I heard of people who cut up a lemon, put it in water, let it soak overnight, and then spray the water over their pet the next day, or they make a 50/50 solution of water and apple cider vinegar to spray on the dog. You can also rub some eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil on their collar about once a week. I don't know how well all of these work. I've used tea tree oil myself, (good for humans as well, to rub a drop or two into the scalp if you are going to be exposed to lice - I do this when I travel to different places in South America and visit various local neighborhoods, as the kids love to climb all over you, and unfortunately, many have lice.)

I've heard adding some garlic or brewer's yeast to the diet will help repel fleas, as they don't like the odor that comes through in the dog's skin. I personally have never tried either. Garlic can be quite toxic to a dog in larger quantities, which is one reason I stray away from this.

I'm very concerned about chemicals in our environment, and remember the days of flea shampoos, sprays, powders and bombs very well. It all just seemed like a sea of chemicals. I'll tell you, however, I head straight for the vet's office each spring, and I have already made the trip this year, to get scripts for revolution for my cats, and frontline for the dogs. Playing around with fleas, mites and ticks on animals isn't worth the effort for finding an organic cure. I lost one feral cat whom I rescued to fleas before the systemics were available.

Although this is a chemical compound, it's not spread to the general environment, so I consider it as green as anything organic and much more effective.

I've heard pennyroyal (an herb) is a good flea repellant. Tie some up in a hanky for the dog.
Cedar bedding is also supposed to keep them away.
Both make your dog smell good anyway!
Jackie

I just want to point out that it's very important not to use flea remedies involving essential oils on CATS!

They have thin, sensitive skin, and some of the remedies (tea tree oil, pennyroyal) are downright toxic to them while others (citrus remedies, eucalyptus oil, even cedar bedding, for some cats) can give them dermatitis up to and including skin lesions.

I too depend on Frontline. I do worry sometimes about it, but it's not being flushed down the bathroom drain like shampoos and not being released into the general air and every surface of the house like flea bombs. And I've tried every non-synthetic means I've ever heard or for dealing with fleas, and with 5 cats none of them stopped our house from being crawling with fleas, and the cats from being miserable. Sometimes, you just gotta compromise ...

Kristin

I also use Frontline with 3-month periods of Revolution. Cats get worms from fleas, and mine lose their hair. I can't bear looking at their red, irritated skin if they have systemic reactions to flea bits. To me, this is a good use of chemicals. I take medicines myself.

I will be green as much as I can, but there are times when natural isn't best, IMO.

I'm a Frontline fan too but thought maybe there was something I might be missing.

girlndocs, thanks for pointing that out. I was about to post about tea tree oil being highly toxic to cats, but I didn't know that all essential oils could be a problem.

While the ASPCA is not "green," its website does have extensive lists of plants and chemicals toxic to various animals and, if you submit a question, they are great about returning your inquiry. Please check them out before risking the health of your pets!

Here is a link that might be useful: ASPCA

Yes, I should have pointed out that all of the remedies I suggested pertain to dogs ONLY...I know nothing about cats, but sure would hate to harm any by my advice!

Tea tree oil may pose risks for humans. Don't know about pets. There's been a lot of coverage about this in the news lately.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: Tea tree oil

There are several green products that can be used to keep fleas from bothering your dogs or cats. Outside, I use beneficial nematodes to attack flea larvae. They work great because they kill the flea before it can bite. The only problem is, they don't do anything for the adults. So occasionally I will resort to a combination of pyrethrum and diatomaceous earth. Inside, I have used traps, boric acid, and orange oil spray. All have worked pretty well. I like to move the flea traps around the house. If I find a spot where I catch a lot of fleas, I get to work. Vacuuming works great too!

Frontline, though not organic or natural, is considerably less toxic to pets and people than many of the over the counter Hartz products.

Sometimes I think about putting it between my own shoulder blades for tick control. :-)

I use baker's yeast. A half tab in a piece of meat. Fleas don't like the taste of the dogs blood after that. A block of yellow board spray with sticky spray. Use tape to hold it against a wall next to a nightlite. That will attract the fleas in a dark room. After 2 weeks stop feeding the yeast till next season. Works well with cats too.

Hi my name is Kim and I am trying to fight the bugs and pests to please stop using the store products for this it is so deadly. I have a great solution to the hole thing and it is natural and Organic.... Please just look me up and I promise to 100% get your problem under control for 5 to 6 months for 30 dollars (that is for 4-5 Animals or People with the same problem lice,fleas ect) my link is below thank you

Here is a link that might be useful: Lambe Enterprises

I didn't know we allowed sales ads in the forums. So if I wanted to sell something, can I post an ad anywhere?

Although I have a lot of trouble with bugs in my house, none of them (knock on wood) have been fleas. I'm very thankful, since I have five cats.

Gottabug, there is no advertising allowed here.

Now as far a fleas go, I had always used lavender and DE around the house to prevent a flea problem and it did not work as my cats got a huge flea infestation somehow last summer. The only thing to use is Frontline or one of the similar products. Nothing else works. I battled the fleas for months. I don't like chemicals either, but sometimes it's the only sensible option.

I have -ahem - a lot of dogs and cats and live in hot, humid, sticky, no-winter-to-speak of Houston. It is a flea mecca. We have fleas year round and this year was one of the worst. I had to resort to Frontline and a new systemic for the cats, just to stop the suffering. I do add brewer's yeast, put a little apple cider vinegar in their water & dust cracks with diatomacious earth. With any luck, I will only have to treat them once this year, because I hate to do it. A necessary evil, though, I have found.

Easiest way in the world ... my cats are 100% indoor cats. Increases their lifespan, keeps them healthier, no fleas, mites, ticks or other bugs. I haven't had to worry about fleas or anything of the sort for 16 years.

I've used Frontline exclusively for ten years now, and won't even consider anything else!

However, if you have fleas in the house, use boric acid (20 Mule Team here in the states) to get rid of them. Broadcast it across the floors, and behind and under furniture. Leave it for 24 hours, then sweep up. It will also kill roaches, ants, termites and silverfish.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid#Insecticidal_use

I've used it, several times, keeping the cats and dogs away from it for the time it's on the floors. It will kill fleas!

My cats are indoor only, but they still get fleas. Fleas come in the house on clothing, especially if you are a gardener. I have tried garlic, brewer's yeast, pennyroyal collars way back when, and they don't work. They don't do anything. The only organic things I have found that have an effect are either boric acid or diatomaceous earth swept into all the cracks in the floor or rubbed into the carpet. This combined with Advantage works well. Actually, usually the Advantage will work by itself, but I moved and this new place has a gigantic flea problem.

I didn't know about the beneficial nematodes and fleas. I will give that a try next year.

We have an indoor cat but at our old house he got fleas all the time anyway. If you don't want to use frontline, you could try combing and vacuuming. The idea is that the fleas can't actually reproduce on the animal; the eggs fall off and pupate and the adult fleas have to jump back on, so if you keep the house free of eggs for one complete life cycle, you're pretty much home free. You have to be insanely vigilant and do this every day for about three weeks, which is the complete flea life cycle; maybe a month to be absolutely sure.

If you want to make it a little easier, confine the pet to certain parts of the house for that month--certainly keep them out of the bedrooms and off the sofa.

Use Neem powder for Cats and Neem oil for dogs; This is an herb that is organic and repels all sorts of critters and is totally non toxic. If you cant find it let me know.

Releasing a large amount of "organic" poison can't be better than releasing the virtually nil amount of fipronil that you get with frontline. It largely stays in your animals bloodstream and it is environmentally benign enough that they spray it on corn fields and golf courses. "Organic" is a term that means very little when you are looking at concrete effects on habitat and levels of biodiversity. Chemicals should be evaluated one by one, not just there source.

Move to Reno. :)

Sentinel for dogs .
Advantage for cats .
No fleas , ticks or worms . Period .
7 animals in Florida on a ranch .
And counting .....