Diatomaceous Earth for fleas

Hi, I have just today heard of Diatomaceous Earth. I have read there is food grade and non food grade and that for pet use I should use some that is Codec Approved which has less than 1% crystalline silica. And that is food grade.

I have found some 50 lb bags at Marshalls Natural Feed Store in FW, TX. It is the brand Nature's Guide. Has anyone used this brand before.

They state on their site it is EPA spproved but they say nothing about it being codec approved? Is there a difference or is that the same thing.

It is listed under organic gardening.. And they sell 50 lb bags for 23.00

http://www.marshallgrain.com/marshal...21EU4WN7F1K10&

I have found some on ebay as well. Anyone know the difference between saltwater and freshwater Diatomaceous Earth?

Thanks in advance,
Jenn

I ordered some from ebay. Daves Seeds and plants. 100 percent organic.

4.5 lb bag for 16.44 and that included the shipping.

This is our first summer at the house we live in and fleas are all over our yard. I have sprayed and sprayed to no avail. I have the treated the dogs. These are tough fleas.

So, instead of the chemical route, I am going to try the mechanical route.

I'll post a note when it arrives and let all know if this works.

Jenn

I've used other Nature's Guide products and have had good success with them. The big thing you want to know with DE is to use horticultural grade NOT the stuff for a pool. If you're getting it at Marshall Grain, you'll get good stuff. (I love that place!! That's where we buy all of our compost and soil ammendment stuff for the garden.)

Stephanie

I started to order it there but since I have never used it before I wanted test a small amt first. I went ahead and ordered a smalled amt on ebay.. It is food grade and organic that I bought.

If it works, I will use marshells. They have 50 lb bags for 23.00. And it will be nice to buy from my home state...

Jenn

I forgot to mention last night that when you apply the DE, you want it to be a light dusting, so you might need to invest in a shaker bottle. (I recycled an empty fresh parmesan cheese container, but you can get fancy and get a trombone-type sprayer.) You can usually find the sprayer in a good nursery or feed store. If you can see it, you're using too much. It's also good for roach control.

Are you using it indoors or outside?

Stephanie

We used to use pool grade for our pool filter and I suspect that it could be used in aquariums (fresh versus saltwater grades).

I have used it in my house during bad flea seasons and it worked when everything else failed. I highly recommend it! When you sprinkle it into the carpet, use a broom to sweep it deep into the pile. I also sprinkled it under the sofa/chair cushions and brushed it into that also.

I had a lot of carpet when I last used it and had a small jug (about 5 pounds) last me thru an entire season. So unless you are also using it outside, 50 pounds may last you many years.

I was under the impression that fresh water vs salt water was only because of WHERE they got the shells for the mining ....either via fresh water lakes or the sea but that is not pertinent to an actual grade from what I have been reading...

The grades have to do with pool grade, or food grade. The pool grade might get rid of fleas but it is NOT safe for animals. The food grade is much finer than the pool grade as well.

But everything I have been reading on this say to NOT buy the pool grade for your pets.

Pool filter grade diatomaceous earth has been heat and chemically treated and will poison an animal or human who ingests it, so it is always of utmost importance to only obtain food grade diatomaceous earth to use in and around your household.

Here is a good link that is readable and talks about the grades. The above info about the pool grade and the food grade I got from this site. After trying the little trial package I bought, pending it working, this will be where I buy it. MARSHALLS FEED sent me an email and theirs is not CODEC approved. Only EPA approved. CODEC approved is important to me. But Marshalls is still organic, but I want some that if my babies ripped it open and played in the bag, they would not be hurt. That's why I want CODEC approval rating.
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

AS FAR AS THE DIFFERENT APPROVALS BY VARIOUS AGENCIES, ALL BELOW REFERS TO FOOD GRADE AND AS YOU CAN SEE, EVEN THE FOOD GRADE HAS DIFFERENT RATINGS:

Food grade diatomaceous earth is EPA approved to be mixed with grains to control mealworms and other pests and has been exempted from tolerance requirements as an inert, inactive ingredient in chemical pesticides.

Diatomaceous earth is EPA approved against indoor and outdoor
crawling insects.

Diatomaceous earth is USDA approved as an anti-caking agent for animal feed.

Diatomaceous earth is FDA approved for internal and external use and has a rating of Food Chemical Codex Grade.

Please be careful using the pool grade around your pets.

Jenn

Diatomaceous Earth, (food grade), can also be mixed in your pets food to eliminate worms as well as provide minerals to their diet. Mix 1/4 teaspoon once a day. For me the trick is to get the cats to eat the food once anything has been put in it.
They are little devils about turning their noses up and always seem to know if I've tried to do something healthy for them by putting it in their food.

I'll do that too. I did get the the codec food grade. And your're right. I have a couple of cats that won't drink tuna juice because they think it might have medicine in it.......hehe. They know every trick in the book. Those two won't even drink milk..

What I will try is mix a little with soft kitty food.

Vet told me yesterday that DE won't work for fleas, but then he is selling frontline..... I should get mine in the mail either tomorrow or the next day. I ordered it on Saturday so it probably did not go out in the mail till Monday the 26th. It's coming priority mail so I am watching for it. I can't wait to try it..

Jenn

If you go here http://www.petmedicinechest.com/feli...asitestext.asp and read about the Worm Out, what you are reading about is DE and it's beneficial uses. I purchased the Worm Out from them in the past before I knew what it was and how much more I could get for less by knowing what I had and I'm really not trying to hurt their business, but I believe $30 for a gallon jug of DE is just too much for those of us trying to do the very best we can with too little money to spread around.

What I read about the Diatomaceous Earth was that it will take some time before you notice the results, but you will see them. Since it is not a poison it works a little different eliminating the parasites in that as the flea ingests the powder it is shredded from the inside out as if it were eating glass.

I am paraphrasing and don't remember exactly whre I read that, but it was on the net somewhere out there.

I bought from the same guy you did on ebay and I put him in my fave list for when I want to buy more.

Good luck with getting rid of those darn pests.

"What I read about the Diatomaceous Earth was that it will take some time before you notice the results, but you will see them. Since it is not a poison it works a little different eliminating the parasites in that as the flea ingests the powder it is shredded from the inside out as if it were eating glass."

That's not exactly true... I guess one of the dangers of things just out there on the internet. It is a dessicator, meaning it dries them up, and they do not have to eat any of it. It destroys eggs, larvae, and adults, which is why it does not take long at all to see results. It is similar to putting salt on a slug. In a whole outdoor yard, yes, but if you use it inside as a replacement for a fogger and on your cat as a replacement for chemical flea adulticides, it works in a day or less.

I got my diatomaceous earth today in the mail.

I have just finished treating all my cats and my dogs except for 4 cats. They are still outside. I even dusted the strays that are outside that will let me pet them.

I even put it on my carpet and mashed it in with a broom and told my hubby I wasn't going to vacuum for three days.

I'll let yall know if it works. ..... This is all new to me. And that 4.5 lbs I got is going to last me a while. I put it in a pizza shaker and I used 1 and a half shakers for all the animals, the carpet and the porch.... I put it in the dogs bed as well....I am thinking of lifting my couch and chair cushions and putting a few sprinkles under there.

I am not totally flea infested but what I have....I want gone. And you are right Tru. It doesn't cost much.......

I am kinda excited by the possibility of NEVER buying frontline plus again. I sure it works like you said Zissou'sMom. In a day or less.

And you know, I try very hard not to kill anything, but bugs......well, they are just on my hit list... spiders too.
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Jenn

It should work excellently, also you should wash everything you can wash in hot water today and again either tommorow or in two days.

Just remember that this stuff kills fleas it comes in contact with, so if your cats have groomed it all off of themselves then they go outside and get new fleas they will bring those back in. So you'll have to reapply it more often. Zissou doesn't go outside, so once was enough.

Also, when you put it on your pets you have to rub it in down to the skin, usually involves petting your cat backwards which some of them hate!

Good luck!

I read this and now I'm kind of wary of it. "Diatomaceous Earth is also effective against fleas, but again, take care not to let your pet breathe it." Does anyone know why this is? If it isn't harmful to animals, then what is wrong with letting them breathe it?
I'm looking for more of a preventative, then anything, but still, I won't get anything that's going to potentially hurt my animals in the long run.
Here's another exerpt from an article"Diatomaceous Earth is a natural grade diatomite. It requires no warning label on the bag or container. However, the continual breathing of any dust should he absolutely avoided." What's the deal?

I have used it twice with no results. It might be because we live in the country and they are hatching outside. My cats are in the woods playing as well. And I can't treat all of that.

So I am going back to frontline plus so they can have relief.

I will use it in my garden at our new place.

Sorry it didn't work for you. It works better with cats that are kept inside, I guess. The stuff in the carpets is probably helping a little, keeping them from making a habitat inside. Perhaps use it on the inside environment as a supplement to the Frontline?

Avoiding breathing in the dust is recommended because it is a very fine dust that would irritate your lungs, just like talc or fine sawdust or pepper. It's not poisonous or anything. It'll just make them cough. I inhaled some and it made my throat a little dry for a day or so. But it's not dangerous.

I plan on using it for supplement. One problem I have right now is Cow kitty who is the mama of some babies I am helpin out.

The mama had them in the woods and when she moved them under my porch I brought them in. She comes in a few times a day and nurses them. I have put the DE on her but she keep grooming it off. So she keeps bringing them in.

Right now, there are no fleas in the carpet. DE worked great for that. But since all my cats except for two go in and out, the fleas on them keep returning.

But for carpet and plants it works.

When we get moved and I have an enclosure, it might work better becasue I will only have an area to treat instead of them picking them up in the woods.

And I accidently inhaled some as well. But even if I only use it for controlled areas, I can still use it for a wormer since it works for that. But I need something a little stouter for the fleas.

Jenn

I know nothing about this subject.

I do know that we should always take our cats to a vet to be wormed.
Attempting to worm them ourselves with any product, could be dangerous to their health.

I just found this thread after I posted that we have fleas. I was researching this product on Google and found that you should leave it in the carpet for 3 days before vacuuming... But Barb mentioned that she read an article that the pets shouldn't breathe the stuff in.

You should do your best to avoid breathing it, just because it is a very fine, scratchy powder. I researched it more, and someone who posted that it cuts them up was also right. It makes scratches in the exoskeleton of the fleas, and then dehydrates them. So, it can make your throat scratchy,a nd same for the kits. It is not toxic or poisonous in any way, however, it's just that it can give you an itchy throat if you spread it over a large area and breathe in the dust. Once the dust settles it poses no threat at all. Keep the kits in another room while putting it in carpets, and put a tshirt over your face or something, and you'll be perfectly alright. For fairness, I did read something that seemed uncredible that said it can make your lungs bleed by cutting them like it does a flea. I do not believe this. It is FDA approved for this use, however I felt I should mention it for posterity.
It worked very well for Zissou and I, although I think I'd have to change my recommendation after thinking about it to using it for flea control in the house of indoor/outdoor cats as a supplement to Frontline or Advantage or Program, etc, and still using it to treat indoor-only cats as all you'd need.

There is minimal dust from what you put on the animal, although of course stay away from the face. I put it in my hand first, and then rub it into the fur.