From The Desk of Dr. Faver

No Blue Dish Soap Please! Degreasing a Pet

Very commonly we are faced with that greasy or greasy/smelling pet and we reach for the dish soap to solve the problem. In reality, if you remove all the grease you actually make it worse! The body produces grease/sebum because something is not right with the skin and hair. Removing it just sends the body into shock because the “grease” is a reaction or a symptom, not the disease. Some pets will over-produce as a response to irritation while others will produce grease because they were already dehydrated. Either way, you didn’t fix it.

Here are a few ways to address a “grease” issue:

  • Oil dissolves oil – use a plant based oil (made for pets; not cooking oils)
  • Use a CLOSE-OPEN-CLOSE technique: hydrating conditioner – shampoo – hydrating conditioner
  • Address bacterial or yeast (fungal) issues with the proper shampoos
  • Look for the source of the problem: blood work with a veterinarian

No pet should ever be degreased with a heavy detergent!!!