[rchik43]

Hi Everyone,

Pillu has been getting a lot of bug bites, over the last month mostly. I think Mosquitoes, gnats, flies, may be chiggers etc... I can see some bumps on his body...and in a couple of places little bit of hair loss. Antibiotics/Allergy medication from the Vet seems to have helped, but he still gets new bug bites when we go for a walk. His ticks, flea oral medication seems to be working, I don't see ticks or fleas on him. Bugs seem to be a lot more this year, I didn't see this last year.

I found something called Cedarcide (seems like a natural repellent) that they seem to say can be sprayed and spread on his body, wondering if anyone has experienced using this and if its effective or if you have any opinions on its safety. Anything opinions on anything else I can use to manage this would also be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[Dan_A]

I haven't tried Cedercide specifically but have experimented with concoctions of diluted essential oils including cedar oil. Juniperus virginiana to be specific. Combinations of that with things like rose geranium I found pretty effective at keeping ticks off of Ellie. It didn't really do much for gnats and other flying insects. The big downside was it took a pretty decent application every time we went in the woods. I'd spray some of her body, then a paper towel and wipe her head, and neck. She really did not enjoy the smell at all and I can imagine with their sensitive noses it is much stronger for them than it is for us. I still use my natural EO spray on me when I go out , but for Ellie I opted for a Preventic collar to keep the ticks off which has been very effective. For your problem , I would say that the EO based products have a good chance at working. Maybe someone can chime in with that product specifically.

I also tried natural EO oil infused collars and had mixed results.

 

[texasred]

I’ve tried it for mosquitoes on me, and the dogs.
i’m sure it slowed them down, but didn’t totally stop them from biting. The only bad thing is Cedar really messes with my allergy.