How to Get Rid of Fleas Naturally
Cedar Oil Fights Flea Infestations, Offers Flea Control
Oct 28, 2009
A flea infestation in the home begins as soon as a female flea enters the environment, often in the fur of the family pet.
Facts About Fleas
Female fleas can lay up to 50 eggs a day, which fall off the host into bedding, furniture, and carpets and hatch into tiny, worm-like larvae. These larvae eventually become pupae, waiting in their insecticide-resistant cocoons for weeks or even months, for another appropriate host (perhaps the same dog or cat) to come by. When it does, they hatch, eat, lay more eggs, and the cycle begins again.
Products for Controlling Fleas in the House
Regular vacuuming to suck up adult fleas and their offspring is vital but most people also need a product that kills on contact, too. Many products exist for ridding both pets and their environments of fleas, but most also contain powerful and often toxic chemicals.
Spot-on treatments for pets have come under fire for causing neurological damage or even death if not used properly. Likewise, pets and people must stay away from areas treated with popular home flea killing chemicals such as Mithoprene and Pyriproxyfen until dry.
Because of their toxicity, these powerful chemicals can also not be used around food stuffs, in human bedding, on skin or on clothing.
Cedar Oil a Natural Pesticide
In contrast to these chemicals, the oil of cedar trees has been found to be highly effective for both flea and tick control and even erodes and dehydrates flea eggs, larvae and hard-to-kill pupae.
Cedar oil, which is marketed under several different brand names, is considered a minimum risk pesticide and is exempt from registration by the EPA. It can be ordered on line.
Unlike most pesticides, cedar oil can be safely applied directly to pets, bedding, furniture, carpets and even people, including children and the elderly. It can even be used as an effective alternative to DEET as a repellant for fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and other bugs on people and pets when working or playing outdoors.
How to Kill Fleas with Cedar Oil
Insects breathe through pores in their bodies. When fleas come in contact with the strong aroma of cedar oil, it triggers the closing of these breathing pores which causes them to suffocate.
As a result, cedar oil is also an effective repellant and control solution for ticks, mites, lice, bed bugs, chiggers, silverfish, roaches, ants, carpet beetles, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, moths and an array of other insects.
Use of Cedar Oil for Flea Infestations
To fight an active infestation:
- Apply cedar oil generously to areas that pets frequent
- Mist carpets with cedar oil, paying particular attention to baseboards and under furniture
- Mist furniture, bedding, and floor-length curtains with cedar oil
- Apply cedar oil liberally to pets, especially on feet, legs and underbelly and repeat applications before and after exposure to areas where fleas are thought to be
- Apply cedar oil outside the house in and around bushes and foundation plantings where pets might lie.
Avoid vacuuming carpets for a few days after application to ensure that cedar oil can kill any newly hatched fleas. Cedar oil is safe to apply regularly until flea infestation is under control and can be used to prevent future infestations afterward.
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