Coconut Oil

[sas]

Another example is when our dogs suffer from allergies and we pump them with "medications" to reduce the itching but we never actually get to the root of the problem which in most cases is diet related.

Phivo

Says who? Diet related allergies are actually very rare. Maybe you're talking about intolerance. Atopic Allergies is what is seen most.

[sheena]

I can already notice a BIG improvement in my dogs' coats & no sloppy poos. They are now on a tablespoon each with their Black Hawk kibble at night. I didn't expect to see a change so soon. Personally... I have given up trying to eat the stuff & I tried it in my tea, but just couldn't come at it I made scones with it yesterday, substituting it for the butter & they were the best scones ever I have been using it instead of moisturizer & have come out in pimples (@ the age of 60), but that may have been because of all the Christmas choccies I have consumed

[CrazyCresties]

My hairless boy gets regular massages with coconut oil, keeps his skin nice and soft and he smells gorgeous afterwards :D I just have to try and stop him licking it all off though

[Guest Augustine Approved]

MEH, as you know Just like people dogs are increasingly getting more allergies. The dogs that have come to me with diagnosed allergies have improved dramatically under my advice. Although you are right and perhaps more specific about allergies and intolerances, the type of allergies and reactions are not so much of a concern for me - what is important is that the dogs stop itching and scratching - a real relief for the pets and their owners. One way or another, diet plays a big part on relieving allergies in dogs. At the very least itching will be reduced on a good diet.

From personal experience (the costly way) I think it is smart to try changing a dog's diet before spending big dollars and time on medical solutions when you don't know for sure what is causing the problems. Why spend hundreds of dollars on tests when 20-40 dollars on food may give you an answer.

I spent a lot of money on vet bills over a 9 year period for my Maltese dog Mishka because the vets believed she was "allergic to pollens in the air", yet the poor thing still had no relief. She would chew away at her paws all night and they were red raw. When I started dabbling in fresh organic dog food for Augustine naturally I fed it to Mishka as well. To my surprise just four days later the itching and chewing completely stopped. Not only that, but later on i discovered that the itching came back if she ate free range chicken, but went away when I switched her back to organic chicken.

Here is a youtube video that responds to some of the negative myths about coconut oil:

[Erny]

Interesting Erny, that you use it in your coffee...is that in place of milk??

Hi Sheena. Not a replacement for milk (I drink black coffee anyway) - the coconut oil just seems to go okay taste-wise with coffee. I have coconut oil with hot chocolate milk drinks as well. The thought of coconut oil with a cup of tea doesn't turn me on (mentioned elsewhere). It is ok with orange juice too, however once the OJ has been in the fridge, it turns the Coconut Oil to a solid and I don't much like the texture of it, which is why I tend to stick with hot drinks.

You could include coconut oil into hot cereal as well, if you like and also use it if/when you fry potato as I've read that potato absorbs a lot of fat when they are cooked.

And yes, my dog loves the Coconut Oil as well and I use it in a variety of ways. To give examples:

• Sometimes to enhance a food that he otherwise might be being just a bit fussy about (for whatever the reason).
  
• As a treat for something he's done well.
  
• To get him to eat a supplement (eg. PlaqueOff) where he might not if included in his normal food.
  

Edited January 4, 2012 by Erny

[Kavik]

Interesting idea - might be worth a go with Diesel - anything to help his poor skin!

[Guest Augustine Approved]

Some virgin cold-pressed testimonials I found online (please remember that especially for topical uses it must be virgin coconut oil)...

No more ticks

After reading your comments on dogs and VCO I thought I would contact you re the excellent results we are having with our dog - a black kelpie bitch, Sasha. We live on a cattle property and as a working cattle dog Sasha was always getting lots of ticks and had to be checked and de-ticked twice daily. She has been having a heaped teaspoon of VCO and a raw egg every morning for over a year now and during that time has not had any ticks or fleas. She has a beautiful black glossy coat in spite of the work she does and everyone comments on how energetic and quick she is while working. We are really thrilled to have solved the problem without having to resort to chemical treatments. Olene

Amazing results

I began using unrefined organic virgin coconut oil for both myself and for my mother’s Golden Retriever. He is about 12 years old and the poor thing has suffered at least 20 rounds of prednisone/antibiotic for mange/skin oozing/ smelly/bloody mess. Every time he has been off prednisone for a week all the symptoms come back including infected crusty ears. I have tried omega oils, tea tree oil, all kinds of skin and internal concoctions. The whole upstairs of the house smelled so bad I got ionic purifiers. Then literally after 2 days of external and internal coconut oil (11⁄2 teaspoons twice a day) given to this dog it's gone. All of it has cleared up and it’s gone. Really gone! The dog has settled down and is looking at me like, thank you, thank you, and thank you. Lorraine

Coconut oil healed my dog's interdigital furunculosis

My dog (a Rhodesian Ridgeback) has had furunculosis for years. Every autumn/winter when the weather made the ground wet and muddy from rain and snow he's had really bad furunculosis and has had to eat antibiotics a couple of times each year. It gets better for a while but a week or two after medication is stopped the problem is back. I felt horrible subjecting him to constant doses of antibiotics like that.

I was reading up on virgin coconut oil to learn more about its effect on Candida. I learnt that it had a good antibacterial effect and that even animals benefited from this oil. So a couple of months ago I started giving my dog virgin coconut oil and it only took about a week before the blisters began to fade , and in about two weeks he was completely healed.

So far the furunculosis hasn't returned despite heavy rain and lots of mud. I give him a large spoonful every day and he loves it. I hope this can be of help to some other dog with furunculosis out there!

And yet another glowing testimony:”I began giving my dog virgin coconut oil on Monday for severe furunculosis of the paws which he has suffered for the past 4 years. Today is Thursday and the results are phenomenal".

Stop itching and scratching - and bad breath

Pam is a raw foods chef who teaches healthful food preparation. “I sell a high-quality virgin coconut oil that has produced excellent results in people, and my friends are always asking me how to help their dogs, cats, or other animals. Coconut oil has done wonders with all of them, especially dogs.” Pam reports that dogs stop itching and scratching and their skin clears up. “Their coats really shine after they have been on it for a while. Skin tags and moles disappear, their digestion improves, and they don’t have a doggie odour – the coconut oil even takes away bad breath.”

Pam says that she has not yet met a dog who does not like the oil. “Some people add it to the dog’s dinner, but many give it straight off the spoon. I can’t say enough about how coconut oil helps animals. During the last eight years, I’ve seen over a hundred dogs improve in all kinds of ways because of coconut oil. I’ve even had people give it to their pet snakes and birds - as well as horses and alpacas!”

[Maddy]

Some virgin cold-pressed testimonials I found online (please remember that especially for topical uses it must be virgin coconut oil)...

No more ticks

After reading your comments on dogs and VCO I thought I would contact you re the excellent results we are having with our dog - a black kelpie bitch, Sasha. We live on a cattle property and as a working cattle dog Sasha was always getting lots of ticks and had to be checked and de-ticked twice daily. She has been having a heaped teaspoon of VCO and a raw egg every morning for over a year now and during that time has not had any ticks or fleas. She has a beautiful black glossy coat in spite of the work she does and everyone comments on how energetic and quick she is while working. We are really thrilled to have solved the problem without having to resort to chemical treatments. Olene

I'm going to sound like a bitch here but.. whatever. This is something I feel very strongly about.

I have no issues with some posting their own experiences, even if their perception of the results might not reflect the actual efficacy of the product. What I do have a problem with is individuals or groups implying that products may have some benefit that there is absolutely no evidence for (beyond the very anecdotal), especially when failing to provide actual treatments (such as proper tick prevention) could cost dogs their lives if their owners are gullible enough to buy into the stories.

Implying that coconut oil may (the weasel-word often used to avoid liability) prevent ticks is just plain skeazy and irresponsible.

It's a shame threads like these can't be reported for deletion because I honestly think it gets to a point where they could potentially cause a lot of harm.

Be passionate about your product by all means but when you lose all objectivity, you're putting other peoples' pets at real risk.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Hardy's Angel

[sas]

MEH, as you know Just like people dogs are increasingly getting more allergies. The dogs that have come to me with diagnosed allergies have improved dramatically under my advice. Although you are right and perhaps more specific about allergies and intolerances, the type of allergies and reactions are not so much of a concern for me - what is important is that the dogs stop itching and scratching - a real relief for the pets and their owners. One way or another, diet plays a big part on relieving allergies in dogs. At the very least itching will be reduced on a good diet.

From personal experience (the costly way) I think it is smart to try changing a dog's diet before spending big dollars and time on medical solutions when you don't know for sure what is causing the problems. Why spend hundreds of dollars on tests when 20-40 dollars on food may give you an answer.

I spent a lot of money on vet bills over a 9 year period for my Maltese dog Mishka because the vets believed she was "allergic to pollens in the air", yet the poor thing still had no relief. She would chew away at her paws all night and they were red raw. When I started dabbling in fresh organic dog food for Augustine naturally I fed it to Mishka as well. To my surprise just four days later the itching and chewing completely stopped. Not only that, but later on i discovered that the itching came back if she ate free range chicken, but went away when I switched her back to organic chicken.

Here is a youtube video that responds to some of the negative myths about coconut oil:

I have an allergic dog and have had experience with coconut oil - I think it's very important to be very very very careful with claims.

[sas]

Some virgin cold-pressed testimonials I found online (please remember that especially for topical uses it must be virgin coconut oil)...

No more ticks

After reading your comments on dogs and VCO I thought I would contact you re the excellent results we are having with our dog - a black kelpie bitch, Sasha. We live on a cattle property and as a working cattle dog Sasha was always getting lots of ticks and had to be checked and de-ticked twice daily. She has been having a heaped teaspoon of VCO and a raw egg every morning for over a year now and during that time has not had any ticks or fleas. She has a beautiful black glossy coat in spite of the work she does and everyone comments on how energetic and quick she is while working. We are really thrilled to have solved the problem without having to resort to chemical treatments. Olene

I'm going to sound like a bitch here but.. whatever. This is something I feel very strongly about.

I have no issues with some posting their own experiences, even if their perception of the results might not reflect the actual efficacy of the product. What I do have a problem with is individuals or groups implying that products may have some benefit that there is absolutely no evidence for (beyond the very anecdotal), especially when failing to provide actual treatments (such as proper tick prevention) could cost dogs their lives if their owners are gullible enough to buy into the stories.

Implying that coconut oil may (the weasel-word often used to avoid liability) prevent ticks is just plain skeazy and irresponsible.

It's a shame threads like these can't be reported for deletion because I honestly think it gets to a point where they could potentially cause a lot of harm.

Be passionate about your product by all means but when you lose all objectivity, you're putting other peoples' pets at real risk.

Disgusting isn't it.

[JulesP]

I think the important thing to remember is even natural substances can do harm sometimes. I view the giving of natural substances the same as giving drugs - I do a heap of research.

[Guest Augustine Approved]

Hardy's Angel, great post! You do not sound like a b#tch at all and you raise some valid points. Since I have been contributing a lot in this threat I will start by pointing out that I have no invested interested in coconut oil for topical uses (nor enough experience) and it is only an ingredient that if fed in the correct quantities (like any ingredient), has been very beneficial to dogs in all my experiences so far. Regardless of my interests, I would drop coconut oil in a heart beat if it was actually proven to be bad. My only interest is the health of dogs and I will remain true to the responsibility I have chosen to undertake.

This topic has merit and like anything online people are presented with the scientific and anecdotal evidence and it is up to them to make up their mind. I am enjoying this thread and have learnt some interesting new applications for coconut oil that I will be trying. Naturally and I hope this is common sense to everyone... if someone reads a testimonial saying coconut oil wards off ticks, you hope they have the brain capacity to try it and monitor the dog's progress rather than just apply and trust that it works. I certainly would want to see for myself.

Not everything works for everyone for a variety of reasons. I have heard of dogs being put on the "trusted" big brands to remove and ward off fleas but they still get them. It doesn't mean that the product doesn't work 99.9% of the time. I have no problem with anecdotal evidence providing the consumer does their home work and judges the evidence on its own merit. Someone close to me healed themselves from cancer using B17. You can read about B17, see video testimonials, yet every case is different and it hasn't work for everyone. To actually scientifically prove anything is a very expensive process and there isn't enough interest in certain areas to fund it. Even in areas that there is interest at times the costs are so high it is swept under the rug.

Going off topic a bit but there are far more negligent claims being made every day that deserve to be highlighted:

- "Dogs love the taste" - children love the taste of certain take away brands we dare not mention. Does this mean it is good for them?

- "Made from natural ingredients" - this is the most over used word in advertising and has no legal standing. Just about everything can be deemed natural. For example chicken or beef (especially non-organic) - there is nothing natural about what they are fed, the land they live on and the medications

they are given.

- "Natural colours & flavours" - Why does a dog food need colours? Why does a dog food need flavours if it is so good for them? Maybe it is so they can love the taste?

"Made using the finest quality ingredients" - how do you define finest? Such a vague statement. How can the ingredients be the finest when in many cases it is common knowledge that they are made from scraps that could not be sold to humans.

MEH you have obviously had negative experiences with coconut oil and I am interested to find out more - it may serve a valuable information to myself and forums members. Could you please outline the type of coconut oil, the amount you administered, how and the negative effects. I hope you don't mind sharing.

[sheena]

AA...thankyou for going to the trouble with your post...I appreciate that you have taken the time to contribute to my initial question. Thankyou, too, Erny for your detailed posts ....I havn't tried it in my coffee yet, but a few people have suggested it goes well in smoothies & it certainly makes good scones. My dogs love it & as I said earlier, their coats are already showing an improvement. AA...I read with interest the case storey where the person claims that using coconut oil seemed to help with the ticks. I note that she said that they were giving it to their dog with a raw egg everyday. I would be more inclined to think it was the daily raw egg, which is very high in sulphur, which was deterring the ticks rather than the oil. Having said that, though, if the dog has a healthier & oilier coat,because of the coconut oil, then any spot-on tick prevention is naturally going to work more efficiently. I give my dogs sulphur everyday in their food & I havn't seen a tick on them in ages. They are on a spot-on, but as I pointed out in an earlier post, this alone has not been enough to repel the ticks in the past which we get in plague proportions.

There will always be sceptics to no matter what natural remedies you care to try, but I prefer to leave an open mind when it comes to natural remedies...after all,I have wasted so much money on vet prescribed products which don't work (for my dogs). I choose to feed my dogs a holistic dog food, plus raw & it works for them, so adding a bit of coconut oil to their diets is only going to benefit them. I think the modern human diet could do with a little bit more fat (oil)...we need a certain amount of fat to be able to digest/absorb the vitamins & minerals in the food we eat & all this low-fat fad will one day turn around & bite us, just like the statistics on the huge proportion of people who are lacking Vit D, cause they have gone overboard with the slip, slop, slap.

I picked up a 750g bottle of organic cold pressed oil yesterday for just $19....$28 in another shop, so it pays to shop around

ETA...Jules & AA, you have posted while I took so long to write my reply. Jules, I agree that all natural remedies should be given the same respect as chemical ones...a little may be good, but a lot is not necessarily better. And AA, I too would be very interested in MEH giving us a bit more detail about her/his experience with coconut oil...brand, type, quantities, duration, why she tried it in the first place..etc etc...I think MEH could expand a bit on her own personal experience, afterall, the others are giving us details of their own personal experiences, which is what I asked for in the first post.

Edited January 4, 2012 by sheena

[Maddy]

This topic has merit and like anything online people are presented with the scientific and anecdotal evidence and it is up to them to make up their mind. I am enjoying this thread and have learnt some interesting new applications for coconut oil that I will be trying. Naturally and I hope this is common sense to everyone... if someone reads a testimonial saying coconut oil wards off ticks, you hope they have the brain capacity to try it and monitor the dog's progress rather than just apply and trust that it works. I certainly would want to see for myself.

Assuming that everyone who reads this would go off and research for themselves is (you'll have to excuse my bluntness here) plain foolish*.

You post completely lacked objectivity or even a disclaimer (something along the lines of "probably best to ask your vet before withdrawing tick prevention from your dog") it was entirely one-sided and presented in such as way as to lead someone to believe the coconut oil was responsible for the changes mentioned.

Have a look at the number of guests who read this forum every day and consider that some of them will be willing to take things at face value without any further thought. If even only one person fails to provide the correct preventatives for their dog and it dies as a result, are you cool with having that on your conscious? I really hope so because coconut oil is NOT a tick preventative. Period.

To imply it is foolish, to defend those claims is knowingly causing harm.

*Not my first choice of word, I can assure you.

[Guest Augustine Approved]

Hardy's Angel some strong words and unnecessary words there. I am not one for forum ping pong and this will be my last post regarding this.

I like to think that we are all here to exchange ideas in order to better the lives of our dogs. With all due respect you have misread my posts and made assumptions based on what you perceive to be my stance. To clarify:

- When I posted the testimonials about coconut oil I clearly stated that it came from an online source. I never claimed in any way shape or form that I have experience in this field (see my last post), but my only knowledge in coconut oil was for consumption. I never claimed that the testimonial was backed up or verified. It is anecdotal evidence that every day people have the right to test for themselves.

- There is no need for me to put a disclaimer because I am not the source and nor did I ever state that I agree or disagree with the testimonial. I am simply putting information out there that I found online, just like thousands of other people do without putting a disclaimer and it is up to the consumer to work out what works for them. You say I should at least encourage people to ask their vets. No offence to the countless vets I have visited over the years but they don't exactly have the best track record for telling me what is best for my dog so from experience I would not refer anyone to a vet unless their dog suffers from a medical condition.

- I am not an authority on coconut oil and do not claim to be. I would be more than happy to take your word on it that it does not ward off ticks. I really don't mind it makes no difference to me. If you feel so strongly about this you should contact the people that put the testimonial out there because if it does turn out to be completely without a shadow of a doubt false then I too would be happy to see that testimonial disappear.

- I have definitely considered the many dog owners who view this forum every day. Read my post again. Even if people do take coconut oil claims on face value, they will know very quickly wether or not it works. It's as if you are assuming that people are simple enough to continue to use coconut oil even if they can clearly see ticks on the dog. If all members reacted so strongly about the various topics people would be too afraid to post and this forum would fizzle. Daily I read many things that dog owners are doing for their dogs that they think is doing them good when it is in fact doing them great harm. No one would share anything if they were going to come under such attacks.

- I have not implied anything in regards to topical uses for coconut oil, I merely presented some information that I found to be interesting. Sheena raises some very good points about sulphur and eggs. This is something that I would not have thought of and could very well blindly believed that coconut oil is a tick repellent. Sheena may be wrong, she may be right, but the point of a forum is to share ideas and let people come to their own conclusions.

Like I said Hardy's Angel we are all here for the well being of our best friends, there is no need to point the finger especially when you are assuming that I have a certain stance when I clearly stated that I do not know enough about topical uses of coconut oil to take sides.

No hard feelings.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Augustine Approved

[sheena]

Hardy's Angel some strong words and unnecessary words there. I am not one for forum ping pong and this will be my last post regarding this.

I like to think that we are all here to exchange ideas in order to better the lives of our dogs. With all due respect you have misread my posts and made assumptions based on what you perceive to be my stance. To clarify:

- When I posted the testimonials about coconut oil I clearly stated that it came from an online source. I never claimed in any way shape or form that I have experience in this field (see my last post), but my only knowledge in coconut oil was for consumption. I never claimed that the testimonial was backed up or verified. It is anecdotal evidence that every day people have the right to test for themselves.

- There is no need for me to put a disclaimer because I am not the source and nor did I ever state that I agree or disagree with the testimonial. I am simply putting information out there that I found online, just like thousands of other people do without putting a disclaimer and it is up to the consumer to work out what works for them. You say I should at least encourage people to ask their vets. No offence to the countless vets I have visited over the years but they don't exactly have the best track record for telling me what is best for my dog so from experience I would not refer anyone to a vet unless their dog suffers from a medical condition.

- I am not an authority on coconut oil and do not claim to be. I would be more than happy to take your word on it that it does not ward off ticks. I really don't mind it makes no difference to me. If you feel so strongly about this you should contact the people that put the testimonial out there because if it does turn out to be completely without a shadow of a doubt false then I too would be happy to see that testimonial disappear.

- I have definitely considered the many dog owners who view this forum every day. Read my post again. Even if people do take coconut oil claims on face value, they will know very quickly wether or not it works. It's as if you are assuming that people are simple enough to continue to use coconut oil even if they can clearly see ticks on the dog. If all members reacted so strongly about the various topics people would be too afraid to post and this forum would fizzle. Daily I read many things that dog owners are doing for their dogs that they think is doing them good when it is in fact doing them great harm. No one would share anything if they were going to come under such attacks.

- I have not implied anything in regards to topical uses for coconut oil, I merely presented some information that I found to be interesting. Sheena raises some very good points about sulphur and eggs. This is something that I would not have thought of and could very well blindly believed that coconut oil is a tick repellent. Sheena may be wrong, she may be right, but the point of a forum is to share ideas and let people come to their own conclusions.

Like I said Hardy's Angel we are all here for the well being of our best friends, there is no need to point the finger especially when you are assuming that I have a certain stance when I clearly stated that I do not know enough about topical uses of coconut oil to take sides.

No hard feelings.

AA...there are some people on DOL that would attack you no matter what you said....In my house we call them "Pisards" not sure if that is a true word, but a pisard is someone who will argue with you about anything, no matter what. No point in arguing with pisards, you just simply ignore them. For Hardy's A to say you should have put a disclaimer in when quoting someone elses testimonial, then why didn't HA require that I put a disclaimer in when I posted the link to "80 different uses for coconut oil". Ignore them....I am interested in what you are saying & I am sure others following this post are too. That doesn't mean I am going to suddenly throw out my tick prevention & slather my dogs in CO as HA implies. HA implies that we are all stupid. There are a couple of posters here which from now on, I am not even going to bother reading, as they are clearly just trying to interrupt the thread.

[perfect partners]

I can't understand why some people have become so heated over this topic when no-one has claimed any scientific proof of the claims, just stated what they have noticed in their experience. I don't think anyone who cares about their dogs would be stupid enough to assume that coconut oil or anything else prevents ticks without thoroughly checking their dog regularly. On the other hand most people accept that drugs handed out by their doctors are safe to use because they have been 'scientifically tested' but that does not always guarantee saftey either - I'm sure all the people born without arms and legs, because their mothers were told it was safe to take Thalidomide for morning sickness during pregnancy, would attest to that.

I have found this thread interesting and appreciate all the info people have given. I am going to try coconut oil for my dogs. If they show benefits that's great, if not, no harm done.

AA - I admire your calm and reasonable responses to the aggressive responses by a couple of posters.

[JulesP]

Nothing goes on or in me or my pets until I've googled the shit out of it Mainly because I have had quite a few unpleasant reactions to vitamins etc.

I might try rubbing some into Amber as it did help me when I had a bad reaction to a shampoo once.

[Guest english.ivy]

I'm very keen to try CO with my dogs. I won't say anything more in public but anyone with a brain would watch their dog like a hawk when on any treatment, to be medication/drugs or organic/natural.

[JulesP]

I would question you guys that are feeding BH also feeding CO. That seems to me to be a heap of oil getting fed, seeing as BH has a fair amount of oil in it.