Geochemist solves mystery over why her dog’s fur was turning green

Ageochemist and professor was alarmed to see that her dog’s fur was turning green overnight and took it upon herself to unlock the mystery.

Dr. Stephanie Olson took to her Twitter to detail the situation in a series of tweets and what she discovered.

Dr. Olson began the story by saying that her Saint Bernard, Olive, was drooling a lot, which ends up on the “floors and walls” or the “pants of visitors.” Olive is also recovering from surgery, so her cone “collects and funnels her juices down her neck.”

“Dog saliva contains iron porphyrins. Upon contact with oxygen, the iron is oxidized to iron oxide nanoparticles. Rust, essentially,” Dr. Olson wrote.

She also adds that this is why dogs that produce a lot of drool get that “rusty red stain” by their mouths.

Seeming to lose confidence, Dr. Olson said that she decided to “awkwardly sleep” on her stomach, which isolated her saliva drenched neck folds from receiving oxygen.

She was sedated and slept like a rock, but her saliva bacteria got to work. They quickly consumed all of the oxygen in her neck swamp, which prevented the red staining typically associated with dog saliva.

And as a result, Olive developed “green rust” around her fur.

Dr. Olson said that the rusty red staining on her neck and chin to a rusty green because of the moistness of her saliva and the isolation of oxygen in the air produced by the cone. She also noted that green rust is rare to see these days because it is unstable while oxygen is present.

Afterwards, Dr. Olson asked her “geochemical friends” on the platform for any ideas on how to go about removing the green rust from Olive’s fur before coming up with the hypothesis that “Olive is actually short for Olivine, a famously green mineral” and she’s living up to.

People in the didn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand, providing advice on how to take the green coloring out of Olive’s fur.

“Although you could try hydrogen peroxide as a safe stain remover, I think the real cure is going to be to clip the ‘green fur’ as short as possible and let it grow back into its natural color,” someone wrote.

“Glycerine inhibits corrosion and can be useful in removing rust stains on organic materials such as leather. If you have some around, try to clean a section of Olive’s hair with a soaked cotton ball. A change in the intensity of the green means it’s working,” another added.

Someone else suggested the type of cone they put on their dog and wrote the following: “We always used the rubber cones vs the plastic. They are much more comfortable. Dogs can rest their head on donut, and they are practically indestructible impossible to puncture. Your pet will also have peripheral vision and not bump into things. But can’t reach [the] wound.”

Speaking to indy100, Dr. Olson said that Olive is feeling much better, but she’s still green.

“Olive is still green, but as her green fur has been exposed to air (and more drool!), she’s changed colors a bit — kind of like guacamole that’s been exposed to air,” she said.

Dr. Olson also said that she hasn’t tried to get rid of the stain yet because Olive is still in a cone and “swimming in her saliva.” However, she will tweet out an update in a week!

For now, it’s safe to say Olive has a cool-looking trademark now!