It’s a Flea!

Last month I was enjoying a good cuddle on the couch with my loyal Labrador, Diesel, when I spotted a flea. Once I started looking into his coat more carefully I found three more! Those tiny copper colored pests have been sucking my poor dog’s blood like little tiny vampires, and I didn’t even know they were there. I was completely disgusted. If you haven’t had these jumping, biting, and downright disgusting pests on your pet then consider yourself lucky.  Fleas are one of the leading problems plaguing pet owners across the country.

Of course, I wanted to abolish every single flea as soon as possible; however, my dog has had adverse reactions to topical flea treatments in the past, and I didn’t want to take that risk. I did a little research on fleas and came up with my own natural treatment plan that I wanted to share with you. This has worked on my dog, and I hope it works for you too.

The best way to get rid of fleas is to get them before your pet get infested. You can only do this if you know what you are looking for. Pay attention to these telltale signs because these little pests will not go away by themselves

Is your pet itching?  No matter what you might think, it is not normal for a pet to scratch itself. If you see your pet scratching check it for fleas right away. First you need to check their skin for flea dirt; flea dirt is the feces of the flea.  What do you think that is made up of? Yes, it is blood. A great way to see if dark specs are, in fact, from fleas is to put the dirt on a damp white paper towel.  If the speck spreads into a red spot that looks like blood then it is flea dirt and your pet has fleas.

Don’t believe it or you want to see the flea for yourself? Fleas are sensitive to the light so you are more likely to see them in the darker places. Grab a comb and maybe even a flashlight, and go to the darkest hairiest part of your pet. If they are there you can’t miss them, but they are hard to catch. Fleas have very strong hind legs and can jump faster than you can grab.  They also have a hard protective shell that makes them virtually impossible to squeeze to death with your finger pads.  Whether or not you see the flea dirt or an actual flea, your pet has fleas and flea fighting actions should be taken.

Now that you have confirmed that your pet has fleas grab a bottle of a high quality natural flea and tick shampoo, I like Bark to Basic’s Citrus Plus shampoo, and head to your nearest do-it-yourself bath, or your very own bathtub, and start scrubbing. You will need to give your pet two baths; the first bath is to get your pet clean, and the second bath is to kill the live fleas. Once you have bathed and rinsed your pet go ahead and suds them up again and let the shampoo sit on them for the recommended time (ten minutes for Citrus Plus), and then thoroughly rinse your pet.

You have now killed all of the live fleas on your animal, but there could still be eggs around your house, yard, and maybe even your dog. Wash your pet’s bed and your bed, if they sleep on it, and spray all of these areas in your house as well as your dog with Pet Naturals Flea + Tick Repellent Spray. The lifecycle of a flea is 14 days so wait 14 days and repeat the washing process. Good luck with your war on fleas and don’t forget that even though these are disgusting little blood sucking creatures they are just fleas. You can conquer them and your pets will love you for it.