Using DE incorrectly?

[JuneyTrixie]

I think that I might be using DE incorrectly because when I took Juney to the vet yesterday, we discovered a tick on her ear. She is 9 lbs and I give her 1/4 teaspoon a day. Am I giving her the wrong amount? Does anyone know?

[Lisa]

Giving it orally will help with internal parasites, ie worms. You are giving her a good amount. It will not help with external critters unless applied on the coat (which you don't want to do because it is very drying). If you knew where she picked up the tick, I would treat that area with DE to try to kill other ticks around.

I think Amy uses Halo on the coat as a natural flea / tick repellent.

What makes DE so awesome is bugs can not develop an immunity to it, as it cuts their exterior shell and they dehydrate, but the flip side is, that it only works on contact, there is no repelling action from it.

[LexieLuvr]

Lisa is right on! DE will only help ticks if spread on the lawn/dirt areas where they might be -- they won't repel ticks from your dog. Internally DE will only help with worms and internal parasites, and won't prevent ticks from adhering to your dog's skin.

[Lisa]

I just wanted to give an update to this. DE as mentioned does work for any worms / parasites in the digestive tract, because it is in contact with it. But it does not work on heartworms because they are in the blood, so even if you give DE daily, you must still give monthly heartworm prevention.

[lotsadox]

I use the Halo Cloud Nine made into a spray for fleas and ticks and it does help. I'm going to have to start using it again. So far I haven't seen any fleas but my dogs have picked up a couple ticks lately and my friend told me that her dogs are picked up ticks so they must be on the golf course and in the area.