I fought ticks and fleas for years until I finally learned about 20 Mule Team Borax. I had been rid of the damn things for some years until I picked up a poor little abandoned pup who was loaded with both as well as internal parasites and was starved. The vet gave him catstar but it wasn't effective.
20 Mule Team Borax wiped the damn ticks and fleas out. Get it in the laundry aisle - a box will last you all year.
First, do not put it directly on the animal. Borax (made from mined boron) is a desiccant and enough of it would make the skin break down.
Run a solid line of borax along all baseboards. This is where they'll lay their eggs. When you vacuum, replace the borax.
If you have carpet, scatter it freely throughout the house. DO NOT scatter on bare floors because its extremely slippery.
Scatter it under the human's beds but put in-between layers of animal bedding. If the animal has their own bed, scatter it on the bed but then put a light weight towel or cloth on top.
Borax is effective as long as its dry. If the animal goes outside, there's really nothing that will rid him of ticks and fleas. Don't bother spraying, dipping, flea collar. None of it works because of the length of the life cycles of both ticks and fleas. Both spend most of their lives off the host animal. You'll kill one part of the cycle but the eggs will hatch and you'll be right back at it. It also can kill your pet. I had that happen to me and it was horrible. I was never crazy about putting poison in and arround my house - its a stupid thing to do. But I saw it kill a black lab and I'll never do it again.
A plus is that it kills other pests as well - mix it with a little bait, like sugar and put it in jar lids. Place under the sink, in the pantry, anyplace that cockroaches like. Scatter it between your mattress and box springs to kill other kinds of creepy crawlies.
Just remember, unless you're wanting to collect on a fat insurance policy, do not to put it on bare floors. Really.
And never put it directly on the animal.
Hope this helps. As you can see, I've really spent some time studyiing this problem and I found this really does work.
