My dog has dandruff. Is coconut oil safe, or what product helps?

There are no proven benefits of administering coconut oil to dogs orally or topically. However, there are risks of feeding dogs additional fatty foods and oils, such as the development of pancreatitis and anecdotal reports of causing coronary artery disease. I never recommend feeding coconut oil in any volume due to the risks and lack of benefit.

You can use straight coconut oil to help with the coat, either applied to the skin or given orally. However, it should be used in moderation as too much can cause digestive upset such as vomiting or diarrhea. Do also note that pets tend to lick their fur, so any oil applied to the fur and skin may be licked off and part of the amount ingested orally. There isn't any difference in oil as long as you are using 100% pure coconut oil, and not another product that may have additional ingredients added to it.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. You can use coconut oil but it will likely not change the dandruff. For a dog Jett's size I would add 1/4 tsp to the food. Also, I personally like to use the Krillex Shed Free chews for dandruff and shedding, so if the salmon oil does not work, I would use the Krill oil chews. You can find these online quite easily. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

It is not recommended that you do this. Coconut oil is not a cure-all. It is very high in fat and could cause a deadly pancreatitis if she licks it off and ingests too much. If you would like to post again and tell us what you are attempting to treat then we can maybe help you find an appropriate product.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach! In my experience, I've not seen coconut oil do much to relieve inflammation and allergies. I would instead recommend that you use a shampoo such as Douxo PS calm shampoo and bathe twice weekly. You can find this shampoo easily online. I would also recommend using welactin omega 3 fish oil and essential 6 spot on by dermoscent. Malacetic conditioning spray can also be used and applied to the affected area 2 to 3 times per day until resolved. All of the above recommended products can be found online. If this does not help then I would consider prescription medications such as Apoquel or Cytopoint, both of which are prescription drugs that will need to be prescribed by Sherry's veterinarian.

It is possible for dogs to not eat well in the heat. Same with constipation. Whether either of those are her issue, I don't know. I would STOP the coconut oil immediately. It is not really that safe as it is very high in fat. High fat can cause pancreatitis in dogs which can be life threatening. I suggest you stop the coconut oil and monitor her for a few more days. If she doesn't come right I suggest you take her back to the vet for a follow-up and some blood testing.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Coconut oil has not been very helpful in my experience. What I think helps is fish oil. If this is allergies, it really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!