The Natural Approach to Flea Control

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http://www.healthypetjournal.com/Default.aspx?tabid=14258

Following

is a list of articles written by Dr. Larry Siegler about natural pet health

care. These are based on his 20 years

of active veterinary practice, the last 10 with a focus on a holistic approach

to keeping dogs and cats healthy and happy with alternative approaches to

veterinary medicine.

What

You Need to Know About Your Pet's Food

The

Truth About Pet Vaccinations

All

About Raw Pet Food

The

Natural Approach to Flea Control

Lower

Urinary Tract Disease in Cats

Alleviating

Your Pet's Itchy Skin

Homeopathy

for Pet Health

The

Importance of Daily Supplements for Healthy Companions

Using

Herbs for Pet Health

Dealing

with Kidney Failure in Cats and Dogs </default.aspx?tabid=25105>**

Treating

Mild Anxiety

Dental

Health Care for Your Pet

http://www.healthypetjournal.com/default.aspx?tabid=19241

 

The

Natural Approach to Flea Control

As flea

season is in full swing in many areas around the country, we are realizing that

some of you may need a bit of guidance with the war you are waging in your

households. There are so many products

available for fighting the battle against fleas that a trip to the pet store or

a little research on-line can leave you a bit overwhelmed and bewildered.

You may

have noticed if you checked our site for flea control, that the selection is

limited. That's because we carry only

what works and only what is safe for your companions as well as everyone else

in your household. We also do not carry

anything damaging to the environment.

There

are three stages, or areas to address, in the flea eviction process; the

companion animal – internally and externally, the household environment, and

the great outdoors, (or at least "securing the perimeter"). But before we wage war, it is best to know

thine enemy.

The

(almost) Invincible Flea

First

let's talk about the population statistics of our foe. The adult fleas hopping around on your

companion and in your house are only about 1% of the entire flea population in

your home environment. So this means

that for every flea you see, there are actually at least 99 more in one or

another stage of development lurking around the house or yard. 8-10% of the population is in the pupae

(cocoon) stage, 35-37% is in the larval stage and 50-54% of the population

consists of flea eggs.

 

Flea

Life Cycle

The

adult female flea can lay from 10 to 50 eggs a day in appropriate weather. Fleas tend to prefer warm, somewhat humid

weather: 75-95 degrees with 60-85%

humidity. Considering an adult flea can

live up to 60-100 days, a single flea could lay upwards of 2000 eggs in her

lifetime. And even if only half of

those go on to reproduce…well; you get the picture – lots and lots of fleas!

The

eggs are laid on the "host" – your companion animal, and most will fall off

into the carpet or in the yard. A

majority of those eggs and the resulting larvae and pupae remain within fifty

feet of their host's favorite resting spot, (keep that in mind when we get to

the part about treating the environment).

Flea larvae emerge from the eggs within 1 to 10 days, although if

conditions are not ideal, the egg can remain in the environment much longer

waiting for the right "moment" to hatch.

The larval stage lasts 5 to 11 days and is a time of vulnerability in

the flea's life cycle. Once they spin

their cocoon and "pupate", which takes 5 to 9 days, they are then in a

pre-adult state within the cocoon that can last only days or more than 6

months.

Now you

can understand why "bug bombs" jusst don't work. They only kil the fleas in the adult and larval stage at

best. So all those thousands of eggs

and little cocoons are still lurking and waiting for the proper conditions in

order to emerge and start the whole population explosion all over again.

One

more detail about our foe the flea: they can spread disease and tapeworms. The way the flea feeds is by sticking its

pointy little nose into the host and injecting a bit of "saliva" to thin the

blood before sucking it. This is why so

many pets are allergic to flea bites and end up with severe rashes and hot

spots.

Stage 1

– Armoring Your Companions

Protection

from the Inside Out

 

Another

important fact about fleas is that they prefer weaker, less healthy hosts and

very young puppies and kittens with undeveloped immune systems. Knowing this, we can arm our pets for flea

resistance by boosting their health and immunity. If you have a flea problem, this is the first place to start.

If

you've read any of the other articles on our site, you've heard this

before: Diet is the foundation of

health. Nothing you give your dog or

cat can do as much good for their health and immunity as a proper diet.

After

years of experience and research, we have come to believe that the best diet

for both dogs and cats is a biologically appropriate raw food diet. We realize, however, that not everyone is

comfortable with or can manage to feed an all raw diet, so just feed the very

best diet you can. At the minimum this

means top quality processed foods that do not contain fillers, chemical

preservatives, or food colorings. No

"by-products" or "digests". Meat should

be the first ingredient, not grains.

Dogs can be fed a mix of canned and dry foods, but cats should be fed

only canned foods if they are to be fed processed diets. For more information see "What You Should

Know About Your Pet's Food."

Supplementing

your companion's diet can also help.

Essential Fatty Acids will help build the immune system and boost the

health of the skin and coat. Digestive

Enzymes & Probiotics will help him get the most nutrition from his food and

aid the digestive process. Garlic and B

vitamins tend to make the animal less tasty to fleas, so many guardians

supplement with garlic & brewers yeast, (a good source of vitamin B1),

during flea season to help their companions ward off attacks. (Keep in mind that some animals are allergic

to brewers yeast, so watch closely the first week or so to make sure the

itching doesn't get worse.)

Over-vaccination

is taxing on the immune system of dogs and cats.

Educate

yourself about the risks of too many vaccinations before succumbing to the

usual pressure to vaccinate annually for a variety of diseases. See the article "The Truth About Pet

Vaccinations."

 

 

External

Protection

The

ultimate weapon in the battle with fleas is the Flea Comb. It is the best way to investigate whether

the scratching your dog or cat is doing is due to fleas or is just a little

itch. Run the comb through your pet's

hair and gather a bit of hair & "dirt".

Then put this between two damp white paper towels and press them

together – if the "dirt" creates rusty looking spots on the paper towel, then

there is a flea somewhere – most likely a family of fleas – on your

companion. If you persist, you will

likely trap some of them in the comb.

Drown them in SOAPY water – fleas have been known to jump out of plain

water. Flea combing daily may sound

tedious, but it is very helpful while you are working on the environmental

control measures necessary to rid your world of fleas. Just remember that for every adult flea you

drown in that soapy water you are preventing generations of future parasites

from searching for food in your home.

There

are many topical sprays & shampoos out there touting their effectiveness at

killing or deterring fleas. Many of

them contain chemicals and pesticides however, that are not conducive to

building your companion's immune system.

Cats, in particular, are susceptible to the toxic nature of many of

these products because they are constantly grooming themselves and ingesting

whatever they have been sprayed with.

Pesticides

We

recommend Neem Oil products or Flea Away for dogs and cats, and essential oils

for dogs.

Neem

oil sprays and shampoos not only help repel fleas, they also help sooth and

heal irritated skin.

Bite:

This essential oil blend is another good repellent for use on dogs. You can put a drop on their collar and

dilute it into a spray to mist your dog.

Other

essential oils that seem to be "flea repellent" are cedar, tea tree,

citronella, eucalyptus and pennyroyal, (the last two are toxic cats). Combining

a little neem spray with your flea combing is a great way to both spread the

neem oil throughout the animal's coat as well as giving you extra help with

catching the fleas. Pay particular

attention to the neck and chest on cats and the top of the hips/base of the

tail and under the legs and belly on dogs.

When using any product like these with a strong odor, just keep in mind

that your dog or cat has a much stronger sense of smell than you do, (as do the

fleas), so don't overdo it. Cats

especially seem to be sensitive, so use sparingly.

Many

cats do not like to be sprayed, so spray a small amount of Neem Protect Spray

onto a cloth and wipe it on lightly. We

do not recommend the use of essential oils on cats. One more precaution about using essential oils – they can

interfere with the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies, so don't use them if

you are treating your pet with homeopathy or any of the Homeopet products.

Flea

Away is a specialized diatomaceous earth that is safe for use on dogs and cats

as well as around the home, (which we will get to next).

It

kills fleas by dehydrating them – which is not only non-toxic to pets, humans

and the environment, but fleas cannot develop an immunity to it as they do to

all other pesticides over time. There

are many varieties of diatomaceous earth available. Some have impurities or contaminants that make them less safe

than the type in Flea Away. Flea

Away is

safe if eaten, so your cat can lick and clean herself all she wants when

treated with the Flea Away and it will not hurt her. It is a very fine powder and a little goes a long way. Suggested use is approximately 1 tsp. per 10

lbs of body weight. Using the flea comb

to help spread the powder throughout your companion's coat is helpful.

Bathing

your companion is an excellent way to kill fleas. Use a neem shampoo or an oatmeal shampoo if your companion has

irritated skin. You can add a drop or

two of essential oils to the oatmeal shampoo to make it more "flea

unfriendly". Leave the lather on your

pet for a few minutes to help smother any persistent fleas, and then RINSE

WELL. Soap residue can dry the skin and

make the itchiness worse. You can

follow with Doc Acerman's Orange Cream Conditioner to help prevent dry skin as

well.

Why not

use flea collars?

Good

question! The answer is: flea collars

only repel fleas around the animal's neck and do very little for the rest of

the body. Fleas are very resourceful;

they will find a good spot far enough away from that collar to hang out. Also, most flea collars, especially anything

non-toxic, are only effective for a short time.

 

 

What

about "spot-on" flea products?

A

pesticide is a pesticide no matter what you call it. We only recommend spot-on flea products as a last resort for

animals with severe flea allergies. The

most thorough investigation we have seen of these products was done by Whole

Dog Journal as reported in the article "Are 'Spot-On' Flea Killers Safe?" in

the February, 2002 issue, (available from their website for a fee: www.wholedogjournal.com

Here is

an excerpt from that article: "All pesticides pose some degree of health risk

to humans and animals. Despite

advertising claims to the contrary, both over-the-counter and veterinarian-prescribed

flea-killing topical treatments are pesticides that enter our companions'

internal organs (livers, kidneys), move into their intestinal tracts, and are

eventually eliminated in their feces and urine."

Systemic

pesticides are NOT a good way to build an animal's immune system; on the

contrary, they can only weaken it. Some

guardians report that their companions appear more lethargic and depressed for

a day or more after applying spot-on flea products. More severe reactions that have been reported include excessive

salivation, skin rashes, convulsions, tremors, hyperactivity, stiffened limbs

and lameness.

Consider

that to be deemed safe for use on our companions, these products only need be

tested for 3, 13 or 52-week intervals.

Higher doses are used to compensate for the shorter testing

periods. NO STUDIES have been done on

the LONG TERM effects of applying these pesticides to animals repeatedly over

long periods of time.

One

more reason not to use pesticides – they end up in our environment – including

on your lawn. Fleas will develop

immunity to any pesticide over time.

This is already being seen with some of the spot-on products. They cannot, however, develop immunity to

dehydration – which is how the diatomaceous earth and boric acid products kill

fleas.

Stage 2

– The Household Environment

You

cannot rid your companion of fleas by treating him or her alone, (unless you

are willing to resort to pesticides).

Most of the population lives and develops in your house and yard, not on

your pet.

Treating

the environment is essential if you want to win this war.

Carpets,

Flooring & Furniture

Vacuuming

and washing the hard floors often – daily during the height of flea season – is

the least toxic way to control fleas.

This will remove most of the adults, and some eggs and larvae. Keep in mind the larvae don't like light, so

vacuum under furniture and around baseboards anywhere near your pet's favorite

places to hang out. Remember to either

vacuum some Flea Away or an herbal flea powder into the vacuum bag to kill any

fleas in the bag, or remove the bag and discard it in a sealed plastic bag

after use.

Some

infestations, however, are just too much to be controlled by vacuuming alone,

and not everyone has the time to clean all the floors daily. That's when we recommend using one or more

of the natural "powders" available for ridding your home of fleas. The least toxic substances available for

this are diatomaceous earth and boric acid products.

Flea

Away, discussed above, can be used on carpeting, on the pet's bedding, on

furniture and on hard floors. It is a

very fine powder similar in consistency to talcum powder, so it gets into

cracks and crevices on hardwood and linoleum floors easily. It acts more quickly than boric acid

products – a difference in the flea population can be noticeable in 24 – 48

hours. Diatomaceous earth, however,

does not last as long as the boric acid products. Monthly applications are recommended, especially during the

height of flea season.

Boric

acid products, such as Fleabusters and Fleago work in a similar fashion to the

diatomaceous earth by dehydrating the fleas.

When applied correctly, they offer protection for up to a year or more

as they remain deep in the carpet fibers.

Fleabusters may also be used on hard floors as the powder is fine enough

to reach into cracks and crevices well.

Both products may be used on furniture.

All visible powder must be worked into the carpet, floor or furniture

well with a broom or rake, and any remaining visible powder should be vacuumed

up.

Boric

acid kills flea larvae, but is not as effective at killing the adults, so you

may not see the results for 2-6 weeks while the adult population dies off. During the initial weeks after application,

it is helpful to vacuum frequently to kill the adult fleas.

With

all three of these flea control products, common sense caution must be

used. Follow package directions carefully. They are drying agents, and therefore

irritate nasal passages and lungs if inhaled directly.

Avoid

overzealous shaking of the container while spreading it onto the floor so you

don't create clouds of dust. If you

have any questions about the application process with any of our products,

please call or email and we will be happy to help.

Bedding

Don't

forget the sleeping quarters! Wash your

pet's bedding in hot, soapy water at least weekly. You can even add some essential oils or Bite This! to the water

for extra flea-zapping power. Sprinkle

a little

Flea

Away onto DRY bedding and work it in to help kill the little pests while your

companion sleeps.

Stage 3

– Securing the Perimeter(Your Yard)

Last,

but certainly not least, treat the yard.

Remember that the larvae don't like light – so rake up any leaves and

keep the grass cut.

Watering

can help drown the larvae as well. A

majority of the fleas and larvae will be within 50 feet of your companion's

favorite spot to rest, so focus on those areas.

Flea

Away can be sprayed onto the grass with a hose sprayer to kill fleas in the

yard. Application must be repeated

after rain or watering.

Beneficial

Nematodes are another way to control fleas in the yard.

Beneficial

nematodes are a flea parasite, (mother nature always has a balancing

mechanism). They are tiny little bugs

that prey on both adult fleas and larvae.

They can be applied with a hose sprayer or, on a smaller yard, with a

watering can. Some garden centers and

nurseries carry them or can order them for you, as well as some of the

"natural" pet stores. An internet

search will provide more sources than you can sort through.

The

Pre-emptive Strike

 

One

last point to make: don't wait until you see fleas on your companion to treat

your environment! If you live in an

area with a predictable flea season – treat a month before it starts. If you live in the south where flea season

is every season, start now and plan to treat your home regularly. Using natural methods is a bit more work

than dropping a spot of pesticides on their back, but in the long run your

companion and your environment will be healthier for your efforts.

 

 

Radiating

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & Truth

To

ALL who share our circle – our universe, our love, our trust.

May

I always be found worthy.

Gratitude

& Thankfulness to All of Us

a

SoaringHawk

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the

first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with joy &

glory.

 

Thank you for YOU, All!