DE

Question
Hi The ospca came to my home and had told me that using DE was not good enough for treating my dogs for flea's, I found it DID work, but it also dried their skin out. I use it for deworming and also externally for fleas. Do you have any information to clarify if it does indeed dry the dogs skin out & what to use to bring their skin back to normal.

Thank you very much!
Tina

Answer
I know that is does kill fleas, but you experienced first hand that it dries out their skin.

It is too harsh to use directly on pets. It works fine for bedding or the rugs but you really need an IGR, or insect growth regulator. That will break the flea cycle and kill the larval forms as well as prevent the eggs from hatching. The only thing an IGR cannot do, and neither will the DE, is kill the cocooned adults. Once those hatch, which is about every two weeks, you need to kill them with an adulticide like Ovitrol Plus spray. It kills the adults safely on the dogs but it also has an IGR in it.

I use Sentinel for heartworm and flea prevention on my cats. I used it for over 15 yrs on my dogs but they have now died of old age. I haven't had fleas on my property since I started using Sentinel for the pets. And even with deer, squirrels and opossums on my property I still don't have fleas on my cats.

Get yourself some Ovitrol or something like it with an IGR in it. Leave the DE for the pool or to sprinkle on the ground.