21 Natural Therapies To Soothe Your Dog and Cat's Itchy Dry Skin

As I have written about previously, our skin is a window to our internal health, especially the health of our gut. It is the body’s largest elimination organ, and also a canvas where nutritional deficiencies, toxicities, food sensitivities, gut flora imbalances and hormonal issues can show up. Often times, changes in the texture of skin, including our pets will be a first sign that something is off with their health. Vet visits for health issues, typically result in chemical laden medications and creams which only suppress the real symptom and drive the root issue in deeper.

Below are some natural and very effective therapies to correct pet skin issues at the core to obtain long term health and healing.

Go 100% grain free – Grains are detrimental to cats and dogs. Grains are not part of their ancestral diet. They are also inflammatory, break down to sugar and feed harmful bacteria which can lead to skin issues. A raw and homemade diet is best for optimal health, but even smaller changes with your pet’s diet will be very helpful. Here are the foods I recommend for cats and dogs.
Increase good quality fats and proteins – Fats and proteins are anti-inflammatory and help heal and seal the gut lining. Fats and proteins are essential for proper gut balance and significantly speed up healing for skin issues. Read more on how to increase your pets vitality and life span.
Apple cider vinegar – Mix one part acv and one part water into spray bottle and spray on affected skin areas, massage in affected areas. Get braggs acv here.
Brush – Brushing your pet everyday is great for the lymph system and increases circulation. When the skin is inflamed and itchy – blood cells and compounds such as histamine and prostaglandins accumulate in those irritated areas, brushing helps calm inflammation.
Bathing – A common misconception is that too much bathing is bad for your pet, but in the case of inflamed skin issues, bathing with skin soothing shampoo is actually very helpful for calming skin issues.
Fish Oil – Skin issues are always gut and inflamatory issues. Ramping up the EFA’s is an important part of rebalancing the body. Get the worlds best quality fish oil here.
Probiotics – The gut runs the show – and in skin issues this is no exception. Skin issues are always gut flora imabalances. Strong probiotics are critical, especially if your pet is eating commercially made food. Get strong probiotics here.
Coconut milk kefir – Kefir is probiotic good fat and help balance the gut micro-organisms affecting the skin. I’ve never meet a dog or cat who didn’t LOVE coconut milk kefir. Learn how to easily make coconut milk kefir here.
Turmeric – 1-3 tsp per day sprinkled on food is very beneficial to reduce old and new inflammation, it helps with pain and digestion as well. Get turmeric here.
Baking soda – Mix one part baking soda and one part water to create a thick paste. Apply to affected areas and rub in. Leave on for 15-20 minutes, then rinse off. You can also add baking soda to the bath water and give a bath.
Dr. Bronners – This castile soap is super therapeutic and helps heal open sores, eczema and dandruff. Get it here. Read more uses for Dr. Bronners here.
Coconut oil – CO is anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-viral and is a superfood for healing internally and externally. Get CO here. Read more on the many uses of CO.
Essential oils – EO’s are the therapeutic properties of herbs and flowers and have a large impact on viral, bacterial and fungal imbalance. Get EO’s here.
Epsoms salt – Give your pet a bath in epsom salts and water. This is great for irritated paws and open sores anywhere on the body. Get epsom salts here.
Evening primrose oil – EPO is packed with anti-inflammatory properties. You can open the capsule and apply directly on affected areas and you can also give in their food daily. Get EPO here.
Herbal tea soak – Brew your healing herbal tea, chill in the fridge, then place in spray bottle, then spray on affected dry itchy skin areas. Chamomile, Pau D’arco and Lavender tea.
Vitamin E therapy – Simply break open a capsule and rub into affected dry areas. Massaging the vitamin E in will help with absorption. Get Vitamin E here.
Magnesium – Almost every person and pet is deficient in Mg. Mg is essential in over 300 different functions in the body. This is an inexpensive way to support the nerves, hormones, gut and skin. Get ionic liquid and bioavailable Mg here.
Reduce vaccines. Over vaccinating our pets lead to modern day health issues similar to ones humans develop.
Reduce “treatments” and medications unless vital. Avoid chemicals and medications that are not absolutely necessary. Almost all imbalances can be healed using food as medicine, for pets as well.
Be sure to supply unlimited amounts of clean filtered water.