Ideal Bite

Hey there, i love this tip but was wondering if you had any tips on ticks. I live in Connecticut and there are tons of ticks and i would like to get rid of them naturally and without chemical harm to my dog and family. Thanks

The reason to use these pesticides are the ticks, not the fleas - where I live, if you go outside, you will get ticks on you - sometimes about 7 ticks or more at once - I'd err on the safe side and spray the lawn with permethrin rather than chance lyme disease. Which is also very prevalent around here. Got a remedy for that? Because nowadays, they don't have enough permethrin in the spray to kill all the ticks.

Surely encouraging vacuuming every day and washing bedding is more environmentally harmful due to the energy usage than some 'spot-on' chemicals directly onto the skin to be absorbed.

I agree about ticks. My dog got an infestation last year after a trip to my grandparents farm. It was the most horrible thing I have ever seen. Plus, flea collars don't work. Powders and sprays have to be applied every few days. I just recommend that no one use the store bought versions of flea/tick drops. These do kill. Go to your vet for remedies.

Here is a product that really works very well for me and a lot of my friends down here in San Diego where the fleas never die! They seem to taste very good as my fussy dog gobbles them down - ITs called FLEA TREATS b complex dietary supplement and they rid my dog of fleas completely and you can read about this safe healthy product at www.fleatreat.com - its the only thing I use and I love it but you have to give the treats daily. I reallly don't know what I would do without this stuff as the powders and other natural remedies never worked. It also helps with itching. Also cost is very reasonable.

We have used the Sentry Natural Defense Flea & Tick Squeeze-On product in hopes that it would work as well as Frontline. We were very disappointed. It did nothing. We had just as many ticks as we did without the product on. I have not tried any of the other products but I hope the other products work better.

Natural home Flea killer At night, set a shallow bowl of water w/a few drops liquid dish soap added in a dark room. Use a small gooseneck lamp to shine a light just on bowl or pan. Leave light shinning on pan all night. Fleas jump the light, fall in the water and the surface tension from the dish soap will stop them from jumping back out. Repeat each night. As time goes by, fleas will be smaller and smaller, as each new batch gets caught younger and younger. This is not a quick fix, but it does rid your home without chemicals.

This natural product is safe to use around your pets and children. The best part is it is inexpensive. FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth can be used in a variety of ways. A light dusting on your pet kills fleas, ticks and lice. It can be given internally to ward of internal parasites in your pet. Dust on the pet food before serving. The produst can be food at some garden centers, some hard ware stores, and some veternary clinics. Google a location nearest you.

I don't mean to contradict Ideal Bite (I love Ideal Bite and what it does), but just as an FYI... If your dog has allergies, you may want to skip using any product that contains oatmeal. Oatmeal is a grain and a large majority of dog allergies are grain-based, so the oatmeal can actually aggravate an allergic reaction. I learned from my holistic vet who is excellent and right on. I was surprised when I heard this but, after I thought about it, it makes perfect sense.

First, don't bathe cats weekly!! It destroys their natural defenses. Cats should rarely be bathed and usually only if they have ringworm or some serious infestation. Dogs, sure, they have no trouble with the water on their skin. But DON'T bathe your cats!! Second, yes, over laundering bedding is wasteful for the environment. Third, the magical powder mentioned above is Diatomaceous Earth and it won't work when wet, so outdoor use is marginal at best and useless in a place like Florida. Also D.E. is very cheap so don't bother with small bottles of the stuff, use the large boxes of found at pool supply stores or get a bag from an animal shelter (several of them carry it.) Spread it all over a floor, wait 24 hours and vacuum. Clean the vacuum filters immediately since the fine powder will clog it fast. I have 5 cats and fleas have been bad this season. Combing is great. And the dish of soap water with a lamp really works well! I put the fleas I comb off my cats into a jar of soap water to dispose of them. I pour the water out into my garden after 24 hours. Fleas and their eggs are very resistant. When my home totally burned down, (many years ago) there were fleas all over it a week later. Through the fire and the blasting by the fire hoses, the eggs survived. In a house boarded up for years, fleas were waiting! We have now created a super flea by using the topical meds that killed "99%" in 24 hours. That 1% won't die easily! The mechanical methods of killing fleas are the only lasing ones.