Monday, October 17, 2011

So it appears my bathroom has fleas.

Not what I expected!  YUCK!!  Weird thing is, the dog doesn't appear to have fleas.  My couch doesn't have fleas.  Both her beds, upstairs and down, don't have fleas. The rest of my house doesn't have fleas. But my upstairs bathroom where she rarely resides?  I caught and flushed 2 fleas this morning!  To be fair, in early September Lola was outside in a known flea friendly area and I hadn't treated her before or after. So the plan for today: run to Walmart and get a spray bottle.  Then I am making a natural flea repellant for the dog and the house.  This is supposed to work on ticks and mosquitoes as well.  I sure hope it works on those horrible little black biting bugs that are out enmasse right now.

Essential oils to use in a recipe I found:
Lavender
Citronella
Cedar - I have cypress, that should be close enough
Peppermint
Eucalyptus
Lemongrass


I think I'll add some tea tree, oregano, geranium, and rosemary.  Depending on the scent, I may add some sweet orange, but the lemongrass and lavender should react nicely with the oregano essential oil.  That one, while highly useful, in my opinion, stinks!

I gotta say though, this is a benefit of raw feeding.  With all our other dogs, they were all on kibble and every one of them had dry flaky skin and could definitely use a bath at least once per month, preferably more often.  They would get that greasy buildup and dander - but Lola?  Not since switching to raw feeding.  Her skin is beautiful, no greasy buildup, and even better - she smells rather pleasant and not dog-like! This is probably why I found only 2 fleas and not 1,000. :)

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