Traveler (Santa Barbara, Ca, Usa) on 07/15/2010
So with the summer-time and my dog spending a lot of time out in the backyard, and the dog park, he has gotten itchy skin. I've checked him for bugs and haven't found any, yet one of his nipples was scratched raw, his armpits were all dark pink, and he had several hotspots which has sebum around the scabby parts. I did two things, and he's almost all the way better but not all the way cured:
1. I took apple cider vinegar (not with the mother, the store didn't have it) and cut it half and half with water and put it in a spray bottle. This he got sprayed with a couple times a day all over in the belief that it would keep the bugs away and maybe help the spots.
2. I grabbed virgin coconut oil and added some tea tree oil to it and rubbed him down and tried to hit his hotspots. I did this two times with as full of a full-body rubdown as I could, and then two or three more times just spot applying. The next day after applying it the first time, his armpits were hardly pink at all. A week later, I've checked his hot spots and his scabs are now in chuncks around his hair, but no longer attached to his skin. I brushed his coat and skin really well with a hard bristle brush trying to stimulate the skin and pull up the chunks and then went through and did it by hand. He's itching a lot less but he's not all the way cured. I'd probably put him at maybe 85% better.
Replied By P (Covina, Ca) on 07/23/2011
Replied By Becca (Abilene, Tx) on 01/29/2014
Replied By Ru (New Zealand) on 12/26/2014
I used fresh garlic, slightly crushed, in boiling water, wait for it to cool and then add tea tree oil drops. Soak cuts twice a day for faster complete healing (slower to scab but faster to heal). Think of it as antiseptic and give it the same respect.
Use your nose: it smells strong for a reason! There's a LOT of tree in each ml of oil.
If in doubt try manuka honey instead - but must be used pure and kept dry (adding water or diluting honey is bad - it's partly the concentration that keeps the micro organisms out).
Manuka honey is great because it kills fungus and microbes but not skin like commercial antiseptic. Have tried on human surgical cuts and it heals so much faster and cleaner. But you do need to keep the site clean and dry (apart from the sticky honey itself of course). If wound is weeping then need to clean and replace more often - just rinse with boiled water, air dry and reapply honey - dressings help if you can't keep it clean any other way).
Best of all, doesn't hurt them if dog licks it :)
Loving the Apple Cider Vinegar for the same reason: good inside and out! Yes, stung a little on a cut when used strong but licked and now very happily resting, phew!
But, like anything plant based, there will be a small number of dogs and people who are allergic (I know of none but I assume so) so test small and see.
Replied By S.mohanraj (Coimbatore, India) on 04/16/2016