Oatmeal Bath for Dogs

Oatmeal baths are one of the cheapest and most effective ways to help your itchy dog. There are plenty of expensive oatmeal baths, shampoos, and sprays for sale, but if you have a food processor or blender, you can easily make your own dog spa treatment. 

Oatmeal soothes, nourishes, and moisturizes dog's skin (human skin too so feel free to use this in your own tub), one of our dogs suffers from allergies and a nice oatmeal and Epsom salt bath takes away the itching and keeps her comfortable. I give them an oatmeal bath about every 3 weeks. If you have an itchy dog, talk to your vet about causes and treatments, and ask if an oatmeal bath will help them too. 

Step 1: Grind Oatmeal to Powder

This all-natural remedy couldn't be simpler, just grind as much oatmeal as you'd like (or can fit) in your blender or food processor until a flour-like consistency is reached (incidentally this would be called Oat Flour, and can also be used in baking).

I usually fill my Vitamix halfway with oats and use the tamper to get all the oats ground. If your machine doesn't have a tamper, stop the machine and use a spatula a few times around the edges. Do a few batches and you'll have plenty to last awhile. 

Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature. 

Step 2: Bath Time!

I like to use a combination of oatmeal and Epsom salt in my dogs' bath since both help itching. (Note: if your dog likes to drink its bath water, you might want to skip the Epsom salt or you might give your dog diarrhea.)

Try to fill the sink/tub with warm water to a level that will be chest high on your dog, since my Car-Li is shorter, I use her height. (Make sure to account for the rise in water when you add your dog.) Add 1/2 cup each ground oatmeal and Epsom salt to the warm water. Stir with your hand to dissolve, making sure to touch the bottom of sink/tub to make sure you dissolve as much as possible. (If you are in a full size tub or have a larger dog you will want to up the amount. ) 

Add dog(s), use a cup to scoop the oatmeal/Epsom water all over their skin (being careful to avoid their eyes, nose, and mouth). 
Let them soak for 10 minutes, if your pooch really hates baths at least aim for 5 minutes. 

After 10 minutes you have the option of removing the dog without rinsing and towel dry, the oatmeal will dry on the skin and soothe it. Since this IS bath-time, I drain the sink and shampoo them (either with medicated shampoo from the vet or oatmeal shampoo), then rinse and towel dry. If their hair is longer I brush it, then it's nap time!

Hopefully your pooch will enjoy an oatmeal bath soon!  

Comments

[JackG54]

I hate my phone

We just started her on Dinovite and we've resorted to giving her 1 25 mg Benadryl twice a day. (She weighs 40 lbs)

I'm going to try the oatmeal bath tonight. Please pray this helps! Thanks for your blog!

[bobcatsteph3]

Thanks for rescuing, this is my Hay-Li, she joined our pack about 10 months ago after spending 6 years inside a cage in a puppy mill. For months she had paw infections we couldn't find the cause of, her vets finally figured out that she's itchy and she was licking her paws so much, her fur was getting pushed inside her paw pads and infecting them. Instead of putting her through allergy testing that takes almost a year to work, our vets told us about a new medicine that stops dogs from being itchy, called Apoquel. She hasn't had a paw infection in the six months she's been taking it.

You should probably also talk to your vet about Haley, one of my sister's cats recently had ringworm, and your dog's hair loss sounds a lot like my sister's cat's symptoms. And if they have fleas, Walmart now carries generic FrontLine that should eliminate that problem. Maybe when she's outside she's just not focused on the itching, but when she's relaxed she feels it more.

Hopefully the oatmeal baths give her some relief!

[JackG54]

Thanks! Hay-Li is a cutie! I love the Asian spin on her name, too!

The bath did help! Haley's such a sweet girl, so accepting. At first she wasn't thrilled about the bath but after a couple of minutes (and a couple of treats) she was fine. She's itchy again this morning but nothing like she has been. We'll give her another one in a couple days.

They're both outside. When she comes in again I'll give her a dose of yogurt with some Dinovite. Twice a day we've been giving her about 1/4 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt with a teaspoon of Dinovite folded in.

I was surprised to not find a single flea in the bathwater and I spent some time looking before I drained the tub and as it drained. I had also thought about her being more distracted while out but she loves being outside and often just lies in one of the flower beds for hours. But I never see her scratch one time until she comes in the house.

Thanks for the tip about Apoquel. I have to admit, however, it sounds pretty scary. We try really hard to find natural remedies for ourselves as well as our pets but if we can't treat this organically then we may have to look into a chemical med.

Thanks again for your help! Have a great weekend!

[wnn9448]

Apoquel has been an absolute life saver for our dog. I can't tell you how much I praise this medication. My dog was beyond miserable and within 24 hours of starting apoquel, he was a whole new dog and has been nothing but happy since. I cannot recommend it enough for dogs with any allergies!

[jmwds7]

My water is City water meaning it has clorine in it and i think that is one issue I'm having with my dog itching but will the oatmeal/Epsom sakt offset that and help witj the itching. My dog is big. Old English sheepdog but not alot of hair right now but enough. I can neutralize the chlorine but still going to have it when washing soap off. Any help is appreciated.

[greeneyez7000]

Can I wash my dog with her shampoo and conditioner that has chorhexidine in it 1st and then give her an oatmeal bath?

[KathyR120]

What a very informative post! Thank you so much! I have a king shepherd that has every allergy known to man he was fine his whole life until he turned two years old. What a nightmare it is for all involved but mostly for him. I seen a post like this a few months back and my rwcipe goes like this....
I boiled 3 cups of water stirred in 2 cups of oatmeal to the boiling water removed from flame put a lid on and let it just sit for an hour.
Then squeezed out the oatmeal threw it away added 2 tsp of baby shampoo, & shake to mix.
MY BIG BOY LOVED IT!!! He was finally at ease!! I figured every three weeks would be good without causing any further irritations from bathing to much.. Hope this helps...it was a lufesaver for him and us.

[1namaste1]

thank you, very helpful. Didn’t know about Epsom salt, thanks very much!!

[sansoomaster]

Hi. forgive my ignorance - i'm new to dog bathing, but this instructable is mislabeled - it tells you to grind oatmeal to a flour consistency. well... then what? do you dust the dog with it? put a cup in bath water? snort it? do you use this Instead of shampoo, or as a rinse. or.... ? sorry - I really am clueless

[RainS12]

if you bothered to read it at all, it says quite clearly that you add it to the bath water and soak the dog in it.

[Jinxx2010]

hey dude, after you grind the powder down you fill your tub with warm water to about chest height for your dog. you dissolve the powder in the water and place your dog in it. continuously pour the water over your dog (avoiding the head obviously) and allow your dog to soak for 10-15 minutes. you don't have to rinse,just towel dry. good luck !!

[JackG54]

Meet Molly (front) and Haley. Both are "rescue" dogs that otherwise would have been put down. Molly's about 12 & we just adopted Haley about two months ago. They're both indoor/outdoor dogs so I'm sure at least part of the issue is fleas. But Haley's miserable and it's breaking our hearts.

The odd thing is, she presents no symptoms whatsoever outside but within minutes of coming in she's scratching & biting like crazy. She's even starting to lose her hair at the base of and on her tail. Odder still, neither Molly nor our cat Stormy dis

[BridgetR17]

Exactly the same symptoms as our dog.

[KimS225]

My groomer gave my Australian shepherds an oatmeal bath for itchy skin because they didn't see fleas. I treated them with flea drops because my cats had fleas. They continue to scratch and lick. They appear to be allergic to grains and poultry. I am wondering if they could be allergic to the oatmeal bath and could have made it worse? What do you think?

[TracieH8]

I wanted to thank you for this. I tried this two days ago in desperation and it worked! I didn't have any Epsom salt at the time but I do now...and her next one will have some in the water. For a dog that tolerates a bath at best, she sat waist deep in warm oatmeal water while I dunked a two cup measuring glass of warm oatmeal water on her back for 12 minutes. During that time she darn near fell asleep. I have either stumbled upon a new way to bathe her normally, or she was so miserable that she was willing to do what I've never seen her do in the seven years we've had her. We still do have her on a twice a day benedryl regimen and I decided to give Dynovite one last shot. Our dog is raw fed, so I'm thinking that Dynovite didn't really work as well as it has for others just because she gets all of that stuff in her food everyday. But it can't hurt and it was better than throwing it out. I am also giving her a little yogurt with her food. All of that seems to have made a difference. I live in Redding, Ca and our relative humidity is so low it's not even on the charts. We are all suffering from dry skin....including our dog. Thank you for posting the instructions so that I could try this and find success.

[JackG54]

I hate my phone

We just started her on Dinovite and we've resorted to giving her 1 25 mg Benadryl twice a day. (She weighs 40 lbs)

I'm going to try the oatmeal bath tonight. Please pray this helps! Thanks for your blog!

[JackG54]

I hate my phone

We just started her on Dinovite and we've resorted to giving her 1 25 mg Benadryl twice a day. (She weighs 40 lbs)

I'm going to try the oatmeal bath tonight. Please pray this helps! Thanks for your blog!

[JackG54]

Oops. Anyway, Molly nor Stormy show any of these symptoms.

We've tried several different flea meds/treatments; wiping her down with water & organic apple cider vinegar in a 4:1 solution seems to ease her misery for a while; we've just st

[JKerrie1975]

Hi my dog has lupus and he gets dry black spots on this back, how can i soak him in oatmeal as he is a 50 lb retriever?

[bobcatsteph3]

Poor doggy. How about this, do you give him baths in a tub or baby pool? I'd try to fill the tub with a few inches of warm water and dissolve a few cups of oatmeal powder into the water, as he soaks use a cup to pour the oatmeal water over his back, try to keep him soaking as long as he's comfortable, pouring water over his back every minute or so, then rinse him off and see how he feels. My dogs usually feel so great after their soak they take long, long naps! Best wishes!