Have any of you used Diatomaceous Earth to deal w/ fleas in the home?

[MissMillie]

The vet tech recommended it, and it seems to get pretty good product reviews.

It has the added benefit of being affordable.

I'd love to hear your experiences, please.

[CountAllVotes]

1. There are two types

One type is said to be "pet friendly".

The other type is not.

I've never tried it myself but when I had an infestation a number of years ago, all of my cats became indoor cats.

I combed each of them every day and vacuumed the house EVERY DAY for 3 months.

I finally had myself a flea-free home without the use of any chemicals, etc.

I still vacuum the house frequently and comb the cats with a flea comb daily.

No more fleas with this approach and none of those dangerous topical chemicals either.

Please don't resort to using these topical chemicals as I lost one of my precious cats to this crap. It is simply not safe for many types of dogs and cats.

[HelpImSurrounded]

5. "Food Grade" DE

The safe kind is "Food grade".

[intrepidity]

2. I did an experiment once

Put some DE in a small transparent container. Combed a few fleas off dog. Put fleas into container.

I was hoping that it somehow killed them soon after contact, like within minutes.

But it didn't. I've forgotten how long it took, but it made me lose faith in it as a first line defense.

I will still use it around cracks/crevices on floors etc to discourage insects generally, but in terms of quick killing (via dessication of exoskeleton, or whatever) what I saw did not support that.

Just my personal observation. Try it.

[HelpImSurrounded]

4. Yes, it's slow

ultimately, the flea dies of dehydration and dehydration is never a fast death.

[HelpImSurrounded]

3. Yes, it works fairly well

I live in a 110 yr old house with a 100-yr old floor and a root cellar underneath. This means there are tiny gaps in parts of the floor where flea eggs can fall. One day I went into teh root cellar (Where I rarely go) and was attacked by a cloud of fleas. I have since spread a layer of DE on the floor down there and have been using a DE duster to blow it under the house and around the yard.

This has helped a great deal. Unlike pesticides, fleas don't adapt resistance to DE because of how it works. It's not a fast solution and it doesn't kill eggs but over the long run it is the safest, most effective tool in my arsenal against fleas.

[intrepidity]

8. Agreed, this is a good use

I use it similarly.

[MontanaMama]

6. I have not used it in my home but

use it every winter in my chicken coop. I mix it with ash, sand and dirt so my girls can dust bathe in it. Diotomaceous earth keeps mites and pests off my chickens when they can’t leave the coop to properly dust bathe during the wintertime when the snow is deep.

[hermetic]

17. Excellent idea!

We use it for our cats every summer.

[SWBTATTReg]

7. In the home itself, I don't know. I used it in the yard to kill fleas and ticks, but the actual ...

house, I'm a little nervous about that option (me). If in the house, why not use night lights (I have all over the house), and then place little cups of water with soap in it, fleas will be attracted to the light, jump towards the night lights, and then fall into the soapy water and drown.

I have used this method all of the time as it worked for me before in the past (my dogs didn't have free rein of the entire house, nor drank the soapy water (maybe at first they did, but then 'yuck! and quit)). The fleas believe it or not, would jump in there and drown. It works.

This worked better than me setting off a bug bomb on every floor of my house (four floors), or flea collars (one dog's skin was too sensitive, would break out in rashes). or sprays for spraying onto the dogs. Nothing seemed to work effectively.

Good luck to you.

[MissMillie]

12. We've tried the night lights

not very effective.

[Jirel]

9. Yep.

You can use FOOD GRADE DE on cats, btw. Ok it up online for a video on the technique. Gotta keep it away from eyes, nose, and mouth like everything else.

Works well on carpeted areas and in large areas like basements. I’ve never needed to use it on anything else - basic mopping and occasional spritzes of Adams furniture spray after vacuuming that has done wonders. Gotta know the tricks, with as many cats as we have!

Suggestion: Capstar pills are safe and mega-affective in a healthy cat if the poor thing gets utterly infested. You give them a pill, let them run around like mad while the fleas are dying, and put a Seresto (brand only, no hinky fakes!) collar on them at the end of the day. Bye bye for about 7 months, fleas. You’ll still have to comb the cat out for flea eggs to shorten the misery of containing the next hatch-out (neither capstar nor the collar affects eggs), vacuum, do DE/Adams to deal with whatever is left in house and furnishings.

[Shermann]

10. I've used it on underground yellowjackets

It's not a miracle treatment that annihilates them instantly. But if you keep an area contaminated with it, it is a major irritant for them and they will eventually move on.

I believe it's labelled as a carcinogen though? I doubt I'd ever use it inside.

[Progressive dog]

11. i would not use it where the powder

might end up in the air near people or pets.

There isn't enough reliable information available to know if diatomaceous earth is safe or what the side effects might be. Side effects in people who work with diatomaceous earth in large amounts include serious lung problems, even lung cancer. When rubbed on the skin, diatomaceous earth might cause wounds or loss of parts of the skin.
Special Precautions & Warnings:
Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There is not enough reliable information about the safety of taking diatomaceous earth if you are pregnant or breast feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Lung disease: Some forms of diatomaceous earth may be harmful to the lungs, especially if inhaled. Breathing in diatomaceous earth might result in lung problems in people that already have some problems in their lungs. This includes asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), etc. Use cautiously.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1531/diatomaceous-earth

[3Hotdogs]

13. Also good for roach infestations

[jmbar2]

14. Suggestion

I had a horrible infestation when I moved into a new rental dwelling a couple of years ago. Did a bunch of research on it.

Your goal is to kill the adults that are laying the fleas, AND to keep the already-laid eggs from hatching. Requires a two pronged approach:

- Vacuum twice a day with a bagless vac, and then empty it immediately away from the home to get rid of the eggs. I also put a small amount of DE on the floor and vac it up with the eggs.

- Then wet mop the floor with any type of soap to kill the egg layers. The soap dissolves their carapace.

It will take several weeks to get them all, but you will notice immediate improvement even after a day or so of the vac/mop routine.

Good luck!

[livetohike]

15. It works well but what a mess!! Dust everywhere for

months despite frequent vacuuming and a wet mop on the hardwood floors.

[Jeebo]

16. My cat Fred disappeared for three weeks...

...and showed up covered in fleas, which he spread all over my house. My brother said they had that problem with their dog Toaster and sprinkled 20 Mule Team Borax all over their house and vacuumed it up a few days later and that got rid of their fleas. I have hardwood floors in my house and had to sweep up the Borax instead of vacuuming it up, but I guess it worked, sort of. It seems to have cleared up perhaps 80 percent of the fleas, not all. Maybe the Diatomaceous Earth will work better. I'll ask my vet about it.

-- Ron

[WePurrsevere]

18. I avoid toxic stuff as much as possible so...

when the vet I worked for recommended it I gave it a try and still use it regularly 30 yrs later. It works slow, but IME it works wonderfully in our home and carefully used on our dogs and cats.

[SheltieLover]

19. It is very fine, gets into everything like charcoal dust

It does work, but takes time.

Use food grade only. Do not breathe it or use near pets because they could inhale it.

Our dog brought fleas in this past spring.

Got the dog a Seresto flea collar ($58, lasts 8 months). It is the only thing that works for us & beats having white dust powder all over everything. (Dust even got sucked into computer due to high powered fans.)

NOTE: These collars are often counterfeitted. Only buy from.reputable source. They come in a can & can must be sealed. If you are considering this, please google how to tell the fakes!

I hope this is helpful.