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My zeal for all things environmentally-friendly doesn’t stop with our two dogs — if anything, it intensifies. We have two dogs: a a 25 lb whippet mix with sensitive skin (really, sensitive everything — if you know whippets and the like, you know what I mean) and a thirteen-week-old pitbull puppy. I have spent many months (and probably a small fortune) testing out various shampoos and toothpastes that are Earth-friendly AND also get along well with our whippet mix’s ultra-sensitive skin, and here are the best ones I’ve found:
Earthbath All Natural Tea Tree and Aloe Shampoo: I can’t sing the praises highly enough about this shampoo! Seriously. If ever there were a pet shampoo worth getting super stoked about, this is the one. All the ingredients are natural and non-toxic, and the shampoo won’t wash off any flea meds you may be using. It’s around $8 a bottle (we found ours at a local Earth Fare, but you can buy it online as well), which is awesome — we wash our dog once a week and/or as needed, and her coat has never been more shiny or soft. BEHOLD:
Don’t worry, cat fans: they have a cat shampoo and conditioner in ONE as well.
I have only heard good things about Olive Green Goods for Modern Dogs Bubble + Squeak Shampoo, and it was next on our list before we discovered Earthbath. The mixture includes peppermint and rosemary for deoderizing and hemp oil to give your favorite furries a shiny coat — plus it’s sulfate and detergent free. DOUBLE PLUS: everything’s 100% biodegradable!
We’ve only had dogs, so I’m not sure if this applies to cats, but our vet is BIG advocate of brushing dogs’ teeth. We’ve been checking out all that’s organic and friendly in that department as well. So far the best we’ve found is EZ Dog Pet Toothpaste. OF COURSE, if you’re not into buying toothpaste for your furball you can use baking soda or make your own.
Thanks for this! We’re one of those couples that calls our dog our fur baby; so we treat the big guy pretty well. What about toys that are more earth friendly? Or other pet products like flea stuff? Actually this could be a really great, fairly regular post on here–sustainable pet products.
Oh god, YES! We need a flea post. My poor cats have quite a few and we are moving soon. We’ve done the powders, the collars and the pour on to the fur medicine. NOTHING’S WORKED!
This! Just this morning I was actually thinking of submitting a question to OBM about eco and baby friendly flea remedies. We’re dealing with a rather bad flea problem right now and I’ve gone through my short list of baby and eco friendly solutions to no avail.
I’ve heard good things about diatomaceous earth- it’s nontoxic but microscopically sharp so it scratches up the bugs and dehydrates them (but it’s totally safe for pets and people even if they eat it.) I think it works best in the environment since obviously it won’t stay on the dog long, but you can sprinkle it on and pretty much any good bath will drown the fleas that are actually on the pup at the time. I’ve heard Dr Bronner’s is good for pets too, and eucalyptus repels bugs, so maybe that flavor would work? (Assuming eucalyptus oil is safe on pets, I’d have to double check.)
I’m actually a dog groomer when i’m not busy making my house awesome. I’m not sure about eco-friendly products specifically, but the active ingredient in the flea shampoo that i use is tea tree oil, so anything with that in it should work. It will however, only kill the fleas on the dog at the time, you need to treat the fleas in the environment aswell, and treat the dog with some sort of preventative. Also be aware that 1 in 10,000 dogs can be allergic to tea tree oil, so as usual, if irritation occurs discontinue use and see your vet if symptoms persist.
Diatomacious earth is good for fleas in the house and in the yard. Be advised though that it’s super dry and dusty, so you want to make sure you wear a mask. If anyone in the house has asthma or breathing problems I wouldn’t recommend it. It leaves a lot of dust everywhere too. I sprinkle it into the carpet, work it in real good with a brush, leave it for about 24 hours and then vacuum it up and throw the bag away. I’ve also heard that you can dust your pet with it, but my little guy is not down with that action. I do sometimes dust his bedding though.
Borax is good for killing fleas in carpet too, but it’s not good if you have crawling babies or if you can’t keep the pet out of the area while it’s being treated. Otherwise, you sprinkle, work in and then vacuum up just like the other stuff.
This is really good info that I am going to pass on to a few friends who are dealing with a flea problem right now. Unfortunately, I have crawling babies with chronic lung disease.
Also, I am going to try the tea tree oil route suggested by the above commenter.
Just as a word of caution for those using tea tree oil for fleas/lice etc. It can be VERY poisonous to animals, especially cats if it’s ingested or gets into the body through a scratch/cut/open wound.
I love the earth bath products and use them for all three of our fur babies, their ear cleaning wipes are magic for our pup who is prone to ear infections.
My Lhasa Apso has a yeast problem on his skin. The prescription shampoo the vet gave us smelled like death, did nothing for the yeast, and left his coat dry and icky. The EarthBath Tea Tree shampoo has worked wonders for him. I bathe him once a week and occasionally wipe his yeasty spots (that sounds much worse than it is) with a diluted solution of the shampoo.
After two months, hardly any yeast or itching and no more frito feet!
Are frito feet bad? I love the little chip feet!
Why isn’t there a picture of the pitbull puppy!
I too would love to know how to do earth friendly flea control. I usually use frontline but have found that one of its active ingredients has been listed as one of the many responsible for CCD in bee populations (I have two beehives). In summer my dogs wear tick collars but when i sat down and read them the box it turns out they have organochlorides in them- not something you want in a mainly organic/ chemical free house (but nor do I want my labbies to be miserable with fleas).