Is this safe for my pets?
The question I always get asked is “Is this safe for my pets?” I always find it odd that they never ask about the kid crawling on the floor eating the Cheerios under the table, I guess they don’t matter as much as Fido. This happens so often that sometimes I look at the kid and back at them. They never get the hint. So lets explore pest control and pets.
Most of the time outside perimeter pest control is all that is needed to keep pests from entering your home. Sometimes we need to go inside a home or business here in Maryville Tennessee to eliminate pests from that environment. Most bugs come inside looking for food water or shelter. The rest decide to set up shop inside our homes and that is no bueno.
So anyway, is it safe for Fido or not? Let’s get into that. For starters, we use pesticides. Icide means it kills. In the old days Bubba would find the nastiest chemical he could find and spray that junk everywhere Mrs Jones saw a bug. These days we have much more entomological knowledge than they did back then. We also don’t paint your walls with pesticide. Most applications are what we call crack and crevice. This means the pesticide gets put into holes, cracks, behind, and under things where Fido and yes, even the kids have a much less chance of getting to it.
How pesticides kill matters
To make pest control and pets even safer, many of the products we use to kill bugs have a mode of action that affects aspects of the pest that we, and the pets and kids, don’t even have. For instance, one product prevents insects from creating energy from the food they consume. This product is in our food and we process it out all the time with no problem. Another option affects the chitin production. Chitin makes up the exoskeleton of bugs that protects them from the world, kinda like armor. When they can’t make this they dry out and have weak armor. Bugs molt just like a snake shedding it’s skin and another product prevents that process causing them all kinds of problems. Last time I checked neither you, me or Fido has chitin or an exoskeleton. All this technology makes pest control and your pets not as big of a deal as most think.
The Dosage is the Poison
The next reason Fido is not in danger is the concentration we use these product at. The concentration of the active ingredient (that’s the part that does the killing) is relative to the size of the pest. If a big fat guy needed to take pain medication, he would need significantly less than a 50 lb child. If you take an aspirin it will kill your headache, if you take a handful you may be headed for a dirt nap. The dosage is the difference between a medicine and a poison. Most products are mixed at less than 0.1%. Because it is bug dose. Not Fido dose.
SafER… Not Safe
Now don’t get the impression that because these aspects make the application of pesticides safer means they are 100% safe. They are not, and I cringe when salesmen try to tell homeowners that they use pet safe materials. It’s misleading. No pesticide is 100% pet safe. The method of application is just as, if not more important. Where it is put, and how much, makes the difference. Of course we don’t want Fido, or even little Timmy to get into anything we put out. But because of how we use things The chances of them being able to even get to it are much less and even if they do, the nature of how they work and or the concentration make it unlikely to cause any harm. This is why you need a pest control technician that understands pest biology and the chemicals they are using.
The answer to your pest control problem is not a product, it is the knowledge of the pest and how to fight it. To win a war, you must understand your enemy. So next time, hire a bug geek instead of a paycheck getter. And ask about the safety of your child before your dog. For heavens sake, Fido licks his own butt.
You wanna know what bugs me? Pet owners.
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