Is there another way to remove fleas without killing them?
The rest of the questions are too big for a short answer, but this part I can attempt.
I have read some about flea control. The number one most effective thing to control (not eliminate immediately but hopefully keep at a 'tolerable' level) a flea population without insecticides is to vacuum. Every single female flea lays a ridiculous number of eggs every day. The eggs are slippery and slide off the host animal. They need certain conditions to hatch and grow into fleas. The eggs are constantly falling off the host animal, and even though most of them never hatch, there are so many that even the fraction that do hatch become a lot of flea larvae.
A very tiny worm hatches out of each egg. The worms live very well in carpet, where they eat the poop that drops from the adult fleas and they also eat some of the unhatched eggs. Eventually each worm builds a sticky cocoon that looks like a tiny speck of dusty lint, because the dust and lint stick to it. It is the adult flea that emerges from the cocoon and right away its instinct is to jump on to a host.
So you need to vacuum. A lot. Daily if possible in the warmer months when the eggs hatch faster (yes they hatch faster when it is warmer). Concentrate mostly on the places
where the pet sleeps and where they spend most of their time.
Remember that the eggs are very tiny, white, and slippery. And numerous.
You can imagine where they slide and roll to. Vacuum everywhere, often. Use the handheld hose to get in little spaces and to thoroughly vacuum pet beds.
Also get rid of carpets and rugs. These are ideal environments for eggs to be hidden long enough to hatch, and the vacuum can't get all of them up from those environments.
The vacuuming won't kill adult fleas because the adult flea lives only on the host. It is more effective to get rid of the eggs before they hatch.
If you do this consistently for a few years in a row, you may see a reduction in the flea population.
If you already have fleas on your pet, you may need to use insecticide the first year, but it is still good to vacuum to get rid of any eggs or cocoons that could hatch later. The cocoons especially can survive a long time before hatching and also can survive very extreme temperatures.
If this sounds a little crazy and obsessive, it is. It just depends on how much time you have and how important it is to you to avoid using the insecticides.
