When looking for areas in your home that can easily be turned green, don’t overlook the family pet. The flea and tick shampoos, powders, sprays, and dips that are used on dogs and cats are intended to kill insects—and they do because the products contain potent and dangerous insecticides.
Babies’ newborn bodies make them more vulnerable to many chemicals, but when it comes our infants having contact with the family pet who inevitably has ticks and fleas, you have a good reason to find an alternative pest management method knowing that this is one more way you can keep your children away from toxic chemicals. After all, your children are the ones who spend much time hugging and petting the pet and in the areas where the brush-off from pet products accumulate (such as in the rug and floor dust). They also are likely to put their fingers in their mouths after playing with the pet. Your kids will gain an immediate benefit when you ditch the insecticide products—never mind the benefit to your pet!
The Natural Resources Defense Council recommends the following:
- Pet owners should avoid toxic pet products. Check the product’s active ingredients label and if it contains any of these seven common organophosphates (OPs), don’t use it: chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos, phosmet, naled, tetrachlorvinphos, diazinon, and malathion. Also avoid products containing carbamates. The two chemical names to watch out for and avoid are carbaryl and propoxur.
- Begin using safer products that include alternatives such as insect growth regulators, or IGRs, which are not pesticides, but rather chemicals that arrest the growth and development of young fleas before they turn into biting adults.
- For killing fleas already on your pet, you can try a natural flea powder based on an ingredient called diatomaceous earth that is safe for use on dogs and cats as well as around the home. It kills fleas within twenty-four to seventy-two hours by dehydrating them—which is not only nontoxic to pets, humans, and the environment, but fleas can’t develop an immunity to it as they may to other pesticides over time. There are different varieties of diatomaceous earth available. Some types are toxic if ingested so check the label and make sure to use a food-grade variety. That way your pets can clean themselves all they want and it won’t hurt them—or your children when they snuggle up to play. Suggested use is approximately one teaspoon per ten pounds of body weight.
- A flea comb can help spread the fine powder throughout your pet’s coat. You can also sprinkle it on furniture, carpeting, wood floors, baseboards, and pet bedding to safely get rid of adult fleas throughout your home. Take care to avoid breathing in the dustlike powder when applying it as it can irritate the mucous membranes in the nose and mouth. Once the powder has settled, though, it won’t bother you.
- Safer products can be combined with simple physical measures such as brushing pets regularly with a flea comb while inspecting for fleas, mowing frequently in areas where pets spend the most time outdoors (to remove a flea- and tick-friendly environment), frequent washing and combing of the pet, and vacuuming carpets and furniture (be sure to dispose of the vacuum cleaner bags immediately afterward if you find evidence of fleas).
- Pregnant women and families with children should cease using OP-based products immediately.
- Children should never apply flea shampoos, dusts, dips, and so on containing OPs to their pets. The EPA has overlooked and underestimated the particular risks to children when evaluating the safety of these products for home use (Natural Resources Defense Council).
Feeding Pets Organic
For many of us, our pets are kids too! And we want to provide these furry family members with food that is as nutritious and wholesome as what we eat ourselves.
In How Dog Food Saved the Earth, Pet Promise founder Anthony Zolezzi outlines how our pet food choices extend throughout our agricultural system. By purchasing pet food made with organic ingredients, you know that your dollars are going to support organic farming methods. You’ll also avoid some of the nastier ingredients commonly found in conventionally processed pet foods, such as parts from “4-D” animals—which are dead, dying, diseased, or disabled—and other animal and plant by-products, antibiotics, steroids, hormones, artificial colors, dyes, flavors, and preservatives. None of the pet foods on the market now can be certified 100 percent organic, but good choices are becoming available.
Good pet foods include Karma Organic for dogs by Natura Pet Products (http://www. ....read more
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