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I’ve talked at length about how much I love coconut oil and how we use it dozens of different ways at our house. There are some members of our household who also get coconut oil daily, and I haven’t mentioned them much in the past:
Our cat “Peneolope” and our dog “Daisy” (and currently her seven puppies) are also big fans of coconut oil.
Many of the health benefits of coconut oil for humans also apply to animals. From a past post:
- “Coconuts are an excellent source of nutrition and have healthful meat, juice, and oil. The oil is arguably the most nutritious and has many health benefits. Coconut oil is over 90% saturated fat and has antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.
- Coconut oil also has antioxidant properties and it helps in the absorption of other minerals.
- Coconut oil is an incredible source of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which have been shown to have many health benefits.
- Lauric acid in coconut oil in combination with oregano oil, has even been found more effective in fighting the staph bacteria than antibiotics. Lauric acid has also been shown to be preventative against some cancers. Coconut Oil is over 40% lauric acid, the richest source naturally available.”
We’ve used coconut oil with our pets for years. I started researching ways to use coconut oil for pets when our cat went crazy trying to eat food from our plates every time I cooked with coconut oil.
Turns out that coconut oil can help aid pets’ digestion, improve their coats, help prevent infection and more. Carnivorous animals like cats and dogs would have consumed a high amount of saturated fat in the wild and the beneficial fats in coconut oil are a great way to make sure they are getting enough in their diets. Our pets also receive a partially raw meat diet to help keep them healthy.
Doginton Post offers some ways to use coconut oil with pets:
“It can be given internally or applied externally, and can provide remedies for many skin infections. It can disinfect cuts and improve your dog’s general skin and coat condition, making it healthier. Wounds also heal faster with coconut oil, and it helps to deodorize your dog’s skin and clear up some rashes as well.
And unlike most herbal products that are good for your dog’s health, coconut is something that your dog will most probably love to eat. They will most likely gobble up the coconut oil and not be too picky with it. Just as humans can get a bit nutty for coconut, so can our beloved buddies. Mix it with their food – it has cured many picky eaters.
Many vets and researchers today are recommending the regular use of coconut oil for dogs and many other pets as an excellent source of nutrients, which keeps your dog in good health.
The recommended dose is pretty easy; just give a teaspoon of coconut oil per 10 pounds of dog, or you can give a table spoon per 30 pounds. Start with about 1/4 the recommended dosage and build up to the recommended level over 3-4 weeks, as sometimes flu-like symptoms can appear if you hurried it right away.”
How to Use Coconut Oil for Cats and Dogs
We give our pets coconut oil in their food every day and use it externally on their coats. Here’s what we do:
- Our cat gets a teaspoon a day in food (we started with 1/4 of a teaspoon and worked up over a month)
- Our dog (about 55 lbs) gets 2 tablespoons a day in food (we started with 1 teaspoon and worked up over a month)
- To help ward off fleas, both get brushed with coconut oil every few weeks, especially in summer
- For any dry skin or skin issues, we use coconut oil (or honey) on the skin as needed
- Nursing puppies get coconut oil added to first foods when they start eating
What Coconut Oil to Use?
We order our coconut oil from here. Pets seem to actually prefer their pure coconut oil which is also their most economical option. Any unrefined coconut oil will work for pets though. Try it… they’ll love it!
Other Pet Treats and Food
If you want to make homemade treats for you pets, these dog treats and these cat treats use coconut oil and your pets will love them! Or if you are searching for a more natural pet food option that is shipped directly to you, check out Nomnomnow.
Some brands of the best brands of cbd oil for dogs use coconut oil as a carrier too.
Learn more about how we do Natural Cat Care & Holistic Alternatives in this post.
Do you use coconut oil with your pets? How do you use it?
When Iodine Might Be Bad For Your Thyroid
What about the saturated fat tho? …for all of us animals!
I have a friend who used it with her older dog who had horrible skin conditions. It worked great on the skin, but the dog developed chronic digestive distress until they stopped the coconut oil.
Coconut is one of the best saturated oils that all mammals need to thrive! Recently all the 1950’s scaremongering about saturated oils has been totally discredited.
We use coconut oil with a lot of our pets. I give it to my dog who has an old leg injury that flares up on occasion.
I also bathe our hedgehog with a little coconut oil in the water to help with his dry skin. I used it on rescued guinea pigs when they had red feet.
And our rats absolutely go crazy over the stuff. I rub it on their cage bars. They are entertained for hours licking it off. Their coats seem better whenever they have it on a regular basis. It’s adorable because they will grab little chunks of coconut oil and nibble at it, and they steal them from each other.
I would love some more posts about natural pet care. What do you feed them? My dogs and cats are all on grain-free diets but would love to do some raw stuff especially since we have lots of local farmer resources. Also, do you use anything besides coconut oil for fleas? I tried some essential oil mixes but they did NOT work so i went back to Frontline.
I feed my nine dogs raw chicken about 4-5 days per week.
The big dogs get a leg quarter and the little dogs get a wing.
Raw bones are good for them…but not cooked bones.
I have been doing this for about 6 years now. The dogs love it, they get to chew and tear and crunch up the bones. It keeps them happy, their teeth cleaner, their jaws strong, their poop is drier and not as smelly as dog food poop. For old dogs with fewer teeth, I chop up the wing with a machete. That is also a good way to get one to start eating chicken when they are not used to it…chop it up on top of their regular dog food. Most dogs will not need to be taught what to do!
Try the book ‘Give your dog a bone’ by Ian Billinghurst – it has great information for a raw food/natural diet. However some of the oils he recommends could be improved upon, try coconut oil instead as recommended in this post 🙂
The Raw Life on youtube also has a lot of good information on raw diets and the different types. I’ve learned a lot from Janiece, and once I get my dog, I’m going to be feeding it a raw diet.
We have several cats (our last rescue ended up being pregnant!), and one of them has been nuts about anything coconut since he was about four months old. Flour, milk, oil, fresh, or dried, he loves it. As others have said, he tries to lick me every time I put coconut oil on my skin! We just thought he was weird, but gave him a little bit as a treat. Guess we’ll be giving it to all the kitties!
He also adores melon – especially Santa Claus melon – as well as banana, pineapple, and baby spinach. If I drop anything while making smoothies, it’s probably gone in seconds!
I don’t have any pets currently, but I have heard from my classmate who has a dog that coconut oil is just effective on injuries on dogs as it is on humans. BTW, do you feed your pets a raw food diet? There are grains and other toxic chemicals in commercial pet food, and dogs and cats are about as meant to eat grains as people are, if not less.
People have told me to give my cat oils ( like castor) to help with his hairballs, and I wondered if coconut would be better. What’s funny is when I put it on after a shower he licks me incessantly on my legs!
I have considered using coconut oil for our pets but haven’t made the leap. Our elderly cat has hyper thyroid and thus an already fast metabolism. I have been concerned that coconut oil although a great way to add in healthy fats would also continue to speed up her metabolism. Any thoughts?
I’d ask a vet, but coconut oil is supposed to balance the thyroid so it might help her…
I just received my order of Coconut Oil in the mail today from Tropical Traditions as you recommend. OMG, best coconut oil EVER. The quality, the smell, so superior and I have always purchased high quality brands. This is tops.
They sent a free book and in it they mentioned uses for animals. Our 9 year old lab needs additional support for his muscles and ligaments. Then I come to this post today. Message received. Thanks so much!
Thanks for posting this, I was waiting for a doggy post! I started brushing my dogs teeth with coconut oil because I don’t want to use dog toothpaste from store and baking soda didn’t seem like good option. He use to have a stain forming on his back teeth on one side but the build up is GONE since I switched to coconut oil. Vet is always amazed how good his teeth look.
Thank you for the comment that was left about brushing your dog’s teeth with coconut oil. I was also apprehensive about using baking soda since it can be toxic if ingested and dogs lack the ability to swish and spit (although it would be funny if they could). I just tried some with our “little” Jack Russell and he loved it.
We also haven’t had much luck finding a natural commercial option for dog toothpaste. Those products tend to have grain alcohol (moonshine) and, or sorbitol (diarrhea enhancer), not to mention some of the other less pronounceable ingredients.
Don’t their coats get greasy and attract dirt if you brush them with it? How exactly, do you brush them with it?
How do you keep the cats from being So greasy? They look terrible!
i have two cats and have started using coconut oil on them for flea repellent
i heat my coconut oil up so its in liquid form and use a fine mist spray bottle to put a little in my hands and massage the oil int to the fur of my cats. not enough to soak them, but enough to have a good light coating all over them.
then i follow up by brushing, both with the grain of the fur and against the grain, with a fine tooth comb right after the applying the oil and the following day.
between the brushing (to help keep the hair from matting and to help distribute the oil) and the cats licking themselves; i noticed the their fur went from greasy and nasty looking to slick, shiny and soft with a very light and faint pleasant odor.
doing it this way, the cats coats look awesome, but i noticed 2 fleas on my kitten after 4 days and re-applied the oil ^_^ hope this helps
It actually absorbs quite quickly I even use on my super dry scalp before bedtime and no stains on the pillow cases! My Mr. Muggles AKA Muggsie we do this every night it relaxes him no itching and he will run to bedroom at bed time and wait for me so he can get his coconut oil!
Vinigar is a natural intifungal for pets and humans. So to spray your fur baby first it will start working on whats causing the itchy skin if it’s not algery related, and then follow it up with coconut oil which helps the itching immediately when applied to hot spots…
1) One bottle filled with equal parts vingar & water. Spray down your fur baby and brush through.
2) Then apply Coconut oil to their hot spots, and massage the rest of their body with it.
3) Then put a tblspoon over their food everyday.
Hope this helps for these itchy issue(s)… Let us know how it works for your fur baby.
Penny Czebotar
Coconut Oil is excellent for human teeth. in Aryvedic Practices it was called oil
pulling . I went to the Dentist yesterday he knows how I am with my dog’s teeth
I spray colloidal silver after I brush my dogs teeth I heard it was good for plaque
I use it also.
He told me about a study his office is doing with ten patients using coconut oil.
I googled it . Coconut oil is supposed to be extremely good for bacteria in human mouths
so why not in our pets !
it’s the very best to brush doggies teeth with! you will notice they are whiter, stay that way longer and breath is fresh. Plus, they love the taste, versus all the other doggie tooth products they balk at. So easy!
So glad to come across this! My sweet 13 year old Yorkie, Max, has had skin allergies for about a decade. I keep his food/shampoos/environment as natural as possible. I currently give him small amounts of steroids when it gets real bad, and it makes his skin smell funky. I cannot WAIT to get home to try this on his fur (and his dinner)! I keep his hair cut short. The longer the hair, the more oily and itchy his skin gets. Any relief he can get will be appreciated! His little sister Ellie, will be glad to get a little of my body moisturizer on her food tonight, too!! As usual – thanks so much for the information!