Possible natural tick repellant

[Kazzi]

I’m now due to pick up my MS for a couple of weeks & keenly reading all the comments about how to safely prevent ticks, fleas etc.

We live semi rurally have a lot of ticks in our area this year & regularly have deer come into our garden. Husband & daughter have both been bitten in the last 3wks & I’ve removed a couple from my cat that hadn’t yet attached. A friend came across this medical study to repel tick bites in humans.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2362118/

They use the same compound as found in coconut oil. Is there any reason why I wouldnt be able to rub a bit of coconut oil through my dog’s coat before a walk or garden play?

[Dawnspell]

Not read the article yet. Just wanted to say Barney loves coconut oil and would spend his time licking his fur if I rubbed it on his coat, and I'd want to eat him, I love the smell of it.

[zeta1454]

I make up a small jar of coconut oil with a few drops of geranium essential oil each summer which I massage through the coats of our dogs when they are going anywhere that I think might be an issue with ticks. We do live in a rural area but not sheep farming and the deer do not come close to the gardens and it is difficult to say for certain sometimes whether a combination of factors may mean some dogs are less bothered by ticks than others. We raw feed our dogs and they have a Garlic and Fenugreek tablet added to their meat as well as Keepers Mix (a herbal supplement) from Dorwest Herbs. Garlic is renowned for being repellent to blood sucking creatures and there are people who swear by using garlic to keep their dogs flea and tick free.

Although garlic is frequently found on lists of foods toxic for dogs, quality, quantity and form are all important and, unless a dog really has an individual sensitivity to substances found in garlic, using tablets from a licensed veterinary source should not be of concern. Dorwest Herbs have a licence through the UK government's Veterinary Medicines section of DEFRA to sell Garlic and Garlic & Fenugreek tablets for dogs and the data sheet for their products is considerably more reassuring in terms of adverse reactions etc. than the same listed for Advocate etc.

http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInfo ... 135708.DOC

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/?id=-45 ... _printview

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/?id=-45 ... _printview

There is more information on their blog as well re Garlic generally:

https://www.dorwest.com/blog/garlic-its ... -toxicity/

Coconut oil is certainly credited also with helping repel parasites by a number of people who use natural products but as with all things whether naturally derived or laboratory prepared chemicals, you do need to be sure of your source and check the ingredients. The product referred to in the article you linked to, will have taken out of the whole coconut oil the part they believe to be most effective as a tick repellent. This may have made it more effective than coconut oil alone but it may also be less well tolerated as a product by the dog and you would want to be sure there were no substances that could cause an issue if the dog licked it. Coconut oil in its natural form should not cause any issues even if licked as it quite safe for dogs and may be of benefit if added to food too

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/t ... conut-oil/

I would encourage you to look at natural repellents initially though and see if they help before going down the route of the pesticides. If you check out the chemicals used in the pharmaceutical products sold via most vets and pet shops or online, they contain Fipronil, Imidacloprid or Moxidectin among others all of which have the potential for serious side effects in dogs and are damaging to the environment.

[Kazzi]

I love the smell of coconut oil too! Sadly I’m allergic to ingestion but can use topically.

I’ve just been in my health food shop, they have a wealth of information & she also said about geranium essential oil - I was asking about humans, wouldn’t use essential oils on a dog unless given specific advise from a knowledgeable vet. I’ve also read about the garlic, those links will be very useful thank you & for the Dorwest herbs recommendation. I would definitely only use food grade oil that I would be happy to put on myself & keen to try as many alternatives to chemicals as I can (I have a health condition whereby I can become very ill with certain chemicals). Lots to consider.