Conventional dewormers vs diamatacous earth?

darkxfire

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Is anyone better than the other? Last time I took my cat for shots, vet wanted to sel me millbemax for $20 a tablet. He said something like diatomaceous earth doesn't work for roundworms, or tapeworms. Anyways, I had a 20kg bag of the food grade stuff I bought last summer for $30, and I still use it in my cats food.
 

pushylady

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So you've been using in your cat's food for a while? I wondering if they actually have worms now or is your vet thinking of a preventative treatment?
I know people do use DE in their pet's food and it seems to work effectively against a lot of parasites. I don't know for sure which ones though. A definitive list would be handy!
 

maggiemay

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Just remember that taking food grade DE yourself or giving it to your pets can be very dehydrating.  If you give it in the cat's food, it needs to be wet food with some added water.  Also, DE is not recommended for use in diabetic cats.  According to my vet, DE does work on roundworms, lungworms (hookworms which have migrated to the lungs), pinworms, hookworms and tapeworms. Wolf Creek Ranch, where I buy my food grade DE, recommends giving DE daily for 30-45 days for tapeworms and 90 days for lungworms.  Dosage for a normal cat is 2 teaspoons (give one teaspoon twice daily) for worm infestations, one teaspoon (1/2 tsp. twice daily) for maintenance dosing.  I prefer to start out at a lesser dose and work up over the course of several days. If you are going to use DE, you must commit to a daily dosage for at least 3 weeks. Starting DE and then stopping for several days before giving it to them again can make the animal sick because dead and dying worms emit bacteria, viruses, toxins and ammonia, which can cause toxic overload.  Daily DE dosage for three weeks straight will lessen the possibility of toxic overload.  Chemical dewormers can also cause toxic overload, and they can be very hard on the system.  I am a huge fan of DE, but I believe in obtaining all of the information I possibly can before giving anything to my pets.  Wolf Creek Ranch online has lots of information on DE and sells only organic DE.
 
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darkxfire

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Well I initially bought it for fleas, but then I realized it was a pain constantly trying to apply it so I just use generic frontline plus for XL Dogs and break it into 8 cat doses  0.5mg. Anyways, one cat I have that spends plenty of time outdoors tends to have more loose stool. I've always given the powder every once in a while, but usually in very small amounts. I found that if you are in the US, this is a pretty cheap place to get dewormers.

http://www.petsneedmeds.com/
 

mingsmongols

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It only works on things with exoskeletons. It does this by getting into there joints and cutting them as the insect moves. Think microscopic shard powder. It's not a pesticide and isn't intended for parasites. 
 

maggiemay

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It only works on things with exoskeletons. It does this by getting into there joints and cutting them as the insect moves. Think microscopic shard powder. It's not a pesticide and isn't intended for parasites. 
Yes, diatomaceous earth does penetrate exoskeletons.  It is also very effective at eliminating parasites in humans and animals.  This is where I buy mine and it's an excellent website regarding treatment of parasites with DE.  http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth.html
 
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darkxfire

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Cats dont like DE. You have to give them a bit for it to work properly. I mix some with there food, small amounts. I took him to the vet two days ago, and he had tapeworms. I bought millbemax tabs instead, which were on sale, but still $12 Canadian a tablet. The tablets might be more convenient for them, and easier to use, but if you like using DE, its cheaper if you get it from the right places. I got mine for $30 in canada, for a 20kg bag from a homehardware nearby. Most places sell it much more than that.

You can also see if you can buy any of these dewormers online, some places have good prices, like petsneedmeds, but you need to know which one you need. There are broad spectrum ones like millbemax, and some that only treat hookworms, or tapeworms
 

maggiemay

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Cats dont like DE. You have to give them a bit for it to work properly. I mix some with there food, small amounts. I took him to the vet two days ago, and he had tapeworms. I bought millbemax tabs instead, which were on sale, but still $12 Canadian a tablet. The tablets might be more convenient for them, and easier to use, but if you like using DE, its cheaper if you get it from the right places. I got mine for $30 in canada, for a 20kg bag from a homehardware nearby. Most places sell it much more than that.

You can also see if you can buy any of these dewormers online, some places have good prices, like petsneedmeds, but you need to know which one you need. There are broad spectrum ones like millbemax, and some that only treat hookworms, or tapeworms
No, they don't like it.  I use it for extra flea protection.  I put the DE into a tube sock and close the end with a rubber band.  Then I gently rub the sock over their bodies, being careful not to get it near their eyes or noses.  It sifts out very well that way.  I too use the tablets for tapeworm problems.
 

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I find it hard to believe that diamatacous earth woud work on any internal parasites. While it does cause dehydration to occur on some insects it doesnt work in a liquid environment such as the stomach and is proccessed and stored by the body for nutrients so it wouldnt make it to the intestines. Heres a good way to test it. Get two slugs, sprinkle both with diamatacous earth and put one on a plate with water. If diamatacous earth worked in the digestive tract then both slugs would die, however you'll quickly find the one in water doesnt dehydrate.

That being said alot of people swear by it, but the clinical trials where dia is used vs a placebo just dont back it up. It has its uses though.
 
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maggiemay

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I find it hard to believe that diamatacous earth woud work on any internal parasites. While it does cause dehydration to occur on some insects it doesnt work in a liquid environment such as the stomach and is proccessed and stored by the body for nutrients so it wouldnt make it to the intestines. Heres a good way to test it. Get two slugs, sprinkle both with diamatacous earth and put one on a plate with water. If diamatacous earth worked in the digestive tract then both slugs would die, however you'll quickly find the one in water doesnt dehydrate.
From what I've read, it's the fact that these are diatoms that enables them to carry parasites out of the body.  I raised horses and I know it works.
 
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darkxfire

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Honestly, DE is only good if you are able to give them a lot frequently, and they wouldnt tolerate it. I even used to feed strays and they hated it. I guess everyone has mixed opinions. In the end, in order for it to work practically, it has to have plenty in their system and most animals wont tolerate it well because it tastes like sand. I'd use it on my cats for flea problems, but I found it wore off very quick, and it kept irritating them. Instead, I do what a lot of people do thats very cheap and effective to treat fleas and ticks. Take frontline plus, I use the generic fiprofort plus for XL dogs, and break it into 8 cat doses at 0.5ml. You have to store them in a vial so you dont waste so many doses like I did lol.  If you can find it generic and online cheap, its good. Plenty of sites sell them. Honestly, I found it the best for treating them. I have heard people saying to use citronella oil, peppermint oil etc, I never tried it. For me what worked the best was this. Although the dog version has 8.8% methoprene, instead of 11.8% for cats, it still works well at killing eggs, larve etc.
 

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From what I've read, it's the fact that these are diatoms that enables them to carry parasites out of the body.  I raised horses and I know it works.
Do you also place it around there stalls and hang it from bags?
 

mingsmongols

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Do you also place it around there stalls and hang it from bags?
The reason I ask is because I used to sell a ton of it when I was working at a feed shop in college. People would throw it everywhere and it worked great which is the direct causation of  diatomaceous earth , but then they'd feed it to there livestock as well when it was just a correlation not causation. Thats the thing about causation vs correlation, they effect is the same so it can be hard to determine the cause. For example, lets say five recently divorced women from a small town left a convention selling sig sauger guns and went to their ex husbands house and murdered them. A correlation would be that they all used the same gun and you could draw from that that sig saugers causes a higher rate of ex husband murdering rampages but that doesn't look at what proceeded the events. The convention in which a impassioned women talked about freedom of oppression from ex scum bags. Looking at that you can determine that the women's speech enraged the other women enough to buy a gun at the convention and murder there ex husbands, not the guns themselves. It's the same with  diatomaceous  earth. When spread around an animals living area it reduces the amount of parasite carrying insects thereby reducing the amount of parasites the animal is exposed to. This is causation. A correlation would be that feeding the animal it as well reduces the amount of parasites the animal is exposed too. The study below by the Department of Animal Science, College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences shows this in there placebo studies of  diatomaceous  earth on livestock.

http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...e=online&aid=6950272&fileId=S1357729800009206
 

maggiemay

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Do you also place it around there stalls and hang it from bags?
I used to put it all around the edges of the floor, and across the door sill, of the feed room.  The horses got it put in their feed.  Large animal vets come to you and they're very expensive, so this was a good way to keep their systems clear when the vet wasn't making a call.  And I use it now at home around the doors and windows.  I never have an insect problem.  I also dust it on the sheepskin covers of my kitty window seats.  It works.
 

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I agree. I just don't think it works when introduced into there gastrointestinal tract. I think its the dry diatomaceous earth that you dust everywhere that kills the insects carrying parasites before they can infect your animals. I think its a case of causation vs correlation as I mentioned above but that the end result is the same.
Is it an effective dewormer for sheep and goats?
A review of the scientific literature.

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/#!de/c2165
 

maggiemay

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I agree. I just don't think it works when introduced into there gastrointestinal tract. I think its the dry diatomaceous earth that you dust everywhere that kills the insects carrying parasites before they can infect your animals. I think its a case of causation vs correlation as I mentioned above but that the end result is the same.
Is it an effective dewormer for sheep and goats?
A review of the scientific literature.

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/#!de/c2165
Well you are certainly welcome to your opinion.  All the best!
 
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