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Enlarge Image Image Gallery Although fleas and ticks are a challenging problem, natural methods can help. Photo courtesy of A. Barcelon

The one constant of holistic medicine is that, no matter the particular method, the ultimate goal is for the patient to achieve a healthy balance. As a holistic veterinarian, my aim is to help patients gain an inner balance of body/mind/heart/soul within the environment where they live. In my neck of the woods, ticks and fleas provide us with one of the biggest challenges to this balancing act.

A balanced approach

No matter what drug or herb I recommend for parasite control, I am always concerned with the balance between safety (a lack of adverse side effects in most, if not all, patients) and efficacy (how effective is this method when used in dozens or hundreds of patients?). Anything that has the potential to kill fleas and ticks also has the potential to harm the animal. Concerning the safety and efficacy of flea and tick control, here are the general guidelines.

• Commercial products have a wide range of safety. Safety depends on the chemicals used in the product, the quality control used in the manufacturing process, and the way the chemical is applied—internally, given as a paste or pill; topically, as a powder, foam, spray, bath, or dip; or the long-lasting products supplied as spot-ons or flea/tick collars.

• Commercial products can be extremely effective. For my patients that have an overwhelming number of fleas, I nearly always need to resort to chemical products, at least initially. Once the parasite numbers are under control, we can often go to our natural parasite control plan, listed below.

• Herbs are, for the most part, extremely safe. However, even herbal preparations may be toxic to some animals. Powders, sprays, soaps, and rinses that use whole herbs (or teas made from whole herbs) are the safest, followed by herbal products that use herbal extracts. Essential oils may be toxic, especially for cats. Use caution with “flea collars” made by soaking the collar in essential oils, particularly when using the essential oil of pennyroyal.

• The relative amount of safety depends somewhat on the method of application. Externally applied, short-acting herbal or chemical products (powders, sprays, foams) are generally the safest, partially because they can be quickly removed by bathing if the animal does have a reaction to them. Shampoos and dips are at least partially absorbed through the skin, so they are more likely to create a toxic reaction, and dips oftentimes contain chemicals that have more potential for creating toxicities.

For all products that are applied topically, the potential for toxicity is increased if the animal licks and ingests large amounts of the substance. Although the internal products—pills, capsules, and the long-acting spot-ons—have proven to be relatively safe, they are not without their problems. I always use them with caution, especially with young, old, or immune-compromised animals. And I recommend that clients use them only during the time of year when the ticks and fleas are most active.