The benefits of Manuka Honey on dogs

If your dog has a cut, burn, infection or wound, have you considered Manuka Honey?

Manuka honey has amazing healing properties, it is a natural antispectic, antibiotic, antifungal, antivrial, antioxidant, antimicrobial and has anti-inflammatory properties.

Beware though as the honey on supermarket shelves is pasteurized, robbing the honey of all its nutritional qualities.

When using for wound care, it should be unpasteurized and medical grade - my own vets use Activon, which is readily available online at places like Amazon. I have recently purchased three tubes for £12 (August 2019)

Below are pictures of Gabbys foot (Laekenois). She got her foot trapped in her kennel and caused horrendous damage.

She was taken to the vets who wanted to amputate, but the owners wanted to give her a chance. The vet had huge reservations and said she would probably never walk on it again.

The leg was dressed by the vet daily and she had to be sedated each time.
A few weeks into the treatment he started applying Manuka honey.

Below left is approx four weeks after the initital injury and walking normally.
Bottom right six months later, completely healed and barely any scar tissue.

Nothing compared to the images above, but one of my Collies ripped her dew claw right at the base, and due to her being so accident prone, the previous month she cut her pad, I told the vet to remove it to avoid future trauma.

All went well for a week until the dressing was removed and she was allowed to be exercised.
Unfortunately, true to form she ran like the wind and ripped it open between the stitches.

The skin had started to break down and it looked slightly infected so the vet couldn't restitch it.

So, the leg was shaved to keep it clean and for a week we had to go back every other day.
They packed the wound with Activon and covered it with a Biotain dressing followed by vet wrap.
After a week the hole had filled in, so for the next 7 days I was asked to bathe it twice daily with diluted hibiscrub
and put Activon on three times a day.

Manuka honey can be also be taken iinternally to treat allergies, kennel cough symptoms, digestive issues and stomach ulcers.

Internally you should use the following as a guideline and start off slowly

1/2 tsp, twice a day, for a small sized dog, 1 tsp, twice a day, for a medium sized dog and 2 tsp, twice a day, for a large dog

Manuka, as with all honey, contains a high sugar content, so if your dog is diabetic or overweight, it’s best to consult your veterinarian before giving to your dog.

Manuka is not recommended for dogs under a year of age. Manuka may contain bacteria that your puppy isn’t ready to fight off. Adult dogs have no problems with it.