Saturday, August 22, 2015

5 Ways to Use Diatomaceous Earth for Your Pets and Home

For quite a while, I'd been hearing how wonderful Diatomaceous Earth was but I honestly didn't know very much about it. I just knew that it was supposed to kill bugs and that it was natural. During the Spring of this year, I used Diatomaceous Earth (DE for short) to help rid my home of a flea problem we were having.

I was worried about using this particular product however because it did not say it was food grade and it made me wonder how safe it was. I made sure to keep my kids and pets away while I was treating my carpets until I could get it all cleaned up.



About a month ago, I was asked to try out a different Diatomaceous Earth product - Abundant Living's Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder. It was after I received this particular product that I learned more about DE and how I can effectively use it for my pets and my home.

With my 1 lb bottle of Abundant Living's Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder, I received a free guide on how to use it. The guide was emailed to me, but it's also available on their website here.

5 Ways to Use Diatomaceous Earth

There are definitely more than five ways you can use DE, but these five struck me as quite useful. Especially when it comes to getting rid of bugs. Some of you may know of my Spring and Summer struggles with bugs this year
  1. Use in your dog's kennel or cat's litter box to absorb odors and moisture. Something I would have never thought to use DE for before. 
  2. Use to absorb spills and accidents. Abundant Living recommends using their Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder for accidents like a child wetting the bed or your dog peeing on the carpet/couch. I am going to try this next time Shiner has a pee accident in the house. It can also be used for spilled drinks and oil leaks in the driveway. 
  3. Treat your home naturally for fleas. Diatomaceous Earth is well-known for it's ability to kill bugs. You can use DE to naturally and effectively kill fleas in your home. In fact, you can kill other bugs too. Just know your bug and their life cycle so that you can treat properly. I can attest that it does work. 
  4. Treat mites, fleas, and ticks on your pet. I know there are many people who are wary about the types of parasite control they use on their pets. Abundant Living is non-toxic and safe to use on your pet. You can apply it directly to the animal and then massage it into their fur or feathers. 
  5. Keep unwanted pests out of your garden. One of the challenges of gardening is keeping the bugs away. You just need to draw a line or circle with the DE around the plants you'd like to protect. 

How I've Used Abundant Living's Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder

I've been using this product for about a month now, and I'd say that overall I am pleased with it. Abundant Living's Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder is non-toxic, safe when used correctly, natural, and food grade. It's important that you use food grade DE around your children and pets. This means it's safe enough to consume.

Since I've been having a bit of an ant problem around my home, that's what I've been using this product for. Any time I notice an ant invasion, I grab for my bottle of DE rather than the highly toxic ant spray I had been using before. This DE powder is odorless and it's a nice change from those stinky bug sprays.


I applied the powder directly to some ants who were invading my cat's food bag. Within the hour, the ants had retreated or died.

To prevent ants from coming in, I drew lines with the DE powder in places where they commonly come in. Window sills, the entrance to my laundry room, etc.

For my laundry room, I applied a line of DE across the doorway and have not seen a single ant come back in there since I've done this. In the kitchen, I applied a line on the window sills. I have had to reapply the Abundant Living Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder once, but I assume it could be due to moisture that may get in that area from the sink.

I like the bottle of this product because it has a unique "squirt" bottle style lid which makes it easy to apply. When I first received Abundant Living's Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder, I was worried that it wasn't very big. I have a 1 lb bottle. However, I think this is a good size for around the house and after a month of use I still have plenty left.


Abundant Living is a family owned company in rural south central Kentucky. The vision of Abundant Living is to empower people to live each day abundantly. They achieve this by providing education and high quality products to their customers.

Not only did I receive a product I feel confident using around my pets, kids, and home, I learned so much about Diatomaceous Earth and how to use it.

Abundant Living's Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder is affordable and available for purchase on Amazon here.

Have you used Diatomaceous Earth before? What did you use it for? Tell us in the comments! 

This post is sponsored by Abundant Living LLC. We are being compensated to help spread the word about Abundant Living Natural Diatomaceous Earth Powder, but Pawsitively Pets only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. All opinions expressed here are our own. This post contains affiliate links. 

24 comments:

  1. My human keeps forgetting about diatomaceous earth for ants! We had an ant problem earlier this summer, and had to have a pest control guy out to get rid of them. She could have saved herself some money if she had used that instead.

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    1. I wouldn't mind having a pest control guy come, but I'm not sure if I could afford that right now. This is definitely helpful for the ants though!

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    2. Would this product be good for getting rid of beetles in my yard? My dogs are constantly eating them and I'm afraid they are going to get sick. Thank you.

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    3. I'm not too sure Laura. I think your best bet would be to contact the company and ask them!

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  2. Excellent post Ann! I have already started writing my post about DE! I had no idea you were doing one as well! Mine is unrelated to yours though...surprise!

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    1. Oh haha! I will have to check it out too! Thanks :)

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  3. I have never heard of DE. Thanks for sharing about it. It is nice to know there are safe products to use out there!

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    1. Oh really? You should check it out. It's very useful!

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  4. We've never heard of this but it would definitely come in handy in the Spring with all the ants! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. We never heard of it, that sounds like a great natural product ! Purrs

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  6. We think that sounds wonderful since the ants always seem to be hanging around.

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  7. Thanks for sharing these tips with us. I often hear of people using it also but never know where to actually go and find it.

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    1. I had the same problem. Since my dad owns a nursery, he had some bags of the non-food grade stuff I mentioned above. I used it, but you really should only use the food grade stuff.

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  8. We had a flea problem a little over two years ago. The little guy came home from the Golf Course with Geoff. (The guys looked after a sweet kitty who made the course her home.) This was a first for us, and we researched for days while the flea population grew. Finally we agreed on DE powder because of a very good review. The writer said you could get a large bag of powder at the lawn and garden center of a large box store.
    When we got there we were told they were out of DE and suggested a few other products. The woman asked what we wanted it for and we said to kill fleas in the apartment. The woman screamed at us and looked as if we wanted to kill off the cats! OMC! I am being so wordy just to let you know there is a right DE and a terribly wrong DE. I am thrilled to see someone has a product that is just for use with animals!

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    1. Oh yes, definitely! I am also a little cautious using this around my rats, but their website says that people have used it in hamster cages too.

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  9. Wow, that DE sounds great! We've heard about it before, but your first hand account is so helpful. We have not had and bug problems here, but this is good to know! Thanks. :)

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    1. Well, lucky for you not having to deal with these awful bugs!

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  10. TW boughts it a few years ago during the Big Moth Invasion but was afraid to use it. It came with all kinds of warnings about not breathing it in. since TW and I both have asthma, she chose not to use it. Also it came in a huge bag. We’d feel much better using a squirt bottle for the powder like you have.

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    1. Well, yes you have to be careful about not breathing it in - asthma or not. The Abundant Living website recommends wearing a face mask when sweeping or vacuuming as a precaution. I guess since cats can't wear face masks, your peeps might have to lock you away for a little bit.

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  11. I had heard of this for treating the house and yard for fleas and ticks I think, but I hadn't tried it yet. I didn't realize it had so many other uses as well!

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    1. I hadn't either! It's such a nice product to keep around the house.

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  12. i have been using it for yrs, however, i buy the hug tub at a feed supply store, i put it on the porch, and in the outside play area. you can also put in on the dogs. there is also a brand that you feed to the dogs.

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  13. Thnkz and pls give me more advise. I'm in Qld Australia. I had a 15'x15', dirt floor, covered enclosure built for my 2 cats attached to the house, with a cat flap access. We had an outbreak of fleas after some rains... and another tiny biting bug that seems to float or magnetize to my legs. I had seen it before in my chook yard a distance away but didnt worry too much about it assuming it was some chook mite. Anyway it migrated and got into the house. so I bought a large bag of DE (NOT the food grade) and attempted to spread it on the dirt floor but the bag broke and I have about 15kg of the powdery stuff. I raked it about but due to a back injury I cant shovel the excess out. The cats have been locked in the house for a week now til I figure out what I can do and if it is safe for them to go back into their area. The male cats is starting to tear down curtains to get outside. I cant let them fully outside as we have some large feral cats getting about. Is it safe for them to go into their kitty area with the thick powdery spread about? BTW: the fleas were easier to control that this vicious tiny mite. I really dont want it in the house again. thank you

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