Spring is here and the flowers are blooming and the plants are coming to life.  Are you enjoying it or are your eyes watering and you’re sneezing?  Yes, allergy season is upon us.  Luckily, I only get mild symptoms, but for some, it’s a miserable time.

How about your pets – do they get allergies?  Of course they do.  Grasses, insects, molds and weeds to name a few can lead your pet to scratch, bite and sometimes cause open sores on their bodies.

When my  late dog Nikki was little, she used to scratch all the time and get hot spots.  I was a new dog owner and would literally follow her around to see where she was scratching and spray some medicine on it.  It got to the point that she would stop scratching when she saw me coming or would go out of site to scratch!  I was very annoying .  Around 4 years of age, she grew out of it and didn’t have any more problems with the hot spots.

My little Nikki in her later years

The most common types of allergies in dogs are Food, Contact, Inhalant , Bacterial, and Flea Allergies.

Food Allergy

Pet food has come a long way to removing ingredients that pets can be allergic to such as corn, wheat and grains.  It is believed that if they are introduced to these too early of an age they may always be allergic to it.  Mold is sometime inherited with grains because they are stored for long periods of time in grain silos.  The symptoms from food allergies usually manifest themselves as digestive problems or skin problems.

To treat food allergies, you have to start by eliminating the food they’re eating and give them a chicken and rice diets (or whatever your vet recommends).  Vets can also prescribe hypoallergenic packaged dog food.  Slowly, one by one start adding in other foods.  Starting your pet out in life with  a nutrient rich, holistic pet food may be your best defense to food allergies.

Contact Allergy

Contact Allergies are the least common type of allergies.  This is usually caused by a chemical such as  flea products, disinfectants and even types of bedding such as beds filled with cedar.  To treat  a contact allergy is to remove the substance that’s causing it.  However, if it’s not readily apparent what the substance is, you might have to do some detective work.

Flea - A face only a mother could love

Inhalant Allergy

Inhalant Allergies are triggered by the things we get allergies from, pollen from trees, grasses and weeds, mold, mildew and dust mites.  Instead of getting a runny nose and sneezing, dogs manifest their symptoms through their skin.  This can cause itching, scratching, shaking their heads or rubbing their ears or muzzle and licking.  Depending on what they are allergic to, symptoms could last for a few weeks for seasonal allergies or longer.

To find out what is causing the allergy, your pet can go through testing by injecting possible allergens, or do a blood test and send it to a lab so they determine what your pet is allergic to.

Treatments for Inhalant allergies  are:

Anti-Inflammatory therapy using steroids/cortisone.  This will block the allergic reaction in most cases.

Flea Free Shampoo

Shampoo Therapy: Shampooing frequently with a hypo allergic or natural dog shampoo made for this reason can help considerably.  Antigens can be absorbed through the skin and it is thought that frequent shampooing can lessen the absorption and also quickly relieve the itching by removing surface antigens.

Hypo sensitization is basically allergy shots.  By giving your pet small amounts of the antigen, it’s hoped that weekly shots can retrain the body’s immune system to become desensitized and lessening the effects of the allergy substance.

Flea Allergy

By far flea allergies are the most common type.  To most dogs fleas are just a pain in the rump, but for some, it can cause intense itching and cause them to scratch until they have an open sore.  This in turn can cause other secondary infections.  If your dog in severely allergic by the fleas saliva, it’s best to remove all fleas.  Easier said than done.  There are several spot on medications you can purchase such as Frontline, however spot on flea medication has come under some scrutiny in the past months.  There are natural flea shampoos,  and Diatomaceous Earth.   In some cases steroids can be prescribed.

Bacterial Allergy

Staph bacteria is common in dogs.  For some it’s not a problem, but if their immune system is comprised, it can become a severe problem and invade the deeper layers of the skin.  This infection is called pyoderma.  The symptoms are hair loss, raised circular lesions, flaky skin.  This staph infection can occur as a secondary infection from the scratching and itching from other allergic reactions.

The treatment is usually antibiotics, topical and oral medications.  Providing a natural, holistic pet food can bolster the immune system so that a staph infection can’t escalate.

Chris L Wagner

From One Pet Lover to Another

Waggy’s Eco Pet Products

Waggy’s Pet Sitting Service

Waggy’s Holistic Pet Food

In my recent travels through social media, especially in the LinkedIn groups, I have become aware of alternative treatments for animals.  I was familiar with Canine Massage, but not some of the other natural therapies.

We were having a discussion in one of my groups about whether or not they actually work.  Many of the practitioners have seen firsthand the wonderful healings of their companion pets.  Some were not so convinced.  I think that if it works for your pet, then it works!  It doesn’t matter how you heal your pet, it just matters that your pet gets healed.

OOOMMMM

I believe that preventative medicine is the first course of action and of course that means feeding your pet a nutrient rich holistic pet food.  So many allergies and other illnesses come from what you put in your dog.  Read my post on What you don’t want in your dog food.  That can get you started in the right direction.  Learn to read the labels and know exactly what they mean.

There are too many alternative treatments to put in one post. Please go to the Full directory of alternative treatments for animals.  I do not condone or condemn any of these practices.  This is just to let you know what’s out there to help your pet in need.  Please consult your Veterinarian before trying any of these therapies.

Here’s a brief description some of the alternative treatments for your pets.

Canine/Equine Massage:  This is the manipulation of the soft tissue of your pet.  Can be used as a preventative or for injuries.  Also, helps agility or sports dogs.

That feels soooo good!

Reiki: Reiki is Japanese for ‘universal life force energy’, the word can be split into 2 parts – ‘Rei’ meaning universal and ‘Ki’ meaning energy.  The practitioner uses energy transference and touches the animal in different parts of his body.

Acupuncture: Practiced for thousands of years in China and now has become more mainstream here in America, is used for both humans and animals.  The acupuncture needles, used along meridian lines, are meant to unblock the bodies energy lines to redirect the energy and rebalance your body.  Shiatsu is a kin to acupuncture, but using the hands along the meridian lines instead of needles.

Animal Communication:  is the ability of the practitioner to use telepathy to interpret the animals thoughts, feeling, words and mental images.  Telepathy means “feeling across a distance”. This can be used to find out why your pet is doing a certain unwanted behavior, or to get a better understanding of their feelings.

This is supposed to help me!!

Aromatherapy, Flower Essences and Herbal Remedies:   Taking their cue from nature, practitioners use herbs, oils from plants and flower essences to treat ailments or alter moods such as anxiety.  These therapies are nothing new and have been around since the dawn of time.  Animals in the wild learned how to self-medicate and early humans have been using plants and flowers for injuries and sickness since the beginning.  Read my prior post about Essential Oils for Pets.

Magnotherapy: uses magnetic energy fields to speed up the blood supply allowing more oxygen to flow providing more absorption of nutrients.

There are many others and if you would like to investigate these natural therapies more or find a school in your area, here are some links that can help you:   Natural Healers, Alternative Medicine, Natural Animal Health, Naturally Complementary.

Chris L Wagner

From One Pet Lover To Another

Waggy’s Eco Pet Products

Waggy’s Pet Sitting

Waggy’s Pet Tips and Tales Blog

Waggy’s Holistic Pet Food

Imagine you’re walking in to a beautiful day spa and what’s the first thing that hits you?  That wonderful smell of  Essential Oils.  Immediately that sense of calm surrounds you and you can just feel the tension leave your body.

Over the course of thousands of years even before Man knew how to cook or make fire, they knew which plants were poisonous and which would help in the aid of certain physical ailments such as digestion and diarrhea.  From there, they gradually discovered the healing effects of plants and flowers.

Lavender Farm with Doggies

These plant and flower oils, or better known as essential oils, are the main ingredient in aromatherapy products today.  Essential oils are tiny droplets in many plants that are most commonly used for medicine and cooking.  They’re highly odorous, very volatile and actually have the consistency of water rather than oil.  Nowadays, manufacturers extract the oils by distillation.

How does this relate to your pets?  The same essential oils that have been helping Man all these years can help your dog too.

As a pet sitter, I have heard about many conditions that plague pets such as motion sickness and hyperactivity.  I’ve listed 4 common ailments and how aromatherapy oils can help to make your precious pup feel better.

1. Motion Sickness: Among their many uses peppermint and ginger can help in the aid of  nausea and vomiting.  Ever wonder why they say to drink ginger ale if you feel nauseous?  A few years ago, my family and I went to Hawaii and boarded a boat to go snorkeling.  I forgot to take my motion sickness pill and needless to say, got very sick.  They actually gave me fresh ginger and hot water.  I have to say that it did help a lot.

2.  Doggie Bad Breath:  What else but pure peppermint oil.  Much like your own tooth paste, this oil mixed with organic sweet almond oil will make Fido’s breath smell minty fresh!

3.  Horney Dog Syndrome: How many times have you been embarrassed by your dog at the dog park when he tries to mount every dog in sight?  I see it happen all the time.  A blend of organic sweet almond oil with essential oils of sweet marjoram, lavender, and lemongrass  will have a calming effect on your dogs body and mind.

4.  Calm Down and Chill: A blend of Lavender, green mandarin, clary sage, and ylang ylang help to promote feeling of love and security and calming at the same time.  It’s great for training to keep them focused and help rescue dogs feel a little less lost and insecure.

I hope this helps and for a more complete list  of  oils and their uses, please check out Natural Essential Oils List.

Be well

Chris L Wagner

www.waggysecopetproducts.com