Your canine companion may provide hours of fun and joy, but one of the most persistent and annoying problems that can affect your pet is a flea or tick infestation. Fleas and ticks not only cause the aggravation of persistent itching on your pet, they can also transfer to humans, making you a potential victim of their blood-sucking tendencies. There are a wide variety of anti-flea and tick products available for pets and local pet shops – these range from flea shampoos to flea collars. While these may work, you may have some doubts about exposing your dog to all the chemicals and toxins that are inside these synthetic preparations. If the natural solution is your way to go, make sure you take note of these steps in ridding your dogs of fleas and ticks.
- Clean up your pet’s environment. The easiest solution to a flea and tick problem is to not have one in the first place. Fleas transfer from animal to animal: by keeping your pets indoors, you ensure that they don’t catch these parasites from other pets. If this is impossible to do (for big dogs and for cats), at least try to make sure that they don’t interact with strays and other parasite-prone animals.
- Make sure your dog has regular grooming. Fleas and ticks infest dogs that aren’t regularly groomed, especially those with long and shaggy fur. The long hairs give them a nest for their eggs, and at the same time, mask them from detection. Start your anti-flea and tick regimen by making sure you brush your dog’s fur coat with a fine toothed comb at least twice a week. This will get rid of a lot of the fleas and ticks, and may help remove the eggs that are stuck on your dog’s hair. You may also want to trim your pet’s fur to help you manage the solution – while this will not directly remove the fleas and ticks, they will make the problem easier to control. It is easier to find and kill fleas and ticks in regularly trimmed fur than a fur coat that has been left to grow shaggy. You can also use the flea zapper comb – the electrical charges can shock the fleas as you groom your canine friend.
- Place olive oil on your dog’s fur coat. Oils interfere with the respiration of small pests, so applying olive oil to your pet’s fur coat will be an effective way to kill off any fleas that may be residing inside. Coat your pet’s fur with olive oil to get rid of the fleas. Just make sure to thoroughly shampoo and bathe your dog until all the olive all comes off. Anyone who has washed pots and pans knows how difficult it is to get rid of the greasy feel of oil: spare your dog this agony by giving him several baths until all the oil is removed.
There are also flea collars that use herbal and natural ingredients to get rid of ticks and fleas. If you aren’t comfortable with placing something with pesticide on your dog, you can look for these as an effective alternative. Remember to be thorough when trying to kill these fleas: it only takes one flea for the infestation to start again.