RE: "Human" shampoo on dogs

Judith Joyce — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 19:02:52 GMT

I have been in audiences told that shampoos developed for humans with skin pH5 are not suitable for dogs with skin pH7.

To comment on your issues;

1. I haven't tested them

2. Agree, but a lot of them have strong scents and colours, might that be more of an issue than pH.

3. There are also some quite well thought out ranges of veterinary dog shampoos which appear to do what it says on the bottle. My mantra was always to start gentle and mild to avoid doing damage - ie don't jump in first with the newest/strongest thing on the market.

4. Evidence? I know there's work on this.

5. Evidence? - is the pH of diseased skin different from normal skin? Presumably the concern of using an "acidic" ahampoo is that it might be less likely to be keratoplastic

6. Are they?

7. The shampoo is frequently not rinsed off thoroughly and I have seen a number of cases of intertriginous dermatitis following shampoo which I have blamed on residues left behind. I've never looked at the component causing the issue - couldn't exclude pH?

8. I don't know if I do or not. I have certainly seen human shampoo-itis; dog shampoo-itis and fairy liquid-itis. I've also turned a Westie green after it swami in the river following shampooing with a veterinary shampoo. I've never investigated the role of ph.

9. That's true of some proprietary products but the manufacturers of the veterinary products tend to produce supporting evidence for the use of their shampoo which are published or presented to veterinary audiences.