Pet Grooming: It’s not just giving your pet a bath.

Taking a shower – most of us do it twice a day, so we should be experts even when it comes to bathing our pets, isn’t it? Hell, even some professional pet groomers aren’t doing a good job.

So today, I’d like to offer some advice, and hopefully, you’d learn something new. Apart from its purpose of keeping your pets clean, proper pet grooming technique aids in promoting skin health, although the opposite is true – when done carelessly, it may lead to skin problems. Here’s what you need:

  1. Squeeze bottle. Those are selling for a dollar in hardware shops for chili sauce. squeeze bottle
  2. Quality shampoo. It doesn’t have to be expensive. I like to look for those that are sulfate free. Most soaps have sulfate-based surfactants, which cause irritation and other problems manufacturers don’t want us to know. An alternative is to look for Cocamidopropyl betaine, a coconut oil-derived surfactant used in most organic products as the main cleansing ingredient.
  3. Quality conditioner. Again, it doesn’t have to be expensive. If possible, look for products without mineral oil (or search for keywords like paraffin or petrolatum) and silicone (chemical names ending with -cone, e.g., dimethicone, -conol, or -siloxane). Or else, ensure they are at the bottom of the ingredients list.

Directions:

  1. Mix the shampoo in the squeeze bottle and mix it with 5-10 parts water. How much water to dilute is up to you. As long it’s easy to apply, and it foams sufficiently, then it’s OK. Why dilute? The reason is that all shampoo leaves a residue, no matter how well you think you have to rinse it away. Diluting prevents too much residue from accumulating on one area of the skin and coat. Secondly, diluted shampoo spreads easily, rinses easily, and saves money!
  2. If it’s a treatment shampoo, please leave it on for 5 minutes or as directed.
  3. As residue does more harm than good, it’s imperative that the shampoo gets rinsed off thoroughly until the coat feels squeaky.
  4. Dilute the conditioner like you did with the shampoo and apply it to the whole body. Pay extra attention to the armpit, legs, and undercarriage, as these are places usually neglected during brushing and more commonly exposed to factors that cause tangles.baking soda
  5. Similarly, make sure you rinse off the conditioner thoroughly. A thoroughly rinsed should feel powdery, not slick and oily. A good conditioner should not feel too smooth, as it indicates that there is too much silicon or mineral oil in it.
  6. Once a month, mix a teaspoon of baking soda into the shampoo (you may add unfiltered apple cider vinegar, too, if you want to) and shampoo your pet as usual. This removes the residual build-up and clarifies the hair shaft and skin, making treatment products work better and adding volume to the coat. You can even use it on your hair once a week!

Even when the conditioner indicates that it can be left on or rinsed lightly, my experience has shown that it may cause skin problems rather than help it. One possible explanation may be that because of Singapore’s humid weather, the conditioner retains excessive moisture on the skin and coat, creating a moist environment that promotes bacterial and fungal growth. Most pet products, including food, are designed and used in cooler climates, and we must keep that in mind.

If you need any more pet grooming tips, let us know what you would like to be featured!