Natural Ways to Prevent Fleas & Ticks
🌿 Natural Ways We Can Protect Our Furry Guys from Seasonal Pests 🦟
Flea and tick season is just around the corner here in Saskatchewan, and every year around this time I think back to the moment that changed how I handle it forever.
I was at the vet picking up Zaner's annual flea and tick pill. The vet handed it to me and said, almost as an aside, "Just make sure you don't touch it with your fingers." 😳
I stood there for a second.
I was not supposed to touch the pill with my bare hands.
But Zaner was supposed to swallow it!?
That was the moment I started asking questions I had never thought to ask before. And what I found out stopped me from ever filling that prescription again.
If you'd prefer to listen to this email, you can find it here anywhere you love listening to podcasts! Look for S1 E24 Naturally Preventing Fleas & Ticks.
☠️ What Conventional Chemical Products Actually Are
Let's call flea and tick chemical treatments what they actually are. They are pesticides. Not medications. Not preventatives. Pesticides!
They work by entering your pet's bloodstream and paralyzing the nervous system of any insect that bites them. That is not prevention. The insect still has to bite your pet in order to ingest the poison and die. So if the goal is to protect your furry guy from the diseases ticks and fleas can carry, these chemicals are not preventing the bite. They are just killing the bug after the fact, using poison that is circulating through your pet's body.
And here is the part that should give every pet parent pause.
These pesticides are designed to target an insect's nervous system. But they do not come with the ability to distinguish between an insect's nervous system and your dog's. The same poison designed to kill the bug is inside your pet's body every single day that chemical is active.
Which may explain why, according to the research done through Project Jake, a study you can read in full, where it states 66.6% of animals who receive these chemical treatments experience adverse reactions. That is not a rare side effect. That is the majority.
Adverse reactions include vomiting, agitation, lethargy, tremors, seizures, neurological disorders, and in some cases, death.
The products associated with these reactions include some of the most commonly prescribed flea and tick treatments in veterinary offices across North America, including Bravecto, NexGard, Simparica, and Simparica Trio. These are classified as isoxazoline products and the FDA has issued warnings about them. The warning is literally printed on the box! Most pet parents are never told this at the point of prescription and rarely see the box with the warning printed right across it!
🌾 The Good News About Saskatchewan
Here is where we get to breathe a little.
We are lucky. Saskatchewan's flea and tick season is genuinely short, approximately two months of meaningful risk compared to many parts of the country and continent where tick season runs most of the year. That shorter season means natural options are very realistic for most of our furry family, and layering several of them together gives excellent protection without a single drop of pesticide.
The key with natural deterrents is that they are not potent like chemicals are, and that is actually the whole point. They work by making your pet an unappealing target rather than by poisoning anything. That means they are completely safe, but it also means the strategy is to double, triple, or even quadruple up on protection rather than relying on any single product.
Zaner has been on a fully natural tick prevention protocol for seven years. Knock on wood, he has never had a tick.
Here is exactly what we do.
🌿 Zaner's Natural Tick Season Protocol
The AtlanTick Lava Band Collar
This is one of our exciting new additions this season and it is a clever one. The AtlanTick Lava Band Collar which you can see Zaner sporting in the picture above, is made with large, naturally porous lava beads strung on durable nylon cord. Lava beads absorb and slowly release essential oil based pest deterrents, so you place the necklace in a plastic bag and add your natural, botanical repellent directly to the beads, let sit for about 10 minutes while the natural deterrent is absorbed into the beads and your pet wears the protection on their walks. It doubles as both a collar and a hair band, and the scent releases gradually throughout the outing. Reapply your natural deterrent every 2-3 days. This is a beautiful, functional piece of protection that adds another layer without any chemicals.
EarthMD Outdoor Shield
This is our other exciting new product this season and it works from the inside out, which is a completely different approach than anything topical or wearable.
EarthMD Outdoor Shield is a powder you add directly to your pet's food for one week at a time. It contains quassia bark, neem leaf, spirulina, and garlic, and it works by making your pet less appealing to insects from the inside. The garlic inclusion is key here and I know that raises eyebrows for some pet parents, so let me address it directly. Garlic in appropriate therapeutic doses is not toxic to dogs. It is medicinal. The fear around garlic comes from a very old, widely misapplied study that used extreme quantities. In the correct dose, as found in this product, garlic is a recognized and effective natural pest deterrent.
One important note: EarthMD Outdoor Shield is not suitable for all pets. It should not be used in animals with bleeding disorders, diabetes, liver or kidney disease, or cardiovascular disease, and it is not recommended for pregnant, lactating, or very young animals. As always, if your furry guy has any of these conditions, please check with us or your natural vet before adding it.
Kin+Kind Outdoor Shield Sprays
We carry two essential oil based pest deterrent sprays, the Kin+Kind Outdoor Shield in Lavender and in Lemongrass. Both are vet formulated, made from a blend of pet safe organic essential oils, and smell genuinely wonderful. Zaner and I are both Lemongrass people.
Pro tip from someone who has been doing this for seven years: I spray it on my hands, rub them together, and then apply it to Zaner's legs and undercarriage while keeping it away from his face and eyes. Whatever is left on my hands goes on me, since the chemical bug sprays made for humans are just as toxic for our pets as for us. One product does double duty for both of us. I will also spray some on his Tick Season bandana that he wears on walks during the the season of pests!
Kin+Kind Outdoor Shield Shampoo
Using the matching Outdoor Shield Shampoo at bath time during flea & tick time, adds another layer of protection and extends the deterrent effect between walks. It is a simple swap that requires no extra effort.
Tickless Ultrasonic Devices
Tickless is one of our longest standing natural tick prevention tools and Zaner has worn one every tick season for years. The device emits a series of ultrasonic pulses that are completely imperceptible to humans, pets, and wildlife, but that interfere with a tick or flea's ability to orient itself. No chemicals. No fragrance. No stress on the body whatsoever. They are scientifically proven, have 94% efficacy against ticks, and are safe for dogs of all ages including seniors, puppies, pregnant dogs, and dogs with health conditions.
We carry the standard Tickless device that lasts a full season and the Tickless Mini Rechargeable with a nightlight function. Zaner wears his clipped to his harness so he doesn't fall over from it hanging on his collar...he's a tiny dude, even though he doesn't believe it!
A Note on Tick Checks and the Tick Tornado
No protocol is complete without the habit of doing a tick check after every walk during tick season, especially if you have been anywhere near longer grass. Run your fingers through the coat, check around the ears, between the toes, under the collar, and along the belly.
If you do find a tick, the most important thing is to remove it properly. We carry the Tick Tornado, which is a small, inexpensive removal tool that extracts the tick cleanly without squeezing the body, which is what you want to avoid. Keep the Tick Tornado with you on walks, in your first aid kit or in your glove box so if you ever need it, you've got the right tool to safely remove a tick. The Tick Tornado works for dogs, cats or people.
⚠️ If You Absolutely Must Use a Chemical Treatment
We understand that not every situation allows for a fully natural approach. If you are in a very high risk area, if your furry guy spends significant time in heavily wooded or grassy environments, or if you have a specific concern your vet has flagged, here is how to minimize the impact if you do choose a conventional product.
✅ Ask for a chemical that targets only the specific pest you are at risk for in your area. A product that fights every insect on the planet exposes your pet to far more chemical than is necessary.
✅ Choose the shortest duration available. If tick season in Saskatchewan is two months, there is no reason to use a product that stays active in the body for six to twelve months.
✅ And after any chemical treatment, support the liver. The liver is responsible for filtering these pesticides out of the body and it needs support to do that job well. We recommend Milk Thistle or Adored Beast Liver Tonic in the weeks following administration to help your pet's body clear the chemicals and protect their organs.
🩵 The Bottom Line
Every family makes their own decision about how to protect their furry guys and we fully respect that. What we want is for that decision to be an informed one. If you were told to pick up a pill and not told it was a pesticide, not told about the 66% adverse reaction rate, and not shown any of the natural alternatives, that is not an informed decision. That is a sales transaction.
You deserve better than that.
Come in and talk to us about building your natural tick season protocol. We will help you figure out the right combination for your furry family, your lifestyle, and your budget.
Seven tick-free years and counting over here. We are happy to share everything we know.