Cat Flea Treatment with Boric Acid

If your pet has fleas, or if there are fleas in your home, selecting an appropriate cat flea treatment is necessary in order to maintain your cat's health. While a flea infestation may be only a slight bother to your pet, it can also lead to a variety of other potentially harmful conditions, such as anemia. To properly address your pet's flea infestation, it's important to ensure that you not only eliminate the fleas that live on his body, but that you also kill any fleas that are in your home and not living on your pet. Boric acid is an effective agent for completing the second of these tasks.

Boric Acid Overview

Boric acid is commonly available in the household product Borax. It's a pesticide, but a relatively mild and non-toxic one in comparison with many of the more powerful commercial pesticides. It's a popular choice for pest and insect removal among pet owners. You can safely use boric acid in your home as a flea remover without worrying about your cat's safety, provided that you follow the application instructions carefully and that you don't leave the acid mixture out where your pet can access it.

Boric acid is effective as an insecticide because it is a desiccant, meaning that it causes dehydration. Insects that come into contact with boric acid die from lack of moisture in their systems. Borax is typically effective at eliminating both living fleas and their eggs, although frequent and repeated treatments are necessary if you're applying the treatment on your own. Professional exterminators often use a more powerful and thorough boric acid treatment, which is guaranteed to eliminate fleas for one year.

Procedure

In order to treat your carpets with boric acid to eliminate fleas, purchase a container of Borax at a hardware or cleaning supplies store. Follow the instructions on the package in order to determine the quantity necessary for your home. The procedure itself is relatively simple, and involves sprinkling a small quantity of Borax over your carpet surface, allowing it to settle in for a period of time, and then vacuuming to remove any free Borax that remains on the surface of the carpet. The exact settling time depends upon your carpet and the quantity of Borax, but is typically 1 to 2 days.

While you are treating your carpet with Borax, keep your pets away from the substance. If your pets spend time outdoors, keep them out of the house. You may also wish to confine them to the garage, bathroom or other part of the house without carpeting.

Other Considerations

Borax can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, ulcers, heart problems, coma and even death if your pet ingests it. These effects are typically very rare and are only seen in cases of acute boric acid poisoning. Still, take the precautions necessary to ensure that your animal doesn't have access to boric acid at any point. Keep in mind that a boric acid treatment will not eliminate the fleas that live on your pet's body. Speak with your veterinarian about safe and effective methods for a cat flea treatment.

 

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