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Fleas: Getting Rid of Fleas Holistically
By Christie Keith
One of the number one questions I get
asked at my holistic pet chat is, "What do I do about
fleas?" It is often very frustrating to newcomers to
holistic pet care when they don't get an immediate, simple
answer. Usually, they are concerned about harsh chemicals
and drugs, and are hoping to find an herbal, natural, or at
least, gentler, solution.
But holistic pet care isn't like that.
Holistic itself means getting to the ROOT of the problem.
It's not "holistic" to just switch to an herb from
a chemical, because looking at things holistically means looking
at the big picture.
What do you mean by holistic?
In 1986, I was browsing in a pet store's
book section when I came across a book called Dr. Pitcairn's
Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. As I flipped
through the pages, I saw that this was not just another book
on what herb to use for itchy skin, or what special diet to
give a diabetic cat.
Pitcairn was challenging his readers
to change the way they perceived health, not just the substances
they used to affect health. He said, "We need to look
at the whole picture of an illness and find therapies that
will work with the whole body- not against it- in the healing
process. To me, that is what constitutes a true cure. I often
use the term 'holistic' to describe this approach to medicine.
Unlike many who use the word, I do not equate it with 'natural,'
for it is certainly possible to use natural methods such as
herbs, vitamins, and exercise but still fail to see the overall
picture of what is happening."
What is really needed, he said, "Is
an entirely new understanding, not just the substitution of
a vitamin for an antibiotic, or a mineral for a hormone."
So how do you fight fleas holistically?
The first step is to ask why your pet
has fleas. Is your home infested with fleas? Your yard? The
park where your pet plays? Do all your pets suffer from fleas,
or only a particular pet?
Fleas, like all parasites, prey on
the weak, sick, and malnourished. An animal infested with
fleas is an unhealthy animal, and while the fleas certainly
worsen this ill health, they do not cause it. Poor-quality,
inappropriate diets cause parasite infestations, as do unsanitary
conditions and all forms of stress. By knocking out the flea,
whether with insecticides, nematodes, or hormones, you have
done nothing to solve the root problem of ill health.
The first and most essential step is
to improve your animals' health and vitality. The single best
way to do this is to feed them a diet based on nature, rather
than a highly processed commercial food. This single step
is 99 percent of the battle, and yet is the one most people
don't want to consider when looking for an alternative to
pesticides. To discover more about how to feed your animal
a diet based on nature, some good books are Dr. Pitcairn's
Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard
Pitcairn DVM and Susan Hubble Pitcairn. Two others are Give
Your Dog A Bone and Grow Your Pups with Bones by Australian
vet Ian Billinghurst.
For cats, I like The New Natural Cat
by Anitra Frazier.
After boosting your pets' basic health, the next steps involve
getting rid of the fleas that are already around, and then
preventing more from hatching. In the house, the cycle can
be broken non-toxically in two primary ways: one, by the application
of a flea hormone which keeps the fleas in the adolescent,
non-biting, non-breeding state; and two, by the application
of dehydrating powders that dry out and kill fleas. (The fleas
on the pet can be controlled pretty easily by flea combing,
bathing, or the use of herbal flea powders. Soap and water
kill fleas on your pet, and there is absolutely no reason
to use insecticidal shampoos or persistent topicals.) After
bathing or flea combing your pets and vacuuming the house,
spray the house with a product containing only the flea hormone
methoprene, which is commonly known as Precor and is available
as a concentrate that you can apply with a plant mister. The
flea hormone is harmless to fleas, serving only to keep them
from maturing into biting, reproducing adults.
In addition to the hormone spray, I
strongly recommend the use of a carpet powder such as that
used by Fleabusters. Similar powders are often available at
pet and feed stores. Whether you opt for the do-it-yourself
approach or you have Fleabusters come in and treat your home,
the principal is the same. The powder, which is guaranteed
effective for one year, dehydrates and kills fleas without
actually being a poison or insecticide. Any fleas which are
brought into the home die when they come in contact with the
powder. As long as the outdoors is infested with fleas, flea
prevention in the home is only half the battle. It used to
be that those who wanted to treat their yards had to rely
on dangerous pesticide sprays or ineffective herbal repellents.
Even relatively benign treatments such as diatomaceous earth
and pyrethrums are toxic to beneficial insects and earthworms.
With the marketing of the flea nematode, those days are gone.
Pet owners can now buy a do-it-yourself product marketed as
Interrupt, BioFlea Halt, or BioSafe. The nematodes are available
at many vet offices, garden centers, and pet stores, and can
also be purchased in bulk from organic farm and gardening
supply catalogues (Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley,
California at (916)272-4769). The nematodes can be applied
easily with a hose end sprayer or through an irrigation system.
Remember, fleas are a symptom. The
key to dealing with parasites is to make your animal undesirable
to them, and to take steps to prevent an infestation. A healthy
dog or cat should not be troubled by an occasional flea.
Copyright 1999 by Christie Keith All
rights reserved.
May be reprinted in dog or cat breed or training club newsletters,
or re-posted on email lists or on online bulletin boards,
newsgroups, or message
boards, provided this copyright notice is included in its
entirety.
by Christie Keith
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