Insect Repellant & Treating Bug Bites

Bug Bite Relief
To bath water add about a cup of apple cider vinegar (or substitute the juice of a few lemons), about 10 drops of lavender essential oil and about 5 drops of thyme essential oil. Don’t get the water in your eyes since it will sting. Or try applying a little lavender oil or vinegar directly to the bite. Baking soda made into a paste and applied to the bite also works well to neutralize the toxin, or add a couple handfuls of baking soda to your bath water. Meat tenderizer made into a paste also neutralizes stings and bites, as well as WD-40 spray (supposedly works for arthritis too when rubbed into joints I’m told). Chigger bites can be neutralized with Preparation H cream. A ground oatmeal paste applied to insect bites helps stop itching or soothes skin rashes. An excellent preventative for biting insects is to eat a lot of garlic which comes out through your skin as a natural repellant. I even plant garlic mixed in with my other plants to help keep insects away. Garlic has so many other health benefits that the natural, chemical free repellant just gives you a bonus. It also acts as a natural antiseptic when applied to the skin.

For Canines being Bugged
We always put fresh clove of garlic in our dog’s food daily and it worked wonders for fleas and ticks even when the dog spent most of it’s time wandering wild fields. When I got a Great Dane that was completely infested with fleas, I fed him fresh garlic daily and in less than a week, every flea was gone! I’ve read that you should not give your dog garlic but we fed it daily to our St Bernard and Great Dane and neither had any ill affects from it ever-just insect free coats. Use care though when feeding much of it to smaller breeds.