organic war on fleas!

Has anyone here used beneficial nematodes as part of their flea control efforts? I would be very curious to hear any experience with them, positive or negative.

We are being driven bonkers by fleas and I suspect that part of the issue is that since we are basically in the woods surrounded by wildlife, our efforts to remove them from our cat and home don’t make much of a dent. I can’t exactly go dusting the coyotes, raccoons and possums with DE, after all. Our cat is indoor/outdoor and I know from past attempts that she will not agree to be indoor only.

We have been endlessly vacuuming, washing bedding/fabric stuff, running a dehumidifier, flea combing, giving baths to the cat and eventually, had to resort to topical flea gick (advantage) out of desperation. Even with a couple months of warring against them thusly, we are still finding some fleas on her and getting bitten horribly in our bed. All the bedding on it has been washed numerous times. There had been a brief time where we thought the problem was managed, but in the last few days have gotten tons of bites at night.

Sadly, DE and essential oils are absolutely out of the question, seeing as our cat has asthma and has had an attack that became life threatening. We don’t want to use the gick, but are unsure what else to do given the aforementioned limiting factor.

The nematodes seem like they could help. They’re a bit pricey though and I wonder how effective they really are? After all, they do eat other insects, of which there are many. Who’s to say they’ll go after the fleas? I also wonder if they would end up getting poisoned since we had to resort to using the gick?

If they do work, I imagine the nematodes would still only be one part of the strategy. Are there any other solutions besides DE and essential oils I could try? I read through the thread, but maybe I missed something else? Any solutions that have worked for kitties with asthma would be especially helpful. Thank you!

I found your article humorous and informative. It does, however, make me wonder what you are doing that causes you to have such extensive experience with fleas? I am 52 years old, and I have only seen fleas twice in my life. I have only been bitten by them twice in my life. They are one of the few things I’m allergic to.
 I’m guessing it must be your animals. I have never had animals in the house. That’s one major way of keeping fleas out

To cure flea problems- repair the soil with an active biological compost and apply to the affected areas or compost extract soaked into your soil. Beneficial nematodes will take care of flea larvae. From memory I am pretty sure I heard Elaine Ingham say that

Unscientific experiment this year.

OR - Fleas love blue


Method:
Only measure when the clothing is right out of the wash and dried inside so there's no prior flea contact.  
put clothes on the human
do the farm chores in the morning
remove clothes and pick off all the fleas while counting them.  Placing the fleas in a sink of soapy water helped them stay put for easier counting.

repeated over several months


Counting only the fleas that are on the clothes, not the human.


Observations:
averages
Medium-blue and dark blue - 12-20 fleas  
Light blue and white skirt - 6-8 fleas
green - 2-6 fleas
red/magenta - 1-4 fleas

Problems

1. fleas are really hard to see on medium and dark blue.  It's possible I missed about half.
2. the light blue skirt has too many places for fleas to hide, I think this number is inaccurate
3. it's really easy to see the fleas on the red and green cloth.
4. if I hadn't vacuumed before doing the counting, I found fleas would jump from the floor to the dark blue skirt.


My conclusion, I will migrate towards less blue clothing in my summer wardrobe.  

Thank you so much for such an honest, comprehensive, straightforward, no alterations, factual, article. I will be using it. If only everything was written in that way.

I think it's always important to understand reasons. We don't ask enough 'whys'. We just get annoyed.

Fleas are part of nature and have a role to play. In my experience, both personal and professional as a health practitioner, fleas are toxic scavengers. in other words, their presence alerts you to toxins. When a dog or cat has fleas, it's because they are de-toxing. The body can't cope with all the toxins and the skin is the favourite place to dump them, along with poop and vomit. Commercial pet food is largely made up of the human food waste, plus chemical preservatives and 'supplements', whatever the packet tells you. This has to be thrown out.

Feeding cats and dogs good quality raw meat and bones, just as their wild cousins do, eliminates fleas, regulates worms to natural levels, improves the immune system so they are much healthier. It's a win-win situation. i never have to treat for fleas (or worms) and on cold nights, my cats will come into ed with me. My patients tell me the same.

You can make an easy DIY flea trap by putting a large casserole dish of water on the floor with some dish soap in it to break surface tension. Then carefully put a lamp over it, one of the adjustable desk lamps, positioned and or weighted so it won't fall into the water, we don't want you getting shocked.

Now do this every night and put it into areas where you think most of the fleas are and peridodically move it around.

It worked wonders for me in killing a lot of fleas when I had an infestation.

See the fleas are attracted to the heat the lamp gives off, they try to jump to it and fall into the water and drown.

Just a suggestion for DE.  It has helped us a great deal.  We sprinkle generously, a let set for a bit when the animals aren't around. After a while we get up most of the DE, then use a cover, for the couch, chair, mattress.  We get it up enough so it doesn't send power in the air.
Also when the fleas get bad we will bring the animals in and spread it in the yard.  We leave it as long as we can, then water the areas the dogs will be running around.  This way we kill a lot of fleas, but doesn't harm anyone's lungs.  We only do it outside when the fleas are super bad, knowing it kills indiscriminately.  I don't like interfering with nature this way, and try to keep it to a minimum.
I so wish I could do hole foods for my animals. I work full time, have chickens, lots of gardens, 6 dogs, and 4 cats. No way I can afford to feed them meat, not to mention the time it takes.  Your probably thinking then I shouldn't have gotten so many animals. We didn't.  With the exception of one cat every one of them showed up at our home.  The one cat was a stray found in the garden department at Walmart where my daughter worked, and she found the kitten on her Birthday.  So as much as I wish I could make it work, there's no way I can afford to feed them "real" food.
Good luck on the war with fleas people.

I know corn starch does not kill fleas, but my dog loves a good rub down with it. It started out accidentally, but I still treat him with a rub down periodically. He is allergic to everything, so I bathe him twice a week. Question...does the corn starch applied to skin help or harm where allergies, including flea allergies are concerned? Or, is it just soothing and he likes the rub down? He's a rescue and I've never dealt with allergies in dogs. I don't want to harm him by any means, so I need all the help I can get. Thank you in advance for any help and information on flea deterrent and treatment.

Hi Kelly,

Welcome to Permies.

Kelly Burks wrote:I know corn starch does not kill fleas, but my dog loves a good rub down with it. It started out accidentally, but I still treat him with a rub down periodically. He is allergic to everything, so I bathe him twice a week. Question...does the corn starch applied to skin help or harm where allergies, including flea allergies are concerned? Or, is it just soothing and he likes the rub down? He's a rescue and I've never dealt with allergies in dogs. I don't want to harm him by any means, so I need all the help I can get. Thank you in advance for any help and information on flea deterrent and treatment.

I don't think corn starch will harm your dog.
If you really want to help him, feed him a raw meat and bones diet. It can be a cure all for everything, because it's effect is to massively increase the health of the immune system. Not everyone has a 100% cure, but everyone benefits in huge ways. Diet is one the those areas that can make or break you. Raw means you're feeding him a wolf diet, the perfect food for dogs. Fleas dramatically reduce and eventually fade away. My cats sleep in bed with me, so I would know if they had fleas! No need to worm either. Everything is in perfect natural harmony. Here is a good vet on the subject https://holisticvet.co.uk/

Hi Kelly, and welcome to Pemies.
I can't really help with the cornstarch question. My suspicion is it may help - it will absorb other sticky chemicals which will then be removed with the powder when you brush it out - like a dry powder shampoo. The risk is that it will also remove skin oils that ought to protect the dog's skin (not sure whether frequent bathing with help with this either?) I'd actually be inclined to skip water baths and just do powder baths with cornstarch for a couple of weeks and see if that helps at all. It's nice that the dog enjoys a pamper session. Our first dog hated baths - the very word would send him slinking off. He loved water though!

Here he is playing in the mud! No wonder he needed a bath!