Last week coconut oil, this week apple cider vinegar. No this is not a cooking article, but a way to show you how to use natural products to help your pets. Apple Cider Vinegar, a product almost every one has in their cupboard has many benefits for both you and your pets.

Apple cider is antibacterial and anti-fungal and gives the immune system a good boost. As a high potassium electrolyte balancer, it re-mineralizes the body and helps normalize the blood's alkaline acid balance.

Apple cider vinegar can help itchy skin, hot spots, smelly ears, ear infections, fleas and poor appetite, and maintain the acid/alkaline balance in the digestive track. It has also been reported to help dogs that have drainage of the eyes which causes staining.

To aid in skin irritation from fleas or hot spots, wash your pet with a mild pet shampoo, then rinse with equal parts organic apple cider vinegar and water. To avoid excessive bathing, you can dilute the vinegar and put it in a spray bottle and spray your pets down as needed. Remember, organic vinegar may have particles in it and may need to be strained first.

For small dogs or cats, add about a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to your pet's water or food bowl daily to treat poor appetite and maintain the acid/alkaline balance and benefit the overall health of your pet. It is believed that apple cider vinegar maintains a healthy urinary track and digestive health. It is effective in treating urinary tract infections. As an added benefit, it can keep dog urine from killing your lawn.

For tear stains, put in your pets water and well as applying it as a spot treatment. Put on cotton swap to apply near the eye, but avoid getting in your pets eye's.

Apple cider vinegar may even ease joint pain in arthritic dogs and counteract common toxins and poisons that your pets may be inadvertently exposed to like pesticides and cleaning products. It breaks down calcium deposits in the joints while re-mineralizing the bones. It has proven to be equally beneficial to dogs with hip dysplasia.

When treating our pets, we need to look at treating them as a whole, not just one single area. As with any or our supplements, apple cider vinegar should be used in conjunction with a good fresh food diet and not used solely as a cure all supplement.
 

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