Ok, so fleas are not much fun but I thought I would try and inject a bit of humour into the subject.
Did you know..
Fleas can jump up to 150 times their own height! Thats about 8 inches.
Fleas are less likely to be passed from dog to dog than from the dogs environment.
Flea eggs can remain dormant for months and hatch when conditions are right.
Fleas are not only a nuisance, a heavy infestation can cause anaemia in your dog. One flea will drink around 15 times its body weight in blood. Any excess is excreted and provides food for flea larvae.
As much as I love natural products, chemical free etc I do not believe fleas are something that can be controlled without such treatments. Sometimes we do have to look past our ideals and weigh up the pros and cons. That said I do think flea repelling products have their place in the fight against pests of the biting variety.
My top tip to rid your dog of fleas immediately is Hibiscrub. You can buy it in lots of outdoor suppliers, online, medical suppliers. Just half a cap mixed with dilute liquid shampoo or water , rubbed into the coat.. all over .. leave it for a few minutes and rinse thoroughly. It really does kill them fast. Hibiscrub is only licensed for humans, not dogs so do your homework first but I do know it is widely used within the dog world and I have never experienced a problem.
Natural flea repellant essential oils - Word of warning - do not use neat or suspended in water. They are extremely concentrated. Infact I would go as far as to say not to use them on your dog other than in a product that is already manufactured, Neither should they be used with cats as they react badly to many essential oils.
Useful oils include
• Lavender
• Lemon
• Palmarosa
• Cedar (atlantica)
• Eucalyptus (radiata)
• Clary sage
• Peppermint
Neem Oil - smells awful but works wonders.
In the house, hoover, hoover, hoover - it really does help. Buy a spray to treat the house if you already have an infestation. It really is the only way to get on top of it. Steam clean nooks and crannies regularly. For every flea you see there are numerous eggs and cocoons you can't see. Fleas have one mission - to reproduce - and they are very good at it.
2 comments
I’ve got the same problem. I’ve used three treatments plus oral tablets, sprayed the house and bath my dog every day in flea and tick shampoo to no avail so I will try Hibiscrub
Wendy
Hibiscrub is excellent for getting rid of fleas.i had a Yorkie puppy who got absolutely infested with the little pests,we tried every commercial product treated the house as well,but they kept coming back.My wife was a hairdresser at the time and had had a client who’s daughter had had nits,we were talking about it and she said she had washed the girls hair in the stuff used to sterilise the combs etc,the nits vanished and didn’t return.Taking this as a good omen we decided to try it on our dogs as th we e was nothing to lose.mixing it with the normal dog shampoo it removed dozens of fleas in just one wash,rinsed n repeated it cured the problems and was always used in future with no Ill effects except a lovely shiny coat and no more pests👍😁
Alwyn Jones