are organic. The sprinkled baking soda all over the carpet, left if for two days, vacummed it up and repeated until all the fleas and eggs were gone. The apartment has been flea free for four months now.
Natural remedy for fleas
Hi,
I have used diatomaceous earth with success for fleas. While I did use Frontline on my cats, I used diatomaceous earth for the beds, carpet, furniture, etc. It is basically ground up fossilized little plants or diatoms, which at our size and scale and the pets' size and scale is like talcum powder. However, for a flea, it is like little razor blades that cut them up. They dehydrate quickly after that, as will anythign that hatches out of their eggs. It is impossible for them to build up an immunity to it, as they do w/ chemicals, as you cannot build up an immunity to a mechanical injury (eg, you and I could never become immune to a knife or razor blade). It is not very expensive and can be found on the Internet easily. It's very popular around flea season in northern California and your local health food store may have it; if not, it's easily obtainable online. Good luck!
"Natural" Flea Remedies
Another "natural" flea product that you can try is borax. I have known several people that have sprinkled borax on carpet/rugs (fleas love cloth!) and then vacuumed it up. It appears to be a natural flea egg and larva killer. Just vacuuming frequently, even daily, is also another good step in the process of flea control.
And FYI, flea bombs that contain pyrethrins are actually "natural" - they are derived from chrysanthemums which is why marigold and chrysanthemums tend to have very few natural pests and can be planted in gardens to help "shield" vegetables and such. That does not mean they are "safe" especially to young children and cats, and since there are so many man-made derivatives of "natural" pyrethrins that are very potent. On another aside, Comfortis (the relatively new 30 day flea pill) is actually considered a green product because it is derived from a natural source somewhere in the Carribean Islands (can't remember exactly where).
My number one recommendation whether you are going for more natural remedies or not, is CONSISTENCY. I deal with flea issues on a daily basis - nothing will work if you are not CONSISTENT. And do not expect a fast, easy resolution if an infestation has occurred. You may have to use a combination of steps and more time than you like in order to achieve your goal.
Flea Bombs
Fleas hate cedar and cedar occurs in nature. Frontline and "flea bombs," while effective, do not. Several years ago, I switched to Cedarcide, a cedar oil based insecticide, to combat my cats' fleas(Cedarcide.com). I've had great success. Cedar is non-toxic and doesn't smell awful. I spray the environment, not the cats. When they sleep in their treated beds or on the treated furniture, they get Cedarcide on their fur, which discourages the fleas. It's much less traumatic than directly spraying the cats or bathing them. I also use cedar mulch around my screened-in porch, where my indoor cats play all summer. Think about it. People stored their clothes in cedar lined chests long before modern insecticides were invented. Grandma had it right!
Fleas!!!
I too have a 1 year old and 3 year old, and this summer we had a pretty serious flea problem. I was firm in not bombing the house because of the little ones, so instead we decided to tackle the problem without any chemicals in the house by cleaning like crazy.
First, we bathed the cat with regular shampoo and got some frontline flea treatment for him. After we treated the cat we kept the kids from petting him for a few days. Next we CLEANED as if we were dealing with lice (equally gross!) We changed all the bedding, vacuumed EVERYTHING: furniture, mattresses, stuffed animals, etc. We vacuumed twice a day for probably 3 weeks to keep up with any eggs that might have been laid and hatched. Each time emptied the canister and washed the filter. It was daunting, but it worked and we no longer have a flea problem.
I was happy with the results and the peace of mind by not using the pesticide bomb, even though it was a lot of work and took longer. I figure we broke even on the cleaning because if we would have used a bomb for a quicker fix, I would still have to clean the house from top to bottom to keep the kids from being exposed to chemicals left on exposed surfaces.
Good luck!!!
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