As I am turning to green cleaning, I am ever on the look out for something to replace dangerous chemicals. Today the challenge was ridding my yard of fleas. Each year since we have lived here, 2 years this month in fact, our little dog Rex has suffered miseries from fleas. Something he has NEVER had to deal with before. And his tender little skin reacts horribly to their bites. The first summer here, we kept him inside as much as possible, treated him with flea collars and frontline. I wasn't happy with that solution.
Last year, we tried bathing him in Dawn dishwashing liquid and while that would kill fleas that were on him, it didn't keep fleas from getting on him. What was even worse, was the fleas got a foot hold in the house and got in the carpet! So we had that battle to deal with. To kill the carpet fleas, we first tried the carpet sprinkles marketed for that purpose. We had limited success and found we had to do it repetitively which got expensive. And since everyone was fighting fleas at the same time because it was flea season, the carpet stuff was hard to get. After scouring the internet for other solutions, we bought diatomaceous earth from the local tractor supply store. That did the trick! It knocked the fleas right out. I also sprinkled the diatomaceous earth around the back yard. It seemed to work some but honestly, every time it rains and gets hot, we have a new surge of fleas to deal with. UGH! Meanwhile, poor Rexie was noshing himself bald from the fleas and even when the fleas were washed off him, and he was powdered down with diatomaceous earth, the venom in the bites still drove him mad.
Now it is flea season again and we are back where we were last year, fighting the good fight. For Rexie, we have a three fold prong of attack, we bath him in Dawn dish soap to get rid of any active fleas. Once he is dry we massage him all over with organic natural coconut oil. Research on the internet indicated is some sort of acid that fleas hate and I can tell you that during the massage, any fleas the have survived the bath or sneaked on after the bath during the drying time, are flopped out dead or scrambling to get away from the coconut oil. Rexie loves to lick my fingers while I massage him. This is the least tramatizing treatment he has ever had and it isn't dangerous to him. Anywhere that he sleeps or naps, we sprinkle diatomaceous earth in the bedding. When his coconut oil looks like it has all absorbed away from him, we sprinkle him with the diatomaceous earth. It too is not dangerous to him and in fact, if he happens to ingest it, it will help rid him of any internal parasites he might have from his outdoor bouts or from swallowing fleas.
Today, I tried something new on the yard. I used a Dawn dish soap and water solution in my little mini sprayer and soaked the yard. That supposedly kills the fleas without injurying the plants. Apparently it coats the fleas and flea larvae and causes them to suffocate. All I know is it kills them and it isn't poisonous to my dog or to my grandchildren or the environment. However, I was sad to see that it will kill other critters also. But then, so would the poison. The idea is to get the yard flea free so that we don't have to do all this spraying and dusting etc. However, it is going to take a lot of will power and effort on our part to stay on top of it until the deed is done. Last year we used something called Bifen but it is very poisonous and I just am not comfortable with using it since we have pets and grandchildren. Plus, we have honey bees that feed off the clover in our yard and I don't want to endanger them. So, no poison this year. Had to be a different way. And so, today was the Dawn dish soap and water solution. I figure in a day or so, I will go out and follow up with the diatomaceous earth.
For Rexie's sake, nature and the environment, wish me well. We must win this war on fleas. They are hideous creatures that are terrorizing our dog and making his life miserable.
Bright Blessings and Blessed Be!
Rayven Michaels
Wiccan Witch of the Midwest
