Ask The Herbalist

Readers' questions answered

Problem with fleas

Dear Pat,
I have three dogs, but only one of them has a terrible time with fleas. She has only just come to live with us and I am hoping she will become more like the others. We prefer not to give heavy chemical treatments if we can to our pets, so I was wondering if you can offer any alternatives for our little dog. - Ann Holmes

Dear Ann,
There are quite a few things that can be used to prevent fleas. Firstly, diet. It may well be that your other dogs have no problem with fleas because of a good diet and your new dog may well improve as she spends longer on her new diet. The other suggestions I have for you are:

Putting both garlic and brewer's yeast into her food. Both of these discourage the little parasites from biting or infesting. One tablespoon a day for a small dog and two for a larger dog is about the right amount for brewer's yeast and a clove of garlic crushed into food.

Tea-Tree oil can be useful for dealing with both the hot spots that fleas sometimes cause and for discouraging fleas from biting. You can make a spray up by mixing half a teaspoon of oil into a cup of water and spraying the dog all over - except the face of course and mind the eyes. Do the spraying outside so when the fleas jump off as you spray, they don't stay on the carpet.

You can also dab straight Tea-Tree oil onto the collar and at the base of the tail. If there are hot spots dab some of the diluted Tea-tree oil (from your spray mix) onto those as well with a cotton bud. This is to calm the itch and inflammation. - Pat Hunter www.animalherbs.co.nz

To get your question answered, email Pat Hunter homeopat@ihug.co.nz and put Ask The Herbalist in the subject line.

To read about how to stop Bad Breath go to previous page of Ask the Herbalist.