Home Pet Care Tips and Links

Cut Your Vet Bills with Home Pet Care

We do love our pets and worry constantly about their safety, health and welfare.

The situations they get themselves into never fail to amaze and amuse me.

Veterinary expenses are enough to deter the decision to take on the responsibility of a pet. Unless you can take care of some situations at homes, you may be spending a lot more on vet bills than you anticipated.

Routine care and awareness can nip a lot of potential problems in the bud.

How easy is it to turn a day upside down? Just ask these guys!

If there is an opening of any kind, be it dryer, washer, closet, cabinet, car, freezer, luggage, box, bag.....they are in it. We even have a kitten we suspect got packed up with donations to a local thrift shop! Their curiosity can get them into sooo much trouble!!

At least with cats they don't just eat anything like puppies will. Thankfully, these guys haven't yet required emergency surgery. They just show me what trouble they've gotten into by bringing whatever it was back up.

Belly and bowel upsets can be calmed by offering plain white rice, yogurt, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin in place of the usual kibble. Keep a can of pureed pumpkin on hand in the pantry. It is good for both constipation and diarrhea. Add about two tbsp. pumpkin (not the pie blend) for a medium sized dog. Continue at mealtimes till the problem resolves itself.

If your dog ate something toxic you should call your vet for reassurance that vomiting the substance back up is the right thing to do. Keep a bottle of hydrogen peroxide handy for such emergencies. Give one teaspoon for every five pounds of body weight to induce vomiting and repeat once if necessary.

Pets love touch. When you are brushing, holding or fussing with your pet, be conscious of any lumps, fur mats, odors, hot spots or minor wounds.

Long-haired fur mats easily which unless de-thatched can get tight and painfully pull the skin. Keep pets grooms to removed excess fur which otherwise ends up on your furnishings or ingested. To a certain extent furballs are ok but no one likes to clean up the yellow stain caused by a cat's vomit. A type of pet comb called the "furminator" is so efficient at removing that undercoat we only use it outside. The hair removed is unbelievable.

To help with hairballs in cats, give just a bit of butter (1/2 tsp) for a few days.

Odors and ear scratching may be an overgrowth of yeast. I found two recipes. The first is a mixture of 1/3 white vineger, 1/3 isopropyl alcohol and 1/3 distilled water. The second is 1/2 distilled water and 1/2 white vinegar. Either one is inexpensive and a good preventative for keeping those ears clear. Just wet a cotton square and wipe the outer ear canal once a week. Don't use q-tips. No poking inside the ear canal.

If your pet's ears are already scratched sore, don't use the vinegar or alcohol/vinegar blend as it will be painful for your pet. Add a garlic clove to an ounce of olive oil and keep in a glass dropper bottle. When not in use keep this mixture in the refrigerator since hopefully you won't be needing it that often. When needed warm the bottle by rolling between your hands or sit in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Do not microwave to avoid the chance of uneven hot spots. Add a small amount onto a cotton round and wipe out the ear canal or add just a small bit into the ear, gently squish a bit to help the ear clean itself and wipe with a cotton round or tissue.

If when you clean your cat's ears you find a black discharge on your cotton round, it is probably because of ear mites. The garlic olive oil can be used as a way to smother the mites but you have to be diligent and apply the oil daily until you don't see signs, which may take up to a month. If you have more than one cat there is a good chance you'll need to do this for each cat. Add a dropper of garlic oil to each ear, gently squish the ear cartilage so it gets down into the canal, wipe out with a cotton round to remove the black discharge and clean the ear. Be sure to do both ears.

Another great natural method of ear cleaning is to wipe out the canal with coconut oil. As an anti-fungal, coconut oil will help keep those yeasties at bay.

Learn more about coconut oil for your pets from this article. Coconut oil is loaded with the good fats our pets need for better digestion, fresher breath, smooth coat, clean teeth and to make life easier your dog will probably take it right off a spoon. Start off with about 1/4 tsp for every 10 pounds of body weight and work up to about a tsp. a day for the average 10 pound cat and 1-2 tbsp. a day for the average dog weight of 50-60 pounds or 1 tsp per 10 pounds.

To help keep those teeth clean and breath fresh, try adding a bit of coconut oil to an ordinary toothbrush and go over your dog or cat's teeth. Your dog will probably just try to chew on the brush but that's ok, he is still getting the antibacterial benefits on his teeth and mix with saliva to do the trick. Now a cat may like it or fight it but it's worth a try.

Pet skin allergies are one of the most common reasons pets need to visit their veterinarian. As frustrating for the doctor as for the pet owner, these conditions are often chronic, meaning all you're doing is offering temporary relief even though you go to the vet hoping the next "fix" will work this time for good. Prednisolone works like a magic pill but long term steroid use is often detrimental for your pet's health.

Be aware of what is in your pet's food. The more inexpensive brands are corn based which is a cheap filler, adds weight gain, often attributes to allergies, and is not the best thing for a naturally carnivorous animal. You will find that the better quality pet foods require less per serving, bringing the overall cost down. Cheaper foods don't offer the nutrition your pet needs, contain fillers and potentially harmful additives and preservatives, eventually evident in the condition of the skin, coat and possible chronic disease. The addition of 1 Tbsp. of flax seed oil added daily to your pet's diet can help with irritated skin. Commercial pet foods are often lacking in the 'good fats' so needed for healthy skin. Flax oil comes bottled in the refrigerated section of most health or natural food stores.

Allergies and anxiety can result in a dog miserable with itchy, twitchy skin resulting in obsessive licking a certain spot, known as hot spots. This mixture of vegetable glycerin and witch hazel (click here) is worth a try to help break the cycle and hopefully the licking will stop. Just spray the affected area and rub in a bit with your fingers.

Urinary blockages in cats is every cat owners nightmare. Blockages can be painfully fatal if not caught in time, so a trip to the vet should not be pushed off. Crystals can block the urethra making it very difficult or impossible for the cat to urinate. Signs of a bladder infection and inflammation include: frequent straining in the litter box, not making it to the litter box, voiding very little urine at a time, constant licking at the back end, lethargy, bloody urine, painful meowing.

Preventative measures include adding a bit of apple cider vinegar to your cat's water bowl to help keep the urine acidic or add some cranberry juice to your cat's diet. These can be given in capsule form or dried cranberry juice powder added to the food. Unsweetened cranberry juice or a cranberry tincture can be added to the water bowl. Ask your vet for the proper dosages. 

Minor wound care can be nursed at home. Keep on hand two 'must haves' from your health food store. Ask for the essential oils Tea Tree and Lavender. They'll come in little 1 oz. amber glass dropper bottles. Essential oils are very potent and NEVER allowed accessible to the possibility of your pet ingesting them. External use only!!

Should you have a wound to deal with, dilute 10 drops tea tree in a cup of warm water and wash the wound to disinfect and clean the area. Once clean and dry apply a good quality healing salve. If the wound is a puncture it needs to heal from the inside out. If it closes over too soon, there is an increase of infection. This is especially true with cat bites. Cat bites very often develop an abscess and antibiotics may be needed but home care of the wound is still necessary. For deeper wounds, keep the wound disinfected with the tea tree wash but wait a few days before applying the salve. Won't harm your pet if he licks at the salve.

This link is for an herbal salve utilizing the healing powers of herbs, Calendula and Comfrey.

click here

Lavender is like a first aid kit in a bottle. Just a drop will help the itch of bug bites. Dilute 10 - 15 drops in a pint of warm water and sponge bathe your pet to relief either sunburn or irritated, inflamed skin.

A great balm to keep on hand utilizes the properties of herbal oils Chickweed, Plantain and Comfrey. Apply to bug bites or inflamed skin conditions and hot spots. Won't harm your pet if he licks at the salve.

click here

Protection from the elements is done very efficiently by a dog's coat, but depending on the breed, they may be a bit more vulnerable to the sun's rays. Not all breeds have the skin protection of thick body fur and are susceptible to sun burn. Over-exposed noses and ears, or the body itself in hairless breeds, can suffer from sunburn just like with our unprotected skin. An herbal salve made up of St. Johnswort, Comfrey and Lavender, this balm not only repairs damaged tissue but calms down the inflammation and pain that follows a burn.

 click here

Some dog breeds just seem to have more of a doggy odor than others, and some dog fur just seems to take forever to dry after getting wet.  Come in from the rain or following a bath, and that wet dog smell can be very distinct.  This deodorant spray is listed as a deodorant spray for people seeking alternatives to aluminum based deodorants, but is also very good for our pets (not cats). Vanilla and Sage are often used in pet odor candles, for they are very good at eliminating odors. Being alcohol based, it dries quickly, leaving behind a really nice smelling pooch. Do not get into the eyes.

  click here

Bathing your dog can be a rewarding and bonding experience, especially if you know you are using a gentle shampoo free of potentially harmful additives. Over use of bathing products can dry out and contribute to the imbalance of skin conditions.

The links below are for shampoos based on the gentle, natural ingredients in Bronner's castile soap, Aloe Vera Gel and Apple Cider Vinegar.

General Clean Shampoo

Flea Deterrent Shampoo

Shampoo for irritated skin

A further use for lavender and peppermint is to add about 10 - 15 drops of either oil or a combination of both to an 16 oz. spray bottle of water. Spray your dog and/or pet bedding to freshen as well as repel fleas. If using on a cat the lavender is safe but avoid the peppermint. Also spray your mattress and upholstered furniture.

In addition for the battle with fleas, Diatomaceous Earth is a non-toxic all-natural powdered substance that can be rubbed directly into the fur and/or sprinkled onto the pet bedding. Diatomaceous earth  is not an earth. It is the fossilized remains of microscopic shells created by one celled plants called diatoms. It can also be used as an organic wormer and will kill any worms or parasites the pets may have. Be sure to use pure, food-grade DE. Nature’s Wisdom Diatomaceous Earth contains Perma-guard de. PERMA-GUARD is the trade name known world wide for using a grade and quality of Diatomaceous Earth (DE) that is extremely pure.

To use Diatomaceous Earth for fleas:

Avoid getting the powder into your pet's eyes. Rub about one tbsp. into the fur of dogs over 35 pounds. Use about one tsp. for cats or little dogs. Do this once or twice a week.

To use Diatomaceous Earth for worms:

Add one tbsp a day to your dog's food.

Add one tsp. a day to your cat's food.

Repeat this until you no longer see signs of worms either in the stool or in vomit.

Borax is another option for fleas. Sprinkle it over your carpets and rugs, work it in, wait at least a half hour, and vacuum.

 Rescued pets have no way to actually tell us the origins of their fears and anxieties. We try to help these emotionally based behavioral disorders by offering secure, safe havens free of stress. But past traumas are buried deep and all it takes is the loud bang of gunfire, fireworks or even door slamming, to send a shaking pet under the bed. Or perhaps with your companion it is dealing with separation anxiety, and our dog exhibits inappropriate chewing, either of his own tail or paws or your home furnishings. Before relying on anti-anxiety medication, try the power of herbal remedies. Lavender and chamomile are safe for pets and are great for calming fears.

A remedy great to have on hand though you hope never to have to use it is Bach Flower Rescue Remedy. It is a remedy to give in situations of extreme shock and fear. It is made up of five flower essences known for their calming properties: Impatiens, Clematis, Rock Rose, Cherry Plum and Star of Bethlehem. Found at a health food store, this remedy developed by Dr. Edward Bach, should be in every first aid kit and every car glove compartment. Preventing shock at the time of an emergency definitely can save lives. Give two to four drops on the tongue or gums every 10 - 15 minutes en route to the veterinarian.

Listed below is an essential oil based spray useful for spraying pet bedding or massaging it right into their fur. It will help with fears and anxiety as well as calm down an excited pet in preparation for sleep. This air or linen spray also works great for people who have trouble sleeping and children who need help settling down. Click here

The threat of Lyme disease is always a concern for pets as well as ourselves.  Ticks can be very stubborn to the typical flea and tick sprays. Rather than dousing yourself and loved ones with pesticides and organophosphates, and then worry about the risks of these toxic ingredients, try an approach these buggers naturally detest and don't build up a resistance. The scent of certain essential oils encourages them to flee. Ticks don't like the smell of the oil therefore try to avoid it. Rose Geranium, Pelargonium graveolens, is a necessary part of any effective eco-friendly tick repellent. This spray is ideal for use on your dogs, but don't use on cats. Some essential oils can be dangerous to cats. Cats don't have the enzymes necessary to break down certain components and unless eliminated efficiently their build-up can lead to toxicity.

  click here 

Below is a great gift idea for the dog lover! A nice assortment of care products useful for people and their pets for bath time, times of anxiety, tick prevention, wound care and pet odor.

click here

Your dog will love these handmade, homemade dog treats to help repel fleas.

Click here to take you to a blog post with the recipe.

Last, please remember that when you have a young dog you have to be patient and tolerant. Dogs aim to please and aren't purposely getting on your nerves with their impulsive, destructive behaviors.

Here is a cute, yet so true post about living with a toddler dog

I'm Sorry!

The items shown above can be found within both the Meadow Muffin Gardens shop as well as the Meadow Mutts and Mew Mews shop

Homemade & Healthy Flea Repelling Dog Treats

Flea season can be exasperating for both pet owners and their pets. We can apply flea and tick preventatives on our dogs, we can vacuum our homes, wash the pet bedding regularly, and yet every time we open our door to the great outdoors those little pests are lurking to hitch a ride back inside.

The diet can have an influence on just how attractive those fleas find our pets. By adding ingredients such as brewer's or nutritional yeast and garlic, we can help our pets to be a bit less appealing to biting, blood sucking fleas.

Bake*A*Bone is a wonderful kitchen gadget that will make the process of homemade treats so much less of a hassle. There is no rolling out the dough or cutting with cookie cutters, both of which can be fun, but realistically, in any given busy week, I for one just never got it done. But using a Bake*A*Bone grill is so much less messy and saves money by not having to heat up the oven.



Below are two sources to find this little grill online. It'll cost about $24.00 and makes for a wonderful Holiday Gift Idea for an animal lover.

Bake*A*Bone from Amazon

Bake*A*Bone from Coupaws
Coupaws is a site of great deals and every purchase provides six meals to pets in need.

Included with the grill is a little book full of delicious recipes made up of wholesome, healthy ingredients. No preservatives, no added coloring or flavoring, no chemicals period. Just good for your dog foods that are great supplements and add variety to their ordinary diet.

Here is a recipe not included in the book. It is a treat that acts as a natural flea repellent.

FLEA-BE-GONE DOG BISCUITS (from the 2015 edition of the Farmer's Almanac)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 cups flour of choice
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup brewer's or nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chicken broth

Directions:

Stir the vegetable oil and garlic powder together in a mixing bowl.
In another larger bowl, mix the remaining ingredients.
Slowly add the oil and garlic mixture to the dry ingredients followed by the chicken broth.
Mix thoroughly until you get a doughy consistency.

Follow the directions that come with the Bake*A*Bone to bake your treats. The grill makes four at a time and each batch will take about 10 minutes baking time. Being the dough is thick it is easier to just add a small blob to the bone indentation and not worry so much about how perfect each one looks. If you want perfectly shaped bone shapes, you can pinch off the excess once they are baked.



To make these without a grill:
Roll dough onto a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.
Use a knife to cut dough into squares or use cookie cutters to make shapes.
Place cut dough onto a large, ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are brown.
Allow the treats to cool completely and then store in plastic bags or tight containers.

The biggest challenge is setting a limit on how many of these your dog gets in a day. My dogs love them to the point I could be offering them far too often than I normally would just because I know how healthy they are.

Another great perk with these treats is that there is no crumbly mess left behind as there so often is with the typical dog bones. If you want them crunchier, the book says to preheat your oven to 350 degrees, place the baked treats on a cookie sheets and put into the preheated oven. Then turn off the oven and just let the treats sit in the turned off oven for 4-6 hours to dry out.

These dog bones will probably get eaten up before you have to worry about spoilage, but they can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for longer storage.

Fleas are Voracious...Be Vigilant and you can be Victorious

Fleas are Voracious...Be Vigilant and you can be Victorious

Fleas are tenacious critters and their ability to persevere regardless of all of our ways to get rid of them is amazing. We cannot solely blame our pets for the presence of fleas in our homes. Being attracted to warm blooded animals they will make your pet their temporary home for a food source, but there is also a very real possibility they are hitching a ride into your home by way of your shoes or clothing.

The key to flea control is quick action. If you see signs and ignore them, even for a few days, the situation could become a nightmare. Telltale signs of the presence of fleas go beyond actually seeing the buggers. Observe your pet. If he starts with the twitching and sudden jerks to lick, especially areas like the belly, groin area, under the neck and behind the tail along the backbone, it is time to pay attention. 
If you see black specks laying on the areas where your pet spends its time sleeping, that is a good sign that your pet has fleas even if they don't appear to be bothering him. Those specks are "flea dirt" which is actually dried pre-digested blood. 
If you see little, rice shaped worms on your pets back end or on their bedding, that means they have tapeworms (Dipylidium caninum). Fleas are notorious for transmitting  tapeworms to your pets. When your pet itches, they lick and when they lick they ingest the flea, and once the flea is ingested the tapeworm can complete it's life cycle. Adult tapeworms can be several inches in length living in your pet's intestinal tract. What you see are the sections that break off.

It is important to understand the life cycle of the flea. There are four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The typical life cycle will take anywhere from a couple weeks to months. It depends on the temperature in their environment and humidity levels. Fleas like conditions between 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit and 70% humidity.

So let's start with the females that hitch a ride into your home. Those adult females lay eggs following a blood meal from the host animal. Without blood the flea is unable to reproduce and being that is their goal in life they can very quickly make your pet miserable. The eggs are slightly smaller than a grain of sand and white in color. They are laid in the fur in bunches of about 20. One adult female flea can lay about 40 eggs every day. As your pet moves around those eggs fall off which is how the problem can suddenly appear all over the house. Eggs represent 50% of the entire flea population in a home.

With optimal conditions the eggs can hatch in only two days. If the temperatures are cold and dry it'll take a bit longer, perhaps up to two weeks. If the temperatures are warm with high humidity, the eggs will hatch in a few days.

The larvae that emerge from those eggs need to avoid light, so will nestle in carpets, dark corners, clothing lying around and upholstery. What they live on is the flea dirt that is found amidst other organic debris in their environment. The larvae make up about 35% of the population. This is why it is ultra important to wash all bedding your pet uses and to have a good vacuum cleaner. Strongly recommended is a vacuum with a microfiber bag or the type of vacuum using water such as a Rainbow. With a bagless vacuum there is good chance that when you empty the canister into your trash, you will just release those fleas and eggs back into your home. Microfiber bags are made to trap allergens, dust and fleas debris with no escaping. Water canisters need to be emptied each time but the fleas are dead from drowning.
If left to their own devices, those larvae will spin cocoons in 5 to 20 days from the time of hatching from their eggs.

The cocoon or pupae stage is the last developmental stage before the adult emerges that we usually see. The purpose of the cocoon stage is to protect the pupae for as long as it takes for conditions to be ideal for the adults to emerge. This can take from just a few days to years. The cocoons have a sticky coating that allows them to attach to carpet fibers so having a powerful vacuum cleaner is paramount.

What triggers the adult flea to emerge once developed is a rise in nearby body heat, higher levels of carbon dioxide and vibrations. All these are associated with the nearby presence of a warm-blooded body nearby, be that a pet or a person. Once fleas emerge they need to eat within a few hours. After feeding they'll begin to breed, lay eggs and the cycle starts all over again. Adult fleas account for only about 5% of the entire population in the house, but while on your pet they'll continue to feed, breed and lay eggs.

Before dousing your home with toxic flea bombs and chemicals there are other safer weapons of destruction against them: Borax, Diatomaceous Earth and Vinegar and the all important Vacuum Cleaner!



Use borax, Not boric acid!
What you want is Disodium Tetraborate or Sodium Tetraborate which is Borax. Borax is mined from the earth as a complex form of boron bound with other minerals. Boric acid does not occur naturally in nature, but is made from borax by adding hydrochloric acid and water. This increases the toxicity level so it is not a good thing to have around your pets or children.

Borax looks like salt, has no smell and doesn't get absorbed by the skin when touched. It kills fleas by dehydrating them as it makes small cuts in their exoskeleton. This works on the larvae but won't help you get rid of the eggs. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum to get rid of the eggs.

Borax is also good for killing ants, bed bugs and roaches.
Borax is safe to have in your home and is much less toxic than insecticides.
If you are pregnant, avoid using any Borate substance which includes borax.
You don't want small children crawling around on the floor if there is borax still in the carpet.
Keep your cats away from the borax powder. Breathing in the fumes could cause health problems.
Don't put borax directly onto your pets. You don't want prolonged skin contact.
Keep borax away from your plants.

How to use:
Sprinkle borax liberally all around your carpeted areas.
Use a stiff brush or broom to work the borax down into the carpet fibers.
Wait at least six hours before vacuuming up the borax.

An alternative to borax is Diatomaceous Earth. 

Borax may give quicker results, but diatomaceous earth (DE) is completely natural and much safer for the family and pets. It is a simple mineral-silica. The steps for application are the same as for the borax. It kills similar to the borax by cutting into the exoskeleton and sucks the fluids out of the fleas' bodies. The action is physical rather than chemical. Hundreds of microscopic DE get all over the insect's body, and as the bug moves the DE scratches off their waxy coating and they dehydrate.  

Diatomaceous earth comes in two forms, pool grade and food grade. The type you want is food grade! 

Diatomaceous earth is formed from algae with siliceous shells. When extracted, they are already dead, but the shells remain. Though these shells are sharp they are too small to have any effect on humans. A totally safe, non-toxic method to kill not only fleas but bed bugs and chiggers.

If you don't have carpets, diatomaceous earth can also be used on hardwood floors. Don't forget to apply to the corners and along baseboard edges. 

Don't use in areas with fans blowing. A high draft will send the fine granules all over into the air and may be irritating to breathe it in.

When purchasing diatomaceous earth, read the label and besides making sure it is food grade and not pool grade, also check to make sure the concentration is around 99%. Any other formulation may not be as pure and safe for your family and pets. The other blends may kill fleas faster, but may contain insecticides.

Once the fleas come into contact with the powder, they usually die about 4 hours later. If possible, leave the powder on the floor overnight to ensure the fleas are dead before vacuuming.

Since flea eggs hatch after about a week after the eggs had been laid, it is best to repeat the process once a week for a month. You need to get to all four stages of the flea's life cycle.

Don't be concerned if you feel you did breathe in some of the DE powder. Unless you are dusting a garden and expect to be exposed to the dust for a period of time (in which case you should wear a mask) you should be fine. However, those with asthma may want to wear a face mask.

Diatomaceous earth is also used internally to treat for parasites, so don't be concerned as long as you are using food grade DE.

DE can be used as a way of flea treating your dog, but in moderation. If applied to your pet on a daily basis it can cause dry skin. Also, don't use on kittens, puppies, rabbits, guinea pigs or hamsters. Their small body mass could be a problem. 

To use on a pet for fleas:

Once a week application.

Put a towel over the head so the powder doesn't get into their eyes irritate their lungs.

Rub about 1 Tbsp into the fur of a dog over 35 pounds.

For dogs less than 35 pounds or for cats use about 1 Tsp.

To use on a pet for worms:

Add to food once a day till see no more signs of worms (stool, vomit, coughing, on bedding)

Add 1 Tbsp to the food for dogs.

Add 1 Tsp to the food for cats.

Diatomaceous earth can also be used in chicken bedding boxes to help with mites and lice.

Just sprinkle around the bedding inside the boxes.

Don't let the DE get wet. Moisture will reduce the effectiveness.

Good sites to visit for more information about DE are:

www.earthworkshealth.com

www.morethanalive.com

Last we have yet another use for vinegar!

Vinegar has been used for centuries to clean and deodorize. It has been used to get rid of ants and fruit flies in the kitchen. It has its use in the garden to prevent aphids from destroying plants. Weeds can be controlled with vinegar. 

Our beloved pets can smell fresher with a vinegar rinse and then towel dried. Kill two birds with one stone and send fleas packing as well.

To use as a flea bath:

Use Dawn Dishsoap to lather up your pet. Pour vinegar over your pet and massage it in. Let this mix stay on the pet for at least 10 minutes while you massage it throughout the fur down to the skin. Then rinse it all out.

To repel fleas:

Add a bit of vinegar to your dog's drinking water. This makes the pet's blood and skin more acidic and unfavorable to a flea's taste. 

Vinegar added to a cat's water may be too acidic for a cat's system. 

Another option is to spray vinegar (dilute if too strong) on the fur and massage to distribute it all over your pet.

This is a good method for both dogs and cats.

Spray vinegar onto pet bedding to deter fleas.

It doesn't matter whether you choose to use white or apple cider vinegar for spraying onto the pet or it's bedding. 

But for adding to the drinking water, use apple cider vinegar.

Good prevention also must include a good flea comb. Long-haired dogs and those with thick undercoats can be a challenge to flea comb but for short-haired dogs and cats it is a wonderful, very practical tool. Get in the habit of going over your pet on a regular basis and make it part of your pet's grooming. Flea combing is the best method for cats. Since cats' systems are so touchy with toxins, just running a flea comb over them is ideal. The cat loves the attention, it gets its grooming and you can nip any problems in the bud. Have a bowl of water next to you with a dash of dish soap and drop the fleas into the water as you find them.

Pictured below are two herbal vinegar blends useful for people and their pets to help deter not only fleas but pesty bugs as well. Click on the link below the pictures for more information on them.

Herbal Vinegar Insect Repellent, Plantain, Comfrey, Yarrow

Herbal Vinegar Insect Repellent, Lavender and Plantain

Thanks to Jennifer Kvamme, DVM for her informative article on flea control

Thanks to Natasha Anderson for her informative article on Diatomaceous Earth and Borax

Thanks to the article from FleaBites on the use of vinegar and as a great source for information and supplies.