Stop itchy dry skin, fleas and ticks naturally!
 

I keep reading about people having pet problems with dry itchy skin and others with flea problems and just wanted to share some things with you that really work and can end the dry skin and flea problems once and for all.

First I want to say that most commercial shampoos contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. (SLS) SLS is used as a sudsing ingredient in nearly all commercial shampoos. SLS is a solvent used in industrial degreasers.

Traditional Castile Soap is made from olive oil and sometimes contains coconut oil as well. It's remarkable gentle and moisturizing. You can also add 24 drops of one of the essential oils to repel fleas and ticks, such as cedar, citronella, lemon grass, lavender, geranium, myrrh, or eucalyptus.

Next I rinse them with apple cider vinegar and water. (3 tablespoons to a pint of water). If there is an out break of fleas, use equal parts apple cider vinegar and water and put in a spray bottle and spray over the dog or cat and allow pet to drip or shake dry. The apple cider vinegar will acidify the skin making it unattractive to fleas and ticks. Here are more reasons to use apple cider vinegar: For an infected ear, use 5 ml of the 50:50 vinegar water solution per 20 lbs (9 kg) of body weight, applying the solution with a syringe obtained from your local pharmacy. Gently rub in the solution then wipe the inside of the ear with a soft cotton ball. This should be done daily for 5 days.

The vinegar helps to control the growth of unfriendly bacteria and other microorganisms that are a common cause of ear infections, and as a result, this will help keep your pets from scratching their ears.


This what and how I use these. First I buy Dr. Bronners Baby Mild Liquid Soap, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Retail Store: Baby Mild Liquid Soap - 16 oz.

You can even dilute this down to 1/2 cup per 2 gallons of water. I like to run about 4 gallons of water in the bath tub and give a couple squirts of the castile soap, put all three girls in and give them a shampoo. You don't need lots of suds to get them clean. Rinse, rinse and rinse again then as the final rinse use the apple cider vinegar rinse. Don't rinse it off.

Now your probably wondering how I condition to keep knots out. Well I've never found a conditioner that "really" worked on my cotton coated Razael, but I did find something that works better than anything I have ever used, and believe you me, I've used them all! It's called PetSilk Liquid Silk. PetSilk Liquid Silk - PetSilk Products
"AFTER" they are dry (I say this because if you put this on them before they are finished rubbing themselves on the carpet and sofa, they may be a magnet for dust) I rub this into the leg hair and anywhere else that mats easily, then I put about a dime size in my palm, rub hands together and finish them on the face and lightly over the body. You will be amazed at how easily the brush and comb go thur the hair. I know this product is a bit pricy, but to me, it's worth it's weight in gold.

I hope I have helped with any problems you have been experiencing with your fur babies.

Donna isn't it crazy what vinegar can do? Honestly it is the natural cure all for ANYTHING. Makes such a great cleaner for the counter- kills bacteria so well. I think we are all so quick to go out and buy stuff that is full of chemicals and quite expensive when vinegar is dirt cheap!

I've read on here that apple cider vinegar is also good for stopping the black eye gunk. I tried a little in Gunnar's drinking water and I it helped. It has to be a little bit, or they won't drink the water! :D Donna

Marci you should be an advocate of apple cider vinegar. You never fail to amaze me at your worldly knowledge about food, products and Yorkies, especially given the fact your still in your 20's. Why couldn't I have had a daughter like you.

I always keep in mind what my grandmother, who raised me, always said........for everything that can go wrong with the body, there is always a natural cure. I'm always putting her "cures" to work, and digging deeper for more. It's a shame how much knowledge on natural cures we have lost over the past 200 years. I'm happy though that more and more scientist are looking into alternative medicines. Now if only we could keep the government out of it. They tend to scare people into believing vitamins and herbs can be lethal. They even threatened to take our vitamins off the shelves and make them a prescription drug, but the companies got wise and stop putting any information about cures on the labels. They wouldn't make as much money off of sick folks if they got healthy. Here I go again, just got on my soap box again. Sorry.

Anyway, I love finding natural products that really work. My girls are everything to me, and I want to keep them as healthy and happy as possible.

Pet Care - Daily Health Tonic
The minerals, enzymes and acids in unpasteurized apple cider vinegar can supplement your pet's existing diet. It can be added either directly to the dog's food or drinking water.
Besides being a good source of easily absorbable potassium, apple cider vinegar aids digestion, inhibits the growth of unfriendly bacteria and helps maintain the proper acid/alkaline balance of the digestive tract.

Many holistic Vets recommend a daily dosage of:


1 tsp (5 ml) for cats and small dogs (up to 14 lb)
2 tsp (10 ml) for medium dogs (15 to 34 lb)
1 tbsp (15 ml) for large dogs (35 to 84 lb)

Note: Do not feed ACV to dogs that have irritation of the intestinal tract lining.



If you plan to use it for your pets regularly, an excellent organic apple cider vinegar can be ordered online in one gallon containers at a very reasonable price, using the link below: I personally use the BRAGG brand.

Bragg Live Foods, Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar, Bragg Liquid Aminos,Systemic Enzymes, Bragg Live Organic Food Products, Patricia Bragg, Paul Bragg, Bragg Organic Olive Oil, Bragg Salad Dressings, Bragg Seasonings, Bragg Health Products


Apple Cider Vinegar cures - the best NATURAL home remedy for many health issues.

the ACV didnt work for me, tried for eye tearing and fleas, thier pee left terrible brown spots all over my yard and made my dogs dad itch even more to the point that he had to be taken to the vet. :(. Im glad that some have good sucess with it.

That is too rare. My grandmother used this method to keep fleas off her Boston, all her grandchildern including me have done this for over 50 years, many others I know that have been doing this and no problem. In fact your the first that said it had an adverse affect on your dog. Hopefully it wasn't something else, or used too strongly.

Actually it was confirmed by someone on this site, that I was indeed using to much so I tried it agian using a smaller dose and it didnt help any. I was really hoping that it would help with fleas because I dont like using flea medicines, but I have to use something. I keep reading how much sucess that people have had with it and wish it worked for us. The one thing I did notice that it made my dogs coats super soft after it had complelety dried. Maybe I will try agian soon.

Instead of using the apple cider vinegar, just use 20 drops of one of the essential oils I listed in a pet shampoo that doesn't contain Sodium Lauryl sulfate. This also deters fleas and ticks.

thanks so much! :)

Need some help
 

I just ordered the Castile Soap from amazon and should be receiving it soon this week. Where exactly do i buy the UACV? Supermarket? any specific brand? My BellaBear recently started to have excessive dry skin which causes her to itch like crazy. Hopefully this helps her.

As for mixtures, what are the exact amount/proportions of soap&water and ACV&water?

Thanks All. I've always been on car forums never dogs. My wife demanded that i find a cure for our BellaBear, so i'm here.

I use the BRAGG brand of ACV. Bragg Live Foods, Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar, Bragg Liquid Aminos,Systemic Enzymes, Bragg Live Organic Food Products, Patricia Bragg, Paul Bragg, Bragg Organic Olive Oil, Bragg Salad Dressings, Bragg Seasonings, Bragg Health Products I mix 3 tablespoon to one pint of distilled water. I get it at one of our health food stores.
The liquid castile soap I use 1/4th cup to a couple gallons of water. I do bathe them in the tub, so I give it about four squirts into about 4 gallons of water, shampoo them and use a sprayer to rinse. You could also just mix a gallon up, then just put them in the tub, get them wet then shampoo, without putting them in the water. I may switch to this method and save on the liquid soap. You could use the sprayer or just a plastic glass to wet and to rinse.

Roxies First Bath
 

I'm new to YT.. I first came across the site while doing some research before bringing our new puppy home.. I've been amazed and so thankful for all the wonderful advice that's here.. From training to feeding and everything inbetween.. We got Roxie last week and she has just been a true delight.. She is 8 weeks.. Born October 6th, 2009.. We gave her a bath today for the first time and it really went well.. I read this post about the Castile Baby Soap so I had to try it.. I have to say I'm so pleased with the results.. She looks great.. Her coat is shinny and smells wonderful.. We rinsed her in the apple cider vinegar and there was not one tangle.. It made her coat so soft.. She normally scratches quite a bit and have not seen her do it once since we washed her.. I was wondering if you ever use the essential oils directly on your dogs coat or do you just mix it in with the soap?? Thanks in advance for your time and Thanks for the great info.. :)

Thank you SO much for sharing this with us!!

Tucker has very suddenly been dealing with fleas and very dry skin. I don't know if the cat brought the fleas in when we got her or what, but it's been a constant battle. Everytime we get rid of them, they come back. and his skin is SO itchy. It makes him litterally crazy. He's pulling his hair out on his legs. This is the first time he has ever dealt with this in the 4 1/2 years we've had him.

I'm going to try this ASAP. Thank you so much!

Cats????
 

Have you tried it on cats. I use the K9 advantage and the advantabe for cats but I just had another flea on me this morning, it came off of my kitty, any thoughts on using it on them? Also any ideas on being able to use this mixture along with the advantax on the dogs. They are scratching terribly again this evening, any help appreciated and thank you for sharing this with us.

This was extremely helpful to me this week - thanks for sharing.

I just received the Dr. Bronners Baby Mild Liquid Soap so I will be giving that a try as well.

Congratulations on your new baby. I agree, there are so many knowledgable people here with great advice on training and so on.
The apple cider vinegar actually gets all the soap residue out of the coat, so most times you won't even need a conditioner. It just leave the coat so soft and managable.

Don't use the essential oils directly on the dog or it will blister the skin. It's strong stuff and is why you only need about 20 drops to 16 oz. of shampoo.

Here is more information on ACV:

Apple Cider Vinegar cures - the best NATURAL home remedy for many health issues.

We have had terrible flea issues this fall and now, worse than ever! I found this thread a few days ago and went and ought the soap, cedar oil and ACV today and bathed one of the dogs tonight. I was confused though with the cedar oil and put 20 drops in the mixture I used for the bath and not the entire bottle of soap. Did I do it wrong? He doesn't seem to have any issues with the amount as he seems quite content and hasn't itched since his bath!

I want to make sure though before I bathe the other one.

Seems like great tuff, thanks for this thread! I am praying that it fixes Teddy's skin issues.

:)

I finally found the soap at the health food store, but it was the 18-in-1 Hemp Lavedaer pure castile soap. I didn't add anything to it. Is this going to be about the same as you make up???? I went ahead and tried it. As I was bathing my male I saw a flea crawing I pour a cup of water containing the soap on it and it died. Then I found two more dead ones. I use the k-9 advantage every 28 days and can not believe the flea problems. I then rinsed in the Braggs ACV, should this leave the vinegar oder or did I get it to strong???? Their coats feel very soft, but Joey was pissed at me for about 24 hours.... Hope this stuff helps.....Thanks for sharing........

Hi Everyone,
Newbie here ...Tobias is having his first battle w/fleas, he's 2yrs 7mo. I think it's a minor case b/c I've only seen 3 and none on his face or belly. However, I'm paranoid about them resurfacing. I typically use Frontline Plus, ran out, ordered it online, and it hasn't arrived yet. Couldn't wait so I went to Petsmart, bought a single use of FirstShield trio, it was the only thing they had that would kill the fleas, eggs & ticks. I bathed him with a prescription shampoo he's been using and then applied it.

He hated it as usual, but he's still scratching from time to time. I'm not sure if it's the greasiness of the gunk or fleas? Should I bathe him again in Dawn or is it too soon (it's been 2 days)? I also washed all his stuff vacuumed like a mad woman, bought
Farnam Adams Flea & Tick Carpet Spray w/Linalool & Nylar

have to finish the house with this today, I'm going to try the Apple cider vinegar combo as well and spritz the place with Eucalyptus oil. Is there anything else I should do? Could the First Shield not be working? I think it's Petsmart brand sport treatment. Bathe or not to bathe again? Should I go to the vet and get the oral meds? Please help, I need to get these things off my pup and outta my house! THANK YOU!

Thank You for these great tips!!! :)

I too use Dr. Bronners Baby Mild Liquid Soap for Cerise and have suggested it before. It works WONDERS for the skin!!! And it does not dry the hair out. I don't get why people can't seem to get to understand that Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is not good for a sensitive Yorkies skin or hair :( Just because a product says it's for a dogs skin and hair doesn't make it good. Most of the grooming products are junk just like cheap human grooming products. They are packaged and being marketed for the pet industry. I will find the Pet Silk and try it and the essential oil drops too! ;)

Love this thread, just in time for the hot summer moths :thumbup:

Here is a link to an earlier thread about using ACV

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...r-vinegar.html

There are a couple of good links within the thread.

Also, one can do a search for apple cider vinegar on YT, as I did, and come with hundreds of posts.

Fleas were horrid last summer until I got Target spray from Dog Fleas - Target Spray Treatment for Canine Fleas

I love that it is all natural so I feel better using it on Purdy and the difference it made is remarkable.

my dog is 7 pounds right now so that means i would feed him 1 teaspoon of apple cidar vinegar, but is it ok if i just feed it to him directly without mixing it in his water. He is a VERY picky eater, he barely eats too, so i always have to force feed him nutro supplement and also these oil for his hair to make sure he gets enough nutrients. Additionally, how would i be able to tell if he has a irritable intestinal tract lining? THANKS!!

Can i use regular dog shampoo and then also use apple cider vinegar, then rinse and condition? Or must I use the recommended Also, for the petsilk products, are there shampoo and conditioners good too, or should i just stick to the one you recommended? THANKS!

Can i force feed the acv directly to my dog, because no way would he drink the water if he tastes it...additionally, my vet hasnt said anything bout him having problems with intestinal tract lining, is there any other way to know....?

I'm confused a tad bit. Do you use the Castile soap as the shampoo? Or do you use a separate shampoo along with and in combination with the Castile soap? I used 3tbsp of ACV (Braggs brand which I love also) dilluted in 2 cups of water as a final rinse. Prior, I diluted a few drops of the Castile soap in water and lathered up Zoey along with applying her regular shampoo and rinsed, rinsed, rinsed with water. - Did I do it right? Can I just use the Castile soap as shampoo or do you use it with a shampoo?

Thanks. :) Great recommendations by the way!!