# Diatomaceous Earth Experiment



## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Well husband is a bit skeptical as to the benefits of DE for flea control but I want to try it for a month to see how we go as it is flea season here and I have seen 2 or 3 on Stanley.
So I wanted to see was if they really did perish when coated in the stuff. So I picked one off my dog and put it in a ziplock bag with about half a teaspoon of DE and waited. After an hour it was still leaping around and when I remembered a further two hours later to have a look it was dead. Therefore was it because there was so much DE surrounding it that it couldn't possibly survive? not very scientific I know but when dusting it on how do we know the fleas are actually going to get 'coated or covered' in it? that's what I'm not sure about.

Husband also said it should come with a health warning saying keep it away from eyes as it is incredibly abrasive which I know most of us already know.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

You need a control group (and a larger sample size). You could capture another and put it in a plastic bag without DE and see how long it lives. Try to squeeze out the same amount of air as you did the last time.

As for whether fleas get coated with the stuff, it's not really coating them with DE that kills them. It's the abrasiveness of DE (which hubby laments) that tears them apart.

Oh - and since you're in NZ, have you tried DE with sandflies? Those little f*ckers tore up my legs last time I was on the south island. I tried a homemade recipe someone in fjordland recommended. Can't for the life of me remember it now ...


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Do they eat it? If they eat it, I can see maybe it tearing them up from the inside.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

xellil said:


> Do they eat it? If they eat it, I can see maybe it tearing them up from the inside.


As far as i know they just get cut up by it, and essentially lose hydration, which in turn kills them...


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

SpooOwner said:


> You need a control group (and a larger sample size). You could capture another and put it in a plastic bag without DE and see how long it lives. Try to squeeze out the same amount of air as you did the last time.
> 
> As for whether fleas get coated with the stuff, it's not really coating them with DE that kills them. It's the abrasiveness of DE (which hubby laments) that tears them apart.
> 
> Oh - and since you're in NZ, have you tried DE with sand fleas? Those little f*ckers tore up my legs last time I was on the south island. I tried a homemade recipe someone in fjordland recommended. Can't for the life of me remember it now ...


Oh you poor thing, those sandflies particularly on west coast are bloody awful. Not so much of a problem in other places. You definitely need heavy duty repellant down there.
Yes unfortunately hubby is a skeptical bugger about many things, he gets it from his father, so I have to show 'all evidence' before bleating about how good something is and as I am a bit of an airhead at times, he laments!


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## NZ Raw (Sep 14, 2011)

OH Lol sandflies , I was thinking what the hell are sand fleas lived here forever and never seen one. I was planning on giving DE a go in my back yard as the fleas have been shocking this year, where did you get DE from? I have only seen it on TM.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

You can usually pick up DE from co-op's or feedmills as ppl who have chickens use it quite a bit.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

NZ Raw said:


> OH Lol sandflies , I was thinking what the hell are sand fleas lived here forever and never seen one. I was planning on giving DE a go in my back yard as the fleas have been shocking this year, where did you get DE from? I have only seen it on TM.


Unfortunately not many places in NZ that sell it. Farmlands definitely don't and hadn't even heard of it when I enquired, although I think I was pronouncing it incorrectly.

Go to Diatomaceous Earth in New Zealand mine was delivered within 48 hours and I got the small one for $19.95. It does say on their website where in the country they sell retail but only had 5 outlets listed.
Good Luck.
Experiment ongoing.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Keep us posted! Im thinking of using DE instead of topical flea preventative treatments this year. I did revolution for Ruby last year, couldnt even finish the last dose cause she had such bad diarrhea.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

Just wanted to say! 

I was looking over my dogs, and found about 20 fleas between the two of them. About noon today I powdered Annie, Tucker, my uncles three boxers and his two cats. I sprayed them with a 50/50 mix of raw ACV/water about 3pm. Now at 8pm. I found NOT ONE flea on any of the five dogs or the two cats! I'm going to keep an eye out and I check them daily (I've been busy the last week and havent flea checked  so they got past me). Tmrw I am going to bath the dogs, wash their bedding, sprinkle DE on their clean bedding and repeate the DE/ ACV process. 

I was so supprised that in only 8 hours they didnt have a flea on them and they were not scratching!


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

This is a total noob question, but Ruby has never had fleas, and Iv never had a pet who has gotten fleas. How do you check for fleas, and what do you look for exactly? Since I am deciding to try the DE and also the ACV with water and tea tree/eucalyptus oils instead of the topical chemicals, I want to know what to look out for if Ruby ends up getting a flea. Where I live my vet suggests doing the revolution from June to November, would it be the same for the DE and ACV mix?


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

Kat said:


> This is a total noob question, but Ruby has never had fleas, and Iv never had a pet who has gotten fleas. How do you check for fleas, and what do you look for exactly? Since I am deciding to try the DE and also the ACV with water and tea tree/eucalyptus oils instead of the topical chemicals, I want to know what to look out for if Ruby ends up getting a flea. Where I live my vet suggests doing the revolution from June to November, would it be the same for the DE and ACV mix?


I use it year round. I spray ACV mix about once a week. Just started the DE, plan to use it every month after bath time and maybe just every other week, more often if needed.

I tend to find fleas on the rump and genital area. To look for fleas you just push the hair against the grain and look for fleas or flea dirt (looks like dirt. But its flea poop. Usually there is alot of it in one area) Or you could get a flea comb and go through her coat.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

You'll know them when you see them. Do as Makovach suggests and look for small moving insects with a shiny shell. They are hard to get and move through the fur very quickly. They also jump so if you catch one kill it quickly between fingernails or put into bowl of hot water with dishwash detergent, they drown. I combed and picked a few off Stanley today. He's never had them before either. I also just sprayed him with ACV/water which he hated and rubbed in. So I'm not sure what will work if anything now I'm doing more than one thing at a time. 
Call me impatient.
Apparently I might be going with him to local Vet Uni tomorrow as they are having an open day and want a greyhound presence there. Will it look bad if he has fleas?
Oh and I must try and slip in how I raw feed him too ha aha ahahahahahah!


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Makovach, are you going to give DE internally to your dogs too, or just start with rubbing it on their fur?


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

I am a noob to DE. Does it work on ticks? I was considering getting some and putting it outside


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Yes, DE works on ticks. The only issue I've had when applying it to my dogs' coats is that it is very drying - dries their coat and my hands. Otherwise, seems to work pretty well, and is very inexpensive (certainly when compared to topicals).


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

SpooOwner said:


> Yes, DE works on ticks. The only issue I've had when applying it to my dogs' coats is that it is very drying - dries their coat and my hands. Otherwise, seems to work pretty well, and is very inexpensive (certainly when compared to topicals).


It dries their coats? I thought it was good for their coats because of the silica? Or could it be different for each dog?


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

Kat said:


> Makovach, are you going to give DE internally to your dogs too, or just start with rubbing it on their fur?


I'm trying to decide how to get them to eat it. Then I will probably do it every 2-3 months for worms.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

SpooOwner said:


> Yes, DE works on ticks. The only issue I've had when applying it to my dogs' coats is that it is very drying - dries their coat and my hands. Otherwise, seems to work pretty well, and is very inexpensive (certainly when compared to topicals).


It has an absobant affect to it. You can use in on dog pee spots in the carpet to absorb accidents too  That is also part of what helps clups cat urine in cat littler. You can use in in hair to absorb unwanted oils. So I would imagine that it would dry out the coat. but it also has benifits. It helps with hair growth and growing healthy hair.

Tucker has a bald spot on his side from allergies. Its been there for 9 months. I'm anxious to see what happens. 

Also, I dont know if it was because the fleas are dead now (thanks to DE!) or if it helped condition his skin, but he is not scratching at all today!


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

You get DE into a dog say a tablespoon or less? by mixing it with an egg or some other liquid and just pour it over their food, that's what I have done.
I've started drinking it in a little juice, just stir it in, no taste but slightly gritty.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Kat said:


> It dries their coats? I thought it was good for their coats because of the silica? Or could it be different for each dog?


It will dry their coats. I have no idea whether the silica is beneficial. If you want to learn more, look up Diatoms on wiki.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Not sure how successful this was. Greyhounds have very little coat and my boy has almost bald bag legs and unfortunately the DE dried it out so much he had skin sloughing off quite severely. Only the top layer and it wasn't causing him any discomfort. It also didn't get rid of the fleas, but maybe I missed them?
Anyhow I've been checking him everyday and they seem to be congregating around his genitals/butt/tail area and I think I've managed to get them all off by flea combing and putting comb very quickly into jug of hot water with vinegar and detergent in.
Other people have obviously had success with it but I think in my instance with the no hair on bum it just dried the skin too much.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Ahh that's too bad that you found it to dry out their skin too much :S I still want to give it a try with my pug, hopefully it doesnt dry her out!


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

Kat said:


> Ahh that's too bad that you found it to dry out their skin too much :S I still want to give it a try with my pug, hopefully it doesnt dry her out!


Definitely let us know how it goes. I'm tired of using chemicals.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Just had a look at his bum and seen another bloody flea - argghhhh!
Actually it's quite satisfying combing out the little bastards and dealing to them, a bit like squeezing a big pimple!!
I don't think Stanley is too impressed though, giving his empty testicles sack a comb through every day.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Not to threadjack, but since Sozzle is having flea troubles I thought I'd mention that using dawn dish detergent can kill fleas. You use Dawn because it's not as harsh on your dog as other dish soaps (though it's probably still harsher than dog shampoo). Obviously if you have fleas in the house they can still come back, but it should kill the fleas on the dog's body so long as you get the soap all the way down to the skin and get it everywhere you safely can. The fleas will flee from the water so you still might miss some that get on places on the head where you can't put lots of soap. But It might do the trick. Make sure you leave it in for a while before rinsing, 15 minutes or more. You might need to do multiple baths to get them all. I think it only kills the adults...not 100% sure though.


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

Here on the Gulf Coast the fleas are very bad. I know someone who has a dog with flea allergies and they put Sevin Dust all over their yard, put DE on their dog's bedding, use a citronella spray (for dogs) on their dog daily, give their dog small amounts of garlic, AND Frontline every month- but they STILL occasionally get fleas.


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