Prevention - Indoor

• Vacuum thoroughly (under furniture, cushions and throw rugs, along base-boards, in corners and in closets) and often. Throw away bag.
• Mop bare floors with soapy water. Vinegar works better for tile floors and is safe to use as an all purpose cleaner around children and pets.
• Get a washable pet bed or piece of tightly woven cloth to put down where your pet rests most often. Launder pet bedding weekly.

• Comb pet daily with a flea comb, a very fine-toothed comb which catches fleas in its tines (available in pet stores). Drown fleas in soapy water.
• Wash pet in mild shampoo, never "flea" (insecticidal) soap. Let it stay on a few minutes, if possible. Plain soap kills fleas.
• Feed pets brewer's yeast (available in health food stores). Sprinkle on food throughout flea season. It is important that you do this on a daily basis.
• As an alternative to powdered yeast, give brewer's yeast-garlic tablets to dogs (cats tend not to like garlic). Problems with flea collars: flea collars with DDVP (dichlorvos) are dangerous! There are even problems with herbal collars: the essential oil of pennyroyal is toxic to cats, and citronella oil is a cat repellent!

• Steam-clean carpets with boric acid powder, d-limonene and soap. Highly effective! Mop bare floors with soapy water. Use vinegar/water solution for all tile floors.
• Use dust applicator (bulb-type is good) to apply boric acid powder to pet areas and flea hiding places (under furniture and cushions, along baseboards, on closet floors).

Treatment - Outdoors
Short-term Treatment:

• Spray with organic products containing citronella or d-limonene. This will kill both the adult and larval stages. See MATERIALS for Orange Oil/d-limonene.

• Apply beneficial nematodes; sold as powders to mix in water, or in sponges. Available in some nurseries, feed stores that carry organic products and a few pet stores.
• Best to apply beneficial nematodes during a rainy period. They thrive on the damp habitat.
• Repeat treatment in 6 weeks (or a bit later) if area has not remained damp.

See Materials for Beneficial Nematodes.