I have rescued a few baby bunnies from our lil pond... not very good swimmers! and i thought i have heard from bunny experts not to bathe them?? and have seen dry shampoo for bunnies, thats why i wasnt sure.
BTW droz, how is my mini corset coming along??? hehe
lol....
oh and here's some stuff I've saved on natural flea controls...we don't use chemicals on our pets anymore and it's been really successful....now watch I've just jinxed myself:
So, wash your dogs bedding regularly by adding eucalyptus essential oil to the final rinse. This oil is so effective it kills 99% of the house dust mites too! Also, by vacuuming the home thoroughly and sprinkling a fine layer of ordinary table
salt over the upholstery and carpets, you can evict these unwelcome guests safely
a. Citrus repellent:
You can make an effective flea repellent from lemon by cutting it into quarters and immersing it in boiling water. This is then steeped overnight to get you the repellent. By spraying this all over your pet, especially behind the ears and generally around the head, and also at the base of the tail and the armpits, you can rid it of fleas.
b. Aromatherapy repellent:
This repellent is made by adding lavender and cedarwood essential oils to pure almond carrier oil as the base. This is then shaken well and spread over the pets skin to keep the fleas away. You can also make effective flea collars by rubbing an essential oil of eucalyptus , tea tree , citronella , lavender or geranium on webbing, rope collar or even a doggy bandanna .
c. Essential oil bath:
If your pet is badly infested, itd need an essential oil bath. So, draw the bath using a few drops of tea tree or lavender essential oils. An alternative is a herbal flea dip made from fresh rosemary leaf .
d. Internal flea repellents:
Garlic when fed to your dog works wonders. This is because its smell is excreted through the skin making it inhospitable for the fleas. Brewers yeast tablets also help in controlling fleas. Another good alternative is natural apple cider vinegar that makes the skin more acidic and unpleasant to fleas and ticks.
ON DOGS:
Feed 2 large teaspoons powdered yeast daily for large dogs.
OR
Feed 2 cloves garlic per day for large dogs, added to the usual food.
OR
Put DRIED bracken ferns under the dog's blanket.
OR
Add 1 tablespoon of
salt to the water in which the dog is washed to kill fleas. TO DETER:
Take a 'tea' of lemon peels and water, by steeping overnight, then sponge it over the dog's coat.
OR
Rub dog over with tansy, fennel, basil or mint, pennyroyal or other strong smelling herb. Grow any of these herbs, or wormwood, pyrethrum, rue and marigolds around kennel areas.
HOME MADE FLEA COLLAR FOR DOGS:
2 tablespoons peppermint essential oil
1/2 cup rosemary essential oil
2 tablespoons white cedar essential oil
1/4 cup citronella essential oil
2 tablespoons eucalyptus essential oil Soak a natural fibre rope in mixture and let dry for several hours. Tie around pet's neck. DO NOT use on cats
PYRETHRUM SPRAY:
The concentration of pyrethrums is at its peak when the flowers are in full bloom, from the time the first row of florets open on the central disk opens to the time all the florets are open. Add 1 litre of boiling water to half a cup of firmly packed flowers. Leave to cool, strain and add 1 teaspoon of pure soap. Shake well before use. Spray only in early morning or evening when bees are not active, and never in temperatures more than 32C. You will need to use the spray or dust every day until the infestation is over. It deteriorates in sunlight. The spray is useful against aphids, woolly aphids, scale, spider mites, thrips, whitefly, codling moth, cabbage loopers, caterpillars, earwigs, leaf-miners, millipedes, some beetles, spiders, termites and slaters, spiders, termites, weevils, grasshoppers, stink bugs, thrips, gnats, mosquitoes, tomato pinworms, spider mites and crickets. In the house, the spray will eradicate fleas and spiders. Combine with soap to kill lice (test for skin sensitivity first.) The spray may stain some fabrics. Dried pyrethrum flowers can be ground to a powder and used as a dust.
After bathing your pet, put a little Lavender or Tea Tree essential oil into the final rinse water, or rub a little of the oil over the pet's coat, to repel fleas. Or wipe over with some fresh Tansy leaf. Grow Fennel near a dog's kennel to deter fleas. Feed your pet a little Garlic with its meals, or rub garlic over the animal. Or wash the dog with a strong infusion of Lobelia leaves. Or brush pets with a brush that has been stroked across the cut surface on an onion. The smell soon dissapates, but not as fast as the fleas. Rue, Tansy and Wormwood also repel fleas. Plant some in the garden, scatter in pets bedding, or massage into their coat. Powdered Southernwood, scattered on carpets, will rid the house of fleas.
LAVENDER WATER:
3 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
200ml boiling water
1 tablespoon vodka
150ml rosewater
pinch powdered nutmeg
15-20 drops lavender essential oil
Pour boiling water over the dried lavender and leave to cool. Strain, reserving liquid. Combine lavender infusion with the vodka, rosewater, nutmeg and essential oil. Pour through a coffee filter several times, then transfer to a bottle with a glass stopper. This mixture makes an excellent mouthwash, a refreshing skin toner, a soothing compress for tension headaches. It will help you sleep if you put a few drops on a pillow or in the bath just before bed. An insect repellent against fleas, flies, mosquitoes.
Grown in the garden, catnip helps to repel fleas. Grow 'fennel near the kennel' to repel fleas.
Nematodes
While you can't kill off the fleas that your pet is going to encounter when it goes outside, you can keep the population down in the area around your house by using nematodes. These microscopic worms eat flea larvae and are therefore a natural way to control the flea population.
You can purchase nematodes
online, or at some pet and garden stores. Place them in moist, shady spots near your house; neither fleas nor nematodes survive in the hot sun. A lawn sprayer is commonly used for application, and within 24 hours the resident flea population is reduced up to 80% depending on area sprayed. As nematodes multiply rapidly, you have only to introduce a small initial number to have residual benefits.