Green Pet Care: Using Salt

Salt can be used around your home to clean. Along with peroxide, vinegar, and lemon juice, you can be green and save a few bucks as well as keep your home safe and non-toxic for your pets and children. Aside from using salt to flavor food, sea salt can be used a body scrub when mixed with other ingredients and regular table salt can be used as a mild abrasive for pots and pans when you need to get some greasy bits off. Salt is a great, cheap ingredient that has many household uses from cleaning pots and pans to adding extra oomph to your laundry detergent.

When it comes to pet care, salt can be used to kill flea eggs and a carpet cleaner. Sprinkle some salt onto the carpet with baking soda and let it sit for a few hours. It will absorb the moisture content of the flea eggs and dry them out. Thoroughly vacuum the rug to remove all the salt, baking soda, and nasty little flea eggs. Repeat this procedure every few weeks till flea season is over and you and your dog are no longer scratching behind your ears.

If you are looking for another way to also repel fleas, why not make some dog treats?

You’ll need the following ingredients:

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

2 cups of flour

½ cup of wheat germ

½ cup of Brewer’s Yeast

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of Chicken Broth

Mix the vegetable oil and garlic powder together in one bowl and the flour, wheat germ, yeast, and salt in another. Slowly add the oil and garlic mixture into the dry ingredients and add 1 cup of chicken broth. Once the mix has a doughy consistency, roll it out on a floured surface, cut the dough into squares or use a cookie cutter and create little treats.

Place the shapes onto a greased baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let them cool and bag them up. They will last a long time, are cheaper than buying treats, and the salt in them helps repel fleas from jumping on your favorite four-legged friend!

If you have fish, you can use salt as a mild abrasive to clean the inside of a fish tank to remove hard water deposits and other mineral buildup. If you have goldfish, a little salt can
change up their water and perk them up. Add 1 teaspoon to their freshwater and let the fish swim in it for a few minutes. Then rinse the bowl out and return it to its normal state.
This is like a nice little spa dip for some fish.

The salt won’t ruin your filters and can eliminate parasites in the tank. It can also help some fish recover some lost electrolytes.