What are some natural approaches to flea control on dogs and cats?

Don’t equate ‘natural’ with ’safe’ when it comes to cats. Many natural flea remedies like pyrethrins or eucalyptus are safe for dogs yet deadly for cats. The best flea treatment for your cat is one from the vet, or either Frontline or Advantage from the pet store.

There are no “natural approaches” to flea control on dogs and cats.

And, as someone else said, don’t thing that something is safer than “chemicals” just because it is called “natural.”

Here is how we deal with fleas on our cats -

First get Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution from the vet to treat the cats. These products are intended to be used once a month to keep fleas off the cat.

Then, if you need to treat the house - which is often the case - use a product which not only kills adult fleas but also prevents eggs from hatching.

When we have bad flea years (haven’t had one in along time - knock on wood :-) we use Raid products for the house.

They make a fogger called Raid ® : Flea Killer Plus Fogger

http://www.killsbugsdead.com/fop_fkpf.asp

They also make an area spray called Raid ® : Flea Killer Plus Carpet & Room Spray

http://www.killsbugsdead.com/fop_fk_pc_rs.asp

We have had very good results with those products.

Remember, you want a product that not only kills adult fleas but also prevents eggs from hatching. If you use something that does not prevent the eggs from hatching, when they hatch you are back where you started.

There is a product, Capstar, which is a pill you give the cat. It kills all of the fleas on the cat within about 5 hours.

http://www.capstar.novartis.us/

It does not provide long lasting protection - it merely kills all the fleas on the cat.

You can use it to kill all the fleas on the cat and then treat the cat with Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution, and then treat the cat.

Ask your vet about Capstar and using it in combination with other products.

Capstar is available only by prescription.

We have used it to kill all the fleas on feral cats who we could not handle to apply something else. We transfer them to another cage or carrier, move them out of the room, fog the room, give them the Capstar in food, and then put them back in the main cage.

Capstar is like magic - it really will kill all of the fleas on a cat very quickly and it is safe enough that you could use it every day, if need be - though that would be an expensive way to control fleas, day to day.

Indoor cats can get fleas that people carry in on their clothes. If you think that might be happening, get an insecticide you can spray on the yard to kill fleas.

You will probably need to get a sprayer. The ones that attach to the end of a hose might be the type you could use.

Ask the people at a garden store, Lowes, or Home Depot, or similar store for help picking an insecticide and a sprayer.