Skin and Coat Care for Your Pet

A weekly scrambled egg added to your cat or dog’s food will keep her coat shiny and it’s a healthy treat most pets love. However, raw eggs are off limits, because they may be contaminated with salmonella.

That sticky something in your pet’s fur could be pine sap, mud or something unmentionable. Before you get out the scissors and cut away the gummy patch, leaving your dog or cat with a bald spot, try mixing 1 teaspoon mild shampoo or washing-up liquid with 60–120ml warm water and whisk well. Wearing rubber gloves, apply some of the solution to your pet’s sticky spot, rubbing it in with your fingers. Then comb the spot with a wire-toothed brush. Once you’ve removed the sticky stuff, wash away any soapy residue with warm water.

You may think that mouthwashes are for oral hygiene only. But they’re also a good all-round disinfectant for your dog or cat (and for you, too, for that matter). Use one of the stronger mouthwash brands as an astringent on your pet’s skin to disinfect wounds, clean cuts and scrapes, and cool down boils and other hot spots. Just moisten a cotton wool ball with mouthwash and dab it onto the affected area to help a wounded dog or cat heal more quickly.

Top tip: Revitalise dry hair with tea

If your pet’s coat is looking a little less than lustrous, shampoo Fluffy or Fido as you usually do, then complete the wash by rinsing their coat with a litre of warm unsweetened tea.

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