Ok so I have been trying to come up with alternatives for wormers and fleas as you have probably noticed with previous posts! I have just bought some Diatomaceous Earth online! (ebay) I have only ever treated my dog twice for fleas and he is just over 7 month old. (Usually when been to the vets, as my cat always gets fleas when she goes 0.0) So I treat the dog and cat if I start finding them, I don't bother treating otherwise. My cat had a nasty reaction once and that really put me off! Anyway what has caught my eye is it is also effective against all types of internal parasites including the fungal types. Lungworm and heartworm included! Its inexpensive, 25kg for £30 on ebay and a 55 pound dog I think requires a tablespoon full a day and you feed consistently till the day they die. It has massive health benefits to! To purge the system of parasites it can take a couple of month and then to keep them free of them completely just carry on using it. So what I plan on doing is going to my local vets to buy some advocate and treating my dog for lungworm as I am unwilling to wait 2 month to no he is clear of them. Then put him straight on the DE. I have seen a lot of great reviews on the stuff and plan to treat myself with it too! So I will eat it plus my birds, cat, dog and hamster lol! Who needs chemicals! I recommend people to read up on it! It sounds great!
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! Make sure its food grade though! Im gonna scatter some in garden to kill the slugs and snails too! Sorry guys >.<
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! It's silica? It'll work just fine on slugs and snails for sure (well, when it's dry) but you are going to eat it? Why?
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! http://www.naturalnews.com/030688_Diatomaceous_earth_health.html Read up on it
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! I spend a lot of time on a poultry forum and the issue of 'natural wormers' comes up all the time (DE, garlic, vinegar etc.). The effect of most of these things is often either unresearched (with quality studies anyway) or of minor or nil benefit. The end result can be animals with a high worm load. Fortunately, there are products that are known to be very safe and effective - wormers you can buy from your vet. Climbing off soapbox now....
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! Was just on a very freaky forum about threadworms (the hazzard of following multiple links) Think flavour of the month there was pumpkin seeds. Some (to my mind) very odd health beliefs expressed. Can't find any obvious HARM from the food grade DE but not sure any good evidence for benefit. All I can say is good luck to you :-\ Think I will stick to conventional meds. jac
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! Diatomaceous earth has been used in the pest control industry for some time. It is also used to reduce parasites in poultry houses and hutches. It basically acts by 'drying out' the outer layer of the target species A few studies have shown that DE does help to reduce some types of intestinal worms, including roundworms, whipworms, and hookworms. Lungworm I have not seen any evidence that it is effective against lungworm or heartworm. If anyone has seen such evidence, please post a link. In parts of the UK, lungworm is a real problem, my own vet has had several patients die recently. So it is important that you contact your vet for advise on treating lungworm in your area. All the claims for the efficacy of DE as a wormer for dogs seem to be based on a study by O. C. Collins (DVM) of the Midland Animal Clinic and Hospital in Texas. He found DE reduced ova of several types of worm in dogs fed regularly on 1tsp (dogs under 35lbs) and 1 tbsp (dogs over 35lbs) per day. He found that DE controlled the following species of worm DE controlled Ascardis (Toxacara canids), Hookworms (Anclyostoma caninum), and Whipworms (Trichuris vulipis). Because lungworm and heartworm live much of their life cycle outside of the intestine, DE would not be effective in eradicating an existing problem. Whether or not daily treatment with DE would prevent lungworms from becoming established has not yet been proven as far as I can discover. Nor does Collins seem to make any claims for the efficacy of DE in treating tapeworm, which is probably the most common intestinal parasite infecting adult dogs. Raw fed dogs DE works because it is an abrasive dessicant. It reduces the amount of moisture in faeces which might be a bad thing for dogs that are already producing dry faeces (raw fed dogs for example). Chemicals can be lifesavers - we just need to use them appropriately. Pippa
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! Here is just one of the many threads on another pet forum that have given good reviews on DE. search Diatomaceous Earth PET FORUMS. apparently a lot of users on there give it to their pets with great results. That's just one thread on one forum
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! In a previous life, I dealt with taking enforcement action against scams (I'm not saying DE is a scam at all, it seems very reasonable that silica would be effective against some pests - not so sure about taken internally, but there we are). You wouldn't believe how widespread certain beliefs in products can be - berries that make you lose weight, bracelets that reduce wrinkles, homeopathy bomb detectors, an additive you put in your fuel tank that makes your car twice as efficient...thousands of people bought these things...and no doubt raved about them on forums. I think the important thing is to understand why DE would work in the way you hope, not just that people believe it does, and try to track down some hard evidence that it actually does work. If you do, fine, great stuff, and you'll know for sure that you have found a cost effective way to protect your much loved animals.
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! I think this is probably a good point to say how I feel about the question of health advice on internet forums generally. I hope no-one will be offended, but I have some concerns about this issue. Health advice on this forum The widespread dissemination of inappropriate health advice on internet forums and groups is something that concerns me. I frequently see inaccurate and false claims go unchallenged. And there is no doubt that dogs sometimes suffer for it. Whereas we can choose what we put into our own bodies, our dogs cannot, and I feel a responsibility to make sure that the health advice given out on this little corner of the internet, is appropriate. I am very happy to see all aspects of health, medicine, alternative medicine etc., discussed but would prefer if those offering advice or promoting products for which they are making health claims, to link out to authoritative sources in support of their arguments. Rather than simply linking to other forums where we have no control or input over the reliability or veracity of the information posted up there. When discussing health products I think it is important to try and link to actual research where possible. And to answer valid points made by others contributing to the thread For example, Newpuppymom, if you have a link to support your belief that DE is effective against lungworm I think it would be very helpful and add to the discussion. Hope that makes sense Pippa
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! [commercial link removed] Here is another link explaining why silica is so important to the human body, how it works inside the body for parasites etc. [commercial link removed] Im sure I have posted this before. Here is a link from a doctor stating why silica is important http://www.drlwilson.com/ARTICLES/SILICON.htm Here is a link loaded with information on the stuff. Because DE has sharp edges, when eaten it will lacerate parasites and dry them up, pretty much the same as it does to fleas and other bugs externally. It will scrub up and clean your insides but kill the invaders. As DE also enters the bloodstream it should kill everything. But I will be treating with advocate first to kill them and then DE to maintain
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! [commercial link removed] Here is a very interesting article about the importance of silica inside the human/animal body. Recommend this one. http://www.manataka.org/page2322.html A link about silica and DE "There is no life without silica!" quote from link. Here is another doctors take on [commercial link removed]
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! NPM – most of the links you post are to people selling the stuff, not to research. Of the two Doctors you quote (I haven’t looked up whether or not they actually are), the first says the benefits are: Psychologically, silicon gives a person more courage and balance, interesting qualities of a mineral. Hmm…. The second concludes: Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) is a safe product that lacks scientific evidence to support its claims as a gastrointestinal agent that can detoxify and remove bacteria or other microorganisms.
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! I noted that one article ended with the conclusion that as no evidence was available to state that DE was safe for children , then they could not endorse it being given to children . In light of this statement , I think it would not therefore be something I would wish to use on animals either . I also note that the links are, as Julie stated , to sites selling DE and this is not really appropriate for this forum as sites selling a product are not likely to list any potential pitfalls .
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! thanks for your research ladies - think we'll stick with the chemicals for now
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! Despit my not liking the use of chemicals , I would by far prefer to use a chemical product that is regulated than one that isnt
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! I am deciding to try it out on myself! If I see good results I will give to pets too. Im mainly going by peoples success storys on other pet forums and from what I have read. I respect other peoples views Another one I have heard that works on fleas is feeding a clove of garlic per 30 pound of dog ( tsp of crushed garlic) but again no proof supporting for or against. Anyone ever used it?
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! A friend of mine who is a primary school teacher kept getting head lice from the kids so she started eating garlic. When I asked if it helped, she said no, not really, but the parents didn't come in after school to complain to her about any more head lice scares, so it sort of worked!!
Re: Diatomaceous Earth for parasites! Garlic and onions are toxic to dogs. Therefore, under no circumstances would I recommend using it as a flea detergent.
