So, any of you who have particular breeds of dogs are aware of breed specific “issues.” For English bulldogs, like Jeffery, they can have a slew of problems, from most of which JDawg is symptom free. However, since we’ve moved to Florida from Los Angeles, he has experienced several fun skin issues.
Most notably, his now stinky tail. English Bulldogs can have 2 different styles of tails. The first one sticks straight out and kinda looks like a broken thumb. Or, like Jeffery, one that grows in a spiral, exactly like a cinnamon roll.
Pugs have cinnamon roll tails too!
So, what’s the problem with such incredible cuteness? Well, any type of prolonged moisture (or humidity…welcome to the south!) that gets in there can’t fully dry out. This can cause painful skin infections and bacteria growth. Sometimes, the tail even has to be surgically removed! Hence, after living here in humidity central for 3 years, Jeffery now has a stinky tail.
So how to treat this? It’s uncomfortable for the doggie and unpleasant for anyone around the doggie (bleh! what’s that smell? Oh…it’s just Jeffery…)
At first we went repeatedly to the Vet, who gave us this. Jeffery hated it. Even though it’s suppose to be an anti-inflammatory product, it seemed to sting and hurt. Basically, as soon as he saw me reaching for the bottle he would run to his bed and sit down. When an 85 pound Bulldog decides to sit down, you have as much chance reaching his sore little tail as you have of uplifting a fire hydrant.
Disregarding JDawg’s fussiness, I- like good mothers everywhere- still forced him to allow me to apply his medicine. He forgave me…eventually. (Bits of hotdogs helped.)
We tried this for, ooooh, about 10 bottles, spread throughout the last 8 months. No real improvement, but one increasingly cranky bulldog.
So, I decided to take matters into my own holistic hands and began a treatment of coconut oil and essential oils.
Coconut oil because of it’s high lauric acid content (bacterial fighting abilities.) Essential oils because of their amazing antibacterial, anti fungal, and skin healing properties.
The results:
- Much reduced inflammation.
- Jeffery doesn’t hate the EO’s and he’ll actually let me apply them without fighting (much.)
- No more bleeding, and I can see pink, healthy skin, vrs the red swollen oozing mess that it was before.
- Jeffery will let you touch his tail now, whereas before it was so tender he’d flinch and react when anyone got too close to touching that area.
I’m pretty sure I will have to apply this treatment as an ongoing thing, which is fine. He’s doing great, and is once again the happy lil fire hydrant that loves to be tickled 🙂
Have you ever used Essential Oils to treat your pet? If so, please tell me what you used and the results!
Jeffery the Bulldog…he has a bizarre motorcycle addiction.
The Sassy Pure Way Blog 
Great idea! I haven’t tried coconut oil for my dog’s dry skin but I’m definitely going to. I have a 10 year old Min Pin rescue that gets terrible dry skin in the winter and I hate using chemicals/pharmaceuticals. Thanks so much for the tip!
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You’re welcome!! For dry skin, also try avocado butter. It’s wonderful for dry skin.
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Oh what luck!! I have been looking for an alternative way to take care of my bulldog Barbro’s (we are from Sweden!) stinky/infected tail pocket and a collegue of mine said “use coconut oil – I use it for everything” – umm coconut oil … really? So I thought that I would have to google and see if it was a good idea and found your wonderful blog! I use coconut oil a lot myself but didn’t think to use it for the dogs (I have a little pug as well but she has a “normal” tail .:o) ) – will try this evening when I get home! What essential oils did you use? Many thanks for sharing your info!
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Hi Lynn! I’m so glad you found our blog! Yes, those tail pockets can be a real trial, especially when they get infected. The brand of essential oils I use are Young Living. I’ve used many different sorts of oils, and what I love about the Young Living oils, aside from the high quality, is their consistency. You really get what you pay for it seems!
Now, the oils that I used to help Jeffery’s tail are two of their blends, the Thieves and Purification. These blends have several different oils that kill bacteria and fungus while relieving inflammation and helping healthy skin regenerate. I mixed the oils with (slightly warmed) coconut oil. Coconut oil has wonderful anti-fungal and antibacterial properties by itself, and Jeffery looooved when I would apply this warm, soothing mixture to his little sore bottom.
After about a week of daily application, the infection was cleared and the inflammation was gone. For daily tail pocket “upkeep” (which must be done) I wash his tail with a special cleanser (Band-Aid Hurt Free Antiseptic Wash) and then powder it with GoldBond Medicated Powder. The Gold Bond powder has zinc and menthol, which helps keep the tail pocket dry. We live in a very humid area, and keeping his tail fold dried out is very important to stop future infections. Hope this helps your puppy! Send us a pic :)! Best wishes!
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Could you share how many drops of each you used and how much CO??? I would love to try this on our bully!!!!
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My Buster has a very deep tail pocket that I clean, but it stays red and raw looking. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him though. I give him coconut oil every morning and evening in his food. Are you saying you use the mixture inside the pocket? I use essential oils for everything, so I was so excited to find your post. How many drop of the blends do you recommend?
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Hi Lori,
Thanks for your comment. I did use the mixture inside his tail fold, it was soothing and greatly reduced the infection. However, we were unable to fully heal his tail infection, and after a year, we had his tail removed. After the surgery (100% success!) his vet reported that his tail infection would have never fully healed as the tail tendons had twisted and tightened the tail bone severely.
For the mixture, I made a small pot of coconut oil and added about 16 drops of EOs. The pot was quite small, maybe 1/4 cup.
Hope this helps!
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Thank you Bethany. I am going to give this a try.
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