FLEA HELP, PLEASE! NATURAL way to KILL THEM!?

[stedmansmommy]

OMG! Hubby and I were laying down playing with the babies and we noticed a flea on Tatum I am freaking out! I do NOT like the idea of having bugs crawling around on my babies! I will NOT HAVE bugs crawling around on my babies! And now I am itching just thinking about it! I have never ever ever in my entire life noticed a flea on either of them (Stedman will be 4 and Tatum will be 3) - this is the first time ever! And I know EXACTLY where they came from!! Monday we took Tatum back for more x-rays and it takes a couple of hours to get there so on the way we of course have to stop and let her go potty. I just KNOW that she got them from the grass at some of the gas stations where we stop, cause there were dogs at just about all of them! OMG - I *have* to get rid of these things!! I do not want them in my house and I certainly don't want them on my babies! OR us! YUCK!!!

I am going to bathe both of them in Dawn dish soap (I'm hesitant to use it on Tatum because she has terrible allergies and dry skin) BUT - I have to do what I have to do to get rid of these annoying things! Does anyone know of any other natural remedies to kill these nasty buggers???

Thanks in advance!

[stedmansmommy]

By the way, I forgot to mention, the only kind of Dawn dish soap I have on hand is the Ultra Concentrated Dawn Plus Hand Renewal with Vitamin E. It is the Pomegranate Splash one.....will this be ok to use on them to kill the fleas?

[yorkiepaws]

Do you have a flea comb. comb through them thoroughly. It may be just one flea. The dawn sounds a little harsh for one that may have allergies.

[Gingergirlsmom]

Hi! I did a lot of research into natural flea fighting and there's a thread around here somewhere...I'll see if I can track it down. (found it)

I have to be honest though, we did the natural thing until we ended up with a couple of ticks after one outing, then I went right back to the chemical. It just didn't work out for us between hiking in the woods, going to the beach, and PA just being plain horrible for fleas and ticks.

Depending on how much time you spend outdoors though and what your area is like, there is a lot of good info out there.

(One thing I still do, if they have gotten in your house, sprinkle 22 mule team borax everywhere. Some say to wet it a bit after, others don't. Wait a couple of hours and vacuum. You want to have everyone out of the house while your doing this as it is an irritant.)

Good luck!

[stedmansmommy]

Originally Posted by yorkiepaws

Do you have a flea comb. comb through them thoroughly. It may be just one flea. The dawn sounds a little harsh for one that may have allergies.

I have some kind of tiny little comb (it is itty bitty, no longer than probably 3" and is white) - I think it came with some brush I bought a long time ago but I could have sworn that it said on the package that it was a flea comb? I can definitely try it. I didn't see any fleas at all on Stedman, not even one. And I have only seen one on Tatum and we checked her over very well.

I really don't want to use the Dawn on her because of her allergies, but, I want to make SURE that they are all dead and gone (oh geez - makes me think of the Justin Timberlake song - LOL). Crud....I just HATE fleas!!!

[Ellie May]

I don't think it's the Dawn so much as the good sudsy lather that you can get with it. Other shampoos may work the same but they are likely to be harsh. I tried the Dawn thing awhile back and it works but the problem wasn't treated right away, so they came back and I had to use Frontline. We don't have a flea problem though, so I only used it once. If you bathe her and then see more, It is probably best to just get the chemicals and get it over with. You can use boric acid on your carpet.

[Nikki+2]

I bet it was just the one. I've had that happen and freak out and then never see another one. They do tend to show up best during a bath so maybe just a regular bath with her normal shampoo will put your mind at ease? Worst case you could get a Capstar from your vet and be 100% sure there are no fleas. I know it isn't natural but at least it's a one time thing. I always give one to my dogs when we visit my inlaws lake house out of paranoia.

[Gingergirlsmom]

Originally Posted by Nikki+2

I bet it was just the one. I've had that happen and freak out and then never see another one. They do tend to show up best during a bath so maybe just a regular bath with her normal shampoo will put your mind at ease? Worst case you could get a Capstar from your vet and be 100% sure there are no fleas. I know it isn't natural but at least it's a one time thing. I always give one to my dogs when we visit my inlaws lake house out of paranoia.

What's a Capstar?

[Nikki+2]

Originally Posted by Gingergirlsmom

What's a Capstar?

It's a pill that will kill all fleas in a 24 hour period. It starts working in less than an hour. It only lasts for 24 hours and won't kill larva but it's good for a quick emergency fix. I use it as a preventative measure on the rare times I might be exposing the dogs to fleas (lake house, dog park, hotel). We are so fortunate that we don't have a flea problem so don't use Frontline or anything like it so Capstar is a perfect solution for us.

[stedmansmommy]

Thank you so much everyone! I went ahead and bit the bullet bathed both babies with Dawn dish soap (yes, even Tatum ) then afterwards I bathed them each with Minksheen as it is an Natural Insect Repellant with Citronella, Eucalyptus and Cedar Oils that protect from biting insects. No idea if that means fleas or not, but I did read online that fleas do not like Eucalyptus and Cedar Oil - so hopefully it will help some and anyway it's better than nothing! Tatum only had two fleas on her (I hope they weren't male and female - LOL!!) - I scrubbed her like there was no tomorrow! Stedman didn't have a single flea on him - not a one Poor Tatum, if there is anything at all to "get", she gets it She is always my baby that gets everything! Ugh. This just confirms to me even more than she DID get them from one of the gas stations we stopped at to let her go potty when we took her for more x-rays on Monday. I KNOW that is where she got them. We do not have any flea problems what-so-ever in our yard. I have 4 babies and none of them EVER have any fleas on them, not even during the summer months when fleas can actually be really quite awful in our area where we live. Anyway, I still went ahead and washed every single "doggie item" in this house, lol. All beds, blankets, etc. have been washed in HOT water I told Steddy and Tate tonight that mommy and daddy are gonna kick those fleas butts and tell 'em were to go! LOL. Ugh! I HATE those things! I hate even seeing them! YUCK!!!!

Thank you everyone for all of your help and Nikki, if I do happen to see anymore fleas (I pray to God that I DON'T) - but if I do, I will most definitely be getting those pills! Thank you so much for the recommendation girl! And thank you to every other person who posted in this thread for their help as well! I know it was on two tiny little fleas, but that is BY FAR enough for me! I don't even want to see ONE on my babies! Yuck!!

Thanks again guys!

[stedmansmommy]

I forgot to add, I think the two fleas were camping out on the back of Tatum's neck, up by her head Because as I was brushing her hair and putting it up in a top knot after her bath I noticed that it was a little red in that area, and there were teeny tiny little bites Ugh!!! Makes me so mad that those darn things were biting MY BABY!!! I know that is were they were hanging out the most often, cause that is where she has been itching lately and she normally NEVER itches there. She kept pulling her hair down out of her top knot over the last couple days and I couldn't figure out why....now I know Ugh! She does seem alot more comfortable now that they are off of her though. She is laying down and is much more relaxed But of course the bath probably helped with that too, haha. I am just hoping that she doesn't have a flea allergy But knowing Tatum she probably does I think the poor girl has an allergy to just about everything

I am just thankful that they are off of her now, and I hope I never see any on her ever again!

[PANAMA69]

Poor baby, my girls have never had any fleas well that I know lol, Phoebe couple ticks in the past but from hiking etc, I have use frontlime plus, on my girls before on flea season just to make sure, I divided on them

[Jeanne_D]

I live in south Florida, land of the fleas after years of dog owning I can tell you that Borax really works. buy a box of Borax. Vacum your carpet and then use a strainer or flour sifter to spread Borax dust all over your carpet. It usually forms in to large hardened rocks in the box so a sifter or screen type strainer will help spread the dust evenly. Then take a broom and sweep the dust into the carpets. The fleas should be gone in about 48 hours. Re dust in two weeks and then every month. Eventually you will only need to reapply every six months. My pest control person told me that when they "fan for fleas" with a sprayer they are using Borax mixed with water.

[LuvMySissy]

Brooke - if you're still having issues, you can use coconut oil on the furkids. Liquify it and then work through their coat - it smothers the little suckers!!!!

[kjc]

I've heard that table salt sprinkled on the carpet at night causes the fleas to dehydrate, and you vacuum in the morning. I like boric acid too.

Dawn is really safe, we used it on wild fowl rescues to de-oil them, bc it rinses off more completely than others. Just don't use anything that says antibacterial and contains tri-***something, it leaves a coating some are sensitive to. All soap has antibacterial properties anyway...

I also use conditioner on my pups, but leave it set on them for a minute or two before rinsing, seems to help Peek a Boo's skin alot!