‘Tis the season to be itching - or so our furry friends are telling us. With the amount of rain we’ve had in the past several months and the hot days approaching, fleas and ticks are prevalent everywhere, yes even in the urban jungle. When you own a pet, you also will house the friends that hitch onto them - fleas. Once you resign yourself to this fact, you can start controlling fleas right away.

At Wag ‘N Wash, we use no chemically based products to rid your pets of fleas. I don’t like the idea of pesticides anywhere near my dogs and I’m sure you would agree. Chemically based products pose serious health threats to our pets and to humans too. This is why I can’t understand why so many of my customers come in with toxic flea collars on their dog’s necks. After all, a pesticide flea collar is a poison necklace that emits a constant toxic cloud that our pet, you and even your kids inhale. As for those wonderful insecticide flea and tick shampoos, powders, sprays and dips, the label warns you up front do not use around children or get them on your skin. Yet, they tell you to work the junk into your dogs’ coat where the chemicals are absorbed into your pet’s bloodstream and then worst of all, your pet licks his fur.

Symptoms of pesticide overdose can include the following symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, trembling, seizures and respiratory problems. As frightening as this all sounds, there are “Natural” ways to prevent these dangers from becoming nightmarish problems in your household.

Flea Collars: Most products on the market today contain carcinogens, neurotoxins or both. These products could cause cancer in animals. Our environment today doesn’t help with this problem either.

Flea and tick dips, sprays, powders, foggers and bombs: Foggers and bombs are the poison of the earth. They poison your atmosphere so pervasively that you should avoid them by all costs. If you are a hiker, like I am, you know the main ingredient in most anti-bug products is DEET. DEET is a nerve poison that may cause long-term health problems in pets and humans. I stopped spraying my body with DEET when hiking years ago.

Let’s talk Alternatives to Pesticides:

1. Diet: Feed your pet healthy foods, foods that are fresh and whole. Try to avoid meat by-products, gluten, corn meal, preservative and artificial colorings. Supermarket foods are the worst. Learn to read your labels and understand what beet pulp is and what by-products are. It would turn your stomach if you actually knew. Come on in to Wag ‘N Wash and I’ll be sure to provide you with information on this topic.

Add brewer’s yeast, fresh garlic and flaxseed oil to pet food for skin health and as a flea repellant. You can buy organic flaxseed oil at the health food store and it’s good for you too. Soothe irritated skin from flea bites and scratching by using pure Aloe Vera gel or by using a special shampoo formulated for this condition: Yucca shampoo by Biolux. We carry it in gallons this time of year.

Flea-proof your home: Fleas lay the most eggs on bedding, not on our pets, believe it or not. So vacuum rugs, floor cracks and furniture every two days during the peak season - June through October. Remember flea eggs are still in your vacuum bag so change it after each use. You can put some Boric Acid or Diatomaceous Earth in your bag; this will insure that the fleas will die in the bag.

Please choose herbal flea repellants: Fleas hate the essential oils of Lavender, Citronella, Rosemary, Peppermint and Cedarwood. Use cotton balls bathed in these oils between your seat cushions and under pet’s bedding. As an alternative to the poison collars, we have herbal flea collars available for sale, which come with a ½ oz. Bottle of essential oils to recharge the collar. The collars are natural cotton and non-toxic.

Bathe your pets regularly during summer with our Yucca shampoo. It kills fleas and also brown ticks according to the manufacturer. It also soothes itchy, red and irritated skin caused by flea dermatitis.

Frontline: I am an advocate of Frontline and I use it during the summer months on my three pets. It is non-systemic, that means it will not seep into your pet’s bloodstream or nervous system. It protects like a shield on the outside of the coat. When the flea bites, it dies immediately. You can purchase this from your vet or Wag ‘N Wash will take special orders for the three dose packets.

Last and not least: if you have a flea infestation that is out of control, use low toxicity pesticides. Buy only those derived from natural sources like Pyrethrum or pyrethrins (crushed chrysanthemum blossoms). This is mildly to moderately toxic to humans and pets. However products containing small amounts of pyrethrum don’t pose serious risks though don’t’ keep using it on a regular basis or you will probably see an allergic reaction of some kind. Learn to read labels; this is very important.

Another anti-flea treatment contains something called limonene. This is an extract derived from lemon and mandarin orange peels that has caused tumors in male rats so I’m told. Be careful if you’re buying shampoos. Limonene shampoos are harmful to our kitties.

My favorite for the yard and my house is Diatomaceous Earth or DE. It kills fleas by drying them out. It’s a non-toxic brown powder made of fossilized algae. This can be sprinkled on carpets and mixed with a ½ cup of water in a sprayer with a ½ cup of DE, spray on your lawn. It’s organic so it will not harm your plants and your pets won’t get fleas. Don’t inhale DE directly, just a warning.

If you approach this in a positive manner, you can combat the flea problem in your home and on your pets. Your pets are important, please protect them from these nasty invaders. It’s no fun itching 24 hours a day, right?