Beauty

[myshell624]

I have a Chihuahua mix that we adopted from an animal shelter. The past couple of days she has been trying to scratch her back on furniture, the floor. I gave her an Oatmeal bath and that seemed to help some. Her skin seems to have a little flaking but not much. Is it safe to use oils on dogs to help with dryness? If so, which ones would you recommend?

[Irishrose136]

Now, call me silly. But I'd call the shelter, or your vet.

Then again I've rescued cats, so I'm not much help.

[HappyDaze]

I use jojoba oil on my dog that had drier skin. Both my vets said it was safe and now he doesn't scratch anymore and no dryness but I still apply it every few days just to maintain. I'd also recommend adding some fish oil to his food for internal health to help with dry skin. I use Nordic Naturals Pet liquid.

By the way, coconut oil is also safe however, if your dog is like most, they will lick it all off so it doesn't really help, lol!

[myshell624]

On 5/23/2014 HappyDaze said:

I use jojoba oil on my dog that had drier skin. Both my vets said it was safe and now he doesn't scratch anymore and no dryness but I still apply it every few days just to maintain. I'd also recommend adding some fish oil to his food for internal health to help with dry skin. I use Nordic Naturals Pet liquid.

Thanks HappyDaze! I have some jojoba oil. I will look for the fish oil tomorrow. She is some better since her bath but I can tell she is still a little itchy. She's laying in my lap and every now and then she wiggles around like something is making her uncomfortable. I know my skin would be dry and itchy just from taking a bath and not moisturizing so it got me to thinking that there had to be something to help moisturize her skin.

Irish-I will definitely call the vet if I can't do anything for her at home. She has been outside with us a lot since the weather is nice. I think something may have just irritated her or it could be the warmer weather made her skin a little dry.

[Katluvr58]

I would definitely check with your vet. I worked for one a year ago and itchy dogs are quite common. Common reasons are dry skin, fleas and allergies. Just double check as to what oils are safe.

[myshell624]

On 5/23/2014 Katluvr58 said:

I would definitely check with your vet. I worked for one a year ago and itchy dogs are quite common. Common reasons are dry skin, fleas and allergies. Just double check as to what oils are safe.

I will call my vet tomorrow. I know she doesn't have fleas. She is on a monthly preventative.

[4doggies]

I don't think it's unsafe, but maybe not the most effective. My vet has always told me that dog's hair and skin has a different Ph than humans, human products aren't made to work well for dogs. It always surprises me when Chas Dean says he uses Wen on his dogs, as this goes against everything vets have told me in many years of raising dogs and several different vets.

[myshell624]

Thanks everyone for the replies. She seems a lot better today. I haven't seen her scratching at all. She was outside with me on Thursday while I watched my boys mow grass. I think the fresh cut grass or something must have irritated her skin because that night is when I noticed her trying to scratch. I did do a tiny bit of jojoba oil just on her back last night. I don't know if it helped or not but she sure enjoyed me rubbing it in:-)

[jaxs mom]

You should be fine with most carrier type oils like jojoba or coconut ( although its possibly that a pet could be allergic) but I'd check with my vet before using essential oils and personally I don't use anything with tea tree oil on any of my pets. Both cats and dogs have known to have bad reactions but it's especially toxic to cats.