Coconut oil?

[karin hamlin]

Does anyone have any special info on coconut oil? I was reading that sometimes it can help with yeast infections. I wondered if this would be a nice additive to origen or if it might be too much. Since my Lola Belle has some issues with her ears and we are thinking it may be a yeast thing. Anyone give it to their babies?

[Trish]

I give mine Coconut Oil .. it's in a gel pill form, we buy them from GNC, it's $14.99 for a bottle of I think 120.. I give them each one pill a day.

[karin hamlin]

what is the reason that you use it trish? specifically for yeast or other benefits? are the pills hard to get them to eat? and does it come in a liquid form? i have been going back to some of my old whole dog journals looking for info on yeast. i just ran accross that reading the new mag. about epi. i have also found one talking about leaky gut syndrome as being a culprit to some yeast overgrowth. anyways, i just keep looking for supplements that might improve her life. my dobie was on about four his last year and i saw such an improvement in him until his heart gave out. oh! i ordered the salmon oil from one of the sites you left too. my vet also thought the maleseb wipes might be beneficial to lolas ears. so now i am looking into those. i have stopped giving her the missing link too.

[Trish]

You can puncture the pill, it is liquid inside, and squeeze it onto her food that way.. then you don't have to worry about keeping anything refridgerated or measuring out the liquid in a tsp. I actually take them myself as well, I take 4 of them a day and if you chew them up (you're supposed to swallow them whole but I just wanted to see what it tasted like) they just taste like actual coconut. Forgot to mention I bought the extra-virgin cold processed coconut oil capsules.. the extra-virgin (because its cold processed) is supposed to be more beneficial than the other coconut oils, because the other coconut oils are heated, and lose some of their quality I guess.. or so I read.

I give them to the dogs because they tend to get dry skin.. especially in the winter months, even though their food contains fish oil, since the protein source in it is ocean whitefish and menhaden fish meal.. and it has omega 3 and 6 oils right in it.. I decided to try something else other than the fish oil, when they were not on a dog food with fish, I supplemented them with the salmon oil, but now that they have basically the same thing already in their dog food.. I got the coconut oil because they still have dry skin, you can really tell on Ellie since she is black and white and her dander shows.. the coconut oil is supposed to make dogs less itchy, and is supposed to promote healthy skin and coat.. I've heard that it has also been found to possibly reduce yeast problems in dogs that have shown to be problematic in that area.. The coconut pills are kind of big, mine won't chew them up and eat them, but I will either shove them in the back of their mouth, into their throat and make them swallow them (I know, sounds mean but gets the job done and doesn't hurt them) or I'll poke a hole into the pill with a pin and squeeze the contents onto their food. Some dogs won't eat their food with the coconut oil on it, Ellie doesn't care.. Louie the picky eater will refuse his most of the time, so he gets it shoved down his throat.

I just recently started giving this to them .. umm.. about 2 weeks ago and have already seen some improvement in Ellie's coat, looks shinier and noticed less dander.

[karin hamlin]

i have been doing a little digging since i wrote last. you can actually buy it extra virgin organic in a kind of like butter texture. its suppose to taste really good. you can cook with it too and add it into smoothies. a 20lb dog should eventually take about 1tsp a day. but start slowly. also suppose to help smelly dogs and you can even clean their ears with it!!!! but i cannot figure out if i can give her the salmon oil too. i just ordered that but if i had to choose this sounds like a more complete supplement. they are both totally different. whatcha think?

[Trish]

You can still give her both.. salmon oil gives her essential omega 3 and 6 oils, because the regular orijen only has vitamin E, A, D3, and B12 but no omegas.. Coconut is a completely different type of thing, so I don't think there would be a problem with giving her both.

You want to start out giving her 1/4 tsp of either coconut or salmon to begin with, then 1/2 then 3/4 then 1 tsp.

I did not know about cleaning their ears with the coconut though! One thing I want to let you know though, is I'm not sure how often you clean her ears out.. the inside canals do not need cleaned out very frequently, otherwise you'll take away too much of the natural wax needed to coat the ears to protect them and will actually increase the risk of her getting an infection. I clean my dogs ears out atleast once a week but only the outer ear area (meaning the part you can see), not inside (as in deep into the canals).. and I just use equate-brand non-scented, alcohol-free baby wipes from wal-mart. I buy the malaseb wipes for allergy season to wipe their ears and skin folds and inbetween their feet. I think I remember you saying something about using tea-tree oil on her ears? I really wouldn't continue to do that anymore, because any kind of moisture that you're getting in there is creating a nice moist environment for bacteria to grow. Just thought I'd give you a little heads up on that! :)

[karin hamlin]

yeah, i used the tea tree oil a couple times when her ears were real dirty because at that time i didnt think much of the dirty ears and it was the only ear wash i had. but the only problem with the wipes is that when they get real yucky its down towards the canal and i think a wash would do better. i think i saw a maleseb wash too. but i like the idea of the wipes for inbetween toes. but i will make sure to wipe them out with the unscented baby wipes at least 1x a week.
i went and bought some coconut oil today so i will try some of that first and see how she does with that them once she gets to a whole dose of that i will try the salmon oil.
thanks for all the info.