Breeder recommended feeding Diatomaceous Earth?!?!
 

Paisley's came home last night. When we picked her up the breeder was going over things with us like how to tape her ears and what not. She also told us that she puts Diatomaceous Earth (DE) in her Yorkie's food and that it is an all natural wormer if you feed it every day for 60 days. She also said it helps their coat? She then told me it was not safe to inhale. This REALLY concerns me??? It is safe to consume but not inhale??? She said it has also been used as topical flea control. I should say i have record where Paisley was wormed at the normal times with normal wormer that this is just something she does with her older dogs. I don't want to second guess her because I do trust her but is this really safe????

I would not use it. That is my opinion.

I read there is food grade but I still wouldn't feed it JMO

I have heard of doing this but I have not done it...for no other reason than I think it is too harsh on the intestinal walls....may not be accurate, but it is justification enough for me!!!
Found this write up......
".....Thankfully, natural DE is not a “poison”, but a natural method of eliminating parasites by dehydrating them. Since parasites are a major cause of disease in everyone – human, plants, and animals. There are also the other great health benefits of feeding natural DE such as strengthening the immune system, detoxification of heavy metals, provides 15 minerals, and eliminates any worms you and they may have.
When recent traditional worming methods cause disease, chemical (aka poison) wormers must be detoxified from the system as the flood of dying parasites emit toxins, such as viruses, bacteria, ammonia, plus the poison in the wormer can harm and even kill the animal, especially those with compromised immune systems due to illness.
Dosage:
Puppies less than 10 lbs. – 1/2 to 1 teaspoon
Puppies 10 to 19 lbs. – 2 teaspoons
Dogs 20 to 50 lbs. – 1 to 1.5 tablespoons
Dogs 50+ lbs. – 2 tablespoons
*Humans – 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons daily (1 tbsp. AM, 1 tbsp. PM)
For puppies and kittens who are eating on their own, it is really easy to feed them food grade diatomaceous earth by mixing the DE in a small amount of raw goats milk (or whatever milk you prefer), yogurt, or cottage cheese. I personally prefer yogurt since you don’t chew it. I mix it in to little buffalo meat balls for my boys and girls. Just remember, DE has to come in contact with the worm/parasite/bug to kill it within 24 to 72 hours. Once you start worming with DE, do NOT stop the daily DE for at least 3 weeks. IF you start one day and forget for 3 days, the infestation and dead dying worms which emit bacteria, toxins, ammonia, etc. can cause toxic overload, which can make animals or people sicker.Feeding DE to young pets – kittens, puppies, birds, goats, etc. as soon as they start eating on their own has shown to help prevent stool eating, dirt eating, rock eating, coccidia and giardia.".........

I would not feed it personally

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DO THAT! iS THIS WOMAN NUTS! I would not do anything that would put my dog at risk and I had read about this stuff. You dog may die from this. Do not believe everything you hear! Research it, call vets but do not do that! Get this. Last year my vet recommended Triflexis for fleas. Today I read a post that says her Yorkie died from this drug! See, do not do stuff without truly feeling it is safe. Even the vets do not know it all! Oh have mercy, do not use that stuff especially internally.

I use food grade DE at an insecticide in & around the house, as it's safe to use around animals.

It's supposedly great at killing fleas too! You can sprinkle it in your dog's bed and even on your dog! Never had a flea problem, but if I did, I'd definately try it before resorting to drastic chemical stuff.

I've heard you can eat it safely, but honestly, after seeing what it can do to a bug, no way I'd feed it to ZoE....at least not without a heck of a lot more research first.

NOTE: There is a difference between Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth and pool grade Diatomaceous Earth that is used in swimming pool filters. Only Food Grade DE is safe to use on/around your pets.

DE can be wonderful for lots of things but should never be given in dry form to animals, it should be moistened 1st. Also if used indoors or out for pesticide it should NEVER be applied dry as inhaling it can kill your pet, it kills pests by dehydrating them & if inhaled can permanently damage lungs & the animal basically suffocates.

DE can be absolutely wonderful if used correctly. Of course it has to be food grade. I wouldn't be too worried about the "can consume, but don't inhale" part. I mean, that's true about any water or food - we can consume it, but water and food are not safe to be inhaled into our lungs :).

If you're going to give it, moisten it and/or give with some moistened food. Btw, lots of people take food grade DE themselves...it has a lot of benefits.

I would talk to your vet about it. Also does your breeder have a regular vet that she talked to before doing this? One thing about natural stuff is it doesn't normally have to have the same testing as regular medicine and just doesn't feel as safe to me.

Diatoms are microscopic sea creatures that make glass protective shells, so to put it rather crudely, diatomaceous earth is basically finely ground glass. It kills parasites by causing internal bleeding. I wouldn't feed it to my Yorkie for fear that it could cause intestinal irritation. If I were using it as a natural insecticide, I'd make sure I wasn't using it anywhere a pet or human could eat or inhale it.

Thank you so much! That makes a lot of sense. She did keep stressing that it HAD to be food grade and showed me a bag of it. She did also mention that people could take it mixed in water as well. This makes sense to moisten it first.


To everyone else don't worry I will be going over this with my vet at our appointment next week before I even consider trusting the advice of the breeder. Thank you for all of the information I really appreciate it! I still don't know if I want to do this for her but it's good to know she is not in any direct danger from it happening. My fear was that she had come in contact with it and it was dangerous.