Is that dog hair in my soup?

March 9, 2021

If you own a pet that sheds, there is a good chance you’ve had dog hair soup. Dog hair soup doesn’t have a distinct taste to it but it can be thicker than regular soup. Most pet owners will just pick this dog hair out and continue to eat, unlike the human hair soup which will cause you to just through the bowl in the sink and eat a sandwich, never to eat soup again. Nevertheless, nobody really wants dog hair in their soup or sandwich for that matter. The desire to contain your pet’s hair can cause some people to go to extremes. Wrapping your pet in saran wrap is not an option here, imagine what Facebook will do to you when you post that picture. So unless you own stock in vacuum cleaner companies, allow me to help you and your pet.

Shedding is a natural process and the goal here is not to stop the shedding but to take your pet to a healthy shedding. Shedding isn’t just a nuisance it can also be the first sign of health issues. In some cases, shedding isn’t shedding, in fact, it is hair loss and it’s important to know the difference because hair loss can be a hormonal imbalance and needs to be addressed by your veterinarian. Excessive shedding, however, can be addressed by diet.

Before we get into this, I first want you to stop trying to Band-Aid the problem. Deshedding shampoos are all over and they can cost you a pretty penny, but do they work? No! I have tried all of them over the years and we even did a little experiment on youtube for you to watch so check out our youtube channel” ‘The Spawdcast”. Other than the fact that I don’t think they work, I don’t like some of the ingredients, put it this way, their natural ingredients aren’t so natural. I examined 5 of the top brands and I found ingredients such as phenoxyethanol. Phenoxyethanol is an alternative to formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. In Europe and Japan it is highly regulated by percentage but not in the US so I have no idea how much of this it put in some of these deshedding shampoos but does it even matter? Other ingredients include; Xanthan Gum, this ingredient can have serious side effects, especially since our pets clean themselves often. Diazolidinyl Urea is another ingredient found in these shampoos but this one, in particular, is interesting since one of the side effects is redness or rashes when applied to skin. I encourage you to look at all of the ingredients in any shampoo but for some reason the DE shedding shampoos have a wide range of crazy ingredients in them. But don’t be fooled some of the ingredients were listed as a “proprietary blend”, meaning we have know idea what it is. But none of this really matters because none of them I tested worked and I did the white towel, black dog test, so there( lol)

But here is something that will work and have lasting healthy results for your pet. Excessive shedding can be caused by a high carbohydrate low protein diet. So here are few things to add to help with shedding; eggs, sardines, and fermented fish stock. If your pet is eating the following foods you will need to add or change your pet’s diet and remember, excessive shedding is not just a hairy pain in the butt it can be a health issue, so eliminate or greatly reduce kibble. All kibble is high in carbohydrates(there is a reason they don’t list it on the bag) but simply adding an egg will help. If your pet is eating rice, potatoes, macaroni or any starchy foods you will have a hard time getting the shedding under control.

If you have concerns about your pet’s shedding and how his/her diet could be playing a role I encourage you to speak to a pet nutritionist and stop spending money on DE shedding shampoos and look for the cause. And for the love of dog DONT WRAP THEM IN SERAN WRAP!!!!