Hidden DEET (sort of) in fly spray

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Patches

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Actually, that's a bit of an over exaggeration as it's listed in the ingredients when you check.

I bought Lincoln Tea Tree Oil Fly spary for Patches. As it stated it was Tea Tree Oil, it never occured to me to wonder whether it had DEET in it. I used a test patch on Patches and she was fine with it.

The next day I liberally sprayed her in it. By the next morning she had what I assumed to be HUGE bite marks all down her sides and across her withers. She was bothered by them when I touched them too. I was puzzled as to what had bitten her, when she's never suffered like that before.

I did question it in my mind though, thankfully, and stopped using the fly spray (just in case) after checking the ingredients and it saying it contains N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide. I wondered if DEET might be the abbreviation for it (have googled and I'm correct). So for two days she had no fly spray and yet wasn't bitten at all.

I don't understand why the didn't label it as a Deet product, as most other manufacturers think it's great to say "contains DEET". I wouldn't have used it had I known it contained DEET as I've heard reports of many horses being sensitive. Even if I'd checked the label in the shop before purchase, I wouldn't have automatically wondered if that was DEET, it was only after she had problems that I mused about it.

I now know that Patches is one of the many horses sensitive to DEET and have binned the fly spray and reverted to the one I used to use.
 
I've used this too....its not the deet that bothers me (mine don't seem to react to it) its more the fact it seems to attract the flies more than repel them!!!
 
This is why I make my own - I don't like to put anything on the boys that I can't use on myself - my spray is a universal horse, dog and kid spray.

Poor old Patches - she does seem to be the one that gets everything.
 
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That's interesting - I have just bought the Lincoln one and it says 'contains DEET' on the front......wonder if it is a different variety? Black bottle....?

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Lincoln do loads of different ones.

D-itch the Itch, Tea Tree Fly Spray etc etc. Mine was a yellow and white bottle. It doesn't mention DEET on the front of it.
 
Urgh...DEET. I make my own flyspray, we are looking to sell it along side our other products next year so we are still tweaking the formula, but I'd much rather use one I can use on me, Christ - mine is safe to drink if you so choose (would taste foul though!).
 
DEET used to be THE flyspray ingredient of choice, until all the bad side effects became widely known. This is when Citronella was brought in. Now Citronella has been banned, DEET has come back, along with the side effects
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I've just started using this on my horse and found its the only thing that works on him..sorry to sound ignorant but whats so bad about DEET? He hasn't had any allergic reactions so far either, I use the one with a pink and black bottle, its by NAF.
 
I used the new black bottled DEET at the weekend - tested first on friday - seemed fine -
so Saturday I cover him in it and on sunday too - Yesterday Mum rings me and says this chest is red raw and flakey from where the rugs have rubbed(odd as they were covered in hair fine and smooth on the weekend)

Chocs skin is now breaking down around his stifle on the off side so its got to be that and not just being sensitive on his chest.
Poor boy – he may not look his best on Sunday for Berrington! and is now being nursed by Mum as looks sore the ways its flared up = awful stuff -

im mortified that something designed to help a horse could be so brutal to his skin....
 
I use DEET on myself and my horse-I wouldnt use it on him if he were to be covered by a rug etc

its like anything, some will react but the majority wont. some will react to Deosect, some wont. many of these so called homeopathic arent so benign either, tea tree oil is corrosive (I work with it) and has recently been found to be carcinogenic.
always patch test everything for 48 hours.
 
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