# Diatomaceous Earth.. Safe?



## Acacia-Berry (Jul 20, 2012)

I'm looking into purchasing DE food grade for my apartment. I'm buying Revolution for my cat today but my bunny needs something too. ps, there are no visible signs of fleas. My cat might just be experiencing a remission of his past worm infestation. In case there are fleas I want to be prepared. 
I've been reading on Diatomaceous Earth for pets. I'm all about holistic treatments (except with the revolution for the cat) and want to know if my bunny ingests this (it's made out of pulverized crustaceon shells) will she be harmed?


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## LakeCondo (Jul 20, 2012)

I sprinkle it on my lawn where I put Honey's outdoor pen. There are wild rabbits around here & I worry about internal parasites.

I saw a post by somebody somewhere who ate d.e. every day & said it had improved her/his health. I'm not going that far but unless your bunny develops a liking for eating it & licks every place that has it, I'd be ok with it.

But I'd also be using a flea comb frequently on both cat & rabbit to see if there IS a flea problem.


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## Acacia-Berry (Jul 20, 2012)

Thanks  
I read there is a difference in human grade and outdoor d.e. One has slug poison in it. I will not be buying that one!
I'll probably hunt around and find some to try. I just bought the de-wormer for the cat. I'm thinking it's a re-infestation of his worms though. There are no signs of fleas around.


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## SweetPeasMom (Jul 21, 2012)

Sage dried and powdered, and sprinkled repel fleas


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## LakeCondo (Jul 21, 2012)

Non-food-grade is also used in pool filters.

My guess of the "outdoor" d e is that there's no poison added. Do an online search or look up diatomaceous earth on Wikipedia & you'll see what I mean. D E is fine for mammals, birds, worms, etc but not for insects or slugs. To them it's like walking through broken glass.


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## Acacia-Berry (Jul 30, 2012)

Okay thanks guys! I didn't know about the sage. Would other herbs work too?


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## LakeCondo (Jul 30, 2012)

Since this thread started I found tipnut.com, & you can find some other suggested natural remedies. Some may be better than others, but try what sounds good to you & easy to get. If it doesn't work, try another. Mint sounds good to me, because rabbits like to eat it, so it won't be wasted. If you don't have mint plants, get oil of peppermint & mist it around. You can even add a tiny to a 2nd bowl of water & see how your pet likes it. And I think one of the links mentioned catnip worked for fleas or ticks, & your cat will enjoy it, even if it doesn't do anything for fleas.


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## Acacia-Berry (Jul 31, 2012)

Oh! lol My cat loves catnip! He just eats it though and then goes to sleep, unless I provoke him with toys. Catnip is in the mint family of herbs


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