Pet Care
with
Apple Cider Vinegar


"Amazing how many different ways
ACV can be used to care for your pets!"



As a pet care product, apple cider vinegar (ACV) is hard to beat for its versatility, availability and cost.

Pet Care - Dog

Use the unfiltered, organic ACV that has not been pasteurized for best results.

ACV should not be fed however, to a pet who is sensitive or allergic to yeast. In these cases it is believed that the vinegar can feed or exacerbate the problem.

A great number of dogs with skin allergies have been shown to be yeast-sensitive.

Here are some of the more common benefits you can derive by using apple cider vinegar as a natural product for both cats and dogs:





Do you use apple cider vinegar to care for your pets?

Click here to share your vinegar pet care experiences and invite comments from other readers of this web site!



Pet Care - Daily Health Tonic


The minerals, enzymes and acids in unpasteurized apple cider vinegar can supplement your pet's existing diet. It can be added either directly to the dog's food or drinking water.
Besides being a good source of easily absorbable potassium, apple cider vinegar aids digestion, inhibits the growth of unfriendly bacteria and helps maintain the proper acid/alkaline balance of the digestive tract.

Many holistic Vets recommend a daily dosage of:

  • 1 tsp (5 ml) for cats and small dogs (up to 14 lb)
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) for medium dogs (15 to 34 lb)
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) for large dogs (35 to 84 lb)

Note: Do not feed ACV to dogs that have irritation of the intestinal tract lining.



If you plan to use it for your pets and yourself regularly, an excellent raw organic apple cider vinegar can be ordered online in 0.5 gallon or 1.0 gallon containers at a very reasonable price, shown below:

(To purchase, click on the Amazon picture. I will earn a small commission, at no cost to you.)



Return to top.





Pet Care - Ear Care Product


Unfortunately a large percentage of dog and cat visits to the veterinarian are for ear problems, but the good news is, you can help reduce these visits by cleaning your pet's ears on a regular weekly basis.
An inexpensive way to do this is to dip a soft cotton ball into a solution of equal parts apple cider vinegar and water, and use it to swab the inside of his or her ear.

For an infected ear, use 5 ml of the 50:50 vinegar water solution per 20 lbs (9 kg) of body weight, applying the solution with a syringe obtained from your local pharmacy. Gently rub in the solution then wipe the inside of the ear with a soft cotton ball. This should be done daily for 5 days.

The vinegar helps to control the growth of unfriendly bacteria and other microorganisms that are a common cause of ear infections, and as a result, this will help keep your pets from scratching their ears.

Return to top.





Pet Care - Fleas and Ticks


Rather than use commercial sprays, powders, pills or collars that use very toxic chemicals to kill fleas and ticks, many people prefer to take a more natural holistic approach. According to Martin Goldstein, DVM, some of these products could also be harmful to your pets.

As an alternative, Roger DeHaan, DVM, suggests using a homemade shampoo and rinse that kills fleas and at the same time soothes irritated skin:

  • Add to an 8-ounce bottle of your favorite pet shampoo, 10 drops of tea tree oil and one tablespoon (15 ml) of aloe vera and shake well.

  • Shampoo your pet as you would normally then wait for 6-10 minutes.

  • Rinse with apple cider vinegar diluted in water. (1 tablespoon ACV to 1 pint of water)

For minor flea infestations, another recommendation involves washing your pet with a gentle shampoo, followed by a thorough rinse then spraying on apple cider vinegar diluted with an equal amount of warm water. Allow the pet to drip or shake dry.

The fleas will drown in the soapy shampoo water and the vinegar rinse will acidify your pet's skin making it very unattractive to other fleas and ticks.


A good way to check and see if your pet has fleas can be viewed in the following video:



Return to top.





Pet Care - Relief for skin problems


Apply unpasteurized apple cider vinegar with the aid of a soft cotton ball, directly to burns or skin acne to soothe and promote healing.

For dry itchy skin, hot spots, or skin infections you can bathe your pet in warm water then rinse him or her with a solution of 1 part ACV to 3 parts water. This vinegar rinse will also leave their coats soft and shiny.

Return to top.





Pet Care - Skunk

Pet Care - Skunk Odor Removal


Bathing your dog or cat in tomato juice is the most widely used method to remove the sharp smell of skunk from any pet that has had an unfortunate run in with a skunk.

If you are caught without a supply of tomato juice, don't fret, vinegar can be used as well. Many authorities recommend you sponge undiluted vinegar into his coat and skin. Be careful not to get the solution in your pet's eyes, allow it to dry and then follow with a mild pet shampoo and warm water rinse.

Return to top.





Pet Care - Slimming down Ingredient


For those dogs and cats that need to lose weight, Robert S. Goldstein V.M.D., and Susan J. Goldstein have written an excellent article on how to help your pet lose those unwanted pounds and become happier and healthier along the way.

They include a slimming supplement that you can make at home that is made from kelp, lecithin, vitamin B6 and organic apple cider vinegar. Full preparation details can found in their comprehensive book called "The Goldsteins' Wellness & Longevity Program" along with a multitude of tips for naturally prolonging your dog or cats health.

To purchase this book online, click on the Amazon picture below. I will earn a small commission, at no cost to you.


Return to top.





Pet Care - Improved Dog Fertility


Dr. D. C. Jarvis, in his popular book Folk Medicine, recounts the story of a dentist friend of his who was having problems breeding boxer dogs. He had five females in his kennels and only one litter had been born in the last year.

Dr. Jarvis, thinking that this was due to a lack of potassium and other minerals, suggested that the ration of each dog be reinforced daily with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

During the following year all five female boxers produced litters and the puppies were born strong and vigorous.

Return to top.





Pet Care - Remove Cat Urine

Pet Care - Cat

If your cat (or dog for that matter) urinates on your favorite carpet or couch, apply or spray white vinegar onto the soiled area as soon as possible.

Allow it to soak for 10 minutes to absorb the odor and loosen the stain then blot it up with paper towels.
Repeat if necessary.


Always test the vinegar on a small section of carpet or fabric first to make sure it does not fade the existing colors.

Return to top.








Do You Have
a Vinegar Pet Care Experience
to Share?

This is the place to share your stories on using apple cider vinegar to care for your pet.

If you like, you can include pet photos to highlight your story.

Your stories will appear as a new web page linked at the bottom of this page and all site visitors will be able to comment on them.

[ ? ]

Upload A Picture of Your Pet[ ? ]

 

Click here to upload more images (optional)

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

(first or full name)

(e.g., City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

  •  submission guidelines.


(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Apple cider vinegar helps fight tartar build up
on dogs and cats teeth 
Tartar build up is a major problem that can develop into serious conditions as pets grow older. As far as I am concerned, I always put a little …

How Princess said good bye to her fleas with ACV 
I give my Shih Tzu 9 year old, 1/2 teaspoon ACV in her water every day. Her bowl holds about 2 cups of water. She drinks most of it every day. …

ACV helps my dogs incontinence 
My eleven year old boxer has been suffering from UTI and Incontinence for some time now and because she sleeps on my bed, I have to put waterproof …

Dissolving my Dog's bladder stones with ACV 
My dog, which is a Shih-Tzu Bichon mix and weighs about 12 lb., has bladder stones. So bad so that he was basically peeing blood. He could …

How ACV Helps Prevent Urinary Blockage in my Cat 
I have a female cat that is prone to urinary tract blockage. This problem first happened in the middle of the night . . . My cats litter …

Apple Cider Vinegar as a Weight Loss Aid 
I recently visited an organic pet store looking for something natural to help my dogs with their seasonal allergies. The pet store owner suggested …

A Christmas miracle and apple cider vinegar is a life savior !! 
I first want to say I thank all of you guys who have posted your stories here! It started 2 days before Christmas and my cat named Soulja boy …

How Vinegar Cured Cat Mange! 
Two years ago I got my sister a Cat named "Mystic," she was a spayed Bengal rescue who had been returned to the breeder. About a year after …

Vinegar and organic soap kills ticks on dogs 
We live in a Bangkok neighborhood that has many trees and flowering plants and almost everybody has at least one dog in their yard. Our dog …

Apple Cider Vinegar for Overall Pet Health  
I have been using vinegar for a about a year now. I have just started to use it for my pets. I was reluctant to due to the taste. I was pleasantly …

ACV got rid of my cat's UTI 
My cat got a horrible urinary tract infection. She could barely urinate and what did come out was mostly blood. I took her to the vet several …

ACV stops my dog from urinating in the house 
My 12 year old formerly housebroken Black Lab, Raven, started drinking large amounts of water and urinating in the house. I had her checked …

ACV and Ringworm 
We have a small kitten who has ringworm. Because she was so small, the vet had us treat it gently with the shampoos and drops. They said in …

ACV took away fatty tumor in 3.5 weeks 
My Chiwawa had a fatty tumor for two-years on his temple. He was 12, so they said it was dangerous to remove. I figured it was his goodbye. …

Dead Dog Walking Thanks to ACV 
After two years of stinky, scratchy, almost no hair left, black skin and ear pain, I almost had my three year old shepherd put down. The vets …

How Vinegar got Rid of Hundreds of Ticks 
Just thinking of how many ticks Bandy, my German Shepherd had makes my skin crawl! Someone told me to use Apple Cider vinegar, with the mother. …

My Dogs' Smelly Coat doesn't Stink Anymore because of ACV 
So all dogs get to smelling a little funky about a week and a half after bath time, that's to be expected, and with the daily runs that my two get, …

My LassoPoo's ears and ACV 
Well I thought I would just share my experience. I came home the other day from visiting with my dog and he started scratching his ear a bit. …

apple cider vinegar for my dog's health 
I give our dog (maltese) 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar in his filtered drinking water daily. He is a happy healthy 9 year old and his breath …

How Apple Cider Vinegar helped with my dogs tick infestation 
I was in shock, my dogs have never had fleas or ticks until we bought a house that had been vacant for years on the hillside. The cute squirrels …

My dogs love their dinner tossed with ACV! 
One of my dogs, a Rottweiler/Shepherd mix, is a finicky eater. We humans all wish we would be a little more like him and only eat when we are truly …

ACV gets rid of Canine Pink Eye!! 
I found this natural remedy on another web site, and about 95% of the users agreed that it works. I tried it on my dog when I was unable to …

ACV for Dog Cataracts 
My friend used ACV (Braggs) for her doxie's cataract: 1/3 teaspoon in 4 oz. distilled water. Put drops in 2 or 3 times a day. If possible, …

ACV for Dog Tear Stains 
In my search for a natural solution for red tear stains on my light colored poodles, I stumbled upon ACV. I started adding ACV to the dogs' …

Click here to write your own.

How apple cider vinegar helps my dog's breath 
My chihuahua-mix, Molly, has killer breath. It is terrible. I started adding about 1/2 tsp ACV to her water dish a few weeks ago. She seems …

Apple cider vinegar really kills fleas! 
This is absolute!!! A good hot bath with a high foaming shampoo and rinse with a magic potion: 100 ml of warm water + 4 tablespoons of apple …

Vinegar helped a fungus problem on my Dog!  
A couple months ago, i noticed that my little dog started developing roundish bald areas on her coat. One on her front leg, one on her back leg …

ACV Gets rid of Canine Pink Eye 
I noticed my Boxer was coming down with a case of Pink eye. I did some research on the internet and came across an article that said to put …

How Vinegar Helps with our Cats fleas.... 
Mixing a small amount of ACV in my cats water, plus a mix of water and vinegar (distilled or acv) in a spray bottle works great as a insect repellent... …

How vinegar helped my pet’s hair grow back 
My baby had dry and itchy skin. She scratched so much that all her hair came out under her chin and neck. After the use of organic apple cider …

ACV is perfect for urinary infections and bladder problems in dogs!!! 
My 4 year-old female rottweiler developed a urinary infection and started having "accidents" inside the house. The pee had a very bad odor and …

how apple cider vinegar stopped the itching 
I have 2 small breed dogs that were infested with fleas. I tried all the expensive otc treatments and shampoos. I was looking up what I could …

ROXY LU'S HOT SPOT on her KNEE DISSAPEARED with ACV 
I have a little Chi-Weenie (half chihuahua and half dachshund) and she's got the Best temperament of of both those animals and is a little lover …

How Apple Cider Vinegar Saved my Cat's Life  
May 2008, at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, my 16-1/2 year old cat, "Dusty Rusty Pumpkin Head" (whom I had inherited from my mother) starting having some …

Apple Cider Vinegar and Pets 
As for pets and APPLE CIDER VINEGAR - Apple Cider Vinegar is totally ANTI-FUNGAL and I don't see why it would affect pets sensitive to yeast!!!! …

Using ACV for my cat's chronic urinary tract infections! 
My cat has had chronic UTIs ever since we got her, and lately she has been getting it really bad. We don't have money for expensive vet …

Apple cider vinegar for Maltese dog coat, livestock and myself. Not rated yet
Hi there, We looked after a little white maltese x rescued dog for about 5 days, and after a day I realized she had fleas. I had heard somewhere …

ACV works for cat urinary issues! Not rated yet
Two of our male cats have been having awful issues with urinary infections. One has been on two different antibiotics from a vet we later found …

Sheltie's UTI clears up using ACV mixed in Yogurt!!! Not rated yet
After reading the posts several days ago, I decided to try my 9 month old Sheltie on the yogurt/ACV. She was also halfway through her fourth …

How vinegar got rid of my ferret's abscess ! Not rated yet
I know that this forum is for ACV but either way I thought I would share this. About 5 years ago my ferret developed a lumped underneath this chin. …

Cider Vinegar Kept our Sheep Free From Pulky Kidney Malady Not rated yet
Years ago, we owned and operated a small organic farm in the Sacramento Valley. I used cider vinegar in several ways, but the most useful was for …

ACV keeps our toy poodle from getting tear stains Not rated yet
When we got our baby girl at 6 weeks old I did a LOT of research on the breed and the best ways to keep them healthy and happy from the start. …

Apple Cider vinegar for Flea dermatitis Not rated yet
I use ACV on my dog for flea dermatitis! It works amazing! It's not an over night cure, but at the first sign on any break out..........start …

Eliminate Dog Odors and Refresh your house with vinegar Not rated yet
I have a dog and I spray white vinegar on his feet and coat before or after he has been outside. I also find that it is a good substitute to …

How Apple Cider Vinegar helped my dogs fertitity Not rated yet
I was very active in breeding and showing collies. This is a very true story. I bred one of my Champion Collies several times to different females …

Urine smell eliminated by white vinegar! Not rated yet
It was three times that a stray cat sneaked in my apartment and all three times it urinated on the carpet. It smelled like a zoo in there. …

ACV and other natural products for our great danes Not rated yet
We have 2 male Great Danes (father and son) the dad is 96 kilos and his son was 85 kilos until he became ill, he has been diagnosed with mega esophagus …

How ACV helped my cat Not rated yet
My female cat was having trouble urinating. I thought maybe she had a UTI or crystals. I remembered reading about how ACV helped other animals, …

"How Vinegar helped rid our 3 orphaned small dogs of flees!" Not rated yet
We live on 3 acres of bushland in S.E. Queensland and have acquired (adopted) 3 little dogs abandoned when their owners returned to the city: - …

Click here to write your own.

ACV helps everything!!! Not rated yet
We recently adopted a rescue (dog) that had terrible itching, and dry skin. We tried a lot of natural shampoos/rinses, but nothing seemed to …

ACV improves fertility in dogs Not rated yet
My English mastiff had very irregular heats with little swelling or bleeding. She missed the first heat because I didn't notice any bleeding …

ACV Dismays Naughty BOY Dogs Not rated yet
My daughter and I have a Boxer and two Jack Russells and they're all boys. So, when a male guest uses the toilet each dog lifts its leg against …

ACV to relieve gas in the tummy Not rated yet
Apple Cider Vinegar is great for a lot of things, and it also helps to relieve gas buildup in my dog's tummy when he's not feeling well. I got …

Vinegar stops cats from urinating on furniture Not rated yet
I have a cat that is 2 years old and when he turned a year old he started urinating all over my home. I knew that it was because he needed to …

my dog does not smell like a dog Not rated yet
My mongrel ITCHY smells sweet all the time because I give her a wet towel rub with a mixture of 1/2 cup ACV and 1/2 cup water every other day. …

How ACV cleared up Mastitis in our milk cow Not rated yet
Several years ago I had a milk cow that developed mastitis. I bought some medication from the vet to clear it up but it didn't work. I …

Apple Cider Vinegar and Ferrets? Not rated yet
I'm curious to know if anyone out there has any information about how ACV could benefit ferrets? I have two male ferrets, and I have started …

How avc helped my cats ears Not rated yet
I adopted OW, my cat at a humane society a year ago, she was neglected and abused and suffered cauliflowered ears from the neglect. We were …

Click here to write your own.