[yorkiepuppie]

i read this on another forum when i was googling to see if our conditioner is safe for our babies. i found this...take a look and just be aware of possible danger.


Most conditioners are cationic detergents. My best friends' show cocker DIED painfully by licking & eating some of his fur. The conditioner (wella balsam) ate his stomach-- actually tiny unrepairable holes until it pretty much dissolved. Everything was tried to save him, including blood transfusions. At first they thought he had been poisoned. Later my vet wrote this up in a vet medical journal, & eventually it saved a dog's life in Chattanooga --because the vet was able to identify the cause in time.

Most conditioners (yes, even natural ones- remember arsenic is natural) work by attaching to the hair with that + and - system you should have learned in HS chemistry class. Cationic means t is a +. It coats the hair, which is a -, so they bind together.

Since most people & most dogs don't lick or ingest their hair, no harm is done at all. It doesn't not harm the skin-- however, it does destroy the stomach and intestines if ingested in large enough qualities. Haint, the cocker, had been rinsed, dried and all that. He ate residue on his hair not the bottle or anything.

Apparently some conditioners taste good-- dogs are attracted to anything fatty, oily, nutritious, or sweet. Some ingredients include various oils (avocado, coconut, waxes, etc). Many have sweet smelling fragrances. Some have food ingredients-- orange, lemon, melon, jojoba bean extract, vanilla, proteins, etc. Dog thinks tasty.

Obviously, not many dogs have died from this. But do question whether if is worth the risk, before conditioning your dog. And do find about about the chemical properties of that particular conditioner. Just being a "dog conditioner" does not make it safe in case of ingestion!