Will Neem Spray Kill Ticks On My Dog?

by James
(US)

My dog has developed a great infestation of ticks. I have long used a dilute solution of neem oil in water with a dish soap emulsifier for plant pests. Will this be effective on killing ticks on my dog if I spray her fur? What effect must I expect from her licking her fur?

Can I safely spray the rugs and baseboards of the house to kill or discourage the ticks?

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Will Neem Spray Kill Ticks On My Dog?

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Neem oil and ticks
by: Birgit

Hi James!

I'm afraid for your problem the answer is no. It won't. At least not in the way you might hope.

Ticks are a funny one and are quite hardy. Neem is not very effective in killing them. It does however affect the eggs and larvae, and also causes females to lay sterile eggs.

Neem oil also repels ticks, so future bites are less likely. A consistent program of shampooing and spraying the dog with neem oil, as well as spraying the surrounds, may improve the tick problem in the long run, but it would take a long time and it certainly will not fix the immediate infestation.

Most research that was done on the effect of neem on ticks was done on livestock (cattle and goats). People had good results with regular neem oil spraying regimes in controlling bush and scrub ticks. BUT, apparently the brown dog tick does not respond as well to neem. So it also depends what kind of tick you are dealing with.

The concentration that people have used with success on cattle ticks is 1%, 10 ml to a litre of water (plus enough detergent to fully dissolve the oil). This is also the concentration that showed the best results on cattle ticks in laboratory studies.

People sprayed their cattle every three weeks, so the ticks could not complete their egg laying cycle. It's obviously easier to treat a dog. I would shampoo with lots of oil AND spray, and I'd do it at least once a fortnight.

"What effect must I expect from her licking her fur? Can I safely spray the rugs and baseboards of the house to kill or discourage the ticks?"

Yes, spraying it on the rugs and all that is safe (if smelly...). It will also repel cockroaches and all sorts of other nasties.

To the best of my knowledge there is also no problem with the dog licking it. I treat my dog regularly because the mosquitoes are so bad here. Hasn't hurt her, and I have never heard of any warnings regarding the use of neem on dogs.

I know many people have used both straight and diluted neem oil on dogs with bad skin problems. Yet I never heard of any adverse effects.

There are very few studies that evaluate how much neem oil can be ingested before it becomes toxic, and of course those studies used rats, not dogs. The results of the studies indicate that if large amounts of oil are ingested on a daily basis they can have negative effects. The effects are mostly on reproduction and are not permanent. They disappeared when the animals stopped taking the oil.

Using dilute neem spray on your dog is safe (unless the dog is pregnant). Whether you will see an improvement of the tick problem is a different question.

I hope all that helps some.
All the best with getting on top of the problem!

Related pages:
Neem Oil For Dogs
Making Neem Dog Shampoo And Neem Oil Spray
Neem extract?
by: Bely

I am not able to get neem oil, but neem extract is very easy for me to find. It is made with neem leaves and bark.
Does it have the same efect as a pesticide with ticks and fleas in my dogs?
Thank you,
Bely S.
Neem extract vs neem oil
by: Birgit

Hi Bely,

Neem extracts are different. They are great for skin care purposes but their insecticidal and repellent action is not as strong as the raw, unprocessed neem oil. I would still expect them to have an effect against the fleas because fleas are very susceptible to neem.
ingesting neem leaf for dogs and cats
by: Anonymous

how much neem should I give my dogs? can cats drink neem leaf tea?
deer ticks on dog
by: Anonymous

Tried lots of other things to get rid of deer ticks on my dog, finally put on a dob of neat neem dog shampoo. Next day the tick was dead and I could just brush it off. If he gets any more, I know what I will be doing to get rid of them!!

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