Product Review: Parasite Dust
Herbal Flea & Tick Powder is Toxic to Pests, Nontoxic to Pets
Parasite Dust, by Buck Mountain Botanicals, kills all external parasites from fleas & ticks to scabies & mange without exposing dogs & cats to toxic chemicals.
Fleas and ticks are no match to the natural powers of Parasite Dust, a botanical medicine produced by Buck Mountain Botanicals, the company that also created the herbal cancer drug Neoplasene. Made entirely of organic herbs and food-grade materials, Parasite Dust stops pests from feeding, molting, or reproducing while healing the bites themselves.
Herbs Attack External Parasites
"Parasite Dust has been highly successful in fighting fleas, ticks, and lice on companion animals," says veterinarian Teresa Garden (Anti-Flea Parasite Dust May Mean Paradise Regained, 2005, The Healthy Planet). It attacks them, as well as lesser-known parasites like scabies (also called mange), in four ways:
- Feeding is stopped by the herb neem.
- Molting is also prevented, which in effect stops the parasite from growing.
- Yarrow repels insects while it supports healing with its antimicrobial properties.
- Diatom flour punctures exoskeletons, dehydrating the creatures.
Organic Compounds Are Safe for Animal Use
The ingredients in Parasite Dust are, individually, nontoxic to animals, and presumably don't develop toxic properties when combined. However, as Garden points out, "Common sense dictates avoiding breathing concentrations of the dust, ingesting it, or rubbing it into one’s eyes...but...there have been no adverse effects reported."
Pricing of Parasite Dust
Parasite Dust, like all of Buck Mountain's products, are sold directly only to veterinarians and owners of herds of animals. The retail pricing is determined by the final seller, and ranges from twenty to thirty dollars for a three ounce container.
Given that a teaspoon is sufficient to treat a horse until the product is washed away by rain or bathing, the owner of a dog or cat could conceivably use the same container for several years. Various factors contribute to how often the dust must be reapplied, including length of the animal's hair and exposure to sunlight.
Field Tests Prove Effectiveness Against Ticks
Fox claims that engorged ticks are the most difficult pest for Parasite Dust to address, because they are cemented into their prey until the feeding cycle is complete. However, Dr. Michele Yasson tried the product on some ticks that had already been removed from her dog, and the result was that "their little legs, which had been slowly wriggling, stopped moving within seconds." Although it may take time to actually dislodge the creatures from the host animal, Yasson's observations demonstrate that the ticks were on their way to death long before they fell off the dog.
Advocates of natural pet care measures such as avoidance of conventional medicines and feeding pets a raw food diet have an additional weapon in their arsenal of effective organic pet health products.
