All of us enjoy those warm days and nights at this time of the year and those extended leisure time activities out-of-doors. But it is also a time of the year when many annoying insect pests arrive to spoil our fun and can quickly make life unpleasant. Fleas, especially, can be a major problem to those of us who keep dogs or cats, since the family pet is usually the cause of most flea infestations.
Regular control methods are a must to eliminate fleas, because just 10 female fleas in ideal conditions can in only 30 days multiply to a staggering quarter of a million.
Weekly vacuuming of the house and airing of rugs is essential to prevent outbreaks. When vacuuming, do the entire house in one day and vacuum lounges, cushions, carpets, mats, up and down curtains, along crevices, and beds and their coverings.
Take animal bedding, cushions and mats outside and air them in the sun for a day, then vacuum them before returning them to the house.
Treat carpets, mats and pet bedding with the following natural flea repellent: mix 18 drops of neat pennyroyal oil with 500 grams of bicarbonate soda.
Sprinkle this over carpets and mats, then leave for one hour before vacuuming up. Neat pennyroyal oil sprinkled over carpets and mats will literally send fleas hopping until they drop from the fumes.
Use sparingly as the fumes can be quite overpowering.
You can also make a flea repellent spray for treating your pet's bedding and lounge cushions by blending thirty drops of neat pennyroyal oil with 10 millilitres of methylated spirits and then adding this mixture to a pump-spray bottle containing half-a-litre of water. Shake well to mix and use on a fine mist setting.
Pennyroyal oil can be purchased from specialty shops that carry essential oils, or even your local health food store.
If your health food store doesn't carry it, they can certainly order it for you from a wholesale distributor. Animals' should also be treated to help prevent flea outbreaks.
Wash them thoroughly at least once a week with an appropriate flea wash, then comb a repellent lotion through their fur with a fine tooth comb.
Pay particular attention to the areas around the ears, neck, tail, backbone and under the legs. A flea repellent collar for your pet can be made by dabbing a few drops of neat pennyroyal oil on to a leather collar.
Leather should be used for both dogs and cats as it acts as a natural fixative, preventing rapid evaporation of the oil.
Refresh the collar once a week with a few more drops.
