Fleas

Fleas Just Suck

It’s a fact, if you have cats, or dogs, or even a hamster as a pet, fleas will find them. It’s up to us, their loving care-givers, to protect them from these little blood-suckers.

There are many chemical flea killers that are available in the markets. Collars, powders, pills, liquids, foggers, traps, sprays, shampoos, all designed to kill the little buggers. And for each and every one of them, it is strongly advised that you read and follow the directions exactly.

Once upon a time I brought home a bottle of flea shampoo for my dogs. Didn’t bother to read the bottle before buying it. When I was ready to use it, I carefully read the instructions. It said that I needed to wear rubber gloves or a safe alternative while applying the shampoo for at least 10 to 15 minutes, working up a really good lather. Then let it stay there for another 10 to 15 minutes before rinsing it off.

Wait, what???

If I have to wear gloves to apply it, then how safe is it really for the dogs???

I threw that bottle out and have never bought another bottle of any brand or kind of flea shampoo again. That was about 40 years ago.

At the time I had 4 dogs and probably about 16 (or so) cats, and fleas were a real problem.  On the pets, in the house and yard, yep, they were everywhere. No carpet in the house, so that was a small blessing. I vacuumed daily the entire floor of every room. I flea-combed who ever wanted a lap while watching TV, or got on the floor and combed the dogs. No more of those chemicals were allowed any where near my fur-kids!

I searched for a garden hose-end sprayer jar thingie. This is what I found:

I filled it up with dishwashing soap, attached it to my garden hose, and sprayed away. I sprayed everything in the backyard, even the sides of the house and the fence, too. I sprayed inside the catio, where the cats were safe from the cars on the street. I did that every day for probably at least 2 weeks. I needed to completely break the breeding/growing cycle of those fleas!

I also did some more shopping for another kind of garden sprayer.

To this I added one bottle ( a quart) of regular over-the-counter Hydrogen Peroxide, water nearly to the top, and finished it up with some more liquid dish soap. Every day after I vacuumed the house, I sprayed this mixture all along the base of the walls, under the beds and the furniture. If the fleas escaped the vacuum, they wouldn’t escape from this! Sprayed the cat and dog beds, the couch and stuffed chairs, just about every darn thing I could see. Yep, I was one crazed flea-killing machine.

And it worked. After 2 weeks the fleas were dead and gone. 

Now I only have to do some of that work about once a month to keep them away and the pets and I are much healthier without those hazardous chemicals.