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Herbal Flea Collar




Source of Recipe


critter chat net


Recipe Introduction


I came across this earlier tonight. I know it is not flea time yet, but thought this might be enlightening. It was for me. You can go into the site for additional information if you need it.


Recipe Link: http://www.critterchat.net/crafts.htm

List of Ingredients





by Helen Berge

Herbal flea collars are always appreciated as cold weather arrives and the animals are indoors more often.
There are two different methods you can try in making your own herbal flea collars for your pets.


Recipe



The first is to use a length of cotton lamp wick (available in most hardware stores) that has been saturated in insect-repellent herbal oils.
Using a cloth measuring tape, measure the diameter your cat or dog's neck, remembering to allow room for a velcro closure. You want the collar to be snug, but not uncomfortable.
Cut the wick to the proper length for your pet and sew on the velcro to make a neat, snug closure.
The cloth wick should be about 1/2-inch wide for cats and very small dogs, and 1-inch wide for large dogs. Place the wick, curled up, in the bottom of a widemouth jar leaving the velcro ends standing upright (if possible).

Cover the wick with essential oils of pennyroyal, citronella, and rosemary,just enough to saturate the wick completely. Use equal portions of each herbal oil (you'll need more for larger collars) and leave the wick submerged in the mixture until well saturated. It will absorb a great deal of the oil. Try to keep the velcro ends dry, but if the oil gets onto them it shouldn't affect the collar's ability to stay closed. It's just easier to handle the collar if the ends are dry.
Once the wick has been saturated with the oils, lift it out of the jar and let the excess oil drain off. After draining, hang to dry thoroughly before using.

Place the herbal collar around your pet's neck and press the velcro ends together. You can "recharge" these collars when the scent wears off by simply submerging them in the same herbal oils for a while.
Place a tight-fitting lid on the jar of oils and store it in a cupboard for future use.

Yet another way of creating a flea collar for your pet is to cut a length of sturdy cloth to fit your pet's neck, making it about twice the width you'll want the finished collar to be.
Blend together a mixture of the following dried herbs:

1/4 cup cedar shavings
1/4 cup roman wormwood
1/4 cup southernwood
1/2 cup pennyroyal
1/4 cup mugwort
1/4 cup lemon verbena

Place the herbs in a blender to pulverize them well and blend to gether.
With the underside of the cloth facing up, place an even amount of the herb mixture along the length of the cloth. Fold the edge over and sew the collar closed. Velcro can be used for the ends, or you may want to sew strong ribbon at the ends to tie around your pet's neck.
Whatever method you use for the closure, be sure your pet will not be able to get hung up on something outdoors and possibly hurt itself.

By increasing the quantity of dried herbs, you can also stuff a large bed or pillow for your dog or cat which will help keep fleas out of their sleeping area. Use the same method as you would for making the "Kitty Mat," increasing the size of the cloth to fit your pet's body.

Essential oils of pennyroyal, citronella, cedar wood, or rosemary can be sprinkled over the cotton batting or fiber filler used to plump up the bed.
You'll definitely want to make a cover for the bed if you plan to keep it fresh and clean for your pet.
Store unused, dried, herbal flea repellent mixture in a jar.