Health Benefits of Coconut Oil for Dogs

You love your pooch and see him or her as part of the family. When the family pet becomes sick the whole family worries. As with human medicine, dog medicine can be very strong and can cause side effects which are worse than the disease it is treating. One of the best ways to keep your dog healthy is to use coconut oil.

It is possible to use any organic virgin coconut oil for your dog. If you are worried about which brand to get then CocoTherapy do organic virgin coconut oil especially for dogs. It is best to start the dog on just half a teaspoon and slowly increase the dosage to 2 teaspoons a day. You can feed the coconut oil directly to the dog or mix it in dog food. Dogs love the taste of coconut oil and so either method is unproblematic. You just have to make sure a dog’s stools are not greasy and loose. This is caused by introducing coconut oil too fast to the diet of a dog.

Coconut oil has been shown to be beneficial to human health and the same is true for dogs. Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids that are readily metabolized by the dog and turned to energy. For this reason coconut oil in a dog’s diet can help a dog to lose weight.

There is lauric acid in coconut oil. Lauric acid is also found in mother’s milk and is a proven antimicrobial agent that helps a dog’s digestive system especially if a dog has eaten low quality food from the garbage. Also the lauric acid in coconut oil helps to protect a dog from viral infection.

Much research has been done into the health benefits of coconut oil. One of the most interesting results is the power of coconut oil to stimulate the thyroid gland which in turn improves the immunity system both for people and for dogs. Laboratory tests on rats that were given coconut oil and corn oil and then given cancer inducing injections found that 32% of the rats feed on corn oil developed cancer whereas only 3% of the rats fed on coconut oil developed cancer. This is a strong argument for both owner and dog taking a little coconut oil every day to prevent serious illness in the future.

Another important use of coconut oil is as a moisturizer. The oil contains antioxidants that stop the formation of free radicals that cause the signs of aging and helps top up falling levels of oil secreted from the sebaceous gland caused by aging. Coconut oil in the diet of a dog helps to keep the dog’s fur in good condition. It can also be used to moisturize cracked paw skin.

If you love your dog (and I’m sure you do) then you should give the dog a diet that will protect it from disease, help it stay trim and give it shiny fur. For all these purposes there is nothing better than organic virgin coconut oil.