What an excellent thread! I love home remedies and highly recommend them as I've used them myself on both my dogs and also my two rats with great success I also use home remedies on myself However, there are a great many things that can't be treated with just home remedies alone and need a vet. If in doubt always call one and get your baby to the vet!!!

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Plain old SODA,that you get to mix drinks,works.

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Thank you Jan

I spoke to a carpet cleaning expert one time about neutralizing odors. The first thing she asked was cat or dog urine? She also gave me the recipe with peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. She says use that with dogs. If it's cat, use the white vinegar recipe. I would like to warn people not to try storing the peroxide mixture. Mix what you need if you haven't used it up in a couple of hours, dump it. If that mixture is sealed in a container too long it builds pressure and will explode a plastic bottle or worse yet will spray out onto you if you open it. Peroxide and soft tissue, like eyes, don't mix well. Also, she says to neutralize the odor you must put an equal amount of cleaner to urine on the spot. Then put 20 lbs of pressure over a towel on the spot to completely soak up the moisture, leave on for 24 hours. And just in case no one knows, black lights can find spots; however, when you've cleaned the spot (no matter what you use) the spot will still show under the light. If you put the cleaner on a clean spot, it will show under the light. It's a helpful tool but can be misleading.

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A big thank you to the very talented Terri for my new siggy. They look great in purple.

Does anyone have a good solution for cleaning my chi's eyes. They run and crust and leave dark patches under his eyes. I clean them daily with unscented aloe wipes for babies. But I thought there might be something I can make that would be better. Can I make my own saline solution? Just thought of that!

I clean mistys about 3 times a day otherwise she looks like a scruffy stray dog. Just use water normally on a cloth.

If i see little irritation in the eyes i use camomile tea to gently wash them. You can do it couple of times a day.

My friend from France cleans her chi's eyes with "Dacryoserum" ( http://www.bsip.com/en/images/dacryoserum.htm ) solution, but it's hard to get it if you are not in France, maybe "e-bay" have them. It's antiseptic solution for ocular washing in case of conjunctival irritation. It's brilliant for dark patches under chi's eyes. I know they have human one and canine one as well, but they are actually both the same, just canine one is more expensive. Basically it contains boric acid and borax (sodium borate), so if you can't get this one, you can search for something similar.

Here are some tips and home made solutions for that as well:
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/grooming/grooming4.htm

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You know I had it somewhere in my head that borac acid was used for an eye wash when my kids were little. I think I even used it mixed with water, but then the word acid sounds like it would burn, well borax too. I asked at the pharmacy, just a worker at Wal-mart and she just suggested the baby wipes, unscented. I would think you could make your own saline solution too.
Thanks for the info, going to look that up. How did you make your signature?
Linda

Thanks again, I made an eye wash with borac acid and boiling water . I will try that, but I also checked out 1-800 Pet meds, they have a $5.00 off coupon on any order so I took advantage of that and got some eye stain drops and breath fresher , teeth cleaner for my dog.