Why Your Dog Won’t Eat HoneyCure
We hear this a lot: will my dog lick HoneyCure off their wound? Rest assured, your pet won’t eat it! As one of the founders of HoneyCure, I grew up with dogs who were experts at hurting themselves in the most creative ways. My family’s first dog, Molly, had to go out one day while we had some garage construction going on in the yard. A brief bathroom run turned into a squirrel chase and she finished out the day with several stitches. Fast forward a few years, and my parents’ young dog, Cayley, seemed to find all sorts of ways to sprain paws, puncture her side, or gracefully wipe out at full sprint (of course scrapping herself). Both dogs had the urge to bite at their wounds and the different dressings we used to treat them. Before we explain why pets don’t eat HoneyCure, let’s look at why dogs bite at wounds in the first place!
Healing Skin Is Sensitive
This might seem like a no-brainer, but healing skin is sensitive! This is a major factor in why pets, especially dogs, gnaw at healing wounds. But it is because of more than just simple healing. When a wound is healing it must be kept moist and supple. Some wounds expel a lot of moisture and need to be dried slightly. Most wounds though need help maintaining a healthy moisture level or they’ll get too dry. This is because our pet’s skin has a lot of blood vessels and capillaries that help keep it healthy and well-hydrated under normal conditions. When the skin is wounded, these blood vessels are damaged and the body cannot effectively hydrate the wound. This damaged skin loses moisture fast, and the nerve endings around it become sensitized leading to itchiness that drives biting and licking. You may even notice your pet drinking more than normal if they have a significant size wound to stay hydrated.
Not only that, but some pets with coarse or thick fur may experience that same itchy feeling due to fur brushing the border of the wound. This surrounding fur creates an irritating sensation that promotes destructive biting and licking.
By applying HoneyCure, your pet’s wound is moisturized from the outside, which helps their body maintain a stable environment in the wound bed. This promotes internal healing and allows their body to catch up with hydration from the inside. The sensation of thick ointment or salve over the surface of the wound helps protect sensitized nerve endings as well, decreasing the likelihood of unnecessary biting and licking. To further promote these effects, you may see vets shave around the wounded or irritated spot as well, eliminating complications from fur.
“HoneyCure Tastes Bad”
If you’ve seen HoneyCure in person and talked to anyone on our team, you’ve probably heard us mention this. So why is that? Well, the answer is very simple, HoneyCure is more than just honey! HoneyCure is a blend of honey, essential oils, and a natural gelling agent. That blend, especially the essential oils, creates a taste and smell that is definitely NOT sweet. Not only that, but the gritty nature of Manuka honey helps create a rough texture during the gelling process that most pets have no interest in. So when we compare it to the taste or smell of a premium soap, we’re not joking! It’s not something we want in our mouths, let alone what our dogs think of as a treat!
HoneyCure Helps
Now some pets don’t seem to have the best judgment. Molly and Cayley seem to lose their judgment whenever a squirrel is in the backyard! But just like you, pets and even larger animals like horses understand that wounds need to heal. This is why you see animals of all sizes slow down and change their behavior when something is not right. They can also feel the benefit of a moisturizing healer like HoneyCure. HoneyCure promotes supple, inside-out wound healing, which overall is more comfortable. Most pets are going to be content to allow themselves a bit of a break to recover. And if they aren’t inclined to, we’re there to help remind them that they need the break to get back to their goofy, loveable selves!