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Saturday 9 October 2021

Using diatomaceous earth to try and minimise fleas on my cat

The video explains it all but I will add a few words. Before I do, I'd like to admit to a deliberate error in the video. If you can discover it and leave a comment to tell me what it is then you will get a reward from Amazon Prime! I'm genuine. You've just got to pick out the error in the commentary and we can take it from there.



In the video I am spreading diatomaceous earth underneath the squirrel feeder because I believe pigeons and squirrels carry fleas and those fleas drop onto the grass underneath the feeder where my cat goes and the fleas then jump from the lawn to my cat. He is acquiring about three fleas per day which I comb out. He has never had fleas before. Well, not quite; he's had two fleas in his entire six-year life until very recently.

Using diatomaceous earth to try and minimise fleas on my cat
Using diatomaceous earth to try and minimise fleas on my cat.


And it is only until recently or relatively recently that I have been regularly feeding squirrels and I have a feeling that this is at least partly the reason why he gets fleas. I also feed foxes and they too, I am sure, have fleas so I have generated a little flea factory near my back garden! I have to do something about it. I happened to have a box of diatomaceous earth in my shed. It has been there for a very long time indeed. I am pleased to use it at last.

Diatomaceous earth is a material that comes from fossils as I understand it. It's is very fine and this version is edible. It's a very dusty fine powder which cuts the exoskeleton of fleas. Fleas don't have a backbone or spine or an internal skeleton but they are held rigid by their external skeleton. This material cats it, breaks it up and the plea dies. It's a natural way of killing fleas as opposed to using chemicals. I believe that internal parasites can be controlled in livestock by this material when it is added to their feed. 

That's the story and you can wish me luck if you read this. I do not expect many people to bother to read this which is fine because I had quite a lot of fun doing it.

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