Last Updated on March 22, 2020
When it comes to cats, most owners are faced with at least one encounter of fleas. You can easily be overrun in your home by these pests and it can cause a lot of distress to you, your family, and your kitty. What should you do when your cat has fleas? I am going to share some tips to help you out that DO NOT involve harmful chemicals found in flea treatment and collars.
Natural Flea Treatment
Getting rid of fleas is not difficult. Actually, it’s much easier than most would assume! The best solution to rid a cat of fleas is a bath. I have bathed all of my cats for many years and the best advice I can give to make sure it goes smoothly is to ensure your cat trusts you and to handle them gently in the bathtub! You want to buy some Johnson & Johnson Bed Time Bath in lavender. This is tear-free and a gentle formula and is key to keeping your cat calm in the water, but more importantly, getting rid of the fleas! You can find this at just about any drug store or online. Be sure to bathe any other cats or dogs in the house, even if they don’t have fleas!
Other Tips
Keep Your Yard Clean
You want to be sure if you have an indoor/outdoor cat, that you keep your yard clean. Never have bushes or gardens right up against the home. This is a tip for other bugs as well, such as spiders.
Use Lavender Around Your Home
Planting lavender around the yard or keeping pots of lavender flowers near doors and windows will not only help keep fleas away, but other bugs like ticks, mosquito, and spiders!
Don’t Let Kitty Out Unsupervised
Limit your cat’s time outdoors. If they are hard to keep track of while outside, it is likely best for their safety, you just convert them to being indoor-only with outside supervision.
Keep Bird Feeders Away From Your House
Unless the birdfeeder is quite high up on the side of the house and you are sure everything on the exterior of your home is sealed, you will want to keep all bird feeders at least 15 to 20 feet away from your home. Seed attracts smaller animals that can be carrying fleas and flea eggs.
How to bathe a cat
First time giving your cat a bath? If you are unsure how to properly bathe a cat, read: How to Give a Cat a Bath
Rinse & Repeat
Give your cat a bath every other month, or at least 4 times a year. I bathe my cats every seasonal change. If you live in a cold winter area, be sure to dry them well or keep them closed off in a warm room until they are dry. I like to use blow dryers, both of my cats are okay with this. By giving your cat quarterly baths, you will prevent fleas from wanting to live on your cat. Also, your cat will have very beautiful fur and soft skin!
I gave my cats the Hartz flea drops and one got so severely sick by throwing up all over the house. I then went online and tried the Dawn dish soap remedy that only made it worse, she is now losing hair and still throwing up. I am going to try Walmart’s brand of baby shampoo with lavender and hopefully she gets better. I can’t afford to take her to the vet either.
I hope that by now your cats are better. Never use Hartz anything products, I use Seresto flea collars for my cats as do not fair well on topical products. I have 2 dogs and 3 cats. we have no fleas. I use wondercide on my dogs.
Need help cats eat up in fleas and has a sore eye
I have a 6(?) week old kitten that has a few fleas. Not major. I have bathed in dawn and kitten shampoo…. With no help. I’ve tried a flea comb as well. Is there something I can use to prevent fleas? I have cleaned entire house and treated other two older cats with advantage.
Thank you for your comment Jenni. When I first got my cat Twiggy, him and his brothers had fleas. I used Johnson and Johnson bedtime bath (lavender) on them. I gave them each 3 baths (once a day for three days) and the fleas were gone by day 2. I did a third bath just to make sure. I now use this shampoo on Twiggy and have for nearly 10 years and he has never had fleas again. I even take him outside and to the park. I would never recommend using medical grade treatment unless the fleas were considered to be an infestation on a cat. I suggest giving this shampoo a try. It is designed for human babies but it is gentle enough for kittens. Just be sure to dry him/her off completely after the bath and never use hot water. The bath should be done as quick and gentle as possible.
I have 3 cats. 2 are strictly outside and one is both. The indoor/outdoor one goes outside during the day/while I’m at work, and comes in when it’s dark or dinner time. I’d love to treat all the cats for fleas.
If they have enough trust with you, I recommend giving them lavender baby wash baths. If this is not an option, which most people feel they can’t bathe their cats, using essential oils can help.You will want to get pure lavender oil and put some at the shoulder blades (where the cat cannot lick) and only apply it to the fur, not the skin. This can be done a few times a week. A little goes a long way. You can mix it into some lotion of your own to make it easier to apply to the fur and not the skin. You can also buy a cloth/nylon collar for each cat and soak them in lavender oil over night, then let them air dry. This makes a natural flea repellent collar. Just be sure that they have some give so if they get caught on something while playing outside, they can slip out of them.
As for your yard, do as I recommended. Use lavender plants outdoors around the house and keep all plants and bushes away from the immediate house. Let me know if you need anymore help on the subject. I know how annoying these bugs can be but you do not have to spend a fortune or poison your cats to keep them away