Natural Flea Prevention for Cats

If your cat is constantly scratching, or you find small dark insects burrowing into their fur, your cat likely has fleas. When looking for methods for keeping fleas away, avoid using harsh chemicals and opt for a plan that includes natural flea prevention for cats.

Your cat having fleas is more than a minor inconvenience for you and your cat. Fleas bite their hosts to feed and live on their blood. These bites irritate your cats and may lead to infection or diseases transmitted through flea bites.

When you find the first flea or notice your cat scratching more than usual, it’s time to start treatment to remove fleas from your cat. Once your cat is free of fleas, focus on eliminating fleas from your home and how to prevent fleas from coming back. Effective flea prevention involves using natural methods and regular cleaning to keep your home flea-free to avoid infestations.

How to Prevent Fleas on Cats Naturally

After removing fleas from your cat, prevent new fleas from burrowing in your cat’s fur using natural essential oils. Many natural items like plants and citrus fruits possess strong smells that fleas dislike. Using these scents in inventive ways allows you to create a flea barrier on your cat to protect it from more fleas.

Treat Pet Fur with Coconut Oil

Human-grade coconut oil has many uses around the home, but when it comes to your pets, coconut oil is a safe and natural way to kill and prevent fleas from irritating your pets. It is a natural pet remedy for getting rid of ear mites.

Coconut oil soothes your cat’s skin, lessens irritation from flea bites, and makes their fur shiny. The oil clogs the exoskeleton of fleas, suffocating them and limiting their ability to jump. As a repellent, apply coconut oil to your cat’s fur or treat them with a flea repellent spray.

Add coconut oil and warm water to a bottle and shake well to combine. Add your favorite essential oil, like lavender, rosemary, or cedar, to complete the spray. Treat your cat with this natural flea and tick spray before letting them outside to keep fleas in your yard away.

DIY Flea Repellent Sachet

If your cat has sensitive skin and can’t handle having anything applied directly to their fur or skin, create a sachet to repel fleas. To make a practical sachet, use a breathable fabric like muslin, and fill the bag with cedar chip and lavender buds.

Lavender and cedar are two scents that fleas don’t like, and their oils are helpful in flea control products. Leave this sachet in your cat’s bed to prevent fleas from bothering your cat in this area. Refill the bag with fresh ingredients after about a month.

Use Lemon Juice to Treat Fleas

Using lemon to treat your pets for fleas is one of the most straightforward methods for dealing with a cat’s fleas. The bugs don’t like the juice and smell of citrus fruits, so many commercial items have a citrus element included to increase their effectiveness.

If you regularly brush your pet, dip the bristles of your cat’s brush or flea comb into lemon juice and use it to work it through your cat or dogs coat gently. Lemon juice diluted with water also creates an effective flea repellent when used around your home.

Flea Repellent Plants

One natural way to prevent fleas and ticks on cats is to use specific plants that insects avoid. Insects dislike many plants that humans enjoy because of the smell of the essential oils inside the plant. Using these plants around your home is an excellent way to keep fleas away and avoid a flea infestation.

Snip a few sprigs or leaves to ward off fleas if you have flea repelling plants in your garden. Leave potted herbs around windows and entrances to your home if you can. If your cat often goes outside, consider adding plants to areas they visit.

Note: Eucalyptus is toxic to pets; avoid leaving this plant in an area where your cat might eat the leaves.

Natural Flea Treatment with Rosemary

Rosemary is an excellent plant to have on hand when dealing with a flea problem. Fleas don’t like the essential oil smell inside rosemary plants and avoid it when possible. If your cat doesn’t mind water, prevent fleas on cats naturally by creating a spray or soak for your cats using rosemary and water.

Boil a cup of water before adding fresh sprigs of rosemary. Allow the rosemary to steep before straining the sprigs. Add warm water to dilute and allow the water to cool to room temperature.

Add this water into a spray bottle to treat your cat, or pour the water over your cat, allowing it to dry naturally. This spray also works as a tick home spray if these biting insects are a concern for you and your pets. Use this homemade spray to kill fleas for dogs in your household, too. It works just as well.

Using Neem Oil to Prevent Fleas on Your Cats Fur

Neem oil is the product of pressed neem seeds that are highly effective when treating insect pests. Because it comes in an oil form, pet owners have many options on how to include this oil to treat their cats for fleas.

Dilute neem oil in water to create a spray, or treat your cat’s fur with a drop or two of the oil. Another treatment option is to add neem oil drops to your cat’s regular bath routine to replace a commercial flea shampoo to target fleas and any flea dirt in your cat’s fur.

How to Use Essential Oils to Prevent Cat Fleas

If you have essential oils in your home for aromatherapy or cleaning purposes, some of the most common oils help prevent fleas from irritating your cat. Essential oils like tea tree oil can irritate your cat’s skin, so dilute the oil with water before application.

Pour water into a spray bottle and add the drops of essential oil like citronella, peppermint, or rosemary. Spray it onto your cat’s coat and gently massage it in. Use this spray as a flea deterrent for humans in the family, as well.

Homemade Collar for Flea and Tick Control

Flea collars are a popular flea control product that kills adult fleas, and some brands even sell collars that target flea eggs and flea larvae. The Seresto flea and tick collar uses chemicals for tick prevention and getting rid of fleas.

Flea collars are considered the best flea control for cats, but many flea collars may irritate your pet’s skin, so use a natural remedy to keep fleas away.

If your cat isn’t a fan of being sprayed or taking regular baths, create a homemade flea collar using a bandana or a store-bought collar with lavender or cedar oil. Dilute a drop of oil in a cup of water before applying it to the collar and using it around your cat’s neck.

Apple Cider Vinegar Spray

Apple cider vinegar is a must-have around the home, as it has many uses, from cooking to cleaning and pest control. Biting insects like fleas don’t like the smell of apple cider vinegar, making it practical to prevent fleas on cats naturally.

Dilute vinegar in water with a pinch of sea salt to create a vinegar spray for treating your pets. Apple cider vinegar repels fleas while adding salt dries out any fleas present on your cat.

Natural Flea Prevention for Cats Using Vinegar in Your Cat’s Water

Apple cider vinegar can prevent fleas from living and laying eggs in your cat’s fur in another way, too. Adding apple cider vinegar to your cat’s water is the best way to get your cat to ingest the water and fight off fleas.

Provide your cat with a small bit of water with a drop of vinegar to see if they take to the taste. To include it in your cat’s regular water supply, mix half a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for every two cups of water in their bowl.

What is the Best Flea Control for Cats and Dogs?

With so many flea control options on the market and available to you at home, it isn’t easy to know which method works best. Because pets have different needs and conditions, consult a local veterinarian to determine the best plan for your cat. Narrow your options to those that fit your cat’s interests for baths and sprays.

Many of the flea prevention methods mentioned in this article work for dogs, as well. Alter the measurements of our flea prevention options to accommodate the size of large dogs.

Many commercial items like Earth Animal products and Tropiclean Natural Flea and Tick treatments effectively eliminate pests without using harmful ingredients like DEET and synthetic chemicals.

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