Natural Flea Cures

Did you know that a flea could jump 100 times its own height? Did you additionally know that a single female flea will produce 20,000 eggs in a time period of only 3 months? Finally, are you aware that it will take between three to six weeks for flea eggs to hatch? Now that is certainly some eye opening, yet terrifying flea trivia!

The pests in question are tiny, brown, wingless bugs that survive in the blood of one's pet. Regrettably as soon as they've found that food source they are very difficult to get rid of. Any of you who have been confronted by the regrettable task of handling fleas truly know how trying it could be, and how incredibly quickly the problem can propagate to other pets as well as to your house.

First let us take a look at a number of ways we can prevent flea problems for our pets once and for all. The addition of Garlic to all of our pet's meals will keep them free of fleas, as will the addition of Sulphur to their own diet on a once a week basis. You may also try giving your pet Black Walnut Hulls that can be found in a capsule form at many health food stores which will repel not just fleas but also, ticks as well as mosquitoes. Remember that none of these remedies work overnight and may take approximately four to six weeks before they are effective.

If you suspect that your own pet does have a flea infestation check out the animal closely by separating the hair on the animal's back or flank area. You want to be able to view the skin of the animal as good as possible and it'll always be much easier to identify fleas on those pets which have a lighter skin tone. During your search you might actually be able to witness a flea scurrying by, but more likely you will see the evidence that the flea has left behind. Flea dirt (or waste material) will appear as tiny, black pebbles within the fur and on the skin. To determine whether or not what you see is actually flea dirt, take some wet paper towel and wipe it over places where the dirt is most prominent. In case the dirt upon the wet paper towel has dissolved into reddish blood then you can certainly bet that you're indeed dealing with a flea problem.

Now let us get down to bathing your flea ravaged pal. Make use of an herbal shampoo which has a combination of any of pine cedar, bergamot, rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus, citronella, juniper or geranium. Before you wet down your dog here's a handy trick to ensure that you are successful in killing all those nasty fleas. Know going into this process that as soon as you wet the animal down, those fleas are going to run for higher and dryer ground; this means they'll flea (no word play here intended) to the head region. You should never douse your pet's head with water and certainly not soap, so in order to prevent the fleas from escaping be sure that you first put a thick coating of the shampoo all over the head and neck area; as near to the top of the head and below the chin area as you can get. Pour small quantities of water using your hand on the soapy region and spend time building up a thick, soapy barrier that will obliterate the fleas that attempt to move across it. Proceed by wetting down and lathering up the rest of the animal's body while frequently returning to massage and re-lather the neck region. Fleas are hard to kill and it is better for your pet if you can manage the problem with one good bath instead of several of them, so be sure to leave the shampoo on for around 15 minutes or even more while continuing to massage the soap deep into the animal's fur. Rinse out the dog completely and dry it off properly, specifically during cold weather.

If you're also coping with a house infestation of fleas, here's a terrific way to get rid of the problem. Blend together 1 1/2 pounds of diatomaceous earth, 1 1/2 pounds of natural borax and 1 cup of salt. (Don't use the earth and borax which you can purchase at a pool store, rather use the products which you can get from your local garden store.) The diatomaceous earth works since it has microscopic particles that have sharp spines, which puncture the exoskeleton of the flea, killing it. The particular borax and salt succeed by soaking up the moisture from the flea and make all of those cracks and small places which they might find to reside in your home a lot more undesirable. You can use the mix by sprinkling it throughout your house onto carpets and into those tougher to reach areas. Allow for the mixture to sit for a few days and then vacuum it up. Although these powders usually are not toxic it is never a good idea for you or your pet to breathe it continuously for days so if it is possible to go elsewhere while it sits then that is definitely an alternative you should use. Alternatively, should you prefer not to douse the house with the mixture, you could put it into your vacuum bag and vacuum everything thoroughly so the sucked up fleas will perish in the bag. Keep in mind that this solution won't kill the un-hatched flea eggs and and so the process might need to be repeated several times depending on the seriousness of the problem.

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