Dog Itchy Skin Home Remedy Options

Posted by Heather (Georgetown, Ontario Canada) on 04/13/2015

Hi There,

I have an 18 yr old Tabby. He isn't eating much and has arthritis in his back legs. We just had him to the Vet and his blood tests were largely inconclusive. The Vet advised that he was slightly anemic which according to the Vet is not uncommon in senior cats. I am a big fan of DMSO. Is it possible to give DMSO to cats? And if the answer is "yes" could you recommend a dosage.

Many Thank, Heather

This isn't exactly in regards to cancer, but! A few years ago my feline "Baby", started losing her fur and was itching terribly. The vet ran tests and had us try various diets using very expensive foods etc., then he tried drugs like prednisone, ointments applied topically etc.. All to no avail. The poor girl never slept and cried all the time. I had recently discovered, iodine I filled a one ounce spray bottle halfway with Betadine iodine and the rest of the way with distilled water, and sprayed her all over. I didn't rub it in because her skin was raw and the poor thing cried because I'm sure it burned.

After a few minutes she calmed down and went to sleep. I got scared & thought she'd died but she was sound asleep. The next day her skin was drying up & covered with scabs. I was afraid she'd start licking herself as the Betadine contains caustic soda. so I dumped it out and made a new batch using "Lugol's" 2%" Iodine/potassium iodide in the same ratio and sprayed her lightly all over again. After a few days her fur began growing back and her problems disappeared.

I've read that when cells replicate they can become cancerous cells if there isn't any iodine within the cell. I've read that we're likely all deficient in iodine due to the toxic halogens like chlorine, bromine and fluoride which is referred to by scientists as "The Most Violent Protoplasmic poison Known To Science"! Iodine is also a halogen. The only good halogen. It's stored in the thyroid and hypothalamus glands. In the absence of dietary iodine they'll fill up with the toxic ones.

Many books on the subject are available at low cost from Amazon. Just download the free Kindle app and you can purchase & download books at low cost, many books are free. I've used a product in the past called "Soothanol" which is DMSO and it worked very well on my torn rotator cuff and my worn out knees.

I wish you luck in your quest.

She suffers from seasonal allergies and now I have a weird idea that she may be allergic to these cats we keep rescuing. (yes, apparently dogs can be allergic to cats, so says the web) Found some pimple type bumps in between her toes yesterday and her allergy season is still a long way off. We have been RAW feeders for many years and have tried countless holistic remedies for her.

I am a sewer so last summer made some booties out of a 100% cotton tea towel, elastic and Velcro, duplicating the design of the purchased ones. These allow her paws to breath, and dry out after the vinegar spritz. AND, she cannot lick them! Seems to calm her down a bit too and allows all of us to get some sleep at night. (not really meant for outdoors though)

Hope this idea helps, Barb

I am glad I remembered neem seed oil. After one treatment the skin looks wonderful. Neem is anti bacterial and anti viral remedy that also helps hair regrow, discourages fleas, kills mites and no-no critters and lice. It has a smell but I can live with that. This will address the staph infection which, I suspect he may have. Also some bare spots may regrow as future will tell.

There are no more dry flakes and he looks clean. He is now my dog and a joy to have around. His bumps are not all over, just here and there. Thanks, Theresa, I will get a muzzle and e-collar tomorrow. Neem is very bitter, so he is not licking now. I plan to treat him generously with this oil which would differ with each dog, I think.. I warm the neem oil a bit as it becomes semi solid; the colour is gold/brown and one can see the seeds.

I have been reading up on it and I also have the powdered neem leaves to fill into capsules. If a dog has diabetes, this and holy basil leaf powder would be best. I plan to use it myself off and on.

In India neem is famous. People eat neem leaves on empty stomach and it is always hard to reach up to the branches as they have been stripped of their leaves by others. Neem is for everything. The tree itself discourages invasive weeds in its vicinity. The twigs of Margosa (neem) tree are used for tooth brushes. Namaste, Om

This year I discovered Ted's Anti-fungal and Anti-staph solution. Since I have a quantity of dogs, I was able to do some side by side testing. I had one dog I used the cortisone shot and Sulfadene medicated shampoo, and other dog I used only Ted's Anti-fungal and Anti-staph solution. While neither the shampoo or Ted's solution outright stopped the inflammatory state of the skin, Ted's solution stopped any topical infection from starting and spreading. In the dog I used the sulfadene on, it looked as if it was turning into a greasy seborrhea; when I used Ted's solution on that dog the condition resolved immediately.

Dogs with allergy skin are work -no question. In my case it means I bathe my dogs weekly, sometimes oftener if needed, in Ted's solution. While it is not perfect -again, I need to find a way to halt the inflammatory state - at least it allows me to keep the skin healthy to avoid a secondary infection and the antibiotics that are required to resolve it.

I gleaned this recipe from Ted's the feedback in the pet section; since I tend to have a quantity of dog to be bathed at any given time, I usually make a quadrupple batch. The only possible side effect may be that a black coated dog will suffer peroxide bleaching which will turn a black coat red with multiple uses over time.

Ted's Anti-fungal/Anti-staph solution

Ingredients:

• 1 - 16 oz bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide
• 1 bottle Milk of Magnesia
• 1 box Epsom salts
• 1 box Borax
• Filtered or distilled water

Method:

Dilute the 16 oz brown bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide to a 1% solution by dumping the bottle into a jug and adding 32 oz of filtered or distilled water; I just fill up the empty brown bottle with water and dump it in the jug twice. Now you have 48 ounces of a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Add 4 table spoons EACH:

Borax, Epsom salts, and Milk of Magnesia.

Shake the dickens out of the solution. I usually run a tub full of hot water and set the jug in the tub, and then when the tub cools where I can bathe my dog the solution is by then an agreeable temperature for the dog. Bathe the dog in doggy shampoo or what have you, get all the crusty lesions gently scrubbed up and loose skin and scabs off and rinse well. Now drain the tub and when empty plug it up again and now pour the jug of prepared solution over the dog. I use a plastic cup to scoop up the solution and keep pouring over the dog. I try to keep this up for 10 minutes. If you have multiple dogs with skin issues you may be able to do two at a time depending on the size of your dogs. After 10 minutes I pull the plug and let the dog drip a bit in the tub, and then I take the wet dog with bare hands and put her in a crate with no bedding. Do not towel the dog off - you want as much of the solution to stay on the dog as possible, so it can 'work'. I allow the dog to drip dry in the crate with no bedding. It helps to have the house heat ON, and a nice tasty bone or high value chewy in the crate to distract the dog for a bit. After half an hour I let the dog out and towel dry as best I can and then let them work themselves dry by running all about the house. You do NOT rinse the solution off - you let it dry completely and that is it, until the next bath.

If you have a tiny dog, if you do not wish to make up such a large quantity of solution, the single batch is as follows:

• 1-1/2 cups of 1% hydrogen peroxide
• 1 tbsp MOM
• 1 tbsp Epsom salts
• 1 tbsp Borax

You may be able to put this into a spritzer bottle and spritz problem areas on your dog, but I find it best to tackle the entire dog with a full body treatment first, before using the spritz bottle for a spot treatment approach.

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.

I also added about 1/2 teaspoonful of MSM (possibly slightly less), for good measure. He got this with his breakfast and with his dinner. It's been about 2 weeks now, and it's made a huge difference. He scratches every now and again, but in a normal way. The incessant scratching and licking have stopped. I'd just ordered some Apoquel for backup, but haven't had to use it yet. I read somewhere that it's the Omega 3 and Omega 6 that does it. It's

Unbelievable, the difference it's made. (I've also just had a look at the ingredients in Yuderm: 62.25% Flaxseed oil, 21% Salmon oil, 9% purified fish oil, and 7.5% Borage oil).

I don't think the MSM has anything to do with it, think it's just the coconut oil and the flaxseed that worked. And much much cheaper than the Yuderm!

Ok, to start, my dog is a long hair chihuahua. I tried the apple-cider vinegar, and benadryl and applied baby oil after the bath and he looked drugged and still itched. Next day, arm and hammer bath. and light shampoo. No good.

Remembered last year, you know those individualize packets, of tuna fish?, with the oil of course, can't stand the smell of it in water, anyway. gave him a packet to eat, next day another packet, tomorrow another. Last year 3 packets did the trick, now this only strikes once a year, go figure, I don't know how it works or why. but it works.

But the tuna fish works for him. Thanks for listening, good luck with yours. Mike

I only want to help others in similar miserable situations, having truly agonized for over 4 yrs as my 4-8 yr old allergic mini schnauzer scratched himself daily into a bleeding, balding, hotspot- covered, unhappy, uncomfortable mess. I tried everything, from flea treatment (he had zero fleas), to apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, fish oil, Benadryl, yogurt, grain-free food, prednisone (briefly! ), 24 hr clothing to stop him from scratching himself raw everywhere, Atopica (for about 8 months - useless), to finally, in 2014, Apoquel - it worked perfectly but was very costly & after only a few months, international supplies were depleted & it won't be available again until 2015.

Meanwhile, with the Chlor. Maleate, my dog is finally able to relax au natural (NO CLOTHES!! ) with VERY LITTLE scratching & zero raw areas/hotspots/fur loss, for a measly $12 per 100 tablet bottle of Chlor. Maleate. When/if Apoquel (costs about $70/mo. from my vet) becomes available again, I'm not sure I'll need it. This Chlor. Maleate is a true godsend for my allergic dog - talk to your vet/try it if you're in a similar situation.

The first place to start is with your dog's diet; what are the ingredients on the dog food label? If grains or corn are in the first 5 ingredients, it is time to upgrade the groceries to a grain free diet.

And, once you upgrade the groceries it will still take time - no quick fixes, but many things can help.

When mine get the itchies I alkalize the water with baking soda - a 'crisis' or 'outbreak' dose is 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 1 liter of water, and this as your dogs only source of drinking water. After 7 days I switch to 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to 1 liter of water, and after 7 days I again switch it down to 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to 1 liter of water- and this can be for another week or so, or as a daily maintenance dose.

Next, Consider Ted's mange remedy - this can bring an itchy dog relief:

Ingredients:
Borax laundry booster - the plain stuff with NO scent.
1 -16 oz bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide

I get both of these from the grocery store.

Process:
Empty hydrogen peroxide into larger bottle - I use an empty 1 gallon vinegar jug. Add to this 32 oz filtered or distilled water - I just refill the hydrogen peroxide bottle twice - and dump into the jug. What this does is change your 3% hydrogen peroxide into 1% hydrogen peroxide.

Next add 1 cup of the borax crystals and shake. There should be some undissolved crystals in the mixed solution - this is just right. I try to use hot water from the kettle on the stove, that or sit the jug of mixture in the sink full of hot water while I bathe the dog.

NEXT:
Bathe the dog - use whatever shampoo and rinse well. Squeeze out excess water and make sure the tub is drained. I then plug up the tub. Now pour the mixed up solution over the dog. I use a small sponge to soak up the solution from the bottom of the tub and squeeze it out onto the dog again and again, making sure I get the head and underneath. Keep squeezing solution over and over onto the dog for about 15 minutes - 30 minutes is better. Then pull the stopper from the tub and let the excess drain. DO NOT DRY THE DOG OR RINSE THE DOG. The solution has to remain wet as it is still working. Allow the dog to air dry. I just pop mine into their crates and I remove any absorbent bedding.

If you are worried about poisoning your dog keep in mind that borax has the same toxicity as table salt. The solution doesn't seem to hurt the eyes or sting any sores on the skin. Some dogs feel instant relief! I find this is effective on the skin for 24 hours - after that you can do another dip or switch to the Anti-fungal/Anti-staph solution:

Anti fungal/staph skin solution - you will need:
Milk of Magnesia [magnesium hydroxide]
Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate]
Borax [sodium tetraborate]
1% hydrogen peroxide solution

Mix 1 tbsp of MOM with 1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tbsp borax into 1-1/2 cups of 1% hydrogen peroxide. Apply and do not rinse. This solution should knock out any staph infection or yeast infection going on in the skin.

If you get results - less itching and chewing - you can mix up a smaller batch of the above solution and put it in a spritzer bottle to use on your dog's paws; if they heal up you can try a simple solution of water and white vinegar to use after your dog comes in from outside or when you see your dog start to chew at his feet.

You also can address the itching from the inside out with dietary supplements - yucca, turmeric and quercetin can be found in capsules at the health food store and help with inflamation; colostrum will help build the immune system and Vitamin C, kelp and spirulina will help support it.

Let us know what you try and please report back!

One more idea from EC's Neem page - date unknown, but likely several years old:

[YEA] Marie from Sumter, SC: "This saved my dog's life. Mitaban was literally killing him. Neem oil smells like garlic, but when he's dry, its not too bad. Give the dog a haircut so his fur is ? inch. Mix 8 ounce bottle of 10% benzoyl peroxide (People) facial cleanser with 16-20 ounce bottle of dog shampoo. This will do for several baths. BENZOYL PEROXIDE BLEACHES JUST LIKE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE.

Use 'dog' towels and blankets and remove the nice bathroom rug. Wear old clothes. Wet dog completely. Drain bathtub. Lather dog with a generous amount of benzoyl peroxide shampoo mix for 10 minutes. Give dog a shower for 10 minutes to rinse very carefully. Benzoyl peroxide opens the pores-- mites live in the pores. Keep dog in tub. Add ? cup neem oil to gallon of warm water in a bucket. If the dog is small and you can find a container that he fits in, do that inside of bathtub. Soak him for 5 minutes, massage well several times and he's done. For medium to large dog, put each foot in bucket and massage solution into dog's leg. Use a cup to pour over dog repeatedly trying to save as much as possible in bucket to reuse. Massage into the entire dog. Be careful of eyes. Use a sponge for the belly and face. Wash 5-10 minutes, depending on how big the dog is. Do not rinse off. Do not towel off. When he stops dripping, wrap him in a blanket and stick him in his kennel or a small warm spot. Keep dog warm until dry. All his pores are open; he could take a terrible chill. Bathe every week. He can have baths twice a week instead if it is really bad. Every 2-3 days, rub neem oil on afflicted areas, more often if he won't stop chewing. It doesn't matter if he licks it off after a few minutes. They make neem oil pills. My dog also gets the skin yeast infections dogs can get with demodex so we had to soak him in vinegar. No soap, no scrubbing, just soak good. He has a wading pool. We always add a gallon of vinegar to it. He soaks himself in it and that cures his yeast."

Years ago I contracted scabies on my arms due to animal rescue matters. I used homeopathic PSORINUM 30C. I less than half an hour all was gone, not to return, several years later.

I had planned to use Ted's remedy for mites after doggie had his grooming and trimming for the summer. I could, however, not wait and look at it any longer.

So I gave about four little globules of PSORINUM 30C which is a scabies remedy even though I thought he might have other mites as well which are transmitted by fleas.

I had to observe him and as he resumed scratching after several hours' interval, I had to give the remedy up to five times more. But now, two weeks later, he only scratches when I find a flea upon investigation. I am also using DE in the house which has apparently made a difference.

So, PSORINUM, could be tried for mites or simply bad scratching episodes. It certainly is worth trying, especially the cost is about ten bucks.

I would never consider cortisone shots which damage health or flea treatment that poison the blood. Does anyone realize how many dogs have died in the drug trials before that drug was let loose on the maket? Dogs that receive regular blood poisoning flea treatments, do not live out their normal life span. This was confirmed by a dog breeder who mentioned his German Shepherds live only eight years while reguarly given this drug.

Also, I must make mention of Ted's remedy BORAX. I tried as a shampoo on my fine hair and was amazed how soft, bouncy and shiny was the outcome. Now I will use it regularly on myself and doggie as well. I leave the borax paste on for several minutes, then rinse. Voila. It does away with itch, too. Treats for mites, too.

An altenative is soap nuts. Info online. Best wishes to EC posters. Om

Dogs that itch terribly, pull their fur out, scratch their ears till they are inflamed, lick and pull at their paws, and more, may have a yeast infection. This is for males too.

A website that addresses this is: http//homemadedogfood.com. I have found it to be perfect for my Chihuahua and all his problems including this one.