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Pet Food Article Categories
The Most Efficient Home Remedies for Killing Fleas
- 8-10-2009
- Categorized in: Alternative Pet Foods
Lets face it, fleas aren’t most people’s favourite animal. They irritate the skin, they bite and they leave their eggs (white specks) and their poo (black specks) in your dogs fur.
There are various home remedies for killing fleas, some good, some bad, some indifferent. But all of them, including those you buy from your veterinarian, are highly toxic and do far more harm than good.
Flea collars, flea sprays, flea spot-on, flea powders, they’re all toxic to us. Read the label if you don’t believe me.
So what does that mean for your dog? They have it put directly onto their skin, where it is quickly absorbed into their body.
Environmental Protection Agency has reported an alarming increase in the number of adverse incidents from anti flea and tick products. These can vary from mild effects such as skin irritation to more serious effects such as seizures and in some cases death.
Over 44,000 potential incidents associated with registered spot-on products were reported to EPA in 2008. And I doubt that is half the real number of total adverse reactions. Many people just don’t report these incidents or don’t even see them to report them.
If your dog is kept outside or you’re away, you would not necessarily notice a reaction.
According to the EPA the following companies products represent about 80% of the reported adverse reactions.
Promeris, Frontline, RF, Zodiac, Farnam Companies, The Hartz Mountain Group, Sergeant’s, Tradewinds.
But that doesn’t mean the others aren’t safe, just perhaps less hazardous.
So what can you do to control fleas? Are there any natural and effective home remedies for killing fleas?
Before we go there, I can never really understand why the cause of problems aren’t looked at. Why produce a toxic product to kill off a parasite without looking at why the parasite is there in the first place? Aren’t humans meant to be intelligent?
Or is the profit motive so strong, every other voice is drowned out?
You might think that dogs and fleas go together. That’s just nature’s way.
Well, I’m telling you that it isn’t nature’s way. Wild dogs may well have the odd flea, but they don’t have the infestation that you see with untreated domestic dogs.
Wild dogs don’t have access to any home remedies for killing fleas. It’s a bizarre thought.
So what could be the answer?
The answer lies in the daily habits of domestic dogs which is totally different from that of wild dogs.
Their diet!
Commercial pet food is to blame for the vast majority of flea infestations. Why would you need home remedies for killing fleas, when you can stop the infestation from happening in the first place? And so easily.
Once you get your head around the idea of feeding your dog a natural diet, you and your dog’s flea problem will disappear.
Forget about home remedies for killing fleas. Because none of them get to the cause of the problem, they can’t be effective indefinitely, even if some are initially.
For a free ebook on how to have a healthy dog, starting today, visit http://www.bestdoghealth.blogspot.com
There are various home remedies for killing fleas, some good, some bad, some indifferent. But all of them, including those you buy from your veterinarian, are highly toxic and do far more harm than good.
Flea collars, flea sprays, flea spot-on, flea powders, they’re all toxic to us. Read the label if you don’t believe me.
So what does that mean for your dog? They have it put directly onto their skin, where it is quickly absorbed into their body.
Environmental Protection Agency has reported an alarming increase in the number of adverse incidents from anti flea and tick products. These can vary from mild effects such as skin irritation to more serious effects such as seizures and in some cases death.
Over 44,000 potential incidents associated with registered spot-on products were reported to EPA in 2008. And I doubt that is half the real number of total adverse reactions. Many people just don’t report these incidents or don’t even see them to report them.
If your dog is kept outside or you’re away, you would not necessarily notice a reaction.
According to the EPA the following companies products represent about 80% of the reported adverse reactions.
Promeris, Frontline, RF, Zodiac, Farnam Companies, The Hartz Mountain Group, Sergeant’s, Tradewinds.
But that doesn’t mean the others aren’t safe, just perhaps less hazardous.
So what can you do to control fleas? Are there any natural and effective home remedies for killing fleas?
Before we go there, I can never really understand why the cause of problems aren’t looked at. Why produce a toxic product to kill off a parasite without looking at why the parasite is there in the first place? Aren’t humans meant to be intelligent?
Or is the profit motive so strong, every other voice is drowned out?
You might think that dogs and fleas go together. That’s just nature’s way.
Well, I’m telling you that it isn’t nature’s way. Wild dogs may well have the odd flea, but they don’t have the infestation that you see with untreated domestic dogs.
Wild dogs don’t have access to any home remedies for killing fleas. It’s a bizarre thought.
So what could be the answer?
The answer lies in the daily habits of domestic dogs which is totally different from that of wild dogs.
Their diet!
Commercial pet food is to blame for the vast majority of flea infestations. Why would you need home remedies for killing fleas, when you can stop the infestation from happening in the first place? And so easily.
Once you get your head around the idea of feeding your dog a natural diet, you and your dog’s flea problem will disappear.
Forget about home remedies for killing fleas. Because none of them get to the cause of the problem, they can’t be effective indefinitely, even if some are initially.
For a free ebook on how to have a healthy dog, starting today, visit http://www.bestdoghealth.blogspot.com
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What's the Point ?
What you should have learned might be similar to what i learned, which is:
home remedies can be good, bad, or nothing, and along with vet sold remedies can be toxic to you and your pet.
This article tells me a new complication to fleas i never considered... my pets diet...
I'm a thinker... perhaps you are not... i believe the article is telling me home remedies and chemical remedies just don't do the job.. but... the site which we are directed to visit has information that probably involves my dogs diet, and has little to do with making a home flea remedy.
But I've not had time to visit the site yet, and am looking forward to it, maybe i'll learn how to keep fleas gone forever!!
By the way, the website of the author also has no useful information about flea control.
rub in their coat out doors, they love it.
I'm with you, Gitta. We are innundated with opinionsopinionsopinions unsupported by hard facts. What is a natural diet? We know it is not in commercial dog foods. Probably something like what we eat, but probably more proteins. I am feeding my dog largely meats, eggs, and whatever veggies he will eat which is some but not a whole lot. which is pretty normal for dogs. Brown rice came out of him intact so I don't give him grains anymore, but sweet potatoes yes. And I do pay attention to the calcium/phosphorous ration (I use homemade eggshell powder) as well as vit a from carrots or other orange/red veggies also some greens. The meats are cooked because despite all the opinions about the value of raw diets, I had a dog almost die from e coli from raw hamburger. Will this diet keep him from getting fleas? Don't know. He has only been off commercial diet for a few weeks. But I know that diatomatious earth kills fleas in the yard; not the kind for pools but the kind for gardening (didn't know there is food grade, does anyone eat that?) however rubbing it on dogs or into the rugs may be dangerous according to my vet: breathing all those little shards of prehistoric fossil dust may be very bad for lungs. As soon as my dog starts itching I use the flea comb and in flea season I vacuum a lot. But as my dog is extremely allergic to fleas, I have to resort to Frontline during infestations. By the way cedar oil is a nerve poison.And another "natural" product, orange oil gave me headaches. Other natural flea products have not worked. Vigilance!
At least you read the article and dismissed it on your own opinions. I didn't particularly think author had a well written article, the title didn't describe the subject. But I'm glad I read it, and followed the link because I found more support for my opinion that commercial dog food is not fit for dogs.
I use two flea/tick controling products, Best Yet by Cedarcide Industries, and food grade diatomaceous earth.
But back the articles, in your opinion, the website of the author had no useful information about flea control, in my opinion there was something there to be learned, period.
Not everyone is so well informed that they cannot learn something from reading these articles, by the way.
If you are going to convince me that food intake is a significant deterrent to flea infestations, I would like some actual data please. Unless you are suggesting that I force my beloved dog to live outdoors to help him be "flea free" like wild dogs? No, I didn't think so.
Similarly, fleas have not been able to survive in harsher winter climates (like Nordic countries), so issues around flea infestations are practically unheard of there -- but I know that Nordic dogs are fed commercial dog food.
A flea can survive in a temperate climate for over a year without a blood meal. This has NOTHING to do with how well I feed my dog and has everything to do with my house cleaning.
Similarly, we used to have human fleas (we have dog fleas and cat fleas). We no longer have human fleas because as our hygiene and environments changed, those fleas were unable to survive in the new human homes. I suppose I could shower with my dog every day, but I don't think that's a good idea either.
I have to agree with MizLit, that the assumptions between food and fleas is too big a leap that ignores other more likely causal factors, such as environment and care. That said, I do think we have to be careful about the "foods" that are being marketed to us as safe dog food. It seems like someone somewhere in the FDA/dog food industry partnership decided the standard of "safe" should be "dog does not immediately die"...too broad a definition for me! I want more for my dog than "does not immediately die" when I give him something to eat- I actually want "promotes long term health and well being".
Some info on homemade raw diet and fleas: I have had my Westie on raw meat and bones diet for over 6 months now. I am following the recipes from Steve Brown. Toby, my dog, is extremely allergic to flea bites. I can tell you this: during this period of raw feeding he has been bitten twice. The raw feeding has not helped the flea situation! But I am definitely convinced that home made meals are far superior and wil continue to make them for him, some cooked and some raw. I am having Flea Busters come in next week and I do use diatomaceous earth in the yard. Still with the hot weather fleas are everywhere.
The article is correct. Changing to the right homemade organic diet will take care of the flea problem. Surprising, isn't it? Healthy homemade organic dog food works. Commercial dog foods leaves dogs nutritionally compromised, the perfect target for opportunistic fleas.
I changed my dog's diet to a homemade organic dog food based on the recipe by Dr. Fox and it worked. I have it posted on my site, naomithedog.com, ("The Recipe"), with a link to his original recipe.
I live in South Florida, one of the worst places for fleas, and haven't had to use anything for fleas in over a year since I started making all of my dog's food, including her cookies and treats. I had to use the diatomaceous earth only for the first month.