Thursday, 28 August 2008

Flea Collars

My dear man asked me why I had a ready supply of vodka that I could use for the strawberry liqueur. Well, the answer was for herbal tinctures (although I mostly use brandy for those) and for flea collars. The thought struck me that others might like to know about them also, so here is the recipe.

For each collar:
  • 2 teaspoons vodka
  • 1 drop cedarwood essential oil
  • 1 drop lavender essential oil
  • 1 drop citronella essential oil
  • 1 drop thyme essential oil
  • oil from 4 garlic oil capsules
Blend together and allow the collar to soak in the solution. Lay the collar out to dry, before putting on your pet's neck.

The collar should be an absorbent one - I found some suede looking ones at the pet shop that seem to do the trick for the boys.

The recipe is modified very slightly from the one in The Fragrant Pharmacy by Valerie Ann Worwood. The author says that the collar should be effective for about a month, but I've found that after a few treatments, the collar is effective for up to three months.

The cats seem not to mind this collar anywhere near as much as the commercial ones. They've been wearing these for about five years now and I've not seen a flea yet.

love and light
naturewitch
at

7 comments:

  1. nonijo29 August 2008 at 12:11 am

    Hi love your blog thank you so much for sharing I have two dogs and they suffer bad from fleas and both are very senitive to cemical flea collars so i will defently be giving yours a go
    thanks
    Jo

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  2. Cheryl29 August 2008 at 10:44 pm

    Now that is useful info when you are a dog owner....tks for that naturewitch I shall give it a try.....

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  3. Gypsyheart Lady30 August 2008 at 4:47 am

    Very interesting. Thanks for the information. I do so enjoy your blog.

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  4. Libbys Blog30 August 2008 at 4:40 pm

    How fascinating, I would love to try this but I personally don't agree with collars on cats!

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  5. naturewitch31 August 2008 at 11:55 am

    Hi Nonijo
    Welcome to my blog. Hope it works as well on your dogs as it does on my cats.

    Hi Cheryl and Gypsyheart
    Hope it works on your dogs, too. I was talking to my sister about it the other day and we were wondering if you made the mix in a less less alcohol (say 1/2 teaspoon) whether you could also use it as drops near the base of their tail, where a lot of dogs get fleas. But then they might lick it, so not sure on this idea.

    Hi Libby
    Yes, am not thrilled with having collars on my boys, but unfortunately, our local government regs stipulate cats have collars and ID. I also put bells on so that birds get warned and we don't have carnage.
    One of ours loses his collar regularly and I always make sure their collars have elastic in them so they can stretch over their heads if necessary.
    You could always try the mix as drops on the back of the cat's neck.

    love and light

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  6. Minni Mum31 August 2008 at 2:25 pm

    Great timing NW, with it coming into flea season soon, thanks! I assume that you get the garlic gel capsules from the health food shop? Could you substitute raw garlic do you think, or would it be just too stinky?

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  7. naturewitch1 September 2008 at 6:39 am

    Hi Crazy Mumma
    I think raw garlic would not work in the mix, as it is all oils, but you could give it a go - just sieve before soaking? Yes, I got my garlic oil caps at a health food store. For this purpose, you could get the cheapest ones and don't worry about use by dates, as they seem to last for years. xx

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