Many of us know about natural flea management methods, but oftentimes we’re forced to go for the hard stuff during a flea or tick invasion. Here at Tripawds, we’ve never found a flea product that was both non-toxic and strong enough to kill fleas immediately . . . until now.
Southwestern Cedar Oil is an all natural solution that kills parasites on the spot. But it’s so harmless to mammals that even kids can use it as a repellent!
Cedar oil has been used as a parasite preventative for hundreds of years.
Today, the Southwestern Cedar Oil company has bottled this remedy and turned it into the best all-natural flea kill solution we’ve seen.
The Flea Product Virgin Puts Cedar Oil to the Test
We wanted to put cedar oil to the test, by trying it on Tripawds Spokesdog Wyatt Ray. He was the perfect test subject, as he’s never been exposed to any flea prevention products under our watch (he joined our family last fall in Colorado, when fleas were dormant).
This winter Wyatt went to Texas, where fleas grow big and mean. It was a great place to test an organic flea product, so we requested a trial bottle from Southwestern, which they gladly supplied to us for review.
Southwestern Cedar Oil: Our Findings
We applied the cedar oil and waited for the flea circus to come to town. The weather got hotter, and we waited some more.
The tall grass made him itchier than usual, but not a single flea survived on him while we were in Texas. Rene is susceptible to flea bites and she would know if any fleas hitched a ride on him into our RV. She can say with confidence that the cedar oil kept them away.
It feels great to find an effective, non-toxic flea product for Wyatt (see what others think by visiting the Southwestern Cedar Oil’s Amazon store).
The only drawback is that in order to maintain its effectiveness, Southwestern Cedar Oil must be applied daily for active, outdoorsy dogs. For less active indoor dogs, every two to three days is acceptable, according to the manufacturer.
But this seems like a very small price to pay for all-natural flea prevention, and we found it easy to make its application a part of our morning routine. For more thorough flea control, you can purchase foggers, lawn applicators and apply it directly to furniture, carpets and floors.
Tripawds Endorses Southwestern Cedar Oil
While we only tested the product in Texas, we can’t say for certain how it works in more heavily infested areas. But the effectiveness of Southwestern’s product has been certified by Iowa State University and also endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More information can be found on the Southwestern Cedar Oil website, which is challenging to navigate but full of good information once you dig around.
Watch the YouTube video that tells the history of cedar oil and explains how Southwestern Cedar Oil products work:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WHXX7vaMy8[/youtube]
Always remember, no flea product is fool-proof. Successful pest management always starts with a healthy diet, pest-prevention methods at home, and regular grooming. For more tips about managing pests, read this article: Eliminate Fleas without Poisons: Integrated Pest Management to effectively control fleas.”
As an option for those not wanting to put anything directly on their dog, we have been using garlic oil concentrate from http://www.mosquitobarrier.com/ for several years now. You spray the concentrate around the yard and on vegetation and it helps keep mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, black flies, etc (they even claim fire ants, but we don’t have those here) out of your yard for up to 4 weeks. It’s great for kennels and yards – keeps bugs out for dogs and humans.
Hey Cali, sounds like a great product. But if you don’t wear any flea protection, what do your pawrents do when they take you to dog parks and stuff?
Well, where we live fleas aren’t a big problem. But for ticks and mosquitoes, mom carries a little squirt bottle that has peppermint oil and rosemary that keeps the nasties at bay. For our crew, the nasty black flies are what really bother us and chew up our lovely ears. The garlic helps a LOT, but during the worst stretches, she also uses a product called Swat that is a gooey, sticky gunk used for horses. She puts a bit of it on the tips of our ears and the flies stay away.
Gooey sticky gunk eh? Yum! So the peppermint oil and rosemary works eh? We’ll have to try that too.
We’re looking for natural flea prevention for MB Tom– Wyatt, are you and your pawrents still happy with the cedar oil (original post is 2 years old now)? We’re in OK, so we probably have similar flea issues. Also, does it help with ticks? Tripawd Scout had one tick in 9 years, MB Tom has already had a dozen in the 6 weeks since he arrived.
The cedar solution still seems to be working well for Wyatt. This season must be bad for ticks, we’ve already picked a few off Wyatt but only on days we’ve forgotten to spray him.