Expert: Lesley - 8/11/2004

Question
Good Morning....
Having a very wet summer here in NYS, there are now multitudes of mosquitoes, that are stressing my daughter's horses. Is the commercial mosquito repellants, containing DEET safe to use on the horses ?
Many thanks....

Answer
Deet is NOT to be used on ANY animals, including horses. Some animals are very sensitive to the product, and it can cause some serious side effects. When applied to the skin, Deet can be absorbed, or ingested by horses.

It becomes very toxic to the brain and nervous system, and can cause tremors, weakness, paralysis, emotional / behavior changes, seizures, and death on rare occasions.

If you're lucky, all your horse will suffer is a skin rash or blisters.

In my opinion...the hassle is just NOT worth it. Try a good wipe-on/rub-on fly spray, and feed apple cider vinegar along with your horse's feed. They sweat the vinegar out and it becomes a natural fly spray. If you have anymore questions, please let me know.

Good Luck!