I've used it forever. It is very effective as long as you don't live someplace where it rains every other day. Once it gets wet, it is not as effective. However, it is effective for some uses and not for others. For example, some people think it effective for fire ants, but it doesn't do a thing to the fire ants I have here. For them, I use spinosad-based products instead. So, you have to try it for whatever pest you are combatting, and evaluate its effectiveness pest by pest.

I only use food grade, although sometimes you can find garden-grade in some stores. A couple of years ago, certain companies began selling a garden-grade DE that had a chemical pesticide added to it so I always warn people to watch out for that one (don't know if it is even still on the market).

And, as you know...but I'll throw this in for anyone who hasn't researched D.E., you don't ever use the swimming pool grade D.E. in the garden, landscape or with animals because it is processed differently and is not safe for garden use.

Dawn

Dawn...

I'm glad this subject came up, because I've been wondering if others have used DE successfully for flea and worm control with pets. Namely, cats in my situation. I don't like using chemicals on my cats, like Frontline, etc.
It seems to work for fleas, but not so sure about worms.

Barbara

Barbara,

I have used it for worms with cats and dogs and think it works, but you have to use it on a consistent basis.

I don't like using chemicals on our animals either.

Dawn

Dawn
Thanks for the confirmation on DE. I recently read 1 teaspoon per day per cat. That sounds reasonable. They get some good calcium and other minerals from it too. Food grade of course.

Barbara

Barbara,

I try to follow the Dirt Doctor's DE recommendations which recommend that animals be given D.E. as 2% of their daily food intake. So, how much that equates to varies from cat to cat. I try to mix it in so it is 2% of the canned food they get in the evening, but don't worry about it being the equivalent of 2% of their dry food.

When I only had a cat or two, I fed them Muenster Natural Cat Food, but it really is too expensive for a multi-cat household.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: The Dirt Doctor's Words on D.E.

Dawn,
Thanks for the confirmation and for the Dirt Doctor website. I'm always hesitant to try a new product with my animals.
Barbara,
Thanks for your information also. I'm going to try it with my cat - it has to be less toxic than the products I've been using for flea/tick control.

Dawn and Farmergardener..
Another very real concern about needing our pets to be worm free is that we know pets, and especially cats, are prone to use any available loose surface for their potty area, namely any place in the garden where they can dig a hole. Roundworms especially are not inclined to be destroyed easily in garden soil unless the temperatures are very hot and the soil sandy and pretty dry. So, one way or another, we need to keep the kitties and perhaps dogs as well, if we have them, worm free and healthy, just to be on the safe side.

I try to keep my cats out of the garden, but it's impossible since that's their favorite place to be, especially when I'm out there working, and who knows what they do when my back is turned.

One option I like is to keep a sack or two of play sand outside the garden area, so they have their own outside kitty litter. The rain, and/or occasional hosing down keeps it clean and leached out.

Please don't let me freak anyone out by mentioning this, it's just a fact of life when we have pets, as well as a garden. So-they get dosed with DE in their daily chow, and they don't seem to mind a bit as long as it's Friskies. I am looking into making homemade cat food, but I know it's a big hassle. It would be worth it if it keeps them healthy and out of the vets ofc.

Barbara

I'm always sticking my foot in my mouth but I have to say I'm appalled that anyone would use diatomaceous earth for internal consumption or application on an animal's or human's skin.

My experience with this stuff is for industrial applications first and foremost, and I am well aware of it's gardening applications--its razor sharp edges will cause a slug or snail to slice and impale itself to death simply by crawling over the razor-sharp diatom fragments.

That is exactly what happens when you feed it to your pet for deworming purposes--the razor-sharp edges will cut the worms up like thousands of tiny steak knives. By the same token the diatom fragments will also slice and dice the cilia on the walls of the intestines....not a good idea? If you put that stuff on the animal's coat they will just lick it off, which I suppose is the same as swallowing thousands of tiny steak knives.

Like I said my experience with the stuff is strictly industrial, where it is treated with extreme respect (or should be). Maybe I'm crazy--after all, I'm the guy who doesn't see much harm from using Roundup, yet I wouldn't put diatomaceous earth anywhere near the inside of a house, internally, wherever there is risk of inhaling it, or on pets. Probably I'm just conditioned to be cautious about the stuff and there is no harm, but....just think about how this stuff does its work and that should be proof enough to use caution.

Robert

Robert
Sometimes we do need to think outside the box of so called "conventional wisdom" and your post did give me pause for thought.
Although I have never seen any adverse affect whatever by using DE on my cats, I have wondered if the stuff even does what it claims, since I've seen bugs of all sorts crawling back and forth over a scattering of DE with not a trace of being sliced and/or diced. Nevertheless, I began wondering if there might be another alternative to DE, one that both myself and my cats could live with comfortably and safely. There is the BIG problem of both fleas AND worms with animals, not to mention our close contact with them.
I did come across a couple of sites that listed "safe" herbal animal wormers. One is a liquid, which I prefer to pills. I would rather take a beating with a wet zuchinni than give a cat a pill! So, if this is safe and works, what about flea control? Pets suffer terribly when they get flea infested and can even die.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: Verm-X Herbal Wormer

Robert,

D.E. is added to many foods (including human foods) as an anticaking agent and a pest preventive (for example, to keep meal moths out of grain) and it is added to some pet foods and cattle food as well. The food grade D.E. is processed differently from the industrial grade stuff and I believe its edges are not as sharp.

I've used DE for years and have not seen any sign that it has hurt the animals. Most of our dogs live to be at least 15 before they die of old age, and our cats often live to be as old as 18 or 19 before they die of old age. I've had 3 cats die at the age of 18 since we moved her, and another was almost 19, which seems like a pretty good age for a cat. So, based on my experience with it, I have no concerns about its safety.

Barbara,

There are lots of liquid wormers around for pets that are herbal in nature. One that has been around for quite a few years is called Gentle Dragon and I think it is available at Planet Natural, which has quite a few natural pet products.

Dawn