What do you think about using a Dawn dishsoap bath on pets for mild cases of fleas?
It’s a bit of a weird home remedy, personally. And I’m quite sure Dawn dishsoap is a little different from country to country, so I can’t claim to be a fan.
The way it works to kill fleas is literally the same as every other shampoo or soap in existence- it suffocates them. This only works for adult fleas on the pet at the time, and has no residual flea control activity. If you haven’t really soaked the animal (thinking of cats in particular) fleas can survive. Using even a mild insecticidal shampoo is likely to be more effective, though extreme care should be taken to avoid permethrin shampoos and cats.
I suspect this home remedy propogated because lots of people had Dawn dishsoap available in their houses, and it was used as a sort of ‘first aid’ treatment to get rid of visible fleas ASAP. But it’s not a useful method of flea control at all, and we really do have better products. A single capstar tablet is more effective and much easier, and there are all sorts of modern flea control options that are far superior to the old dishsoap.
