Hello Slider: Actually, cider vinegar works pretty well on fungus infections. I have used it for years to go from a skin infection that drove me nuts to one that is an occasional irritation. Instead of baths, I bathed by wiping down with a couple of cups of cider vinegar. It sooths the skin and helps anxiety, whcih for me seemed to go with the skin problems. Recently however, I have found for vaginal infection (candida probably, a kind of fungus, sort of) that yoghurt works better. So, try that first, it is less stingy. Vinegar stings. Also, another help is MSM available in the health food stor. that takes away the itch, but puts the stuff in your blood and kidneys which makes you (me) nervous. I take cilantro to get it through the kidneys and eliminate and end the cycle. Keep up any treatment for a couple of months to be sure of completion. fungus hangs on. Best, jane

Since it's you I'll answer in this forum because I know you want experience and not just "approved" answers. Are you the one that insisted on fermenting the apples with natural yeasts? If so, you're "lucky", you only have the stuff that makes alcohol in your cider. If I was assured of only the natural yeasts and not the bacteria I'd use the natural yeasts too. If you pasteurized or used camden tablets and threw bought yeast that is why you were lucky, you killed the bacteria. You now need to throw the bacteria that turns the alcohol into vinegar. You should be able to find it by searching homebrew stores for "mother of vinegar". Alternately you can throw some unfiltered unpasteurized natural vinegar from a healthfood store and grow your own culture to inoculate all your bottles with. If you are the one that tempted fate and used the natural yeasts you probably want to tempt it again and use the natural bacteria. In that case expose them to air and hope for the best, but it didn't work the first time so I wouldn't hold your breath. Know you would be taking a crap shoot with the correct bacteria entering and being the one to grow the fastest (a dog in the yard and feeding ecoli to little kids is why I pasteurize my cider). By expose it to air I mean really expose it to the air, put it back in the vat you pressed into and whisk it. This will drive off the CO2 and since you said it was carbonated it may be helpful no matter what method you use, if I'm remembering right the carbonation serves a purpose other than tickling the nose. If I didn't want to expose it to random acts of bacteria I'd siphon it from bottle to bottle letting it slosh before throwing the mother of vinegar. You can test and adjust your own acidity pretty cheaply (again from the homebrew stores). If they don't go by the simple "acid test kit" it would be a "titration kit". You're really lucky you didn't have blow ups if you had those sealed the whole time. The amount of potential alcohol it takes to blow a beer or wine bottle designed to take pressure is not that much and if you plugged fresh cider bottles that tends to finish around 5%, that's a lot of gas. The bubbler tops are not that expensive, you can even use balloons and burp them (and if you want to know some other ways just ask me in the other forum where I'm sure to see it). I wouldn't doubt if now that you've taken the pressure off some of them start fermenting again. BTW, my apple wine came out pretty good. I don't normally drink either but 1 gallon is not going to be anywhere near enough. It has to be 12%-15% and I can't taste the alcohol (I can normally taste any alcohol). For the cheap yeast I used the yeast flavor isn't so bad either. I'm hardening at least 5 gallons this year, probably 10 gallons if I get enough apples.

Im not sure why apple cider vinegar would control a fungus. In fact straight vinegar has herbicidal qualities. In your case I'd stick with compost tea or cornmeal.

My vet explained that my cat's condition was the result of crystals forming in the urine, which can partially or completely block the flow of urine, and also abrade the inside of the ureter and/or urethra. At least that's my understanding of it. I can assure you that if the condition didn't clear up fast, I'm fully prepared to seek professional service again, and no, I wouldn't let a UTI go unchecked. The ACV was worth a shot, and seemed to work well. Like a lot of people, if I can avoid an unnecessary expense, I will. If that expense is unavoidable, there's no question I'd go right back to my vet. The condition wasn't nearly 'life or death', and the alternative was worth a shot. "a series of expensive treatments and checkups..." ....I've also learned that the advice of professionals isn't law, and can, or should, be questioned. There are more than a few personal experiences that come to mind which I won't go into. Suffice it to say, I don't assume that the professionals have all the answers. --Rr