Will any dish soap kill fleas? Does Dawn dishwashing soap treat fleas on pets such as dogs and cats? Let’s find out.
Every once in a while, our beloved pets pick up fleas when they roam or play around. These pests feed on their blood and cause a significant amount of discomfort.
What kind of dish soap kills fleas?
Killing Pet Fleas With Dawn Dish Soap
You don’t want to see your pets restless over a treatable problem. As such, there’s a need to look for quick fixes.
Quick fixes, in this sense, refer to the use of everyday household cleaning products to treat flea problems. One popular product found in a lot of households is Dawn dishwashing soap.
From the name alone, it’s clear what this liquid soap product is used for.
So, does this give any relief from flea problems?
Does Dawn Kills Fleas?
Do fleas stand a chance against Dawn dishwashing soap? No, they don’t!
In other words, this dishwashing product is known to kill fleas. This is good news for persons seeking to apply such treatments to their dogs and pets.
However, there’s a problem.
While Dawn dishwashing soap kills fleas, it’s not a practical solution for pet treatment. Whenever you find fleas on pets, there are only a few at any given time on such pets.
This means more fleas are scattered around than those found on your dogs or cats.
As such, after applying or treating your pets with this dishwashing soap, a whole legion of fleas will wait in ambush to hop onto your pet for their fill of blood.
This is counterproductive and offers no lasting solution to your pet’s flea issues.
How Dawn Dishwashing Soap Kills Fleas
Before we go any further, you’ll need to know how this readily available dishwashing soap kills fleas.
In the absence of Dawn dishwashing soap, plain water will hardly harm fleas as their exoskeletons are well adapted to keep them from drowning.
However, when a solution of water and this liquid soap is made, they easily drown. Plus, the soap covering their body surface prevents them from breathing. This results in drowning and suffocation.
If this situation unfolds, why not apply some Dawn dishwashing soap solution to dogs and cats?
Making Dawn Dish Soap Insecticide
You can easily mix or make your Dawn Dish Soap insecticide in many ways.
A Dawn Dish Soap-only insecticide can be made and mixing it with other natural products such as vinegar for better results. What you choose to use depends on what works for your situation.
There are several steps to follow when treating your pet’s flea issues.
Different approaches are used depending on what pets you’re treating. Adding some vinegar to your Dawn Dish Soap insecticide for a dog will do a lot of good.
So, how do you go about it?
Using Dawn Dish Soap For Fleas On Pets
Whether you’re using dawn dishwashing soap for flea control or pests, you should know that it isn’t a reliable way to get the job done.
Killing fleas through Dawn dishwashing soap is only a temporary solution that isn’t reliable.
Dawn wasn’t designed for flea extermination. As its name suggests, this product is solely made to serve as a dish cleaner and nothing else.
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Only Adult Fleas May Get Killed
While Dawn dishwashing soap will do little to solve your flea problems, only adult fleas are affected. This makes the use of Dawn dishwashing soap even less reliable.
To understand this point, you’ll need to consider the life stages of fleas.
Female adults lay eggs that hatch into the larval stage.
Flea larvae eventually molt to pupa, from where they turn or become adults. At each stage of development, using a dishwashing product such as Dawn will have little impact on them.
When adults die off, they get replaced in just a few days. You’ll need to adopt a more comprehensive approach to treatment. Such a comprehensive approach should be such that it eliminates fleas and their eggs.
Also, you should eliminate these pests at all stages of development.
Killing Fleas on Dogs with Dawn Dish Soap
When treating your pets, you want to make a lather and work it through their fur. First, you’ll need some Dawn Dish Soap, vinegar, warm water, and a comb.
After making your Dawn Dish Soap lather, gradually work it through your dog’s fur.
The comb will come in handy as it helps brush the dish soap later into the pet’s skin and fur. You shouldn’t hasten this process. Spend 5 to 10 minutes working the lather into your pet’s skin.
This should be sufficient time to kill fleas.
After this process, rinse your pet with warm water and repeat the process if you still find some fleas moving around.
Killing Fleas on Cats with Dawn Dish Soap
It’s common knowledge that cats find water very uncomfortable to be around. So, you’ll have to devise a strategy to exterminate fleas still using Dawn Dish Soap.
Get a container and make a solution of this soap and some vinegar. You’ll need a flea comb to brush through your cat’s fur.
By soaking the flea comb into the Dawn Dish Soap solution, brush through your cat’s fur until the comb captures some fleas.
Before repeating the same procedure, you should dip this comb into the solution to drown fleas clinging to it.
Extra Caution is needed Before Using Dawn Dish on Pets
Fleas are primarily synonymous with pets.
In other words, your pets are their primary target. People with pets have a higher chance of experiencing flea issues. You’ll need to ensure that the main target(s) (your pets) are treated among the many control strategies.
Sometimes, you can use Dawn Dish Soap on pets without incident.
In other cases, you’ll need to consult a vet for professional advice. Such precautions are necessary as a safety measure to prevent allergies and different adverse reactions.
Remember, your pet is already having significant discomfort from flea bites. Further exposing it to treatments or products it’s allergic to will only worsen the problem.
With advice from a veterinarian, you’ll get the best possible advice on how to proceed.
Skin Irritation is a Possibility
Consider a situation where your dog or cat is irritated by flea presence and activity on their skin.
Already, such skin is under a lot of stress. Using a product that isn’t designed to soothe irritated skin will only succeed in causing further irritations.
Here, it’s evident that Dawn dishwashing soap on irritated skin only worsens your pet’s condition. Plus, it only kills a handful of these pests immediately replaced when the dog or cat steps out of your yard.
Treat Pet Bedding
Without pet bedding, all efforts geared towards flea extermination on pets won’t be reliable.
If necessary, wash bedding materials in hot soapy water and have them dried. You can also vacuum the area to pick up any eggs laid by these pests.
You should start this before treating your pets.
Go For Specially Designed Formulations
Dawn dishwashing soap does little to resolve your flea problems.
Instead of continuing its usage, it’s best to go for a specially designed formulation to treat flea problems. The recommendations of a veterinarian would help in no small measure.
There are tons of products available. Do not pick from any of them arbitrarily.
Remember, you don’t want to cause harm to your pets. If you must use any without the guidance of an expert, only go for those clearly labeled for feline and canine usage.
Reduce the Local Flea Population
Little can be done when your surroundings aren’t treated with fleas. However suitable your treatment methods are on dogs and cats, these dogs will still pick up fleas when they step into your yard.
You may have to call for help to contain the problem.
A flea management service can help with that. They assess the problem and apply effective treatment methods when they come around. Performing such treatments helps contain the situation.
Vacuum Regularly
You have the responsibility of vacuuming your surroundings regularly.
This helps remove adult fleas, their eggs, and their exoskeletons left behind. You’ll have to vacuum more frequently when your dogs and cats are allowed indoors.
It’s vital to target pet bedding for such vacuuming sessions. Of course, the contents or dirt removed will have to be disposed of as far as possible. This prevents the likelihood of worsening infestations.
Oral Medications Will Be of Help
Oral medications are administered by veterinarians and fight flea problems from the inside.
They come in the form of chewable or pills. Having ingested it, fleas that bite your pet are poisoned by the blood, as such medications are contained in the blood system.
Before long, your pet will be free from any flea issues.
What Other Ways Can Fleas Be Killed?
Since we’re discussing a home remedy for fleas, it will be proper to include other home remedies that could give you the much-needed relief you see. However, these haven’t been proven to help pets much.
One includes planting flea-repellent plants, using rosemary oil, lemon spray, diatomaceous earth, and baking soda.
Conclusion
There you go! So far, we’ve affirmed the flea-eliminating potential of Dawn dishwashing soap. However, we’ve also seen that treating your pet’s flea problems isn’t a reliable way.
While it’s clear that Dawn Dish Soap will kill fleas, it doesn’t do so efficiently. Nevertheless, it will still give excellent results when the flea problem is still in its earliest stage.
The other methods mentioned will be of great help.