If Dawn is effective and gentle enough for wildlife, you may be wondering if it can kill those pesky fleas on your cat or dog, too. While Dawn dish soap can kill fleas, it's not the most effective or efficient method, and it won't prevent flea infestations.
Allow about 5 minutes for the dish soap to completely kill the fleas before you begin rinsing. Use a cup of water or a handheld shower head to wash the soap off. Start from the top of your pet's body and work your way down towards the tail.
The Problem with Dishwashing Soaps
That is what makes dish soaps inappropriate for regular bathing for dogs and cats. When used for routine bathing of your pets, dishwashing soaps will quickly strip your pet's skin of the natural oils that help to nourish and protect it.
Give Your Pet a Bath
Just lukewarm water, or water and a mild soap, can help get fleas off your pet's fur and skin. The dish soap can help to drown adult fleas. If you're thinking about using a flea shampoo or something similar, talk to your veterinarian first.
Cats are quite adept at keeping themselves clean, but sometimes they need a little extra help from their humans. If your kitty has fleas, you definitely want to take that extra step and bathe him.
Apple cider vinegar can't kill fleas, but it can help to repel them. Fleas don't like the smell or taste of it, so they're likely to avoid your pet if they have it on their fur.
Comb your cat with a fine-toothed metal flea comb from head to tail several times a day. This will skim off adult fleas and their eggs and ease their itching. Then, dip the comb in a mixture of warm to hot water and liquid dish detergent to kill the fleas.
Washing up liquid
The water and washing up liquid solutions act as a glue, trapping the fleas due to the high viscosity of the solution. You should repeat this method with a fresh batch every day. For this flea home remedy to work effectively it should be conducted at night time.
If you're bathing your cat to get rid of muck, dirt, or toxins, a mild cat-specific shampoo or Dawn dish soap is best. Please don't use human shampoo. Human shampoos can irritate cats' skin.
If your dog has extremely sensitive skin, or allergies I probably would advise using anything but a specially made dog shampoo, however if he/she does not then Palmolive works great! We currently bathe our dog once every 3 weeks with Palmolive, and I have to say her coat looks especially shiny and healthy.
Fleas are so light weight that they can bounce right off the surface of the water because the surface tension of the water prevents them from breaking through. Adding the dish soap reduces the surface tension so the fleas slip through and drown.
Yes, as with many other soaps and shampoos, Dawn dish soap will kill fleas on your pet. It works by reducing the surface tension of water, causing fleas to sink and drown. Dish soap also affects fleas by damaging their waxy exoskeletons.
Fleas have exoskeletons that allow them to float in water, explains Dr. Reeder. “Dawn (and other soaps like it) creates a kind of surfactant, or surface tension, that will compromise the exoskeleton and make adult fleas sink,” he says. So essentially, the soap drowns the fleas.
Create a flea spray by mixing 4 liters of vinegar, 2 liters of water, 500 ml of lemon juice and 250 ml of witch hazel in a large spray bottle. Before applying the product around your home, you should vacuum properly, emptying the contents into an outside bin, and wash any bedding/cushions that could be infested.
Baking soda does not kill adult fleas and will do nothing to protect your pets. It is excellent at absorbing smells and has been suggested by some online pet sites for use as a flea killer because it “may” dry out flea eggs and larvae. But there is no evidence that using baking soda to kill fleas is effective at all.
Will apple cider vinegar kill fleas? While Apple Cider Vinegar does not kill fleas, it may repel them because fleas dislike its smell and taste. One of the most simple ways to use this natural flea repellent is to make a solution out of equal parts apple cider vinegar and water.
Try a shampoo with a low concentration of natural oils known to repel fleas, such as cedar, lavender, eucalyptus, or citrus. A diluted solution of apple cider vinegar may also help get rid of fleas.
Fleas often gather at the neck and shoulder blades of your pets. The base of the tail and along the back of the legs is a favorite hangout for them, too. Those are also places animals will bite to get to the fleas.
How do fleas reach your indoor cat? Almost any living creature or inanimate object can bring a flea into your home. Other pets such as dogs are obvious culprits, but fleas can also jump onto your clothes, shoes and bags and be inadvertently carried indoors that way.
It could be feline acne, a common skin condition in cats. What looks like a dirty chin could be a mild to moderate case of cat acne. Those black specks are actually blackheads, similar to blackheads in humans. In more severe cases, a cat can develop red sores and lesions on the chin area.
You may need to give your dog a flea bath as often as every one to two weeks, as the effective ingredients won't last as long as a topical or oral medication.