If you're a pet owner, sitter, groomer, trainer or vet, you've probably come into contact with more than your share of fleas. A single flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs in its short life, according to the website Healthy Pet Journal. Not only do these pests cause irritation and annoyance in companion pets, but they spread disease and tapeworms and cause sores and hot spots when pets scratch at flea bites.
Nutrition
One of the best solutions for treating your pet naturally in the battle against fleas is to improve the dog's or cat's nutrition. Fleas seek out weaker animals with less-developed or weakened immune systems, skin and fur. This especially includes puppies, kittens, diseased, ill and geriatric pets. Boosting a pet's immune system with proper foods is one way to help decrease the effects of fleas on animals. Adding garlic or brewer's yeast to your pet's food will also help prevent fleas, according to Healthy Pet Journal. Blood with these items in it tastes bad to a flea, which sends a message to the others in its network that this particular animal is not a suitable food source. Healthy Pet Journal also recommends raw foods, essential fatty acids, digestive enzymes, probiotics and natural foods with no preservatives, food colorings and additives. Some animals may be allergic to brewer's yeast, so watch for signs of any reaction during the first week you introduce it to your pet's diet.
Cleaning and Grooming
Herbs such as juniper, citronella, cedar and eucalyptus may help repel fleas, according to the website Natural Pet Health, which recommends flea-control shampoos and other topical products with these ingredients. Healthy Pet Journal recommends a flea comb as the "ultimate weapon" in the fight against external control of fleas. The site suggests using neem oil on the comb to improve flea control.
Natural Repellents
You can purchase a variety of natural flea repellents to put on your pet, including topical applications that soothe the hot spots and sores created by an animal's biting, scratching and clawing at the bites. While electronic frequency tags may not seem like something associated with holistic health, a new product that keeps fleas off humans and pets uses a specific frequency that repels fleas, increasing the protective barrier, or distance of the frequency, the longer the user wears the tag. ShooTags are available in small sizes to clip on pet collars, or come in credit-card sizes on lanyards for humans.
Home and Yard Care
It will be almost impossible to rid your house and yard of fleas, but you can mitigate their presence with a few strategies. Vacuum your home regularly and apply natural flea powders to soft surfaces that won't harm pets or children if ingested. Clean your pets' bedding or other favorite resting places with a flea-control cleaner, again being aware that your pet may lick the item or area and ingest any products you use. Remove standing water from your yard, and disperse piles of leaves and other hiding places for fleas--fleas do not like light, so keep an eye on rubbish piles, old tarps or canvasses or other debris piles where they may hide. Treat areas such as wood piles with flea-control products.
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