using DE

I have read the article on Diatomaceous earth & ordered a gal. Somewhere I saw where you give 1 T. to lg dogs & 1 tsp. to lg cat.
1tsp to dogs under 50lbs & mini dogs 1/2tsp & the list went on...
Are you supposed to give this to them to eat? For parasites like worms? It says DE doesn't work when wet. So how can one eat it & have it be effective in killing anything? I'm not understanding something here. I see the article says I can put it on their fur for fleas which is why I ordered it, but someone else on forum says it dries them out. I have a kitten & an 18 yr old that need deflead but don't want them to be dehydrated in the process. Any thoughts for me? I'd sure appreciate it.

I just learned about using DE for fleas today and am very interested since my cat is allergic to flea bites and who wants those little critters in the house anyway right? My main concern is my grandson.. I read that you can sprinkle the DE on carpet and vacumn.. how long do you leave it on before vacumning and is there any risk to my grandson if he is playing on the floor ... and can you sprinkle on furniture also and then vacumn it? Very urgent response please .. I'm taking my cat to Vet today and want to get on with cleaning up any fleas that must be here ... my pets are totally inside pets but she got bit somehow.. must have been a hitch hiking flea on one of us coming in...

Carolyn - I would agree with the literature that you read on the DE, sounds about right for dosage(s). And, Yes, to protect your animals/pets from parasites you would put some in their food and offer plenty of water. I don't understand, why that myth of DE not working when wet, it has the hardness equal to a diamond, it's like broken glass to a parasite. When wet it will clump and stick, it loses it's ability to fly-around and have any static-cling. The mechanical part is still active. It could be dryiing to the skin, if put on heavily and frequently, that should not be all that necessary. Cats, since they groom more than dogs will need less, do a Google search and read up more on it. Get comfortable with it and learn that it won't hurt you, if you use common sense and respect it. People eat this, too, in addition to giving to animals...

Debi - DE can be an irritant to our lungs and eyes, so we must protect them. There isn't any reason why you can't sprinkle your carpets, upholstery and your cat. Leave it in the carpet & upholstery for a couple of hours or overnight, I'm sure there is more precise directions on your packaging or online, but I'm just going off the top of my head, as I write. After the time you decide, vaccum it up, you might want to wear something over your face, just in case your vaccum throws up a lot of dust. Do this again on some kind of regular frequency that works for you...you're good to go.

I am researching flea control ideas and found this sites information on DE. Has anyone used DE on a ferret? I have been told that they are very sensitive to particles in the air so I am concerned about using it directly on the ferret. Any information would be appreciated!

DE is like baby powder or corn starch, when it's in the air it can be irritating but it settles quickly and then is not a problem. We've used it for flea and tick control for years. In our area ticks and fleas are a huge problem as we often don't get long enough freezes to kill them off in the winter. We sprinkle it around the floor boards and under the couch cushions, all over the yard outside, but especially around the fence where the grass is likely to grow taller before being taken care of. It's massaged into the animals coats and pushed into the cracks around the thresh holds. When we had a really bad flea problem (away from the house for a year and they just took over) we coated the whole floor and window sills with DE, let it sit overnight and then swept it to the baseboards. Then I mopped the floor with fennel tea several times over the coarse of a month, put DE under all the couch cushions and made sure there was a nice layer behind/under every piece of furniture, we also put in flea traps (it's just a light bulb with a stick pad under it, the light attracts the fleas which stick to the pad and die) By the end of a month we barely had any fleas and I vacuumed up all the DE and went back to our normal of treating the back yard a couple times a year and rubbing it into the animals coats a couple times a year. We also add it to their food a few times a year to "deworm" I buy ours at the feed store, it's a common additive to chicken feed and a 50lb bag cost us about $20 and has lasted forever!

Make sure it is food grade d.e.