There is no doubting the positive health benefits of coconut oil for both pets and for humans, and the benefits themselves can be seen in other articles we have provided on coconut oil, but one question that seems unclear for many people is how to use coconut oil and how much coconut oil should you feed to your pet? This is a pretty easy question to answer, as the general rules for using coconut oil in pet food go by body weight and metabolism. One thing that is very important to consider, however, is getting your pet used to eating the coconut oil in their food. Trying to put a maximum amount into your pet’s food without getting them used to eat it can cause them to feel sick, and potentially get diarrhea or vomiting. For this reason, you will want to make sure that you add the coconut oil to your pet’s food in gradually increasing amounts, over the course of about two weeks. Start with a small amount and work your way up, feeding it to them by mixing it into their regular food each time they eat. The following are the amounts you should feed to your pet:

Dogs:

Large dogs and medium-sized dogs should start by getting about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil mixed directly into their food when they eat. Increase this amount gradually for the next two weeks to get them used to it, eventually getting to the full amount of 1-2 full tablespoons per day. If your pet eats twice per day or more, simply divide the amounts equally with each serving of food so that they are getting 1-2 full tablespoons in a 24 hour period.

Small dogs will get about half the amount as larger dogs. This means starting with 1/2-1 teaspoon of coconut oil and increasing that daily amount over a 2 week period until you are finally serving them 1 full tablespoon every 24 hours.

Cats:

Adult cats should start with 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil mixed into daily food and increasing over the course of 2 weeks until they reach the maximum amount of 1-3 teaspoons in a 24 hour period.

Kittens should start with 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil each day and gradually increase that amount over a 2 week period of time to 1 teaspoon in a 24 hour period.

Additional use of coconut oil in dogs is dabbing a small amount on their nose in order to keep “nose crust” down in some breeds. You may notice a development on your dog’s nose of a crusty, scab-like substance that does not come off very easily. This is a scaley growth that is sometimes made worse by food getting stuck as well. It will usually hurt to try and remove this by scrubbing your dog’s nose, so it is best to soften it over time by dabbing a small amount of coconut oil directly on the crusty surface each day until it falls off naturally. Dogs love the taste of coconut oil, so they will lick the area clean!