Dear Uncle Matty: I want to know a safe way to deal with fleas. Last year, they took over our dog, our cat, our house and us. We used flea bombs, but the residue makes my daughter ill. What can we do? Are there any natural products we can use?
—H.R., Omaha, Neb.
Dear H.R.: According to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, cat fleas (otherwise known as Ctenocephalides felis) are frequently encountered in homes and are super-common pests on domestic cats and dogs. Dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis) look like cat fleas but are rare in some areas. Then, there are sticktight fleas (Echidnophaga gallinacea), which can become a problem when pets are in areas near poultry. Female sticktight fleas firmly attach themselves around the ears and eyes of the pet.
Female cat fleas stay on your pet and lay 20 to 30 eggs per day. The eggs are pearly white, oval, smooth and about 1/32 of an inch long. Not only can they drive your dog or cat crazy, they fall from the pet and land on surfaces like bedding and carpeting. These prolific pests hatch in about two days, and the larvae feed on dried blood and excrement produced by adult fleas that are making meals out of your poor animal. Numbers tend to increase dramatically during spring and early summer.
Fleas feed on almost any warm-blooded animal, including humans. Bites tend to be concentrated on the lower legs but can also occur on other parts of the body. The UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Department describes the fleabite as a small, central red spot surrounded by a red halo, usually without excessive swelling. They cause minor itching and are increasingly irritating to people with sensitive or reactive skin.
Both you and your pet can develop allergic dermatitis with intense itching, hair loss, reddening of the skin and secondary infection. Of special concern is that cat fleas may also serve as intermediary hosts of tapeworms for dogs. Both cats and dogs can get this intestinal parasite while they are grooming themselves. They ingest the adult fleas that contain a cyst of the tapeworm.
Fleas are not something to ignore, and you have to eradicate the infestation on both pets and the environments they live in. There are too many flea products — including new ones on the market today — to include in this column, so I recommend that you do some research. Check the ingredients, and consult your veterinarian. Prevention is the best cure in this case, so you want to find a method that prevents larvae from becoming adults.
The use of chemical flea-control products can be problematic to some humans and pets. The standard treatments for flea infestations include fumigation with mothballs or "flea bombs," which are of course poisonous.
Dr. Cass Ingram, author of 13 books on living healthy and the use of natural remedies, including "The Cure Is in the Cupboard," recommends using essential oils, which are deadly to insects such as fleas but are non-toxic and therapeutic to humans and pets. "Pump-spray the house with an oil of oregano and/or oil of bay leaf mixture," he recommends. "Use diffusers and atomizers; bomb them out with essential oils!"
You have to follow the doctor's instructions — too much oil can be harmful. Ingram's list of essential oils to rid fleas from home, pets and you include: 1) oil of oregano — add a few drops of oil of oregano to a cup of water, and spray your pet and yourself; 2) oil of cumin —take 20 drops twice a day internally, as fleas can't tolerate cumin, and place it on fleabites as well; 3) oil of bay leaf —this is highly valuable as a fumigant; and 4) oil of lavender, which can soothe itchy fleabites and fumigate.
Other tips include frequent vacuuming with immediate removal and sealing of the vacuum bag. Mist your home with a spray of oil of oregano. Use a flea comb on your pet twice a week minimum. With each combing, rinse the comb in a bowl of soapy water. Spray your pet with oil of oregano mentioned above, and wash pet bedding weekly.
Woof!
—Uncle Matty
Dog trainer Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis is co-author of 18 books about dogs, a behaviorist, a popular radio and television guest, and host of the PBS series "WOOF! It's a Dog's Life!" Read all of Uncle Matty's columns at the Creators Syndicate web site at www.creators.com, and visit him at www.unclematty.com. Send your questions to dearuncle.gazetteunclematty.com or mail to Uncle Matty at P.O. Box 3300, Diamond Springs, CA 95619.
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