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Dealing with fleas and trying to eradicate them from your pet and your home can be frustrating and time-consuming. You must deal with flea baths, collars, and whatever else you need to do the job. So, using a natural remedy to do the job safely would be ideal, right? Does rosemary work on fleas? The answer is no. While rosemary can deter fleas, it will not remove them from your pet or home.
We’ll examine how rosemary can help and how to eliminate fleas after they invade your home.
Can Rosemary Kill Fleas?
Rosemary has many benefits, from adding a depth of flavor to your cooking to having antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. When it comes to fleas, rosemary can act as a repellent, so it does have that advantage, but there is no evidence that it will remove fleas from your pet or home. When trying to get rid of fleas, you also need to get rid of the eggs and larvae, and rosemary doesn’t affect them.
Technically, if you sprinkled your pet with rosemary, the fleas would probably vacate, but that doesn’t change the fact that you would have to sprinkle it all over your home every day for about 3 months!
What Is the Best Method to Get Rid of Fleas?
Before attempting to eradicate fleas, you must understand the flea life cycle.
Flea Life Cycle
Adult fleas attach themselves to a host, and the female lays eggs after having a blood meal. In fact, blood is a necessity for them to reproduce. Fleas can lay 40 to 50 eggs every single day, and the eggs fall off your pet and onto any surface, like bedding, furniture, and carpet.
Then, the eggs hatch into larvae, and eventually, pupae form cocoons until the right conditions lead to the hatching of the adult fleas. These conditions are heat, vibration, light, and exhaled carbon dioxide, and the cocoons can lie dormant for many months until the environment is just right. As you can see, getting rid of fleas isn’t a quick and easy fix.
Eradicating Fleas From Your Pet
If your pet has fleas, now would be the time to schedule a visit with your vet. They can recommend a course of action, including safe treatments to use on your pets and around the home. If you want to get a head start at home, you can use a flea comb and a bowl of hot, soapy water. Dip the comb in the water, comb your pet, dip the comb in the water, and repeat! The water will drown the fleas, and the soap stops them from being able to jump out of the water.
Then, give your pet a bath with vet-approved flea shampoo. Ensure that you only use cat shampoo for cats and dog shampoo for dogs. If you are using a spot-on flea treatment, thoroughly dry your pet and follow the product instructions about how long to wait before you can bathe your pet again.
Eradicating Fleas From Your Carpet
Unfortunately, removing fleas from your pet doesn’t solve the problem. Next, you’ll need to tackle your home. Start by vacuuming the carpets repeatedly. Then, use a product to eradicate fleas, eggs, and larvae in the environment. There are numerous licensed products for this purpose and a few home remedies as well.
One effective method is to sprinkle diatomaceous earth everywhere your pet spends time and then vacuum everything up. You’ll need to read the instructions, but you typically must let the diatomaceous earth sit for 24 to 48 hours before vacuuming. This natural product is effective at killing off pests like fleas. It’s safe to use on everything, including your furniture and your pet’s bedding.
After you’ve treated the floors, vacuum everything and throw out the bag or clean the canister thoroughly. Do this as many times as necessary.
Eradicating Fleas From Your Bedding
This step includes your pet’s bedding. You’ll need to wash everything that can be thrown into a washing machine, including sheets, pillows, and duvets, on the hot water cycle. Once everything is dry, sprinkle your pet’s bedding with a repellent. This is where rosemary can come in handy since it is an effective repellent for fleas.
You can try grinding rosemary and sprinkling it on, or make rosemary tea by steeping it in hot water for about 30 minutes (it should be strong!). Strain, let it cool, put it in a spray bottle, and spray anywhere your pet spends time.
Eradicating Fleas From Your Yard
This step might not apply to you if you don’t have a yard or pets that spend time in it, so if your pet is an indoor cat, you can probably skip this step. Fleas thrive in moist environments, so you’ll need to remove anything that enables water to accumulate, such as pools, grass clippings, and leaf piles.
Consider using cedar chips around plants and shrubs or along pathways to repel fleas. You can try planting plants that are also flea repellents, but be careful not to plant any that are toxic to pets. Catnip is a great option; it repels fleas, and your cat will love it! Rosemary is another good choice.
Finally, you can use diatomaceous earth or hire a professional to treat your lawn with insecticides that are not harmful to pets.
Flea Prevention
Even if your pet doesn’t have fleas, prevention is best so you don’t have to go through all this in the first place. Topical treatments can be applied between your pet’s shoulder blades, or you can opt for an oral treatment, which usually needs to be given once a month.
Some medications can be purchased at your local drugstore or online, but you must be careful about the type you buy. Applying a flea treatment formulated for dogs to your cat can be fatal. And many non-prescription products are not very effective. It is best to consult your veterinarian to ensure that you get the proper treatment for your pet.
Conclusion
Rosemary can help to a certain degree as a repellent, but it will not kill fleas. Fleas are a nuisance and can lead to serious health conditions. For example, cats can get cat scratch fever and tapeworms through flea bites.
While natural remedies can help, your veterinarian can prescribe the most effective treatment.
Featured Image Credit: Nika_Akin, Pixabay
