How To Use Apple Cider Vinegar for Allergies in Dogs and Cats

I am 2 days in to using raw apple cider vinegar for my french bulldog who has allergies (not food related) she is currently on 16mg of apoquel a day I have reduced her tablet to 8mg, and giving 1 teaspoon twice a day in her food as she does not drink much water. so far so good, she has practically stopped chewing her feet, can't believe it hope it continues. Her weight is 18.90 kg so she is on a diet as well, I have also made up some kefir which I will include in her food starting today.

I will keep her on 8mg of apoquel for a week and gradually start reducing it, say every other day to see what happens.

As soon as I see my scottie chewing and licking her paws excessively I know she's having an allergic reaction.

I use 3 tbsp. ACV mixed into 1 tbsp. water and wipe down the feet of my scottie when she has an allergy flare up. Twice a day for 3 days and she is over her problem. Then I root out which of my grandchildren is sneaking her a treat that she is reacting to. Also, when she is scratching or biting at herself, which is very seldom, I add half a cup of ACV in her rinse water after her bath. Stinky but effective.

At my wits end, I googled "Aloe Vera", hoping to find an answer to our 9-year-old Boston Terrier's constant chewing on his feet and scratching. He was so distressed and it just ripped my heart out! I found some information that might have been of use, but next on my mind was to google "ACV" for his allergies. Wow, did I score! I immediately game him some canned pumpkin with 1/2 t. of ACV. Within 1/2 hour, there was very little chewing, in fact he fell asleep! All the gourmet, gluten-free dog foods we've tried didn't have the success that the ACV did! That was Monday night--by Tuesday morning his skin looked so much less irritated/inflamed. Thinking I was seeing what I wanted to see, I asked my husband who agreed that his skin looked soooo much better. Hopefully, his raw patches will heal so that I can spray his feet and armpits.

There is a great (old) book extolling the effects of ACV, honey, garlic, etc. and their benefits to us, and a wide variety of animals. I'm not sure if it can still be purchased, but it is so worth it! If anyone would like the title, I can check on it later today or tomorrow.

Incidentally, years ago I was part of a Cairn Terrier rescue group. Rather than giving itchy, dry skin dogs frequent baths, they recommended dusting them with Gold Bond powder and gently working that in. Also, it was suggested that itchy dogs and those that chew their skin be sprayed with equal parts of Listerine and water ... very soothing. ACV, being more natural, that the Listerine, would IMO be a better choice. (I don't have a bottle handy, but I would think Listerine has sugar as an ingredient.)

I have a black lab that had horrible allergies, after trying every type of dog food and many steroid shots, I read something on the internet that said to give your dog 1 apple cider vinegar pill daily and feed your dog Eagle dog food ( I buy the natural lamb formula). I wrap the vinegar pill in a piece of bread and put it with her bowl of food. For the first couple of months I could not see much progress, but I hung in there and it worked great. She has not needed a steroid shot in five years and her skin is great!!!!! I still feed her the Eagle Brand dog food and now I will put an apple cider vinegar pill in her food every other day or so. She always had yeasty smelling ears too, and that is cleared up!! I think it has something to do with their pH level. It really works. She is now 15 years old.

Ok, so my poor pooch has terrible allergies, which we have been trying to solve for the last 3 years. With constant visits to the vet for allergy shots, steroids and anti bacterial tablets, nothing has worked. The steroids have made her lethargic and constantly hungry and thirsty, and I really don't want to continue with them as I see no improvement. I have recently found this site, so as a last resort, and from much research on the subject, I have decided to try an holistic approach, to help my poor girl.

I have changed her diet, to totally grain free, making my own dog food, with fresh meat and vegetables, small amounts of turmeric and garlic. I have read it can be quite common for dogs to have an allergy to chicken, so my plan is to try only beef for one week, then only lamb for one week and so on, to see if she improves on a certain diet and then stick to that one. I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on that?

I give her some yogart every day which she loves. Also a bath in ACV, and non scented baby bath, which seems to stop her itching her feet, which is a terrible problem, she bites them constantly, and they are very red and sore, most of the time. I have tried the ear wash of ACV, she hates it, but after a few minutes, she seems to calm down, and I have found it helps.

I really feel she is improving, but we still have a long way to go, to getting her 100 percent.

I will let you know how she goes.

Our 3 1/2 yr. old lab has allergies. She is on a shot once a week, cyclosporine 25mg. 3x a day and 100 mg. of ketconazole a day. After reading... we want to get her off of the ketoconazole, don't like what I read.

My dad is 91 and has been a faithful user of apple cider vinegar all his life, along with tons of garlic. I will check with my vet first, but do you think if we stop the "Keto" and started the vinegar, it would take it's place? We worry about liver damage and reading about the "Keto" it is not even fda approved for dogs.

The cyclosporine seems to be a litlkle more safer.

Thank you, Tina

P.S. She was tested and allergic to dust mite, weeds, and grass. and to top it off is an outside dog

I just wanted to say that I have a shit-zu that I got when she was 1&1/2.she was surrenderd due to allergies. Thoughout the years I tried EVERYTHING... Every quality food and even things made with a novel protien source like kangaroo and bush baby. she would either have a reaction within a few hours or be ok for a couple days then really react bad. I have even made her food myself from things like goat. Like most others here docs always just said its allergies. So we do the whole protocal of meds. Allergies would always come back.

I think she has been doing the yougert/probiotic and Apple Cider Vinegar spray on her coat for a week now and shes a different dog. Shes ALWAYS had hot spots and flaky skin with sores on it. And her skin was always red like a tomato and hot, now it alsmost as pale as mine!!! No flakes, no sores. I have her on nonstarchy veggies & olive oil right now with calcium added and in another week I will try a high quality single source food and see how she does. Its such a relief to see her enjoy her life and not just itch/scratch and chew herself raw. I AM SO ANGRY THAT NO VET EVER KNEW ABOUT YEAST!!!

I am going to print out the info here and take her to see her vet to get groomed in a few weeks and show them how great she looks. She has almost died twice from alleregy meds like atopica and ketochenazole(spelled phoneticly) and to think it was all needless. I aslo soak her feet in epsom salts and baking soda mix every other day for 10 min. I thought id do this since her feet were always the worst. Then I spray the acv/h2o mixture on her and just rub it in. Aslo im bathing her in tea tree shampoo since its anti fungal(once a week bath).

Oh and that site the great dane lady has a homemade remedy for ear that sounds great and I will be using that soon. Just google great dane lady and you will find her. She has a whole protocal for the yeast thing and tells you what veggies and meats are ok to use and which ones arent. She also says the thyroid need to be tested since they cant get over the yeast if their thyriod messed up. I am sooo greatful for this site. My molly has suffered all her life-shes 14 now, and now she can have some itch free years. She seems perkier and more spunky too after staring this protocal.

I am the proud owner of four adorable cats. I have found this site a life saver as one of my cats; Bobby had continuous UTI's and since adding ACV to his food as well as Cantharis tablets he has improved incredibly. One of my cats; Ginger also has a problem with his skin. He is constantly biting and pulling his fur out, his back has bald, red and itchy patches and approx every six months I need to take him to the vets to have a steroid injection to stop it. This can be very costly and as I have four cats and I am not very well off I wondered if there is anything anyone can suggest? I decided to mix a little ACV with warm water and rubbed this solution on his itchy areas in the hope it might stop. He is practically eating himself alive at times and it is very distressing for both him and me. Since rubbing him with this stuff he is sleeping right now and I will carry on doing this. Has anyone else experienced problems with this kind of condition?

i think this site is greattt. our 8 yr old schnauser has been scratching so much the people downstairs could hear the thumps he made under the bed. his (un)favorite passtime is scratching and chewing himself raw,anywhere and everywhere on his body. if you were to talk to him, he would tell you that he is notttt a dog. he thinks hes a human. he hasnt touched anything hangin around on the floor since he was a puppy---the house could have no floor space with junk all over it(which it doesnt) but if it did, he wouldnt touch it. he only plays with or chews his stuff. but when our son talked nasty to him., he ferreted out our sons favorite toy, chewed it up, walked over to our son, got his attention, dropped the chewed toy, gave our son a look that said take that!, and walked slowly away while our son screamed and cryed because his favorite toy was soo chewed up beyond recognition. i told my son how sorry i was but that titan was telling him too: respect me! do not yell at me. people say dogs dont have a revenge streak--i say bull! yes they do. needless to say our son hasnt yelled at titan in 4yrs. this is a dog who will find a pill on the floor and come get me to pick it up(he wont touch it). this lil schnauser never sniffs people except for their feet, but when he sniffs you, then you better get to the doctors right away. he kept sniffing my chest(and like i said he never sniffs people) and less than a week later, i had pertussis. he started sniffing my sons groin area, the next night my son complained of pain in that area---he had a bladder infection. titan started sniffing my husband, and my husband had a kidney stone attack a couple days later. he is a veryyyy intellegent dog. if the cat gets out of the house, he comes and tells us. when my daughter was a teenager and tryed to sneak out of her bedroom window in the middle of the night way down the hall he told us. anyway, you can see hes a special lil part of family. anywayyy i tryed everything for his itching. you name it , i tryed it. nothing worked., but this afternoon after reading your site. i gave him a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar with the mother--the good stuff. and lo and behold--- after about 15 minutes----hes quiet and relaxed sitting there like he owns the place--as usual lol buttt with noooo scratching. i have to say, i cant believe it, acv actually worked when all the vitamins,minerals, drugs ,cremes etc didnt. nowww if someone can pleaseee tell me how to get him from running out the door when we open it, i wont have any problems with him. he got a lil certificate from a training school yrs ago, but when he got home, it was like---im home now so i can do what i want. hes veryyy well trained, but racing out of the house when the door is open has become a real problem--any suggestions for a frustrated owner and a schnauser who thinks hes a human???? againnnn thank you!!!! for this site

ACV is wonderful! My Shih Tzu was suffering with his allgeries this year. He lost all the hair off his ears. It must be the new area I am living in. A new hot spot was breaking out everyday. Well, I gave him a bath, then used 1 cup of ACV to a gallon of water.

He slept peacefully that night. Since then I have applied a half and half mixture of water and ACV using a spray bottle on his hot spots and around his ears. The areas of his skin are almost healed. I could not beleive how fast it took after the bath.

I tried using the spray mixture a day or two befor the bath, that did not have the same affect. Be sure to bath the dog first using the ACV mix last then rinse it off.

I am still spraying him every day. He doesn't really like it especially. But all the redness has left.

I am recommending this site to all my friends!

I also tried another remedy that worked for dog coughs, 1 tbl honey, 3 drops of peroxide and 1 cup of water. the cough vanished.

I've tried everything for my Yorkies, they scratch & bite all over all day, I've tried Tea tree oil with some help, but Now I Have Found the REMEDIE!!!!
Give you dog a bath with a good shampoo, put it on washcloth, thats makes it great for washing, face, belly, butts, they will love it. Then rinse, condition if needed, rinse again with clean warm water, make sure to rinse, belly, feet, and botton well, don't leave standing dirty water in bath on feet.let water run out of tub.

Then take a CUP & 1/2 of apple cider vinegar in a gallon of clean warm water, it might take more than a gallon, mix correct, rinse all areas,don't forget feet, try not to get in eyes, this will stop RED SPOTS, SCRATCHING & BITING FEET. Plus will make coat soft & shiney. Plus mix a spray bottle,1/2 ACV & 1/2 Water, to spray if itching between baths!!!!

We have had a horrible case of the itchy witchies this allergy season. Everyone of our guys has been itching, scratching and all have flakey skin and 2 have had chronic ear infections.

First I tried switching their diet to a high quality non grain food, no luck. I then found a site that recommended rinsing in a 50% water & 50% Raw Apple Cider Vinegar solution. I first bathed them with an Aloe and Tea Tree shampoo followed with the rinse (leaving on for approx 5 min) rinse well and apply an oatmeal conditioner (again, rinse well).

After the first bath we had some residual flaking but less itching. We repeated the proceedure 2 weeks later and I am happy to say that the flakiness is all gone and itching is minimal. In addition we are now feeding a white fish & sweet potatoe kibble supplemented with extra virgin olive oil.

For the first time in MONTHS, we are one big happy itch free family!

Apple Cider Vineger and dog allerigies: I have a 6 year old beagle mix that has been dealing with allergies for as long as I've had him. I have taken him to the vet several times, spent tons of money on shampoos, sprays, creams, special food and NOTHING has helped. I came across this website and it suggested using Apple Cider Vinegar for hot spots and allergies. I thought, "why not?" and tried it on Baxter. I used an old water bottle (12 oz) and filled it half with water and half with ACV. I took a few paper towels, soaked it and started wiping Baxter down. Within minutes, he stopped itching and he has been able to rest and not scratch all the time. Thank you SO much for this amazing advice! Baxter is no longer miserable and when he's happy, I'm happy, and so is my wallet!

Hello! My 2 1/2 year old female cat has been over licking and chewing her skin. This has been going on for some time and she has now finally licked all of the hair off on one side of her body. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that she also had white, crusty "cradle cap" dandruff on her backside right above her tail. This morning the dandruff looking stuff had been licked or chewed off and now it is all irritated and red with pus and no hair. It is almost bleeding! Since money is tight, I decided to try some home remedies first before taking her to the vet. This site has been very helpfull!!! I had no idea what to do until I found it. So far I have put a little Apple Cider Vinegar in her water, wiped her side down with it and bought some grain free cat food. I also stupidly put some ACV on her fresh wounds on her backside... she yowled at me and ran away to hide. I felt bad cause it must have hurt, so I gently put some oil on the wounds, (just regular old cooking oil). I also fed her a small amount of tuna with the oil in it. Does anyone have any other suggestions??? How long will the new food and ACV take before I see any difference?? Thanks!

Hi, I've been giving my 2 yr. old shih tzu the _____'s Organic ACV for almost 2 weeks now for his constant itching and licking of his paw. Unfortunately I haven't seen any major improvement. I don't think his itch is any less than when we first started giving him the acv. I've read testimonials on this site swearing by the product's wonder medicine for their pet's allergy. My question is how long will it take before the acv actually works for him. I've been spraying it on his skinlike the article suggested-where he always scratches but to it doesn't seem to hhelp. I'm hopeful it will eventually heal his allergy however I need to know how much longer will it take. I put it in his food too.

Hope to hear from you soon regarding this matter.

From a desperate puppy mom,
Marya O'Brien