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Do you feed your pets coconut oil? If so, awesome! If not, you should! If coconut oil is good for us, then it’s good for our pets too!
You all know about my love affair with coconut oil. I can’t get enough of the stuff! Read my post called “Coconut Oil – Why Is It So Wonderful?” and you’ll see why I love it.
Also, many of you have probably seen my posts called “52 Uses for Coconut Oil – The Simple, The Strange, and The Downright Odd!” and “122 Uses for Coconut Oil – Even More of the Simple, the Strange, and the Downright Odd“. Who knew there were so many ways to use one, single product?!
But, back to our furry friends.
We have two pooches (see the picture above). They both get coconut oil daily with their dinner and they think coconut oil is the best thing since sliced bread!
In addition to adding coconut oil to their food, we also use it on my dogs in other ways. I massage coconut oil into the pads of their feet, since we live in the city and walk many miles a week on concrete and asphalt. Willow, who is a tomboy of a dog, loves to rough and tumble with my brother’s dogs up in the mountains, so she gets all sorts of cuts and scrapes on her stomach. I’ll put a little coconut oil on her skin after gently cleaning them with mild soap and water.
You can feed your pets virgin coconut oil like this one, or refined coconut oil like this one, depending on your budget and what you have on hand. Despite what many people say, refined coconut oil is NOT bad for you.
Why Is Coconut Oil Good For Your Pets?
Just like humans, dogs can also glean benefit from regular consumption of coconut oil. Now, due to the FTC and FDA laws governing what you can and can’t say about the health benefits of coconut oil, I’m not going to list any specific benefits here. Traditionally, those laws govern humans, but since many of us consider our pets “humans”, and I am referring to human-grade coconut oil products, I’m going to err on the side of caution and not list anything specific.
For a list of how dogs can benefit from coconut oil, check out this post from Dogs Naturally Magazine. We can personally attest that since we started feeding our dogs coconut oil, we have noticed less of that stinky doggie breath and they both seem to have more energy. Also, one of our dogs has a bad back leg and he seems to be a lot less stiff since incorporating coconut oil into his diet. Is it the coconut oil that’s helping? Who knows, but it’s certainly not hurting!
If you want to hear more about what benefits our pets can get from coconut oil, check out what this veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker, has to say about the subject. The information about the gallbladder and pancreas is very interesting! I’m assuming that if that is true for pets, it would be true for humans too?
If you’re looking for even more reason to feed your pets coconut oil, check out this video from a professional groomer who uses coconut oil on her pets and 4-legged customers.
The Proper Way to Feed Your Pets Coconut Oil
Now, you don’t want just start dumping a big glob of coconut oil into your pet’s food, especially if they’re new to it. There is a proper way to feed your pets, as explained in this article from CoconutOil.com. You want to start small and increase the dose slowly. Introducing too much, too fast, can lead to loose bowels and we all know that’s no fun!
So, start small, by giving small pets, puppies, or kittens about a 1/4 of a teaspoon and then increasing over time. With larger pets, you can start them with a teaspoon and gradually work your way up. Some pets will love it right off the bat, others need a little coaxing.
Dr. Becker recommends 1 teaspoon for each 10-20 pounds of body weight of your pet. Burton is 26 pounds and gets around a tablespoon with each meal, while Willow is 53 pounds and gets around 1.5 – 2 tablespoons. Our dogs loved it from the start, but I have had people tell me that their pets didn’t like it at first, so you might have to get them used to eating it.
Also, dogs and cats aren’t the only pets who can eat coconut oil. I’ve had people tell me that they feed it to their horses, cows, goats, and other animals!
So, tell me, do you feed your pets coconut oil? Have you noticed any differences in their health since introducing it? I would love to hear from you, so leave me a comment below!
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