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The Natural Way To Handle Flea And Tick Prevention - Dr. Deva Khalsa VMD Avoiding toxic flea and tick spot-on products and other chemical repellents is an important part of your dog’s natural health care program. There are effective ways to protect your dog from pests, wherever you live, without resorting to dangerous chemicals. First Things First The first thing to do is step back and look at your pet’s lifestyle. What are the chances of your dogs getting fleas and ticks? 1. Do you have indoor/outdoor cats? Cats that go in and out can carry fleas into the house and this can create a flea problem. In this case you have to handle fleas with the cats to prevent them from carrying them in. Indoor/outdoor cats do not tend to bring ticks into the house. 2. Do your dogs only go into the yard and romp together, rarely meeting any other dogs or cats? If yes, this makes it more improbable that they will get fleas. 3. Do deer and rodents come onto your property and into your yard where your dogs go out? Deer and rodents can bring ticks into your yard which can get onto your dogs and cats. 4. Do you get harsh winters and have times during the year when the ground is frozen and the temperatures are very cold ? If yes, during this time of year you do not have to concern yourself with fleas and ticks. You can relax. 5. Do you walk your dogs often in high grass in areas where ticks are abundant? In this case you will want to treat your dogs with some sort of repellent so ticks are less attracted and check your dogs carefully for ticks after a walk. 6. Do you consider your dogs to be healthy and free of skin problems and skin allergies? Fleas and ticks seem to prefer dogs that are compromised in their general health. Keeping your dogs healthy will make them less likely to get fleas and ticks. 7. Do you live in a warm southern area where fleas and or ticks are abundant all year round? In this situation you will have more of a problem in creating natural and effective flea prevention if you have both dogs and cats that go in and out of the house. If you answered yes to all of the even numbered questions, it will be easier for you to successfully prevent fleas and ticks in your home. If you answered yes to some of the odd numbered questions, you can still achieve acceptable results with natural flea and tick prevention – but you will have to put in more effort to get those results. It’s well worth it to learn how to use common sense procedures in your home to prevent fleas and ticks on your pets, because many of the commonly used topical chemical spot-on products, collars and shampoos are very toxic and dangerous. All flea and tick products are made up of active and inert ingredients. The active ingredients are those that target and kill pests and have the potential to harm dogs too. In fact, all the active ingredients in the spot-on preparations have been linked to serious health problems in animals. Some of the inert ingredients are also toxic, even though the word inert suggests that they’re safe. Despite manufacturers’ claims to the contrary, the ingredients of commonly used topical treatments can and do enter the pet’s internal systems. Here are some of the common active ingredients found in pharmaceutical flea and tick products, and the dangers they present to your pet. Fipronil The EPA’s Pesticide Division has found that fipronil enters the body and can be contained in the fat, organs, urine and feces of dogs. Laboratory tests have shown that with long term exposure at low doses, fipronil has the potential to cause nervous system and thyroid toxicity, thyroid cancer, altered thyroid hormone levels, liver toxicity, kidney damage, convulsions, whining, barking, crying, loss of appetite, locomotor difficulty, reduced fertility, fetus mortality, smaller offspring, loss of hair at or beyond the point of application, moist inflammation, chemical burn and itching. According to pesticide.org, “fipronil also disrupts nerves in animals other than insects, including humans, but it does not bind as tightly to these nerve cells as it does to insect nerve cells.” This suggests there may also be risk to children who cuddle dogs after fipronil products have been applied. When exposed to light, fipronil breaks down into a molecule called fipronil-desulfinyl which, according to the EPA, is ten times more toxic than the fipronil itself. This means (a) don’t put the plastic vials of fipronil products in the sun; (b) don’t let your dog bake in the sun after you’ve applied it; (c) short haired dogs using fipronil products need to stay out of the sun. Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids Most consider the natural alternative, the pyrethrins (naturally occurring compounds from the chrysanthemum plant) and pyrethroids (the synthetic counterpart), as less hazardous than fipronil. Sadly, the contrary has been irrefutably proven. CPI, the Center for Public Integrity, found that from 2002 through 2007 at least 1,600 pet deaths from pyrethroid spot-on treatments were reported to the EPA. That’s nearly double the number of reported fatalities linked to flea treatment without pyrethroids. CPI’s project was based on an analysis of 90,000 adverse reaction reports. Keep in mind that many adverse reactions are not reported so the actual number could be much higher. Pyrethroid spot-on products also accounted for more than half of the major pesticide pet reactions, including brain damage, heart attacks and seizures. A possible explanation for the number of incidents involving pyrethroid spot-ons, according to the report, is the high concentration of pesticides they contain. The report also notes that while the pyrethroid spot-ons are more concentrated than the fipronil or imadocloprid, they are actually less toxic than these latter two products. Permethrin is another synthetic chemical belonging to the pyrethroid family so it also functions as a neurotoxin. Chemical burns are a commonly reported as a result of its use. Permethrin as also been implicated as a carcinogenic insecticide causing lung cancer and liver tumors in laboratory animals, as well as disrupting endocrine function; it acts as a neurotoxin, causing tremors, increased aggressive behavior and learning problems. Imidacloprid Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which acts as an insect neurotoxin and belongs to a class of chemicals called the neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides acting on the central nervous system of insects with lower toxicity to mammals. In laboratory studies, Imidacloprid has been found to cause thyroid lesions and liver toxicity, increase cholesterol levels (this is commonly seen in the bloodwork of hypothyroid dogs), and has the potential to damage the kidneys, liver, thyroid, heart, lungs, spleen, adrenal, brain and gonads. As a neurotoxin, it has caused incoordination, labored breathing and muscle weakness. When this drug was tested after its debut in 1994, researchers found an increase in the frequency of birth defects in mice, rats and dogs. There are many ingredients in flea and tick products on the market that are not mentioned above, so if you choose to use one of these products, please read labels and study the ingredients of the one you’re using. Alarmingly, fleas and ticks are becoming resistant to many of the ingredients, so these dangerous products may not even be effective in some cases. Preventing Fleas and Ticks Many dog owners whose pets have little or no chance of getting either fleas or ticks dutifully put literally life-threatening spot-on products on them every single month. Unfortunately, although dog owners love their dogs and want to do what’s best for them, spot-on products and heavy duty chemical flea and tick prevention are not what’s best for them. There are better, safer ways to avoid fleas and ticks. First of all, let’s review some common canine lifestyles in relation to flea and tick prevalence. When You Don't Require Regular Protection You have two or three small dogs who play and run together in your enclosed yard, no cats and cold winters. Dogs in this situation don’t really need regular protection. You should routinely check your dogs for fleas and ticks. If your dogs get the occasional tick you can easily remove it (see below.) The same goes for fleas. If you catch them early, natural methods work well. Healthy Dogs Are Unlikely To Attract Fleas You have dogs who spend most of the time in your yard but you do take them for walks in the park and they do occasionally get a tick on them. The first thing is to feed your pets excellent diets and keep them healthy. Healthy dogs are very unlikely to attract fleas, even if you have cats that go in and out of the house. Your dogs may get an occasional tick after long walks in fields and woods. Be sure to check all dogs for ticks after a walk and remove any that you find. You can also spray an essential oil based insect repellent (home made or one of many excellent such products on the market) on your dogs before the walk to reduce the tick’s attraction to them. Garlic is also an excellent preventive with more about that in the Basic Steps section below. Amber necklaces and electromagnetic tags also help with prevention. A Clean Home and Regular Check-ups You have dogs and indoor/outdoor cats and live in a mild climate. The cats can bring fleas into the house but ticks are rare. In this case you often have to treat the house preventively in order to prevent flea infestations. Food grade diatomaceous earth can be placed in essential areas. Fleas may deposit eggs in carpets, upholstered furniture and pet bedding; thoroughly vacuuming your home on a routine basis, going right up to the walls, may be needed. Washing all bedding will eliminate fleas, especially if the fabric can be dried on a warm or hot setting; natural (usually essential oils based) sprays made for dogs can also be used to spray their bedding and annihilate the fleas. Check your cats routinely for fleas by spreading the fur around the belly and the head and, if necessary, treat them with a natural product that’s safe for cats (do your research and use caution with essential oils, as cats are more sensitive to certain oils than dogs.) Conditions differ in different areas of the country. The important thing is to use a simple, easy to live with, effective method for handling pests. Basic Steps Keep your dog healthy and as free as possible of chemicals in his environment Feed a species appropriate (preferably raw) diet along with some lightly steamed healthy vegetables Supplement as appropriate for your individual dog to give him all the nutritional tools he or she needs for their cells to stay healthy Minimize vaccinations and pharmaceutical drugs for your dog Avoid using toxic cleaning products in your home. Baking soda and vinegar will tackle most of your cleaning requirements! Avoid using chemical fertilizers in your yard. You may have a home situation where your dogs are not really exposed to ticks and fleas. In that case – celebrate and just keep them healthy. If your dogs may be exposed to ticks and fleas on occasion, add some additional protection Give garlic every day. Garlic can be given in many forms. Some people like powdered garlic and some like garlic pills. While these are all good, fresh garlic provides the largest range of health benefits. Finely dicing the garlic and allowing it to sit 10 minutes before adding it to your dog’s meal will add another giant step to garlic’s health benefits. A large dog can have two decent sized cloves of garlic a day and a small dog can have one small clove of garlic a day. There’s one more part to this. When we humans eat garlic it comes out in our sweat. Dogs don’t really sweat. The garlic essence comes out in the oil of their fur. It takes a little longer but it stays right there in the oil. So if you’re using garlic to help prevent fleas and ticks always wash your dog with a non-detergent shampoo such as a Castile Soap shampoo. That way you won’t strip the “garlic essence” out of the fur Advanced Steps If you live in an area where your dogs might get fleas and/or ticks while out on a walk in the countryside you can… Get the amber collars that are sold by a few companies that help prevent the fleas and ticks from attaching onto your dogs. They look attractive as a collar Get one of the electromagnetic tags that provide a frequency barrier to fleas and ticks for your dogs to wear Spray your dog lightly with a natural protective spray (cedar oil based sprays work well) on the underside areas of the body that are in contact with grass Apply essential oils that repel fleas and ticks onto the coat before a walk Sprinkle food grade diatomaceous earth into your dog’s coat You do not have to do all of these things. Rather, find a method that suits you and see what works. You may have to experiment a bit in order to discover what works best for you and your dogs. When using natural methods, it’s sometimes best to use more than one for extra protection. In the long run, it’s likely to be a lot less expensive than those dangerous spot-on products and you’ll also likely save on veterinary bills with less illness, too. Easy Tick Removal It’s a good idea to remove a tick as soon as possible. A tick has to be attached to your dog for more than 24 hours to spread Lyme and other tick diseases. There are several easy ways to do this. Put some isopropyl alcohol into the cap of the container and invert it over the tick, putting pressure on it to seal it next to the skin. Hold this on for 30 – 60 seconds and the tick should be floating in the cap. You do not have to touch the tick yourself and the head will release with this method. Place a drop or two of one of an essential oil such as Palo Santo on the tick. Palo Santo will usually kill the tick and you can then easily remove it. Use a special gadget such as a tick key to remove the tick. You can also use tweezers to grasp the tick close to the dog’s skin, and gently pull it away. Disinfect the area with essential oil (Thieves blend is a good choice) or an herbal product such as Oregon grape, goldenseal or calendula. Easy Flea Removal Place soapy water totally around your dog’s neck. Immerse your dog up to the top of his neck in a sink or tub of warm water and let him sit for 10 minutes. This will drown the fleas on his body. The collar of soap stops them from running upwards and escaping the water. Examine the head carefully and wash thoroughly with soap, searching for, removing and killing any fleas.[/li] Spray a natural repellent on your dog’s fur coating it well and this will usually kill all the fleas within a minute. Spray your dog’s bedding and around the house to kill all the eggs. Powder your dog and areas of the house with human grade edible diatomaceous earth. This will make your house dusty. Vacuum very well before you do this and cover all surfaces and put the bag in the freezer. Use the same bag when you vacuum the diatomaceous earth up from the floor. If you catch the fleas early and vacuum really well you can handle the eggs with the vacuuming and powdering and nip things in the bud.
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