Flea & Tick Products (the danger of chemicals, some natural solutions)

[Condo commando]

This article on the dangers of flea & tick products landed in my mailbox. I learned a long time ago that flea & tick products sold in stores are chemical based and not as safe as they're made out to be. So called "side" effects include muscle tremors, loss of muscle control, and seizures.

So in this article, the author provides a recipe for making your own natural flea & tick prevention product. It might not protect against every pest but it will work on a lot of them, and best of all it doesn't cause a "side" effect of muscle tremor, loss of muscle control, or seizure. Here is the recipe for cats:

Mix 8 ounces of pure water with 2 ounces of organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, plus 10 drops of neem oil and 10 drops of catnip oil.​

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Neem oil is not an essential oil. It's expelled or pressed oil and is effective because fleas and ticks are repelled by it. It's also great for pets who are very sensitive to odors. Catnip oil can also be used as a pest deterrent, since it has been proven to be as effective as diethyltoluamide (DEET), the mosquito and tick spray humans use that has a number of toxic side effects.​

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Notice she doesn't use essential oils because cats have had adverse reactions to essential oils. For dogs she does use some essential oils so if you have dogs, just be aware the recipe is slightly different. There's also a list of other natural alternatives - for example, food grade diatomaceous earth. I've been using this in my flower beds instead of a chemicals spray because the chemicals in the soil end up killing bees and maybe butterflies that come to my garden. Basically the entire article is full of good ideas.

Spot-On Products Are High Risk for Cats and Small Dogs

Permethrin, a parasiticide, is highly toxic to cats; in fact, many, if not most spot-on flea/tick products for dogs have the potential to poison your cat.

healthypets.mercola.com

If anyone has had good results using a certain thing, feel free to add a post. Maybe we can come up with a list of chemical-free alternatives that any new Lairians can use as a resource. I would prefer to avoid recommending chemical products. It's like smoking cigs that not everyone gets lung cancer but ...chemical products might not cause any adverse reactions in one cat but that doesn't make them risk-free.

 

[Yoda mom]

I wonder if wondercide is okay for kitties?

 

[Condo commando]

I wonder if wondercide is okay for kitties?

I think it's OK but I'll note that it has sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) which is a controversial chemical. However, I use Seventh Generation products that have SLS; I tried to find alternatives but for one reason or another kept coming back to Seventh Generation. As best I can tell, it's safe. But here's what gets me about putting it in a product for fleas and ticks - everything I could find about it said that SLS is for removing oily stains. It makes sense that it would be in my soap, but why does it need to be in a flea and tick product? Actually, the ingredient in the Wondercide that is for fleas and ticks is cedar oil. The article I posted says cedar oil is safe for pets. Maybe you could use just use cedar oil instead of Wondercide? I think if it were me I'd call the Wondercide company and ask them what is the purpose of SLS in their product. And ummm ....what's the logic of combining an oil and an oil remover??? Hope this makes sense....

 

[Condo commando]

After further reading, I need to take back what I said about SLS being safe in general terms. What the scientific research says is actually this: SLS is not a carcinogen, but it IS an irritant.

Is It Safe to Use Products with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)?

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is found in a variety of products, including shampoos, household cleaners, and even some foods. But is it safe?

www.healthline.com

The above research points out that when SLS is used in laundry detergent, soaps, shampoos, etc. it doesn't cause irritation because it gets rinsed off. But if you were to leave it on the skin, they say the concentration should not be higher than 1%. However, Wondercide has 2.2%. So therefore, if you leave Wondercide on skin it would cause irritation.

I also got information on why companies add SLS to products. It is what's called a "surfactant" which means that it decreases the surface tension. In plain English, it allows whatever product the SLS is mixed into to be absorbed. It's like fixing one thing and breaking another though.

The short version - I wouldn't use Wondercide.

 

[Sheldon13]

I’d never even heard of it.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need