Is Vinegar Effective Against Pet Fleas?

Even among veterinarians, using vinegar to treat pet fleas is a debatable topic.

While some publications about veterinary medicine recommend vinegar as a defense against fleas, some pet health professionals take a more cautious and skeptical view of vinegar as a flea repellent.

A-Z Vets, a pet info website, says a mixture of white vinegar and water can be applied with a spray bottle to a cat or any surfaces it frequents to help get rid of fleas.

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Fleaguide.com recommends the same half and half mixture, but suggests apple cider vinegar instead of white because it won't taste as bad if your pet licks itself.

However, "the homemade spray doesn't kill fleas on contact," the site says. "It doesn't work like a pesticide. It is best used as a tool, along with other natural flea remedies to repel and get rid of fleas nturally."

Veterinarian Dawn Filos, writing at Ask The Pet Vet, says claims vinegar can treat fleas as  as "mostly false" and potentially harmful.

"Vinegar, or acetic acid, in high enough levels to actually be toxic to fleas, would be harmfully acidic to the skin," writes Filos. "With repeated and long-term applications, even more so."

Is feeding vinegar orally to a pet a possible fallback, then? Canine Journal says yes: "Adding a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to your dog's water bowl will make them taste terrible to fleas and reduce the likelihood of a flea infestation."

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Holistic health and wellness website Earth Clinic says apple cider vinegar can be used both ways, topically and orally, for "safe, effective, and natural flea control."

Talk to your vet about using vinegar and other options for flea control.

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