# Diatomaceous Earth in Feed



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

The Benefits Of Diatomaceous Earth | Dogs Naturally Magazine

Has anybody done this? Beau has never tested positive for worms but I started doing this and his stools have gone from formed and soft to formed and firm.

It sounds like a lot of benefits. Does anyone know a down side. I defintely went with a product I got from Arbico called "food grade" not the OMRI products certfied for organic gardens but not listed as such.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Hang on I have a whole rant on DE and why it DOES NOT WORK as an internal dewormer, and actually has a lot of drawbacks too. This is a subject I get rather heated about FYI 

DE does NOT work as an internal dewormer!!!!

For DE to work, it needs to scratch the waxy outer layer on the bug's exoskeleton, which causes them to dehydrate and die. 

With internal parasites, the environment is moist, so DE is ineffective, which BTW, is why it does not work as well with slugs in your garden. It only works when it's dry. It's important to understand how DE works to kill the bug. The scratches do not kill it, not directly. The DEHYDRATION resulting from the scratches does.

Other things to consider:

-edges on food grade DE are not as sharp as what's used in your garden, which further reduces it's effectiveness.

-quantity you'd need to feed could create digestive trouble

-irritates mouth, throat, lungs and GI tract


In the garden, it works fantastically! I could see it being effective for a more natural flea treatment in pets, however it can dry the skin, irritate eyes, throat and lungs (if inhaled)

I'm all about natural alternatives, I even feed my dog a raw diet. 

However, I think there needs to be a balance between holistic and conventional medicine and this is one area that I think the chemical product is a much better choice, combined with regular fecal checks, good pasture management and only deworming as necessary.

Chemical Dewormers are Best


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

This is something I posted in an equine forum, but the same rules apply to dogs. Pasture management can be = to yard waste pickup.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I use the food grade on the garden.....interesting.........


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

I have horses, but I think the same things can apply to dogs. 

We do regular fecal checks in our horses. I have two who are carrying low levels, but we did not deworm them yet. I am going to be testing them again soon, to make sure the number is still low. My big guy is clear and has been clear for the last 2 years. He only gets dewormed in the fall for tapes (which don't show on fecals). 

That helps avoid overuse of dewormers which can lead to resistant strains of parasites. Good pasture management (picking up or spreading poop) helps reduce the contamination and reinfestation of parasites, as well as keeping grass cut.

I've gone to more parasite control/pasture management info seminars than I can tell you about. lol

To me, proper management is the best thing, and not blindly deworming, but doing proper checks and deworming only when warranted. 

I even have a giant horse poo vacuum


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

My understanding of it as a feed through is the same as blackshep mentioned. It doesn't really work because of the wet environment of the GI tract. It does work great in the garden, animal housing areas or applied topically for external parasites.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Read this recently: Dangers of Diatomaceous Earth for Chronic Lyme Disease Jenna's Lyme Blog


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