Pet Safe Treatment for Fire Ants?

[Christine & Shelby]

Hi everyone.... Shelby and I live in Texas and the fire ants are out in full force this year. I noticed 3-4 mounds in my yard earlier today. I am worried that Shelby will accidentally step in or worse... Dig in the mound. Do any of you have pet friendly fire ant control solutions? Organic solutions perhaps? I did a brief web search, but thought I'd ask my DK friends... You all are SMART!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

What are fire ants??

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jennifer, They are ants that twirl batons on fire :) I am just kidding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant

They sound horrible!!

[Rachel and Ollie]

They are definitely ants that twirl fire batons...and then stamp them out on your feet. 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

LOL

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

Harley stuck his nose in a mound this morning and is still antsy and shaking his head frequently.  I'm wondering if there is anything I can do for him to help with the pain?  

[Christine & Camus]

I would call the vet or an emergency vet clinic.  The only thing I can think of that is OTC is benadryl, if you have any hydroxyzine (stronger antihistamine that is prescribed for dogs) on hand it may also help, but you would need to ask about dosage for either one.

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

Ant Killer Recipe

• Several products that can be found in your cupboard or easily and  inexpensively purchased will do away with ants without harming your pets.  Instant grits, oats, cream of wheat or cornmeal sprinkled dry around an ant hill  or where you see ants in the house works best in killing them, particularly the  larger types of ants, like fire ants and carpenter ants. The instant grits,  cornmeal, oats or cream of wheat must be kept dry to be effective. The ants eat  the dry cereal which then swells from the fluids in the ants' stomachs and the  ant dies. The ants will also carry the cereal back to their nest and share it,  causing the rest of the ants to die.

  We don't have fire ants but I have used the following recipe to get rid of ants.

   

  Blend equal parts of baking soda and icing sugar together and sprinkle on ant nests.  I think it works almost the same as the recipe above.

   

  Good luck.

Read more:  Pet Safe Recipe for Organic Ant Killer | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5154347_pet-recipe-organic-ant-killer.html#...

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Ammonia or Apple Cider Vinegar dabbed on the bite with a cotton ball takes away the sting. Daphne got bit after being spayed. I made the mistake of taking her outside without her leash on after a few days and she went crazy with the zoomies! She was tired of laying around all the time and just ran around in our back yard and stopped to rest on an ant pile. They did not bite directly on her wound, (Thank God) but got very close to it. At night we also put hydrocortisone cream on the bites and because she was wearing pajamas that covered her incision, that kept her from licking the bites as well.

[Christine & Shelby]

Thanks Lori... this is good to know, and I will make note of this in the event Shelby gets a bite.   I was actually looking for pet safe ways to treat the mound.  :)    I talked to my pest control guy and while yes, I am still using a chemical - he said once dried it is safe for pets (obviously not in large quantities.  So my method is to cover up mounds with an upside down laundry basket until I can treat them.... then I cover them while they dry out... this way Shelby can't get to them.   Makes my yard look like an obstacle course... but oh well, it works!   

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I like the laundry basket method. Thats a great idea! I will have to try that, until now, I just keep her out of the yard till its dry.

[Jen and Annie]

You could try food grade diatomaceous earth, but you have to be extremely vigilant, and basically sprinkle the mounds every day for about a week to ten days.  They should disappear.  We got rid of a huge bull ant pile in this way.  Diatomaceous earth is microscopic fossil shells that looks like a fine powder.  For dogs and people, its non-toxic, because it's not a bait or something dangerous when ingested - it kills bugs mechanically.  Anything with an exoskeleton, it's like walking across shards of glass to them.  It cuts their bodies and dehydrates them.  So, this wouldn't be a quick fix solution, you'd have to remember to do it every day.  I would suggest getting food grade diatomaceous earth, not the stuff that goes into swimming pools - that has added chemicals that could be harmful to the pup or you.  Good luck, fire ants are the worst!!