Natural treatment for a dog with allergies?

[KJsMom]

We have a small Yorkie mix who has developed allergies. He is extremely itchy and is chewing and pulling out fur. Is there some natural remedy or treatment that I can try? I don't like the idea of treating him so often with steroids.

[ktgrok]

Lots of fish oil in his diet will help some. But if you don't want to do steroids often, and I don't blame you at all, I'd try using bendryl on a daily basis, twice a day for now and then as needed. The dose is a milligram per pound. If that doesn't work you can get a prescription antihistamine. Where does he scratch at? Depending on where he is itchy I might be able to help you narrow down the problem.

[Tarreymere]

I have a westie with the same problem. We use a shampoo with an antifungal, wipe down the spots he is chewing with 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% water, and add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to his drinking water. We should be giving him probiotics too but so far we haven't. We wipe out his ears with 50% hydrogen peroxide and 50% water. I give my 20 lb westie 25 mg benadryl tablets for the itching, I am thinking you would want to give your dog a lower dose. Mine loves the children's benadryl in the dissolvable tablet.

 

I am told that the allergies compromise his immune system and cause normal skin flora to get out of control, and that it is mostly a normal fungus that causes most of the problem.

[kewb]

What is he allergic to? It may be something food related such as wheat. Then all you would need to do is eliminate it from his diet.

[KJsMom]

It mainly affects his lower back especially near his tail, and his legs between his knees and ankles. In the past he has had itching around his eyes but that doesn't seem to be bothering him this occurance. Thank you so much for the advice, I hate seeing him so miserable.

[KJsMom]

I don't know what he is allergic to. The vet just said "allergies". We live in a rural area so it probably won't get diagnosed. He has eaten Iams dog food his whole life because when he was younger he had sensitive digestion and got sick anytime we tried to change it, so I don't know if it could be wheat.

I use 1/3 apple cider vinegar 1/3 peroxide and 1/3 water for an ear wash, but I never considered using it on his skin. I tried putting a little ACV in his water but he refuses to drink it and gets dehydrated. Thank you for the chewable benadryl suggestion.

[i.love.lucy]

My dog cycles through allergies too. We thought it was food, but now I believe its environmental. Her skin gets red, inflamed, then scaly/oily. It's weird. Used to be that she was pulling her hair out from mid-back all the way to her tail, all the area she could reach. Now she isn't doing that as much, but the exposed skin on her belly is red and inflamed and itching. Our doc said that those areas as presented were environmental. She would get some steriods and then be fine for a good while and he thinks it's because whatever was blooming has cycled down. I do give her fish oil in her food, benadryl for the days she's really itchy. And I'm going to try the vinegar tip on her skin. I hope it doesn't burn!

[KJsMom]

Just be sure not to put the vinegar on full strength and it shouldn't be too bad.

I think it is environmental for Chewie, too. He likes to roll around in the grass. For it too be on his back and lower legs, that makes sense to me. I think I'll try the fish oil and benadryl as well as the vinegar wash. Is there a specific dose for the fish oil?

[mooooom]

I would change his diet. My vet recommended a ground turkey and white rice diet - but I know of quite a few dogs that have issues w/ turkey, so I would personally do chicken and rice or ground chicken and rice (don't know which is cheaper). It takes 8 weeks to completely rid your system or an allergen, but you should see some decent results after 4 weeks. And I really doubt he would have digestion issues w/ chicken & rice. Most dogs who have food allergies are allergic to wheat/corn/soy products. I know little dogs often have environmental allergies, but this couldn't hurt to try.

[nevergiveup]

One of our dogs is allergic to corn. He would itch a LOT when he was fed dog food that had ground corn in the ingredients.

[Kebo]

Are you 100% sure there are NO fleas?

[TheTwinsMom1]

I have a dog who has severe allergies also. We know they are not food related as they are already on a grain feed food. We tried benedryl but it did not help. I do have a few suggestions though.

 

First off, put a onesie on the dog as much as possible during a flair up to prevent itching. If they scratch they risk getting a secondary bacterial infection on top of hte allergies. We bought what is called "doggy PJ's" for out dog and they worked perfectly.

 

Make sure that you have ruled out mites, they can mimic the allergy symptoms.

 

We ended up having to control our puppies issues with a medication called Cylosporine. It's not cheap, but it has been a miracle drug for our dog. She no longer has flair ups and is no longer itching herself raw and bleeding.

 

Here is the med we use: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000155/ We use the generic form. It's a powerful drug but it works for dogs who don't respond to anything else. Plus, it either works or it does not, so you know with in a week if it's working. We started out taking one every day, now she takes one every other day and we hope to wean her down to just one pill a week.

 

I know drugs are not always fun, but I figured I would throw it out there if the natural method does not work. Our poor girl was bleeding and raw and just miserable. If you want to see her before and after pictures I would be happy to show you.

[gingersmom]

I have a dog who has severe allergies also. We know they are not food related as they are already on a grain feed food. We tried benedryl but it did not help. I do have a few suggestions though.

 

First off, put a onesie on the dog as much as possible during a flair up to prevent itching. If they scratch they risk getting a secondary bacterial infection on top of hte allergies. We bought what is called "doggy PJ's" for out dog and they worked perfectly.

 

Make sure that you have ruled out mites, they can mimic the allergy symptoms.

 

We ended up having to control our puppies issues with a medication called Cylosporine. It's not cheap, but it has been a miracle drug for our dog. She no longer has flair ups and is no longer itching herself raw and bleeding.

 

Here is the med we use: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000155/ We use the generic form. It's a powerful drug but it works for dogs who don't respond to anything else. Plus, it either works or it does not, so you know with in a week if it's working. We started out taking one every day, now she takes one every other day and we hope to wean her down to just one pill a week.

 

I know drugs are not always fun, but I figured I would throw it out there if the natural method does not work. Our poor girl was bleeding and raw and just miserable. If you want to see her before and after pictures I would be happy to show you.

 

My dog was on the same medicine. My dog went for allergy testing and he was allergic to everything (the list went on forever). We used the same medicine and that was the only thing that worked. We tried food changes (exotic animals in canned food, just disgusting and soooo expensive) plus we tried allergy shots to no avail.

[vettechmomof2]

Are you 100% sure there are NO fleas?

 

I agree. That is classic flea allergy dermatitis area.

Iams is a lesser quality/ingredient food so it could certainly be aiding in allergy symptoms.

If you do a food allergy trial then you need to make sure that a "minimum" of 8 weeks is trialed on only the one food. No other items by mouth, no flavored meds, no biscuits, table foods, anything and if something does get by you then you need to start that time all over again.

[KJsMom]

Well I suppose I couldn't be 100% sure that there are no fleas, although I have checked multiple times. We live waaaay out in the country and he does like to play outside. We keep the grass mowed and we treat the yard for all sorts of bugs, fleas included, but we have cows in a pasture to our left and horses in front and behind. Our neighbors have free-ranging dogs and I don't know how well they keep up with flea prevention.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions. I've never had a dog with allergies so this is all new for me.

[Kebo]

Small scabs and itchiness at the base of the tail is classic for flea bite allergic reactions. Even a single flea can cause intense itchiness that won't resolve without getting rid of the fleas. This link can walk you through looking for flea "dirt" in your dog's haircoat.

 

http://www.petsandparasites.org/dog-owners/fleas.html

 

Also, ruffling the hair while watching for small, brown scurrying creatures (this works best on lightly haired areas) can reveal the presence of fleas. I'd do this outside, as fleas can jump. If you find any evidence of fleas, contact your vet about treatment. This is actually a cause of dermatitis that you can CURE (by getting rid of the fleas), so it may be a good thing if you find them.

 

Also, be aware that secondary infections are common with allergic dermatitis, and may need antibiotics to resolve.

 

Best of luck!

[KJsMom]

Thank you for the tip. When the sun is out again tomorrow I'll take him outside and check, but I haven't seen flea "dirt" when I'm bathing him.

 

We are using a shampoo from the vet with benzoyl peroxide, sulfur, and salacylic acid. I took him to the vet for this last month. They did a skin scraping to test for mites and didn't find any but treated for it anyway just in case. He had an infection from scratching so he was on antibiotics and a steroid and did great for a little while. Now it is back and I'm trying to take care of the itchiness before he infects it again.

[Joker]

I'm gonna hijack for a quick question. My dog itches himself bloody under his front legs and his ears. He also itches bad enough around his eyes to remove the fur. We've done allergy testing and they all came back negative. Steroids work well but we can't keep doing them - mostly because he drives us crazy with drinking and peeing while on them.:D Our current vet has no idea what's going on with him. After reading this thread so far I will try fish oil and Benadryl. What dose Benadryl for a 27 lb. dog? I can also try wiping the spots down with vinegar. Anything else? Thanks! (and sorry OP for the hijack :001_smile:)

[Researcher]

I'll also suggest Eqyss Micro Tek shampoo and Micro Tek medicated spray. It helps to soothe irritated skin and really works for pets with dermatitis.

[Bird Girl]

You can dose dogs at a rate of 1 milligram per pound of dog, so a 27 lb dog could take a 25 milligram tablet (or, if you like, 27 milligrams of liquid benedryl.)

 

We recently came across an article recommending more frequent bathing for dogs with allergies--just washing the allergens out of their fur can help reduce the allergies. In the article, they suggested as often as every other day. I would think with a Yorkie, you could just wash them in the sink.

 

There are medications available from your vet that control fleas--Capstar is one that you give every day, and there's another one, Comfortis, that is given monthly. We're switching our dog to Comfortis, because we feel that the Frontline that she's been on just isn't doing the job.

 

Dogs do get food allergies, but they also can have serious flea allergies, and also get grass and pollen allergies just like humans do. I assume that's why bathing them can reduce the problem--I mean, I have grass allergies, and I don't go out and roll in it every day!

[Kebo]

I'm gonna hijack for a quick question. My dog itches himself bloody under his front legs and his ears. He also itches bad enough around his eyes to remove the fur. We've done allergy testing and they all came back negative. Steroids work well but we can't keep doing them - mostly because he drives us crazy with drinking and peeing while on them.:D Our current vet has no idea what's going on with him. After reading this thread so far I will try fish oil and Benadryl. What dose Benadryl for a 27 lb. dog? I can also try wiping the spots down with vinegar. Anything else? Thanks! (and sorry OP for the hijack :001_smile:)

 

You can't really diagnose skin problems from a description, but I'd probably be looking into doing food trials to rule out a food allergy in this situation. Unfortunately, they aren't easy to diagnose any other way. If you haven't discussed it already, I'd also be thinking about a referral to a veterinary dermatologist .

[TheTwinsMom1]

I also suggest you look into keeping him in a little romper or onesie, it really helped our girl not to be able to itch the spots and then infect them again. It helped break the cycle so the meds could work. They look silly, but they get used to it and we only had to keep her in it for a week. You can use regular kid onesies with a tail hole cut in them or use "doggie PJ's" I can't gush about how much this helped prevent further infections.

 

We took it off when we went out to potty and put it right back on when we can back inside. We have some like this in soft cotton.

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Thermal-Pajamas-Small-Light/dp/B000MFRHWC/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1301015801&sr=8-15

 

I swore I would never dress up my dogs like children, but after dealing with itching and secondary infections, I changed my mind.

[KJsMom]

I just went to Amazon to check out the reviews on the Micro Tek products and it looks fantastic. Can you tell me about your experience with it? I looked at the pjs too. I can see how that would help prevent the scratching.

I think I will look into the dietary changes, but the elimination diet will be really tough. He likes to eat bugs and grass outside. I babysit a toddler and he follows the baby around cleaning up beind him. He loves bananas and broccoli and will probably pout when I take those treats away. We don't feed him regular treats and we don't feed him from the table, but he does get goldfish crackers and things from the little guy.

I normally use Capstar and Frontline Advanced for flea control, would I need to stop giving those to see if that could be the problem? Surely if it was the irritation would be at his neck, right?

[Researcher]

Ours is a long story of multiple dogs with allergies. Our current dog started having some of the same issues and I tried all of the usual stuff (diet, bathing, meds, sprays, supplements, etc). It wasn't until someone on a grooming board recommended the Microtek that we finally found relief for our dog. It had gotten so bad that he was chewing all the fur off of his tail. :(

 

After using the Microtek shampoo and Rebuilder conditioner, the hair came back and he doesn't struggle with the skin problems anymore. :001_smile: Just be sure to thoroughly rinse no matter which shampoo you choose because the residue can create dermatitis in sensitive dogs.

[ktgrok]

If most of the itching is in a triangle with the base of the triangle at the tail and the point of the triangle further up the back it is probably fleas. that is the tell tale "flea triangle". If it is seasonal, that is, it comes and goes then it isn't food allergy, it's either fleas or environmental allergies. To help environmental allergies you can wipe the dog down with a wet washcloth when he/she comes in from outside to wipe the pollen off. Bathing twice a week will also help remove the pollen. vinegar will only help it if is yeast, and you have to dilute it or it BURNS!!!!

[StephanieZ]

Steroids are not the answer. The vet has a lot better options.

 

Allergy testing can reveal what the triggers are. Allergy shots can desensitive & often help.

 

Atopica is a miracle medicine for many dogs. Although it is pricey, you are lucky that your dog is a small one, so it won't be so terrible.

 

Food allergies are a common trigger. You can try a 'novel protein diet' or a hypo allergenic one. Again, since yours is a small dog, these expensive diets won't break the bank. (For a Great Dane. . .)

 

The vet also has some good shampoos for itch relief. Not a cure, but can soothe a crisis.

 

Frequent steroid shots are dangerous, life-shortening, and not the best cure. Talk to your vet for options. . . If you can't budget the full workup right now, at least consider trying a hypoallergenic diet (Science Diet Prescription Diet z/d) for a month or two. z/d is made from hydrolyzed protein (like those 40/can baby formulas) and so cannot trigger allergies. . . It is a diagnostic tool, not a long term diet. If it works well, then you can switch to a 'novel protein' diet for the long term. (Things like duck & potato, or green pea & venison. . . foods which your dog is unlikely to have been exposed to and/or has tested via allergy testing to not be allergic to).

 

So, food choice is your cheapest, safest, easiest first course of action. And, all natural, as requested. LOL

 

(Be sure to eliminate ALL snacks, rawhides, etc if you are going with a diet test. . . Once you have established a healthy safe diet, you can reintroduce these things one at a time to see if they are OK.)

 

If food isn't the fix, then you really need to consider allergy testing or Atopica.

 

HTH