...get rid of fleas?...

[Eigon]

...without using too many nasty chemicals?

I've put Frontline on the dog, changed all the bedding, hoovered everywhere, and sprayed everywhere the dog sleeps with something horrible. Is there anything else I can do to make sure, preferably herbal?

I know about fleabane, but I have no idea where I'd get any.

[Derry]

you need to spray alllllllll around edges.. so skirting boards, against doors, around beds etcetc. fleas live in carpets, so youll need to systematically vacuum everywhere quite often.

you can buy flea traps.. they vibrate and it attracts the fleas, which stick to sticky stuff and then they cant move. when its full you just replace the sticky bit =]

[eccentric_emma]

I have the same problem at the moment. I have been using a spray bottle filled with water and orange essential oil - pretty strong - I think I used about half a bottle of orange oil doing the whole house. Spray carpets, soft furnishings, curtains everything. I even sprayed myself so I wouldn't get bitten. They're still not gone yet but I have noticed a big improvement. Apparently there is something in oranges that dissolves their exoskeletons. Lovely!

Also give the dog garlic - it should like the taste and think its a treat but the fleas won't like it. Or I have heard that putting a small amount of apple cider vinegar in the dogs drinking water will deter them but I haven't tried this yet.

And carry on with the hoovering!

Oh and if you're like me and wear your slippers around the garden, maybe get a separate pair for the garden, or make sure you flea treat them.

[Annpan]

I have found a few bites on myself in the last few days, thinking it might be fleas... I'll get the hoover and the orange oil out in the morning.

[Thomzo]

I'm glad it's not just me. My poor cats are covered in them despite me using the frontli stuff and spraying everywhere.

I read somewhere that rosemary is good for detering fleas so you could try steeping some rosemary in hot water then using it to bath the dog. I tried it on the cats but they weren't very impressed at the idea of being bathed. It does seem to ease the itching.

Zoe

[eccentric_emma]

I give my cats brewers yeast tablets which they like and the fleas dont. Have run out at the moment now though so fleas are back up again grrr!

[red]

any idea hwo you are sposed to use fleabane? we have lots of it growing in the garden.

[Eigon]

I think you're supposed to steep fleabane in milk and leave saucers of it around the place, the idea being that the fleas will leap in and drown.

Meanwhile, my house has never been so clean! And nor has the dog! But I'm still catching the little biddies, so more flea spray is required - and I have a load of rosemary that I'm going to use to bath the dog (she'll love that - she sticks her legs out to the sides every time I try to lift her into the bath so she won't fit in).

[eccentric_emma]

It is just so bad at this time of year! Our flea population has definitely decreased yet I found two drowned fleas in my glass of water last night *shudders*

Short of shaving the cats there's not a huge amount to be done!

[Green Aura]

If you leave a shallow bowl with hot water and a drop of washing up liquid in the middle of the room overnight, when you get up in the morning you'll find it has loads of the drowned beasties!

They're attracted to heat and the washing up liquid buggers up the surface tension so they sink. Gruesome, but quite pleasurable.

[Eigon]

Brilliant idea - I'll try that tonight.

[Eigon]

Green Aura - my fleas must be cleverer than your fleas! I've tried it twice now, and I know there are fleas about - but not one of them has jumped in!

[Green Aura]

Maybe they're lazy little buggers. Leave it nearer the edge?

[Eigon]

We're definitely winning!
It's the hoovering that's done the trick, I think, along with the flea collar. I've also been combing the dog every time she sets foot outside the house with a nit comb (she loves this - it's fuss).
At the height of the infestation, I could swing my legs out of bed in the morning, and my feet would be covered in the little so-and-sos in seconds.
Today I found one flea, all day, while combing the dog.
I'm still hoovering all the places she sleeps, and if I do happen to see a flea, that area gets hoovered as well - but it does seem to be working.

[yugogypsy]

Oil of citronella applied on the back of the neck, but not on the skin, works good on cats, repels flies from my horse and donkey. Haven't tried it for chicken lice yet, but its been colder so the lice seem to be slowing down, I didn't get any on me the last time I handled the chickens.

Oil of citronella on your work clothes seams if its jeans or something that doesn't stain keeps the little blighters off YOU when you're outside walking the dog.

I'm sure there must be a pet shampoo on the market that contains it , tansy or Rosemary.

Try rubbing borax on the dog before shampooing, it disturbs the eggs on the hair and will cause any adults to be smothered, ditto for flour!

Lois