Sty’s on your dog are a thing. They can happen when there is some sort of infection in the eyelid glands. A red bump will develop on the eyelids or brow. Depending on the infection, one or more of these red bumps can develop. They can get pretty big too, Bourbon got one and within a couple days it tripped in size. Mind you he keeps rubbing his eye on everything he can, obviously that isn’t helping.

What can you do about the sty?

There are a few different things you can Do to take care of the sty;

• Sty’s can pop on thier own
• Treatment options
• Essential oils can help

Sty’s healing on their own.

The sty really is an abscess to put it plainly. So, sometimes as it forms there will be a head on it, and other times it will self absorb as the source of the infection heals. If you see a head on the sty it is not suggested that you try and pop it yourself, or even pop it at all. If there is a head it can and will pop all on its own. As usual with most health concern with your dog it is best to consult your vet. They can assist you with treating the infection so that the sty can self absorb, or give you other options to take care of the sty.

There are a couple treatment options.

When you take your dog to the vet, they may want to do a culture swap to identify what bacterial infection your dogs eye. They then may suggest some things like a warm compress that your would apply to the eye daily for a lengthy of time of approx 15min.

Keep in mind with all treatment options that they sty can be very painful to your pet, and depending on the size and the infection your pup may react with a nip when you’re trying to touch it and examine it. Don’t be upset at them, they are just in pain.

Your vet may also prescribe an antibiotic eye drop to help with the infection and prompt the dissolve or busting of the sty. When you notice the sty starting to weep, try to keep on top of it and wipe away the goop coming out. If you notice that the drops aren’t helping after a couple days or that the infection sees to increase, your treatment plan may not be working and your should follow up with the vet.

Natural healing with essential oils.

Essential oils have taking the healing industry by storm over the last few years. Beware when using essential oils, not all oils are safe for your pet, some oils such as tea tree can be dangerous to their health. If you decide to use essential oils with your dogs be sure to make sure they are pure sourced and you know all ingredients if you decide to use oils blends.

Oils and blend that have been known to assist your pup are some of the following. Frankinsnece is a popular one for assistance with inflammation. Also if applied early enough Frankincense can help keep insect bites from getting inflamed and possibly help avoid an infection. Frankincense is a very prominent smell, not everyone likes it and you may find it overbearing. Don’t worry, there are some other options for you.

Lavender is a go too for many things, your dog is one of them. Lavender is also good for reducing inflammation, it can assist with reliving and reducing anxiety as well. Sometimes Bourbon stresses out when I have been gone to work all day, so when I’m joke at night, after his walk I’ll diffuse some lavender oil in the living room, helps both of us unwind.

Natural essential oils can be very potentant, when using it topically it is advised that you dilute it with something like a carrier oil such coconut oil. The benefits form doing that is that it reduces the potency as to not be overwhelming and the carrier oil also helps the skin slowly absorb the oils allowing them to be more effective. Next you will want to put your blend on a cotton swab before applying it to the effected area.

Side note, if you like in an area where you are worried about bug bites, get a class spray bottle, fill it with water and add a drop of wild orange, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary and clove essential oils and use it as a natural bug sorry for you and your dog. I’m not at all suggesting to rely on this as sole protection from ticks and such, I still stress the use of monthly treatments for this. The essential oil mixture it to help repel some other insects that might bite your dog and cause inflammation or irritation in their skin.

If you decide you want to try essential oils, I get all my oils from dōTERRA, I’ll add a link at the bottom of this page for your to follow to see some of those products and prices, some oils can be found at your local health food store or pharmacy, but there are many that are hard to find. Before you buy some talk to your vet about the use of essential oils, they may suggest some allergy tests to make sure they aren’t allergic to the plant based of the oils you are thinking of using, and they may also be able to offer you some other great options and uses for the oils as well.

Don’t forget. Stay away from any oil or oil blends that include tea tree oil. They can be toxic to your dog if they ingest it.

SHOP HERE: If you are interested in shopping and learning more about essential oils.