Diatomaceous Earth for Dogs
June 01, 2018
By Pete & Julie Morrill
We live in a beautiful location in the backwoods alpine mountains of Northern California but, unfortunately, our property is just below a horse pasture, through which a lovely creek flows to our place. This cool, clear water may look pristine, but it unfortunately occasionally is the home for a microscopic parasite. Labrador Retrievers are water dogs by nature and, around our kennel, whether they’re swimming in water or lapping it up, they could be ingesting parasites.
A few years back, we had a pretty serious problem with loose stool in our dogs after administering anti-giardia and anti-coccidia medications to them. We did a lot of research on how to firm up our dogs’ stool and I came across an article http://www.americanbluelacyassociation.com/blog/?p=1036#awp::?p=1036) about food grade diatomaceous earth and how it can actually eradicate parasites in dogs. Further research revealed that food grade D.E. is beneficial to both animals and humans. I read stories of people who gave diatomaceous earth (or D.E., for short) to their pets and healed them of worms, coccidia, and giardia.
Diatomaceous earth is a safe, non-toxic powder consisting of crushed marine fossils. When observed through a microscope, the fine particles resemble bits of broken glass. (http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/benefits-diatomaceous-earth/)
Applied topically, D.E. can kill and even prevent fleas, ticks, lice and mites, so it is an all-around blessing for pets in general.
As an experiment, we knew we had a dog who tested positive for both coccidia giardia, and tapeworms, so we mixed D.E. into her food and, within only ten days, she had no signs of the parasites. We tested her, and she was 100% free of all parasite! From that point on, we began regularly mixing D.E. into our puppies’ and older dogs’ food for two reasons: 1) To naturally prevent worms and parasites and 2) To firm up loose stool.
For our new puppy clients, we automatically administer conventional pharmaceutical medications for worms and parasites, because we know pups may have been exposed to parasites. The medication, in turn, causes diarrhea, so we then mix the D.E. into their food, in order to firm up the stool and help scrub their bellies free of parasites. We also mix in plain yogurt, in order to rebuild the probiotics in the puppies’ intestinal tracts after hitting them hard with antibiotics. To further firm up the stool, we add white rice to their diet.
Consequently, these are our basic stool-firming recipes for puppies and dogs:
For young puppies less than 10 lbs.
- 1 teaspoon of D.E./ meal
- 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt/ meal
- 1 tablespoon of white rice/ meal
- Administer once per day until stool is firm. Stop D.E. mix treatment and wait a day or two to see if stool remains firm. If it does not remain firm, repeat the cycle until it does remain firm.
For older puppies 10 to 19 pounds:
- 2 teaspoons of D.E./ meal
- 1.5 tablespoon of plain yogurt/ meal
- 1 tablespoon of white rice/ meal
- Administer once per day until stool is firm. Stop D.E. mix treatment and wait a day or two to see if stool remains firm. If it does not remain firm, repeat the cycle until it does remain firm.
We have observed two potentially harmful aspects of D.E. of which you should be aware: 1) It is a very fine powder and can be easily inhaled into the lungs, so be careful when handling this substance; 2) Getting D.E. on your skin can be very drying, since it is such a highly absorbable substance, so we recommend that you wear gloves when handling it.
So, overall, we highly recommend feeding your dog diatomaceous earth when dealing with worms and parasites. We don’t use it in place of wormer or anti-parasite antibiotics, but you might be willing to experiment with this all-natural alternative to harsher pharmaceuticals.
Happy health to you and your dog and thank you for reading!