Natural Flea Remedies That Work

Let's face it : we love our pets, and many of us would like to keep them healthy using as few chemicals as possible. That's why there's a growing interest in learning about natural flea control.

But the problem is that we've been spoiled by the convenience and effectiveness of relatively safe spot-on flea control products such as Advantage and Frontline. If you have a dog or cat, chances are you've used these products at some point. But, for some reason, you might have decided you'd like something a little more natural.

That's what happened to me a few summers ago when one of my dogs was having health issues, and her holistic veterinarian recommended I stop using spot-on flea products on her and instead rely on more natural methods to control fleas on her and in our household. The problem was that I wasn't really prepared for this, and it was one of the worst summers for fleas in recent memory. I battled those nasty little bloodsuckers all summer long!

I also learned the truth about natural flea control: it can be done, but it requires knowing which products work, being diligent, and using a multi-pronged approach.

One key to natural flea control is that you need to start early to get a jump on fleas. My dog's holistic veterinarian explained to me, that first July that I started trying to use natural flea remedies, that the best time to start thinking about fleas is in early spring -- before you see a single one.

The thing about fleas is that if you wait until your dog is scratching like crazy, your own ankles are getting bitten and -- heaven forbid -- you actually see fleas on your dog or cat, it might be too late for you to get control of the situation.

Instead, be proactive. Put a reminder on your calendar or set up an e-mail reminder for early spring to begin your assault on fleas on your pet and in your house.

If you are used to using a spot-on treatment on your dog or cat, then forgetting all about fleas, practicing natural flea control will be a big change. To combat fleas naturally, you need to do three things:

Treat Your Home -- To understand why you need to treat your home, you need to understand how fleas work. First, a female flea will seek out a host -- probably your dog or cat -- to find a blood meal. After feeding, that flea will lay eggs on the host (an adult female can lay 50 eggs in a single day!) and most of the eggs will quickly fall off the pet, onto the floor or carpet, the furniture or the pet's bed. The eggs will hatch into larvae, which live in the fibers of the carpet or cracks of the upholstery, feeding on the feces of the adult flea (gross, I know!) which tends to fall off your pet and pile up on the floor. (After feeding, larvae become pupae and create cocoons, which they stay inside of for two weeks to a month before hatching as adult fleas. This is why you can't expect to get rid of fleas overnight!)

Treat Your Yard -- It's not always necessary, but if your pet spends a considerable amount of time outside, treating the yard can help prevent or address flea problems. There are both chemical and natural approaches to treating a yard for fleas. If your yard is not treated, it can become a breeding ground for fleas, which can jump on your pet as soon as he goes outside!

Treat Your Pet -- Since your pet is the preferred host for adult fleas, treating your pet (preferably using a combination of several natural methods) is a crucial component of any natural flea control program. Treating your pet naturally will involve daily work and vigilance during flea season. There's just no way around this, so if you're going to use natural flea remedies, you have to be very dedicated. (The good thing, though, is that flea season does not last all year long!)

In my quest to rid my home of fleas naturally, I tried many products. To be honest, I was disappointed in many of them. But the good news is that several worked quite well. I'll add the caveat that for every product I or someone else has found to work well, there will always be someone who says it didn't work for them. That's just the nature of using gentler products, I think.

With that in mind, here are some products that have worked for me and others:

For the Home

What worked:

• To treat my home, what worked the best is a product called Fleabusters Rx for Fleas. This is a borate powder that is similar to boric acid, but more finely milled to stick to carpet fibers (and inside the cracks and crevices of your upholstered furniture), and it has a neutral pH, which the company says causes the flea not to be repelled by the powder. The powder kills the fleas and flea larvae by dehydrating them. (This product worked for me, and it also got four out of five stars in Amazon customer reviews and four out of five paws for customer reviews at Only Natural Pet Store. Some other products didn't fare nearly as well, so I tend to believe customers are being honest in their reviews.) Another borate product sold by Only Natural, called Fleago Natural Flea Control, also did really well in customer reviews, getting slightly more than four out of five paws.
• I also -- and this is really important -- bought a good quality vacuum cleaner (I bought a Dyson, but any good quality vacuum will do) and began vacuuming every day during flea season. This is important (and you also have to get rid of the contents of the bag every day too) because the flea eggs fall off your dog (or cat) onto the floor and flea feces also falls off your pet, providing food for the flea larvae. The more you vacuum -- and remember to get underneath the furniture and along the edges of all the rooms and in the crevices of upholstered furniture -- the more fleas, eggs and feces (larvae food) you will get rid of. It's a good idea to throw a sheet or towel over your pet's bed, and launder that every day too, along with throw rugs. According to the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, vacuuming is the most important part of any natural flea control program, and a university study found that vacuuming catches 96 percent of adult fleas.

What didn't work:

• Before finding Fleabusters, I had tried diatomaceous earth (NOT pool-grade, but food grade. It is dangerous to use pool-grade diatomaceous earth! If you are going to try this product, only buy it from a holistic pet store and do not breathe it in.) The diatomaceous earth product did not work well for me, but my holistic vet recommends it, and I know it has worked for some people.

For the Yard

I didn't treat my yard because my cats are indoor cats, and my dogs stay primarily indoors. However, I have heard good things about using beneficial nematodes, which are microscopic organisms you apply to your yard, and they live there and reproduce, eating flea larvae. You can buy them online, at gardening stores and even through Home Depot. (Home Depot customers gave the product 4.3 out of 5 points.)

For the Pet

What worked:

• I began bathing my dog weekly during flea season, using a natural flea shampoo. I have used Fleabusters shampoo, as well as a Neem Protect shampoo, and had good luck with both. If you lather the pet and let the shampoo sit for the amount of time specified on the bottle before rinsing, fleas will drown/suffocate and be washed down the drain. (You can see them!)
• In addition to that -- and this is very important too -- it's essential to get a flea comb and comb your pet daily. Put a little petroleum jelly on the comb to help fleas stick to it and use a cotton ball soaked with rubbing alcohol to kill any fleas you find. (You can flush them down the toilet too for good measure.) Pay special attention to the areas like the belly where fleas seem to like to hide.

What didn't work:

• I tried a pyrethrin dip, which (while technically natural because it's made from chrysanthemums) is very harsh and actually made my hands tingle. It also did not kill the fleas! I'm not sure how that happened, but I watched fleas marching around on my dog, alive as could be, after her dip. She and I, on the other hand, were both miserable.
• I also tried a rosemary-based "flea repellant" spray that, while it smelled very woodsy and really nice, did absolutely nothing to repel fleas.
• I also tried a Brewer's yeast and garlic supplement for my dogs, and -- nothing!

To buy natural flea control products, visit your local holistic pet store. Or, if you prefer to shop online, here are some places to shop:

Amazon.com -- Carries Fleabusters and other natural flea control products.

OnlyNaturalPet.com -- Has a wide range of natural flea powders, shampoos and sprays.

Eartheasy.com -- Carries natural pest control products for the yard and home.

Photo credits

Dog with ball: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgourley/ / CC BY 2.0 Dog in bed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tudor/ / CC BY-SA 2.0