Suntan Lotion?

[MyCutie]

So now that we are kicking off the summer season--Do any of you use suntan lotion on your kids? Is there a doggy lotion for this or do you use people lotion?

[SAVED2]

Not out long enough in the sun to overheat them which happens fast.

[RobinM]

I try to keep them in the shade but if they are out for longer than 20 minutes, I do use childrens 45 on them.

 

Beau is white so he is very fair and will get red quickly.

[Beautybabe]

I use a child's sun block on Emmet. He turns absolutely pink in the sun. I rub it all over his belly and legs.

[Guest Energy11]

WE HATE the heat and sun. After spending 16 horrible years in Florida, we try to AVOID heat at all costs.

 

Mine heat up fast, especially now that we have been out of that hott, humid climate for almost a year. Mine are never in the sun long enough to burn. Goldie is VERY fair, and burns easily. At Mt. Hounds, they will be in the SHADE or stay with Daddy at the cabin. Curfew is on a lot of meds effected by sun and heat.

 

We just avoid too much sun, AND the hottest times of the day. Good Luck!

[ahicks51]

The newest research is showing that sunscreens are pretty much the opposite of what you want to use. Most are effective at blocking UVB, which is what causes the burn we get from exposure. However, it's also the UVB that converts cholesterol into cholecalciferol (vitamin D). The reaction is something like 7-dehydrocholesterol --> cholecalciferol, with irradiation of UV light around 296 nm wavelength.

 

Now, it's the UVA (shorter wavelengths- higher energies) that actually cause the damage to the DNA. Unfortunately, until fairly recently, sunscreens only protected against UVB. So- you wouldn't get the burn, but because the UVA went right thorough, you still got the skin cancer risk. This is presumably why skin cancer rates have been soaring in industrialized countries. This is also true of window glass: it absorbs UVB, preventing the burn, but allows UVA to get through- causing skin cancer.

 

And that bit above about the formation of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is important as D3 regulates immune response- including to cancers. If you don't get the UVB, then you don't present the correct immune response to cancers- making skin cancer more likely. Worse, because it's formed in the skin, it's possible to wash away much of the D3 that's formed in the skin if you shower or bathe within 48 hours (!) of sun exposure. Hardly a concern for the dog, but very important to us humans.

 

Lastly, many of the compounds in skin lotions aren't safe, and then we spread them over the largest organ in the entire body- the skin- facilitating their absorption.

 

Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place. Now nobody knows what to do about preventing sunburn.

[Guest SoulsMom]

I only use it on Soul's nose. He has Discoid Lupus and needs it to prevent a flare up. I use spf 55 baby sunscreen anytime he has to be out in the sun. And it does help with his lupus symptoms . . . .

 

Ok Aaron, so you're telling me that I can go ahead a play naked again in the sunshine now

I've been avoiding it for years

[ahicks51]

Ok Aaron, so you're telling me that I can go ahead a play naked again in the sunshine now

I've been avoiding it for years

 

So long as you don't shower for two days afterwards! Pew.

 

Note that oral vitamin D is very safe; although being a fat-soluble vitamin, your body doesn't get rid of it quite as well as the water-soluble vitamins, it's safe up to at least 3650 IU/day- about 9 times the USRDA. Someone challenged others to find any case of toxicity at up to 10,000 IU/day (25 times the RDA), and none could be found. In one instance, some poor guy was consuming 50,000 IU/day due to someone slipping a decimal place, and although he had some side-effects, they all resolved once he backed down to where he could be.

 

(As an aside- swimsuit-level clothing on a sunny beach = about 1,000 IU/minute from endogenous production. Supplementing with a few thousand IU/day is probably not harmful, and has been recommended for some folks with cancer.)

[cleptogrey]

show sheen or vetrolin for horses has sun screen in it and it's good for their coat.