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The DE kills ticks too although I do have to pull a tick off one of my critters now and again which in our area is nothing because ticks are bad here. The one thing to remember is it takes time to get things under control--it doesn't happen overnight. Vacuume a lot--that really helps. Sprinkle DE around the base of your walls inside your home. I have carpet so it works perfect because you can't even see it. Outside I use that Home Defence spray outside around the foundation of the house--it is poison--but like you I like the extra protection and that Home Defense isn't near my animals! The DE is a pain in that it seems a little messy but once you get this under control life will be so much nicer and easier and you won't have to deal with putting it anywhere except on the animals for the most part!!!
Good luck!
The DE I ordered came today and everyone got sprinkled. They've crashed out as smart dogs and cats do in this sort of weather, hitting 100 today, but nobody scrached or chewed. And my cats thought it was neat how mom was petting them with a wad of cottonballs instead of fighting me at every turn. Very satisfied...
What's the best to do with wood floors? If sprinkled will it work its way into the air and be breathed with the fans and AC blowing up a constant breeze? It's already summer and the house gets too hot for woman or beast without it.
I would just constantly vacuume those wood floors. A broom or dust mop only moves them around--you need to vacuume--a rug beater works the best but any vaccume gets rid of a lot of the fleas. You sure don't want the DE getting into the air as it is silica and that wouldn't be healthy so don't just sprinkle it on wood floors--and it would be messy too! . Dust where the animals sleep, under furniture etc with the DE and put it on the animals. I just use the sprinkle bottle or my hands although it will dry your hands if you don't wash them throughly after use. And again, don't get it in their eyes. It sure makes me feel good to hear your animals are feeling better--what good news! Just getting fleas under control is the worst part but you have to maintain it after that. Once you get it all under control it's pretty easy and it all becomes a part of a routine. For me personally and I can't promise this for everyone I now only have to dust my kitties and dog about once a week during the summer months and once a month in the winter (sometimes not even that often) and I no longer have to wrorry about dusting the DE in the house. My cats are inside outisde cats but I have no problem anymore once I got it all under control. It's great and I sure hope it works the same for you all. I will say, during the beginning when I first started using DE I got frusterated and often thought it wasn't working and would quit using it but after a few months would try again. I am so not a patient person. But finally I stuck to my guns and followed through. During the worst flea time I would vacuume daily. It was all worth it for not only me but my fur babies! Now my home is flea free! Now to get rid of the hair!
As far as putting the DE in the animals food--it will not harm them to put it in daily as it is actaully good for them. I put it on the cats dry food and it took a while before the would even eat the food very well--of course they would nibble but they wern't fond of the flour like covering but now they eat it. If your cats just won't eat the dry food with it on then mix it in the wet food and they won't notice usually. For me dog--well he'll eat anything so he's no problem! I have noticed the animals fur is beautiful with a lovely sheen and although I cannot say for sure as I am not an expert I would have to think it's the DE as it is a calicum plus other great minerals that would help the fur to look so nice! So it seems to work on the inside and outside-- I get complements on how great my animals look. As I said before they age gracefully with my oldest cat being 23 years old and still going good! I am blessed!
only put de in the food if it states on the bag FOOD GRADE...
you can use the de on wood floors wth the ac/fans as once its down its incredibly dense and heavy you REALY have to disturb it to kick the dust into the air...but i would only put it around the outer edes of the rooms...hard floors are much easier as the fleas cant live in them so with de and hard floors i generally put it down once a week leave it for about an hour then give a real good vacume.
because it is so dense smaller insects find it quite difficult to walk through also
only put de in the food if it states on the bag FOOD GRADE...
you can use the de on wood floors wth the ac/fans as once its down its incredibly dense and heavy you REALY have to disturb it to kick the dust into the air...but i would only put it around the outer edes of the rooms...hard floors are much easier as the fleas cant live in them so with de and hard floors i generally put it down once a week leave it for about an hour then give a real good vacume.
because it is so dense smaller insects find it quite difficult to walk through also
Thanks. See, I learn more every day about this DE. I had no idea you could put it on wood floors. You are right--the stuff is dense.
Last year when I used Frontline on Smokey I could see fleas jumping off of him and I found dead ones all over. This year, it seems to do nothing except maybe attract more fleas lol. Yesterday, I went and picked up some food grade DE and was a little skeptical so I tried it in the back yard on some ant trails. After a about an hour there were no more ants on the trail. So I decided to rub him down with it outside, it seems like it might take a little getting used to putting it on him but I did ok. He was definitely scratching much less than he was. I even sprinkled some on the wood floors and area rugs and left it overnight and vacuumed it up this morning. I don't think I would do the floors again as the powder it leaves behind is a little messy but I will do the rugs. I'm liking this DE and feel better using it then a chemical on him. I'm even going to pick up one of those miracle grow sprayer things that attach to the hose and spray the yard.
I agree it takes time. Any time I had bad fleas it could take months of drops. (read about flea life cycles) I also treated the living area with zodiac flea foggers. It leaves a residue that kills fleas for months. My sensitive cat did not have a reaction to it. I would fog one room and see how the beagle is. You can always give him bathes to help not have a severe reaction while you clear the fleas. I would put flea powder in all the cracks of the furniture. Run the sweeper everyday. And treat the outside area of where i was living. I have used various chemicals and general clean up for outdoors. (fleas like dark, damp and warm so clear dense grasses and shrubs.) Before doing the drops on the cats I used a flea soap bath. That soothed the skin and got rid of a lot of fleas. I waited 72 hours before putting anything else on them just to avoid harming the skin or overloading the system. Do not use hartz. They made my cats have a toxic reaction. The collars are fine. But the powder...made them drool and look ill. Google that. I was so scared for the kitties when that happened.
You may also want to inspect your house for rodents, squirrels and birds getting in. They could be bringing them.
I'm extremely pleased with the DE. I need to power everyone again, but it had an immediate impact and as they picked up fleas from places its ineffective it killed them too. My one cat is very sensitive to fleas and was losing patches of fur and the scraches from her scraching are neary all healed up and the fur is growing back.
This year frontiline did absolutely nothing but make them warm and overactive for a day (fleas and animals). I like that I'm not using a poison as well. I also used some in their food for possible infestations and they licked it off the plate where it fell off the kibble.
I suspect a brand I can't remember I used a long time ago of natural flea power was DE with some herbs in it but after trying all the sprays of the time I used that back then. OMG when I tried to *spray* by torite.... (someone ask if it was rosebushes or cats)
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. Dust where the animals sleep, under furniture etc with the DE and put it on the animals. I just use the sprinkle bottle or my hands although it will dry your hands if you don't wash them throughly after use. And again, don't get it in their eyes. It sure makes me feel good to hear your animals are feeling better--what good news! Just getting fleas under control is the worst part but you have to maintain it after that. Once you get it all under control it's pretty easy and it all becomes a part of a routine. For me personally and I can't promise this for everyone I now only have to dust my kitties and dog about once a week during the summer months and once a month in the winter (sometimes not even that often) and I no longer have to wrorry about dusting the DE in the house. My cats are inside outisde cats but I have no problem anymore once I got it all under control. It's great and I sure hope it works the same for you all. I will say, during the beginning when I first started using DE I got frusterated and often thought it wasn't working and would quit using it but after a few months would try again. I am so not a patient person. But finally I stuck to my guns and followed through. During the worst flea time I would vacuume daily. It was all worth it for not only me but my fur babies! 
Now my home is flea free! Now to get rid of the hair! 
