Detalied Guide How to Get Rid of Fleas from Dogs and Cats

You can’t know exactly how long ago the infestation started, but you may always decrease the number of pests torturing your pet no matter how many bugs are there. DIY flea collars for dogs deter pests due to the emitted smell of plant oils.

Flea Collar: Prevention and Deterrence

How to get rid of fleas on dogs? Go ahead and make it, too. You will need a ready leather or textile collar, or a neckerchief or a bandana and cedar/lavender oil. Just dissolve a couple of oil drops in water and spread it across the future collar. Tie it on your animal’s neck and leave for several days. If your pet shows no signs of allergy, it may wear the collar for several weeks to exterminate pests completely.

You may put a collar on your pet whenever it is walked outside, especially in parks and forests.

Apply a little lavender oil on the collar.

How to Get Rid of Fleas on Dogs: Pills and Tablets

If you own a big pet (heavier than 25 lbs) flea tick k9 Advantix dogs will be a suitable medication. It has the following merits:

• suitable or extra large dogs;
• exterminates the entire population, including larvae and eggs;
• stays active after bathing and shampooing;
• prevents further infestation for a month.

This tablets exterminates the entire population, including larvae and eggs.

You can buy other similar products online, but when selecting take into account your pet’s weight, other treatment ways combined and the active ingredients of each medication.

Keep Them Clean!

Another crucial factor for keeping your pets free of fleas is shampooing and bathing. Luckily, the market offers hundreds of variants for small and large animals of different ages. Fresh ‘n’ Clean brand produces one of the best flea shampoo for dogs and cats: due to natural pyrethrins it kills the bugs delicately and doesn’t cause allergic reactions in pets. Besides, its pleasant fragrance lasts up to 14 days and keeps ticks and fleas at bay.

If you need a flea shampoo for pets with sensitive skin, or kittens and puppies, select organic products. Yucca offers a Multi-Purpose Tearless Concentrate shampoo that contains natural ingredients only and relieves the symptoms of bites (inflammation, itching, etc.). It is suitable for pets of any age.

Remember that regular shampooing is necessary not only during infestation: pet should be washed sometimes to prevent diseases and create a protective barrier against different kinds of bugs.

Pets should be washed regularly.

How to Boost the Power of Shampoo?

Another way to build up protection and increase the effectiveness of bathing is spraying. It provides total flea control for dogs and cats. This remedy kills the entire population without affecting a host.

One of the most demanded products in Amazon is Adams Plus spray. Its special formula includes etofenprox that kills larvae, adults and eggs, and S-Methoprene, a growth regulator that doesn’t let small insects develop and grow up, e.g. it interrupts life cycle of bugs. It ensures rapid relief from biting insects and repels some of them, including mosquitoes.

Despite being very efficient, most of sprays are potentially dangerous for small pets, being poisonous and toxic. Be careful when applying it on kittens and puppies. Wash the residues of product away with water after several hours, when fleas are exterminated. The procedure may be repeated twice a week. Remember that sprays are created as flea medicine for dogs and cats, not like a prevention measure.

One of the most demanded products in Amazon is Adams Plus spray.

Hand-Made Remedies

Afraid of doing harm to your beloved pet and want to make something safe by yourself? Prepare an expeditious home remedy for fleas on dogs and other animals.

You will need:

• 4-5 lemons;
• 10-15 rosemary leaves;
• Geranium oil;
• One liter of boiling water.

Slice lemons and chop the leaves of rosemary, mix them in a bowl, add water and geranium oil and leave for a night. Next day, strain water, mix everything in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture on furniture, curtains, pet’s bed and other corners of your apartment. This citrus spray will deter fleas, being safe for pets.

For dealing with fleas, you can use lemon.

Vinegar: Simple and Powerful

Although not as effective as shampoos, vinegar is a good conditioner and nice addition to other kinds of treatment. This is a safe and natural flea repellent for dogs, and you may be sure your pet won’t ingest anything toxic. By the way, pets like the taste if apple cider more, so it is preferable.

Against fleas are also very effective plain vinegar.

Diatomaceous Earth as a Finishing Touch

To make sure you eliminated flea eggs left in your dwelling, you need an all-purpose remedy that will exterminate the leftovers of population. Diatomaceous earth can be used inside and outside house, and applied on pets’ fur.

This is a substance of fine crystals that dry insects out and damage their exoskeleton from the inside when being consumed. You can buy it in home depot stores or order in Amazon and other online marketplaces. But mind that you need “food grade” type, not anything else.

You are free to combine these methods or apply them separately:

1. Spread some diatomaceous earth on carpet and leave for a night or two days. Do not switch fans or conditioners on. After 24-48 hours, vacuum it up properly. The reedy will dry out both insects and their eggs, killing them. Theoretically, the substance can be spread wherever you want if pets or kids won’t access it.
2. Feline and dog flea treatment can also be performed with the help of this product. Take some earth and slightly rub it into pet’s coat, avoiding neck and head. Put a protective mask on to prevent inhaling and do not rub the earth onto animals’ skin. This poisonous substance that can be quite dangerous, if inhaled in big quantities. Leave it on fur for 12-48 hrs, and wash with water afterwards.
3. Kill what is left around your house! Spread diatomaceous earth on dry grass and don’t clean up. It will kill insects that are hiding in backyard to attack again.

Why Fleas are Dangerous for Your Pets?

Although the insects are tiny, they cause lots of discomfort and expose hazard to your pet’s health. If an animal has sensitive skin and lacks some certain proteins helping to resist inflammatory agents, it develops allergic reaction. As the result, poor pet suffers from itching and constant irritation. The same applied to humans: in some cases, bites cause allergy that has such symptoms as nausea, swelling, itchiness, pains in chest and dizziness. Apart from causing allergic reactions and itching, insects’ saliva also contains viruses and bacteria.

Which Diseases are Spread by Fleas?

The insects transmit lots of unpleasant diseases (part of them are potentially lethal).

Although plague does not disturb humans today, the virus still can be transmitted. If a person gets pneumonic form of infection, he or she needs immediate treatment, because the disease is very serious which is proved by high morbidity rate.

Spotted fever is a very widespread disease transmitted by fleas. It causes nausea, fever, rash, headache and sometimes can be accompanied by fatigue, vomiting, abdominal pains, and skin lesions covered with crust.

Various Bartonella viruses are spread by most fleas. The disease has such symptoms as fever and long bone pain. Though not fatal, bartonellosis can become chronic if a person suffers from some other serious illnesses and disorders.

Fleas can cause deadly diseases.

Medicine for Flea Bites on Pets

If your pet was bitten by fleas, a veterinarian should prescribe remedies individually for your pet. As a rule, two types of flea medication for dogs and pets are used.

Topical creams are applied on skin and provide instant relief from itching and inflammation. It heals epidermis and deters fleas simultaneously. There are products that can be bought without prescription, for instance, Dermasol Skin Care or Corigem Balm.

A doctor may arrange skin test for bacterial diseases. If anything is revealed, antibiotics and other medications can be prescribed.

Methods of Flea Infestation Prevention

If you are an attentive and caring owner, your pet won’t catch fleas. There are at least five things that work quite effectively against the nasty insects:

1. Shampoo and bath your pet regularly (dogs 2-3 times a week and cats once in 1-2 months).
2. Observe coat and fur when it is being combed. If there are black feces, and red spots on skin, you should visit a veterinarian.
3. Let the pet wear special collar when being walked. This is particularly important, if it contacts with other animals, whether homeless or not. Control where your pet walks and with whom it “communicates”.
4. The best flea and tick prevention for dogs is repellent. Homemade or bought ones – doesn’t matter. The whole point is to deter insects, keeping them at bay.
5. Keep your house clean. Vacuum carpets, furniture and pet’s bedding (it should be properly inspected).

Almost every pet becomes a victim of fleas at least ones in its life, especially if it’s a dog. You can both prevent and stop infestation if you notice bugs in time and start taking immediate measures. It is simpler than it seems, because there are hundreds of affordable products. Combine the best variants described in this text, and fleas will leave you in a matter of several days.