More information for you on Flea Prevention. I have recieved a few emails of late that say people are not wanting to use pesticides on thier pets for flea prevention but, they are not sure how to prevent fleas without them.

An important fact about fleas to remember 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.

Diet is the foundation of health. You will hear me say that a lot! 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, I have come to believe that the best diet for both dogs and cats is a biologically appropriate raw food diet. I know however, that not everyone is comfortable with feeding an all raw diet, so the next best thing is a home cooked diet and then a dehydrated or freeze dried diet. We need to provide the best diet we can. At the minimum this means top quality processed foods that do NOT contain fillers, chemical preservatives, or food colorings, sweetners, or grains. No “by-products” or “digests”. Meat should be the first ingredient. If you insist on feeding processed food diets to your pets, dogs can be fed a mix of canned and dry foods, but cats should be only be fed canned foods. For more information see our other postings under “Nutrition” in the categories side bar or click on the word in this sentence.

Supplementing your pet’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 and Probiotics will help him get the most nutrition from his food and aid the digestive process. A strong immune system produces healthy blood that tastes bitter to parasites.

Transfer Factor is an all natural substance that works by "teaching" the immune system to identify infectious agents that attack the body every day. Transfer factor provides "immune data" collected from the mother’s own immune system and then passed on to her baby. The mother transfers valuable immunity information to be used by the new life to assist in staving off infection and disease. These powerful immunity agents have been identified and are called transfer factors. To keep a body healthy, the immune system must do three very important things each time your body comes in contact with a pathogen: First it must first recognize the pathogen as a threat to the body; second, it must then attack and kill off the threat; and third, it must remember that pathogen so that your body can rid itself quickly of it the next time it is attacked.

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. Vaccinations represent a major stress to the immune system. They can not only cause side-effects and allergic reactions, they also contribute significantly to long term chronic disease. Chronic health problems frequently appear following vaccination including skin allergies, arthritis, leukemia, upper respiratory infections, irritable bowel syndromes, neurological conditions including aggressive behavior and epilepsy, auto-immune diseases and cancer. For more information on vaccinations, click on the Vaccinations, Yes? Or No? catagory in the side bar.

External Protection

A pesticide is a pesticide no matter what you call it. The most thorough investigation I have seen of flea pesticide 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.whole-dog-journal.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 pets 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. NO STUDIES have been done on the LONG TERM effects of applying these pesticides to animals repeatedly over long periods of time.

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.

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.

For repelling fleas , I recommend Young Living Essentail Oils and/or Neem Oil products. Not only will they help repel fleas, they also help sooth and heal irritated skin. You can put a drop or two of Young Living Essential Oils on their collar and/or dilute it into a spray to mist your dog. Essential oils that work well as “flea repellent” are lemon grass, cedar, citronella, eucalyptus and pennyroyal. You can also put a drop of essential oil or Neem oil on a flea comb and as you comb through the hair, you are repelling fleas as well as catching and killing any already there. Pay particular attention to the neck, chest, the top of the hips/base of the tail and under the legs and belly. When using essential oils, 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 can be sensitive especially to the “hotter” oils, so use diluted and/or sparingly.

For killing fleas once they are on your pet, we recommend natural flea powders such as Worm Out or Only Natural Pet All-in-One Flea Remedy.

These are a powder based on 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 used in Worm Out and Only Natural Pet All-in-One Flea Remedy. These two products are safe if eaten (sprinkled on your pet’s food will help to rid of them of internal parasites as well), so your cat can lick and clean herself all she wants when treated with the it 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. For more information on Worm Out, click here. For more information on Only Natural Pet All-in-One Flea Remedy, click here .

Bathing your companion is also an excellent way to kill fleas. Use an all natural essential oil or neem based shampoo like Animal Scents or Only Natural Pet Flea & Insect Repellent Shampoo. Leave the lather on your pet for a few minutes to help smother any persistent fleas, and then RINSE WELL.

The Household Environment

It you have a true infestation in your home as well as on your pets, you can not rid the fleas by treating your dog and/or cat alone, 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.

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.

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 I 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.

You can put some Only Natural Pet All-in-One Flea Remedy or Worm Out powder into the vacuum bag to kill any fleas you vacuum up into the bag, or better yet, remove the bag and discard it in a sealed plastic bag after use.

Only Natural Pet All-In-One Flea Remedy or Worm Out, which are mentioned above, can be used on carpeting, on the pet’s bedding, on furniture and on hard floors and the pets themselves. 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 in areas with heavy flea populations, especially during the height of flea season.

With all of the flea powder 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 email and we will be happy to help.

Don’t forget the sleeping quarters! Wash your pet’s bedding in hot, soapy water at least weekly. You can even add some of Young Living’s Lemon Grass, cedar, Orange or Neem essential oils to the wash water for extra flea-zapping power. Sprinkle a little Only Natural Pet All-in-One Flea Remedy or Worm Out onto DRY bedding and work it in to help kill the little pests while your companion sleeps.

Fleas In 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. Worm Out or Only Natural Pet All-in-One Flea Remedy can be applied to grass to kill fleas in the yard by sprinkling the powder or with a hose sprayer.

Beneficial Nematodes are another way to control fleas in the yard. Beneficial nematodes are a flea parasite, (God and His nature always has a balancing mechanism). Benefical Nematodes 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. For more information on Benefical Nematodes that eat fleas, click here