We used to take our dog to the groomers to cut her hair. However, one time our dog came back from the groomers with a chemical on her that made me extremely sick. Also, after our dog came back from the groomers, she was acting strangely—rolling around and rubbing herself on the carpet as if she were trying to remove something from her fur. I think it was over a year after we took our dog to the groomers before I could tolerate having her in the house again!
I believe what happened is that other pet owners treated their pets with insecticide to kill fleas and ticks before taking them to the groomers. The insecticide on other animals then spread to our dog as the groomers likely used the same combs, clippers, and brushes on our pet that they used on the pets that were treated with insecticide. I do not believe the groomers purposely applied insecticide to our dog. I called the groomers and the person I spoke with said that they do not put insecticide on pets.
Many people with chemical sensitivity are extremely sensitive to insecticide. One of the insecticides that I am most sensitive to is the insecticide in so called “spot-on” flea and tick treatments. The insecticide in spot-on flea and tick treatments seems to be extremely concentrated and powerful. For example, one product recommends applying the insecticide on the back of the neck of a dog and states that one treatment lasts at least thirty days.
The insecticide spreads through the oils on the dog until all of the skin and fur of the dog is treated with insecticide. These spot-on flea and tick treatments spread like crazy, and this is bad news for the chemically sensitive. If a person touches a pet that has been treated, everything that person later touches will then have pesticide on it, until the residues on the person's hand are no longer there. When people treat their animals with spot-on products, they are also exposing themselves, their children, and anyone who touches the treated pet with a potent insecticide. I am so sensitive to such insecticides that it has made me ill when people who have used spot-on products on their cats have later visited me at my house. The visitors did not have their cats with them, but the insecticide had spread to them and their clothing.
A spot-on product website states that the insecticide "remains effective for 30 days, even if your pet swims or is bathed.”[1] This is also bad news for the chemically sensitive, because it means that the insecticide is terribly difficult to remove by washing. I might compare it to liquid lecithin, sunscreen, or road tar–all are very difficult to remove.
Therefore, for a person sensitive to insecticides, cutting your pet’s hair is likely a do-it-yourself project. There are also natural products and methods that can be used to fight fleas and ticks, and there are many online resources that provide education and products in that area.
Also, these flea and tick products have proved dangerous and even fatal for many pets. There are many sites that describe the dangers of these products and here is one example: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-dangers-of-flea-and-tick-products/
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[1] http://www.biospot.com/get-educated/faqs/.
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