Are Pesticides with Permethrin Safe?

Recently my vet treated one of my goats with a product called Ultra Boss to take care of her lice. She just poured a little down Xande's spine and within a day she had stopped scratching, and within two days so had her kids even though they were not treated. I thought it was so amazing and wondered if it would work on my dogs for mosquitoes and ticks.

I couldn't remember what it was called so I went to Cal Ranch and read the labels and got what I thought was right. The label said it could be used on outdoor dogs as well so I was really excited. But then I found it it was a spray on and not a pour on. I liked the pour-on idea because the animals would be less likely to lick it. So I dug through my notes from the vet and found out the name of the real  product and went back and picked that one up. But Ultra Boss does not say you can use it on dogs. I looked up the chemicals in the two products and they both used the same ones. I wondered why it would be okay on one but not the other, so I started researching all the pesticides used in tick collars and dog-specific pesticides.

It turns out all these products use the exact same, or nearly the same chemicals. And they are also the same chemicals used in mosquito foggers (as well as many plant pesticides and lice shampoos for humans). I had researched mosquito fogging before and got frustrated. All the information stating they were safe were from people who sell the chemicals, or from governments who needed to defend their decision to use them. All I could find was the recommendation to bring pets inside and close windows during fogging (except one website that said to open your windows so mosquitoes in your house could be killed). I decided if it wasn't safe for people and  pets then I didn't want the spray on my property and put myself on the no-spray list.

But this time I decided to research the specific chemicals in the pesticides because it should lead to less biased information. Here is what I found:

Permethrin and its synthetic counterparts work by binding to sodium ions that assist the nervous system in communicating. It blocks their movement and causes paralysis, temperature increases, repetitive motions, and other symptoms. It is usually paired with a chemical called piperonyl butoxide which prevents the organism from flushing toxins out of their bodies.

I proceeded to read through studies done on effects of the chemicals. Most I found were specifically to test the safety of using them on military clothing. In the trials various animals, mostly mice, were fed varying doses of permethrin. The essence of the results as I understood it were this:

Permethrins

Evidence of ill-effects:

• skin irritation in rabbits
• slight increase in fetal death in rabbits 
• less bone growth for rabbits in utero
• extra ribs and low birth weight in rat fetuses
• increased liver weight in dogs and mice
• lung tumors in mice
• urological problems in mice
• tremors and seizures on animals while exposed to high levels of permethrin gas
• skin and eye irritation, itching, and burning in humans

Evidence of safety:

•  used by pregnant women to treat lice and scabies; no women in the studies experienced complications
• In most cases only animals fed the highest doses of permethrin showed ill effects

It seems as though there are a lot of potential ill effects, although I have to take into consideration other information. One thing is that the animals were being fed high concentrations of permethrin. If my interpretation of the conclusions is right, I would need to drink about 1 cup of pure permethrin per day in order to develop a tumor or cancer. Permethrin is not easily absorbed through the skin so exposure from touching it would be significantly less. This is why it was concluded to be safe to use in military uniforms. Also, most of the commercial forms of it are diluted or intended to be diluted with water before application.

After reading those stats I figure that even over time exposure to it isn't going to do much. It makes me rethink being on the no-spray list for mosquito fogging. At the same time, if it is used regularly on livestock, pets, hay, fruit, other produce, lice, and also restaurant kitchens and such, and combined with exposure to other various chemicals in our environment I still am slightly concerned about the buildup. There also have not been any studies on effects to the endocrine system. 

I decided to research how long it takes for permethrins to exit the body and break down in the environment. After 24 hours half of it was gone from the bodies of rats, but I couldn't find information on how long it takes to completely leave the system. Also, it is combined with piperonyl butoxide which inhibits the ability to clear toxins and these studies were done solely on permethrins. 

Permethrins also take time to break down in the environment. In some studies done where it was exposed to sun on a wooden windowsill 60% of it was still there after several months. It stays in the soil even longer, although it tends to bind to the soil and stay there rather than get absorbed into other plants or washed with water runoff. But it can still be in the soil where children and animals touch and carry it. 

It is also highly toxic to fish and aquatic animals so it should not be applied to the air or plants and animals near water. Mammals and birds are not so affected by it so that is less of a concern (with the exception of cats who have difficulty breaking down many chemicals, including essential oils). One should also consider effects to the ecosystem because it also kills beneficial insects such as bees and ladybugs. 

Piperonyl butoxide

Evidence of ill-effects:

• passes through milk in animals
• passes through eggs in chickens
• liver cancer and tumors in dogs, rats, and mice
• intestine and thyroid cancers in other lab animals
• low maternal weight gain and possible miscarriage in rats 
• fused and extra fingers and toes of offspring of rats exposed in  utero
• found in some organs, meat, eggs, and especially fat of skin-exposed chickens 

Evidence of safety:

• no evidence of endocrine disruption in mammals
• monkey studies 6 weeks long showed no ill effects
• studies of goats showed no ill effects
• humans fed very small quantities showed no ill effects of the liver 
• 87-99% left the bodies of rats through urine and feces within 48 hours
• when applied to human skin, only 2% of the dose was absorbed in 30 minutes
• did not affect breakdown of one drug when humans ate a small dose
• breaks down quickly (half life of about 8 hours in water and 4 hours in air and 13 days in soil)
• very little moves to other parts of a plant after spraying

From my view, the piperonyl butoxide is a bit more concerning than the permethrin because it seems to have more negative effects and passes into parts of animals that are eaten by humans more readily. At the same time, it breaks down and is cleared from our systems more quickly.

Overall, I think the doses are small enough that I wouldn't let a goat suffer through lice all winter long if I could find no better alternative, and would apply sparingly to pregnant goats. Despite the label saying it is not contraindicated with slaughter, because chemicals were found in edible tissues of chickens I would not use it within 3 weeks of slaughter. I also prefer to seek alternatives to treating lice in goats and preventing ticks and mosquitoes from biting dogs. Neem oil is next on my research list. 

Sources: 

Wikipedia: permethrin

Wikipedia: piperonyl butoxide

National Pesticide Information Center, permethrin

National Pesticide Information Center, piperonyl butoxide
Toxipedia: Permethrin

Neurotixicity of permethrin

Reproductive and developmental toxicity of permethrin

Acute and short term toxicity of permethrin 

EPA Permethrin Facts

Carcinogenicity of permethrin 

Permethrin in dogs and cats

Permethrin for dogs

Florida department of agriculture, permethrin 

Nail Trimming

I am not a pro at nail trimming by any means, but I have had a lot of friends mention troubles trying to trim their dogs' nails so I thought it would be a good thing to address.

My first Dog, Daizy's nails got really overgrown. I hate to admit it, but I didn't realize nail trimming was a thing. I've only had cats who tend to take care of their own nails. I only read about it after she had gone through the winter without a trim. I found that the Millers Forge nail clippers were highly recommended so I ordered a pair. I went to trim Daizy's nails and learned that she really hated anyone touching her paws.

I really liked this video on the Kikopup YouTube channel explaining how to help your dog relax for nail trimming. I did this with Daizy. It was a slow process and for awhile I could only trim one nail a day. But that way at least they were getting trimmed once every 10 days.

Essentially you make good things happen every time the dog sees the nail clippers--lots of praises and treats. Do it in a calm, comfortable place. Then step-by-step work on making the process comfortable and not scary: touch the paws without clippers, put clippers near the paws but not touching, clip the air nearby, touching the paws with the clippers without clipping, etc. Eventually you work up to just one clip. Then add more. Each step is followed by praises and treats. Don't move on to a new one until they are comfortable with the previous one. If the dog starts to get uncomfortable take a step back or end the session. You don't want any bad memories associated with the process.

If you keep trimming overgrown nails back regularly the quick (which is where the blood flow enters the nail) begins to recede so they can get shorter over time. That cute clicking of nails on the hard floor isn't supposed to happen, so you want to make the quick recede until the dog can walk without the nail putting pressure on the floor. That pressure can cause pain for the dog, which can then cause other problems. A great resource for proper nail trimming is the Nail Maintenance for Dogs Facebook Group.

The trimming experience will be different with each dog. I got my pup, Hera, at five months old and I don't think she'd ever had her nails trimmed, so she didn't like her paws being touched either. With her, I actually taught the "shake" cue first, and used it to get her used to her paws being touched and squeezed. Now I can ask for a shake and then quickly trim her nails before I let go of her paw. To do the back legs I just rub her belly and then she rolls onto her back. I got her used to me touching and squeezing her back feet and then started trimming. Her back feet are still hard because she wants me to stop and rub her belly, but if I get one of my kids to give the belly rub it's a cinch.

Zeus likes to keep his feet on the ground so I usually trim his while he is standing or sitting. It's a little awkward but it works. I tried using "shake"  on him as well, but he still prefers me to trim with his feet on the ground so that's what we usually do.

Trimming Zeus' nails. 

Unwanted Jumping: put it on cue and stop giving the cue

Photo by Dycie Jo Photography

It's really easy to accidentally teach your dog to jump up on people, or rather to reinforce them for doing it. Puppies do it very naturally and it's so cute and tempting to respond to when they are puppies. But when those puppies become adults it can become a real problem. And this was a problem with Hera.

I started with some training videos on the Kikopup Youtube Channel. The basic idea was 1. think about what you do want them to do and teach them to do that (it's hard for an animal to understand a negative and you have no control over what they do instead). and 2. don't reinforce jumping ("be a tree", don't give any attention, even yelling, for the jumping behavior )

First I dealt with Hera jumping on the gate when I approach the pasture. Zeus is always there with her but he is really calm so if she looked like she wanted to jump I first praised Zeus and gave him treats for being calm. She figured that out quickly and sat down; then she would get her treat. I also would not even touch the gate latch unless both dogs had four feet on the ground. The gate opening is reinforcing to her, so treats are not even necessary for the use of gate-jumping. I just like using Zeus as an example because sometimes it makes things move a little faster

When the gate was not involved I always tried the "be a tree", but I also tried to tell her to sit before she reached me so she would have an alternative behavior. The sit wasn't really working very well though. I got her when she was 5 months old so she's really just been a puppy all this time and puppies have SO much energy. I felt like I needed to channel it and give her an out somehow.

I remembered reading in Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor that she got dolphins to stop obnoxious behavior by putting it on cue, and then quit giving the cue. I decided to try that instead.

It was extremely easy to put it on cue. I used the cue "hug". I still told her to sit first, but once she did that I rewarded her with the cue for "hug" (this is using a behavior chain which I'll write about elsewhere). This way her jumping was controlled but she still got to relieve her excitement. I later changed it to "jump up" and instead of putting her paws on me I'd have her jump straight in the air. (I started this in the spring because I wasn't wearing snow gear anymore and muddy paws are no fun). The "jump up" was even better because my kids could use it and not worry about her knocking them over.

Cue for "jump up".

This approach worked really well for me. She quit jumping up on me almost entirely. However, she was still jumping up on new people and sometimes my kids because they aren't as precise with cues and training. I brought up the question with a dog training group and some of them told me that giving the cue to jump was a bad idea because it's still rewarding the behavior, even though it's more controlled.

I was hesitant to drop it because it worked with me, and I liked that she could still get her energy out. But even the book I read said to stop giving the cue once the behavior was reliably on cue. So I stopped giving the cue, even though it was fun. It really has made a difference and her jumping is getting rarer and rarer. And when I started teaching a right/left shake I realized why.

Many trained animals will start offering every behavior they have ever been rewarded for when they are seeking a reward. With Hera, jumping was one of those behaviors, and a favorite so she was more likely to choose it over others. After I started working on a right/left shake frequently it became her new "go to" behavior and now instead of jumping to try and gets treats she starts offering her paw. Much more desirable than jumping! (Except the time her paw landed on my baby's head).

So, lesson learned. Put the undesirable behavior on cue, then stop giving the cue. What a great tool!