Flea & Tick

It’s no secret that we dislike pesticidal flea, tick, and heartworm treatments. We’re not alone in our fears and observations; many proactive/holistic veterinarians are also worried about the impact these chemicals are having on the health of our dogs and the environment. Dr. Jean Dodds and Dr. Judy Morgan, along with a few other colleagues, decided to dig deeper after witnessing too much devastation.

Their peer reviewed study revealed that two out of three dog owners witnessed negative side effects after feeding or applying pesticides. These included:

• Weakness
• Anxiety
• Behaviour changes
• Phobias
• Hair loss
• Trembling
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Seizures
• Ataxia
• Death

We hear about these too. In fact, there’s a noticeable spike each spring and summer of pet parents reporting their dog’s are suddenly off their food or are experiencing GI issues. We’ve had owners come in whose dogs never suffered with allergies but now can’t stop scratching (one dog was losing fur at an alarming rate).

This isn’t surprising when you understand how these medications work. Depending on whether they’re topical or oral (administered via the skin or the digestive tract), they deliver a neurotoxin into the bloodstream. The flea or tick needs to bite the dog and ingest their blood in order to die. 

Apart from the negative health effects to our pets, scientists are also discovering their detrimental impact on the environment at large. One large dog dose of imidacloprid contains enough pesticide to kill 25 million bees. In the UK, water testing revealed these chemicals were in ponds and waterways, and a more recent study showed their devastating impact on birds, leading researchers to suggest a rethink of how these chemicals are prescribed and used.

What Can You Do?

Learn Your Risks

You’re the captain of your dog’s health team, so take the time to assess the risks and the benefits involved. For example, don’t assume that because you have a cottage you’re at risk. You can find online maps of areas that outline where ticks, as well as lyme and heartworm, are prevalent. (If your dog is at risk for one type of pest and not the other, there are slightly safer drugs that work on individual pests.)

Test Regularly

Another key component is testing. Even a dog taking pharmaceutical pesticides can be at risk for tick- and flea-borne illnesses because the drugs aren’t repellants. So regardless of your protocol, you should be regularly testing. When caught early, tick-borne diseases are treatable. There are many reasons to have your dog’s blood work checked yearly and this is just one of them.

Consider Safer Alternatives

If you decide to use a natural approach it’ll require a little more diligence. But in our opinion, it’s worth it!

• Shampoo your dog with a natural shampoo containing essential oils like neem and lemongrass and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing.
• Add a powdered supplement to your dog’s food to help repel pests.
• Use a botanical spot-on treatment.
• Use a high quality outdoor spray when going outside, and consider using a lava bead collar or bandana to help make it last longer.
• Perform flea and tick checks after walks and outings.
• Test yearly or more often if there’s cause for concern (e.g., if you find a tick on your dog).

Be Proactive

Many proactive vets will also tell you that a dog with a healthy immune system is a less desirable host. A great way to help your dog maintain a healthy immune system is to feed real food, titre test before vaccine boosting, and feed lots of functional foods and antioxidants.

Detoxify

If you’re going ahead with pharmaceuticals, we recommend using milk thistle for a few days leading up to the treatment. For a week after treatment, you should be in full detox mode with Dr. Karen Becker’s detox protocol, created specifically for these meds:

Once per day, give:

• Milk thistle 100 mg / 10 lb
• Gaba 100 mg / 20 lb
• NAC 100mg / 10 lb
• SOD (Superoxide Dismutase) 50mg / 10 lb
• Glutathione mg / 10 lb

If you’re interested in what our favourite local integrative vet has to say on the subject, you can watch her webinar here

You can browse our whole flea and tick collection here.