Oatmeal baths are great. I’m white, see, my coat is not especially dense and my skin is sensitive. I pink up easily. I have a very low threshold for heat and with insects and dandelions and all manner of allergens, I sometimes get itchy.
First She got this “calming” spray. That didn’t work. Then She got me a spot-on flea treatment. That didn’t work. Over-the-counter Benedryl helped with the irritation in my throat but I still had an itch. Then She got a bright idea.
After my usual oatmeal shampoo bath in water softened with a half cup of Epsom salt, She toweled me dry, warmed a cup of olive oil and drizzled it all over my body, kneading it into my skin with her finger tips.
The sensation actually made me sit bolt upright and pay attention. Aahhhh… It was so soothing! This is what the spa for People must be like, only shorter and a whole lot less expensive. Then she towled me off again.
The consistency of olive oil is not like a petroleum based jelly. It’s not greasy and it almost immediately is absorbed into the skin.
Then she brushed and brushed and brushed and brushed. Ummmm. And brushed me. Now, I’m all James Brown up in here. I feel good! Snuffles ain’t got nothin’ on me!
My oatmeal-olive oil spa day made the 50/50 vinegar and water solution ear wash easier to endure. And to forgive. What a fun day! I’m exhausted.
The That-home oatmeal bath and spa. enthusiastic paws up!
Goodwill Energies I directToward each and every one of youEach and every day!
“And there came to be evening and there came to be morning.”
These things are good…
Ice cream and cake, a ride on a Harley, seeing monkeys in a tree
Rain on my tongue
and the sun shining on my face.
These things are a drag…
Dust in my hair, holes in my shoes, no money in my pocket,
and the sun shining on my face.
Roy Dennis (Rocky) 1964-1980 from the movie “Mask”/1985
I love when she bathes me in water softened with Epsom salt. It takes the itches away. It dries up interdigital cysts and other minor skin irritations and abrasions. It makes me smell good all the time and at least for me, it helps lengthen the interval between baths. She bathes me on average once a month. She cares for my nose fold, ears, mouth, toes and anus every day. She does not use baby wipes or anything with peroxide. To eliminate chemical allergies, She washes everything using dye free, perfume free detergents. When the vet techs were gathering information about me for my TPLO (Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) surgery in December, they marveled at how clean my ears and nose fold were and about how white, soft, shiny and silky my coat was. And That was a lot since I don’t have a dense coat.
After my corneal ulcer episode, I became very itchy. Of course it was summer time as well so that didn’t help matters. My vet recommended OTC benedryl. It worked for me. It took away the itchiness in the back of my throat, (which was good ’cause then She stopped referring to me as Her bulldog version of Felix Unger).
Summer also may expose bulldogs to a whole range of potential irritants, allergans and sensitivities. I love the beach, but sometimes dried seaweed on the beach harbor sand mites that may get in your ears or fly up your nose and even bite. Salt water, if not rinsed off thoroughly and immediately may become trapped in wrinkles and folds. This creates a moist breeding ground that may contribute to or exacerbate hot spots in bulldogs that are prone to them and make your bully smelly.
Your bulldog could even have a sensitivity to pollutants in ocean water that may contribute to tearing, causing ugly stains that are deep, dark and resistant to most tear stain remedies. I developed a tear stain because of my eye injury. After I recovered, She wiped the stain every day with a soft cloth soaked in Epsom salt water. To this day, I have no stains.
Lush, wet grass and ground cover may cause interdigital cysts. I’m hypersensitive to periwinkle. When I stopped walking on periwinkle, I stopped getting ID cysts. But when I did get them, She soaked my feet in warm water and Epsom salt, thoroughly dried the affected areas, then wiped them with a Clearasil pad. Yes, Clearsil.
Using olive oil to moisturize and calm my skin was a happy accident. Last year, She rubbed my itchy shoulder with some olive oil. She noticed I wasn’t scratching there anymore. Then when I got an itch behind my ear, She rubbed in olive oil.
Now, every time I take a bath, She pours warm olive oil on my back, the area behind my ears and rubs some in my pie hole. Then She does a deep massage of the areas where I used to get most itchy– behind my shoulder and ears. She towels off the excess on my coat taking care not to rub my skin with the towel. Then She gets the brush out and spends about a half hour vigorously brushing me. Especially my tight tail. Ahhh. Afterwards I just go to sleep. It’s That calming.
She will generally get what’s on sale or She’ll get the warehouse size containers because when practical, she cooks with olive oil. It lasts several months. And yes, She does use a separate container for my olive oil. I even like it when she drizzles some on my Royal Canin, or gives me a piece of bread She’s dipped in it. Ummm. Yum. These things are good.
Goodwill Energies I directToward each and every one of youEach and every day
And there came to be evening and there came to be morning
That’s life today.
Then she brushed and brushed and brushed and brushed. Ummmm. And brushed me. Now, I’m all James Brown up in here. I feel good! Snuffles ain’t got nothin’ on me!
enthusiastic paws up!
ThatOne | EBD 
