Dry Skin in Cats and Dogs

by Diane Burket

If your pet has dry hair & skin, try adding up to one tablespoon of corn oil, safflower oil or olive oil, per day, to his/her food. You can also use fish oils. During the winter, skin and hair is often more dry, due to the heat being on in the house. You’ll find your pets tend to itch more in the winter.  Give them a break—feed them oil. 
Regular grooming is important for all pets with hair…even for short-haired pets.  Brushing will stimulate the scalp and bring out the natural oils.  

The “Zoom Groom Brush” is a rubber brush that works well for shampooing and grooming. You can use it on cats and dogs.  I’ve found the Zoom Groom Brush works especially well on very short-haired dogs—like Greyhounds, Boxers, Dobermans, etc.  A regular brush might hurt the skin of short-haired dogs…but the Zoom Groom stimulates their scalp and removes loose hair without hurting the dog.
 

Zoom Groom Brush

I tried the Zoom Groom on a Greyhound I was boarding.  He absolutely LOVED it!  With the help of the Zoom Groom and oil in his food, he no longer has itchy, dry skin.
 
Another solution for dry, itchy skin is to run a humidifier at home. The air from your heater is super dry and I have found the humidifier works for cats, dogs & myself.

My brother’s Black Lab mix, Ebie, had chronic flakey skin.  I told him about bathing her with Dr. Bronner’s Eucalyptus Oil Soap.  Besides being great for dry skin, it’s also fantastic for fleas and ticks.  The Eucalyptus Oil Soap worked immediately on Ebie’s dry skin and my brother has not used any toxic flea or tick medicines on his dogs in years. (Fleas hate the smell of eucalyptus). 

BTW…the humans in our house bathe with Dr. Bronner’s Eucalyptus Oil Soap, too.  It smells great and leaves our skin soft!

Dr. Bronner’s Eucalyptus Oil Soap