Alright this may only be for Val, but I have a few questions about using essential oils for flea prevention. I purchased rose geranium oil, lavender oil and tea tree oil. I also purchased the ACV and minced garlic.

Before I use the oils, I wanted to know fi I need to use a carrier oil, or if it is safe to apply them directly to the collars/harnesses?

Also, any other tips would be great!

Val can verify, but for Cali- I applied them on the collar and have had great luck with her- my other husky is on the chemical for just a month more then I will switch her over also.

good luck with it

Kevin, we will be starting next week after the revolution is done. I have been doing a lot of research and I just cant allow myself to use pesticides on my my huskies.

I agree, the only reason I did with Mika is due to the amount of pests she had on her. She was a mess!! So when I am out of stuff I bought, then I will do the oils.

We have been using the three oils you noted above, and have a good luck so far. As fas as application goes, we have been placing one drop of each oil directly to the colar once a week.

Do any of you have cats? I have read mixed reviews regarding the use of oils with cats. I was wondering what the take was. Some vets even suggest using oils ON cats. I asked a holistic vet about using it on the dogs collars and not diffusing it in any other way and he said it will be fine as long as the cats are out of the room when it is initially applied.

I have cats too, so I've been wondering about safety. Ticks are horrible here and I literally can't find anything I can do for the dogs to keep them away. Its so frustrating :c I don't think I would use any oils on the cats, but maybe it would be safe to just put some on the dog's collars/harnesses and try to keep them separated for a few hours. I dunno though.

Also, how do you prepare the oils? Just put a few drops on the collar straight from the bottle? Mix the oils together and put a few drops on the collar? Add the oils to something else to preserve/stabilize them and then add to the collar? So many questions

Myndi wrote:

I have cats too, so I've been wondering about safety. Ticks are horrible here and I literally can't find anything I can do for the dogs to keep them away. Its so frustrating :c I don't think I would use any oils on the cats, but maybe it would be safe to just put some on the dog's collars/harnesses and try to keep them separated for a few hours. I dunno though.

Also, how do you prepare the oils? Just put a few drops on the collar straight from the bottle? Mix the oils together and put a few drops on the collar? Add the oils to something else to preserve/stabilize them and then add to the collar? So many questions

I have been asking a lot of these questions too! So, I went a head and downloaded a metric ton of holistic veterinary medicin books to my iPad and I am searching them for the answers. However, almost everything I have red in regards to application says never on the skin, just directly onto collar a drop of each. Seems easy enough. It makes you wonder though, if I can't even put essential oils on my pets what was putting all of those chemicals on my pups doing?

Ava's shown a lot of sensitivities to the chemicals. Normally I try not to use anything on them unless I have to, but we got a really bad infestation a few years ago and I literally tried everything out there. Ava's allergic to every topical that I could find, except for Sentry Naturals, which is made from essential oils I think. But I was allergic to the oils in it so while it kept fleas/ticks off Ava for a few days, I couldn't touch her without my hands/arms turning red, breaking out in hives, and burning. Go figure, right? Stupid parasites :c

We have only he Delilah on revolution, now Cato will be on it for a month, but I, just not comfortable with continuing with any topicals. The good thing about essential oils is that if you do find yourself allergic to one kind, you can always find another one that has similar qualities

I've had a lot of luck with Comfortis. I haven't used it since 2010 - and haven't had to. ticks are another story though, but I live in the woods. I keep Comfortis on hand for flea emergencies, but I'd prefer not to have to use anything like it, especially with the side effects that some pets can have with Comfortis and how new it is.

I'd just prefer to use Oils. It seems like a much safer thing to do.

With the oils, they're super easy. One drop of each on the collar once a week straight from the bottle. No mixing of any kind required. I don't mix mine prior to application & each drop of a different oil I put on a different part of the collar so that I'm not placing the drops on top of each other.

Forgot to say that we've used the oils in multicat households and have never had any issues with the cats. Also, at my advice, my mother in law started using essential oils for pest prevention on her 4 dogs and she has 3 cats and she's yet to have any problems as well.

That's good to know about the cats, thanks Val. I've been lurking this thread and thinking about adding the oils just because we have such god awful flea infestations around here, but had heard not to use them with cats in the house. We've had good luck so far with the trifexis, but I have some friends who are starting to have flea problems even with preventatives.

Thanks Val!i can rest assured now. I figured it would be ok, simply because I wasn't applying the oils to the cats,

Well, we have fleas in the house. I love Milton, apparently the fleas here are mutants and will still attach to dogs even if they're flea treated. I pulled 2 fleas off Ghost and I'm pretty sure Lulu has them as well, so we zapped Ghost with the one dose of Frontline that we had in the house. I want to start using essential oils, but Aaron thinks it's a bunch of crap and doesn't work. He also is convinced they just slap organic labels on meat and produce to make more money, and that the stuff isn't any different.

Anyway, I'm going to win this particular battle and switch over to the essential oils here in addition to the frontline we used last night, but what do you guys use for heartworm preventative? We've been using Trifexis.

A light coat of salt on carpets will kill the fleas.

Thanks, Brian.

I'd give Lulu & Ghost a dose of Capstar and a bath. Then treat the house, wash & thoroughly vacuum everything.

Another safe treatment you can use, especially if they're in the house is food grade diatomaceous earth. You can use it 3 ways to get rid of fleas. Sprinkle in the yard, rub it into the dog's coat, and you can sprinkle it on the carpet then vacuum it up.

Thanks, Val. I'll snag Capstar for the cats too, I've had to do that in the past. I got a horrible infestation on them the last time I lived in Pensacola, and I couldn't get rid of those damned fleas for months. Where does one usually find diatomaceous earth?

Also, can you point me towards some legit literature on the whole oil thing? I completely trust your word, but I'm getting an insane amount of pushback from Aaron on this. Maybe if I actually show him in writing he'll be a little more open to it.

I understand, I don't have links to point you to as I did my research on this stuff back in 2010 and I never save sources when I'm studying for my own interest. I'm on my phone now so I can't do much looking and with how busy Isabella keeps me I can't make any promises. But if I find an opportunity to look on my computer later I will gladly share any findings. But to be honest, I will admit that it was talking to other dog owners on various forums that really pushed me to try essential oils. My hubby knows better than to question anything I say regarding our dogs' care and since the oils are so cheap he didn't hesitate to let me try it. And I started by trying only one of the oils to see if it would work before buying others after seeing that it did.

Forgot to add, my in laws have had a lot of trouble with fleas and they live in Orlando. They were giving topical flea meds (Advantage & Frontline) every 2-3 weeks even and their dogs were still getting fleas. Btw, using those products as frequently as they were is dangerous and very irresponsible...don't want anyone getting the idea that that's okay.

Keep in mind, fleas can become resistant to chemicals that are used long term...same as bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. If your treatments are proving ineffective, you might be wise to switch to something different (different active ingredients). Also heartworms are also becoming resistant to popular heartworm prevention like heartgard & it's generics, so even switching those regularly might be wise.

For heartworm, my dogs have been switched between Heartgard Plus (and the generic Iverhart Plus) and Interceptor. My chi girls were on Revolution before I got them and they still had fleas even after being treated with it.

Thanks Val, and I know you're busy with Isabella. I'll work on it some and see what I come up with as I get breaks with the endless paperwork today. Aaron is just extremely resistant in general to anything natural/organic/homeopathic, and it blows my mind. He seriously said "I don't see what the big deal is" when I explained that Wal Mart sells meat and produce that is about to expire, and that's why they're so cheap. I just get so aggrivated with him giving me so much pushback just because I want to be healthy and I want our family to be healthy. There are just so many negative studies coming out regarding chemicals, preservatives, hormones, etc.

On the upside, I convinced him to swing through the natural food store while he was down in Pensacola this morning. Of course, I got the "do you know how expensive this shit is?!" text for an $11 bottle of lavender and a $7 bottle of tea tree. They didn't have rose geranium, so I'll just order some from Amazon later. I'm trying to find some diatomaceous earth locally as well, but if I have to order so be it. We have Amazon Prime, so shipping isn't a big deal at all.

I think we're going to stay on the trifexis at least short term, but if we can get away with it completely and go to heartguard or something for the heartworm stuff that would be great. Lulu especially has a hard time with the Trifexis making her sick if we're not careful about it, and I feel so bad giving it knowing it might make her sick. I need to start researching holistic vets in the area, but I doubt we have one close by. People around here just don't seem to care very much about that stuff.

Thanks again for the info.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Where does one usually find diatomaceous earth?

Home Depot and I believe most gardening supply outlets have it.


http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors/garden-center/safer-brand/4-lb-diatomaceous-earth-78567.html

Thanks, Len. I'm going to swing by Home Depot after work, I need to head up that direction to get dog food anyway (feed store is just up the road).