Flea and tick treatments are very costly, and in my opinion they are not healthy for your dog.
The health factor is more important to me than the money factor, although I don’t mind saving when I can. 🙂
I use Bug Off Garlic for my dogs, but I also use a topical spray when we go outside of the yard. I have tried a couple of natural sprays that we found at the pet store and online, they work pretty good but they are somewhat expensive and then if you ordered online you have the added cost of shipping.
There is a wonderful woman, Sandy who has guided me throughout the raw dog food program and she gave me this flea and tick recipe to make at home. I’ve just made up my first batch and will be trying it out this weekend in New Hampshire, but in the meantime I thought I would share the recipe here.
You need two lemons sliced thin, one sprig of rosemary, one quart of boiling water and three drops of Tea Tree Oil, which I picked up at Wal-Mart.
Place the lemon slice and the sprig of rosemary in a two-quart glass container and cover with the boiling water.
Let the mixture sit overnight. I forgot last night so I mixed it up this morning and let it sit in the fridge all day.
Squeeze the juice from the lemons into the container, transfer the mixture into a spray bottle. I put a couple of the thin slices of lemon and half the sprig of rosemary into the bottle as well. Add your three drops of Tea Tree Oil and shake the mixture up. Keep the bottle in the fridge.
This has to be applied daily, but it is inexpensive and has a light fragrant smell. I will let you know in a future blog how this works!
We have done something very similar to this. I agree with you – I don’t like the topical flea/tick treatments and I too think that they can prove hazardous. I try to keep things as holistic/natural as possible so this is a great alternative.
If the stuff you put on their skin makes their blood toxic enough to kill a bug, then I don’t think it’s good to put on their skin!! I’ll let you know how it works.
I’m planning on using the heartworm protection, but i’ve just been putting herb oils on Gwynn’s fur to protect him from fleas/ticks… i think i’ll have to try something like this, though, and make it into a spray… it would be easier to apply, and wouldn’t leave him smelling so strongly like men’s shampoo (cedar oil), which would be nice!
I do the heartworm, but I do it every 6 to 8 weeks instead of every 4. My vet is fine with it.
Gwynn may not like it at first, but hopefully he will get use to it. I think it is more the spray factor than anything else!
This is such a great idea, thank you for sharing it.
As you know, we’ve been battling fleas for a long time. I don’t know if this is strong enough to combat fleas once they have already made themselves at home but I bet it’s great as a preventitive and totally worth a shot! They say this summer is going to be particularly bad for fleas and this would be a great thing to spray on our animals before going outside.
You are more than welcome. I wish I had a better solution for you. I know your house has struggled with this issue!