# Diatomaceous Earth Questions



## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

Diatomaceous Earth (food grade): Bug Killer You Can Eat!

http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html

food grade is necessary


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

petitpie said:


> food grade is necessary


I did know that much  I got 6lbs of food grade DE. Thanks for the link!


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Sprinkle it where you expect fleas to be. Use a dust mask. Or you can spray it on (apparently), but it is not effective while it is wet.

I've used it successfully to keep flies away from dog kennel areas. I don't think it actually kills them, but I noticed flies won't land on it. We also use it in the garden - put a "donut" around the base of cabbages and things to kill slugs.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

I use Diatomaceous Earth in the gardens a lot . . for slugs. 

There are really no precautions for it's use. It's ground up coral, and completely harmless to humans and dogs . . . even if ingested. It's action against slugs is to form a dusting of material that they cannot cross. It would be like us, trying to squirm on our belly over shards of glass. 

What I don't know is whether it would have any effect on either ticks or fleas. :confused3:


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

Any tips on what to use to "sprinkle" it? Mine came in a big tub.


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

A flour sifter works well.


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## Anntig (Jun 9, 2010)

we use it in our chooks dust bath for lice and in their food for worms, you can dust it through a dogs coat which will kill live fleas but won't affect eggs.


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

Ok so: 
-Dusting the dogs: does this leave the coat nasty? Or cause issues with the poodle's coat? 
-Sprinkling in the house: I'm thinking rugs (I have hardwoods throughout), furniture, animal bedding, just washed my own bedding yesterday. Do you just leave it, or leave it for a while and then vacuum it up? 
-Should I try to do the yard?


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Sookster said:


> Ok so:
> -Dusting the dogs: does this leave the coat nasty? Or cause issues with the poodle's coat?
> -Sprinkling in the house: I'm thinking rugs (I have hardwoods throughout), furniture, animal bedding, just washed my own bedding yesterday. Do you just leave it, or leave it for a while and then vacuum it up?
> -Should I try to do the yard?


Well nobody else with experience at using DE on dogs is piping up. So I can suggest answers to some of yr questions. 

The yard??... outside?? Absolutely! That's where it's designed to be used. I call a perfect application a hazy layer of dust . . not powder . . on the plants. Or on the ground around the plants. 'Lots' is not an issue. An even covering is.  

But considering that yr laying down a layer of dust, and leaving it there as long as possible *one or two days, at least maybe :confused3: *, I would pick some other 'flea remover' for anything inside the house. But yr choice really...

Does it leave the coat nasty??? Ummmmm... probably.  Or cause other issues?? It might be really cleansing for the hair... soaking up all the oils and scouring slightly as u brush/vacuum/wash????? it out! lol


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

I don't have experience with DE, but I think I have heard it can cause issues if inhaled. Might want to check up on that.


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## flyingpoodle (Feb 5, 2012)

mom24doggies said:


> I don't have experience with DE, but I think I have heard it can cause issues if inhaled. Might want to check up on that.


Wikipedia has a good entry including safety condiderations:
Diatomaceous earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also a site I found useful when I was considering it for fleas:
Safer Flea Control | Insects in the City

Fleas are no fun!:argh:


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## Marcie (Aug 2, 2011)

I do know Diatomaceous earth is used in pool filters. After you back wash the pool or clean your filter, you put in large amounts of diatomaceous earth through the skimmer basket and it goes into your pool filter and is used to filter the water. It attaches to the fins in the filter unit and it seems to polish the water. I had never heard of it being used any other way. I do know after you clean your filter and hose off the diatomaceous earth from the fins (this is a large amount) you need to get it off the grass as it will kill it.


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## roulette (Feb 18, 2011)

Can also be used internally to fight parasites..

Food grade diatomaceous earth for flea and tick treatment.


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

Marcie, that is correct. That is a different type of DE that is meant for use in pools. The DE that I am referring to is "food grade" and is much, much safer. As best as I can determine, the biggest precaution is just not breathing in too much of it. 

I ended up "dusting" my rugs and the dog beds that are lying around, as well as the back porch, but have not done the yard. I was worried it might kill beneficial critters along with the nuisance ones. I do have asthma and the dust definitely did irritate that, but nothing too serious. I have not actually put it on the dogs (though Sookie did sit in it and got it all over her butt). I did start feeding it to the dogs. I took the cat to the vet and he had a tapeworm, so I'm worried the dogs may too, though I haven't seen any proglottids in their stools. I found a page where someone doing cat rescue uses DE for all their cats to deworm against tapeworms with good success and it gave dosage recommendations for dogs and cats, so I started feeding it to the dogs as a "just in case" measure against tapeworms (the cat got a dewormer at the vet). According to everything I've read, it can't really hurt. I'll feed it for 30 days and then stop, unless I start seeing proglottids before then and then I may just get dewormer from the vet to get rid of them.


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## Marcie (Aug 2, 2011)

Sookster said:


> Marcie, that is correct. That is a different type of DE that is meant for use in pools. The DE that I am referring to is "food grade" and is much, much safer. As best as I can determine, the biggest precaution is just not breathing in too much of it.
> 
> I ended up "dusting" my rugs and the dog beds that are lying around, as well as the back porch, but have not done the yard. I was worried it might kill beneficial critters along with the nuisance ones. I do have asthma and the dust definitely did irritate that, but nothing too serious. I have not actually put it on the dogs (though Sookie did sit in it and got it all over her butt). I did start feeding it to the dogs. I took the cat to the vet and he had a tapeworm, so I'm worried the dogs may too, though I haven't seen any proglottids in their stools. I found a page where someone doing cat rescue uses DE for all their cats to deworm against tapeworms with good success and it gave dosage recommendations for dogs and cats, so I started feeding it to the dogs as a "just in case" measure against tapeworms (the cat got a dewormer at the vet). According to everything I've read, it can't really hurt. I'll feed it for 30 days and then stop, unless I start seeing proglottids before then and then I may just get dewormer from the vet to get rid of them.


Thank goodness and thank you. I did not know that there was a food grade DE and was a little concerned, but I find out all sorts of new things on this forum that I did not know. That is why I love coming here.


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## iuhippiechick (Jun 9, 2012)

I know it's been awhile since the original post...however, I thought I would reply anyway. DE was suggested to me by our breeder, "just rub it into the fur." Being a bit OCD, I thought I would sprinkle the DE throughout the carpets and such as an overall preventative. (The breeder says she uses DE around the house for ants, etc.) One word of caution...if you get overzealous in your sprinkling, you may clog your vacuum when you vacuum the "sprinkled" areas.


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## dblsjs (Jul 15, 2013)

I just found this post and thought is share this link. http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/benefits-diatomaceous-earth/


We actually just got back from the vet with our little guy. Since we got him July 9th. He has been infested with fleas (just found another one on him a bit ago), treated and cleared of coccidia, tapeworms were discovered last week and today they found hookworms. And he is being treated for kennel cough. The strange thing is that whoever got to pick his original name called him Worm (mean person) We have tried to change it but my little girls keep calling him Wormie. (Sigh)

My husband is on the way home from the feed store with DE


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

roulette said:


> Can also be used internally to fight parasites..
> 
> Food grade diatomaceous earth for flea and tick treatment.


Wow - that site is chock full of information that I have had to previously search all over for. I will be returning to the wolfcreekranch website, that's for sure.

And note that the pool grade DE is poisonous, so be sure to use the food grade. It also says that it may be 72 hours before all the fleas are dead so don't clean up in one or two days. Of course then when the eggs hatch it will need to be done again. This is a great thread.


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