Yeah you definitely need to water down the Betadine. And your mom is right, you want the color of a weak tea. I used Neosporin on Harley when she somehow pulled out one of her toenails and it worked fine. I just dabbed her toe like 3 days and she was fine. I mean I'm sure if you used it for 6 months straight, then the petroleum might not be good but all you are trying to do is kill any germs for a day or 2 or 3. The animals immune system will take care of the rest assuming you are keeping it fairly clean and not having the animal sit in a septic tank of a cage. Now for something bigger than a nick or scratch, I would say yeah go for Betadine but for a scratch or nick, a dab of Neo for a couple days will be fine and it is easier to apply than mixing up Betadine and doing the whole soak thing and stuff.