Looking from a holistic perspective, there are many factors as to why a dog may be predisposed to being itchy. This could be genetics, the environment and how effective a dog’s immune and detoxification system is. We live in a highly toxic environment where our pets are often over vaccinated, fed highly processed diets and have those genetic predispositions we just mentioned. Puppies are also all too often weaned off of mother’s milk too early, to allow for a fully acquired immune system.
There are a few reasons why your pet could be itchy but either way, it’s a physiological, immunological response that needs to be put back into balance. Whilst detecting the reasons why, addressing the inflammation caused, can sometimes be tricky. Hundreds of cats and dogs have come to us with the complication of knowing what elicits the reaction but even still, can’t get a handle on the scratching. This is where we use a layered approach to looking at all elements of the physical body.
The cause of itching in dogs is largely due to allergies. Approximately 1 in 5 dogs have allergies that are often diagnosed as
Atopic or Contact Dermatitis. This could be from a number of allergens such as grass, moulds, foods, household items and parasites.
Allergies in dogs often manifests in constant scratching, rashes, ear infections, weeping eyes and hotspots and can become a real problem for dogs and their owners. It’s actually one of the most common complaints we see in clinic today.
So your cat or dog is probably scratching, licking their paws, backs of legs and belly. They may also be sneezing, have weeping eyes and ear problems. To start to fix a problem, we need to know what is causing it.
There are generally
3 main reasons why your dog may be itchy. Understanding the causes can help us in our steps to an itch free dog.
1. Environmental allergies. This is caused by inhaled allergens and this could be to certain pollens, dust, mould, household products and may be all year around or just seasonal. An environmental allergy accounts for the majority of dermatitis in dogs.
2. Food allergies are less common but intolerances and sensitivities are very common. The most common food suspects are corn, maize, chicken, beef, soy and gluten but the list can be endless.
3. Contact allergies.This is often a reaction to parasites such as fleas, or mange, grass or household products such as detergent you’ve used to wash bedding for example.Flea contact dermatitis is probably the most common of all of these.
It’s important you get a diagnosis by your vet or a clinic like My Pet Nutritionist, as we need to know what your dog is reacting to. In rare cases itching can be due to more serious disease such as kidney disease or thyroid disease, so make sure you get this checked out by a professional.
Many tests for sensitivities and allergens are not very accurate but for foods we currently use Nutriscan.
http://www.nutriscan.org
Environmental allergy testing is some of the most accurate and we suggest going to your vet for this.
Allergies are caused by an overactive immune system that perceives harmless substances as threats. Once we identify those substances, removing them are important but we still need to consider other steps to get results. Imagine your immune system is a scale. It’s tipped far one way and we need to get it back into balance. Quite often, if the offending allergens, foods etc are removed, your pet can still experience itching. Each positive step you take is one step closer to that scale being completely in balance.
Nutrition
Poor quality food in itself generally depletes the body and immune system. You see, it’s all about the immune system working effectively for an itchy dog. Many commercial diets are lacking in antioxidants and enzymes that are abundant in fresh, raw foods and lightly cooked foods. These elements are essential to well-being but are killed by high heat processing in all of the cooked, packaged dry and tinned foods on the shelves today. Dry food for example contains very high starch content even if your dog food does not contain grain. The starch is required to stick the kibble together and starch equals a high sugar content. Sugar is bad for your cat and dog as the sugar can feed different bacteria, virus, yeast and cancer. Not to mention itching dogs.
If you suspect your pet has a food allergy or sensitivities and you haven’t done a test yet or the test is inconclusive, then an elimination diet also known as a ‘feeding trial’ can be a thorough way to detect the offending foods.
An
elimination diet involves feeding an extremely simplified diet for 12 weeks observing any signs of intolerance such as itching, diarrhoea, weeping eyes and a yeasty smell. After 12 weeks of a simplified and uniform recipe, we start introducing different protein sources and sticking to one per week and observing reactions. It’s always good to start with single proteins your cat or dog has not previously been introduced to such as kangaroo or horse. Don’t feed treats other than the pure meat you are feeding for main meals that week. Treats if possible should be avoided. Clean filtered bottled or even better still, distilled water should be given, not regular tap water.
Sometimes we check for allergies and intolerances and there aren’t any. This could be simply because the coat and skin is dry and there’s a lack of omega oils in the diet (this should always be considered first), but sometimes and more often there’s an issue called
Histamine Intolerance.
Detoxify
General lifestyle choices and toxic overload, challenges the immune system and puts it under more pressure every day. To help the itch, we must remove toxicity in your cat and dog’s life. Your pet may even be allergic to any of the below:
Grooming products, flea and worming products, vaccinations, household items, garden items and the impurity of water.
All of the above can affect the immune system and cause itching or exacerbate it. There is a new movement of vets who are starting to titre test rather than vaccinate yearly. Talk to your vet about it and look into Vaccicheck.
Supplements
Great products/ingredients to consider are cleanse formulas to support the body systems and reset, omega oils (based on algail oil, anchovies and sardines) to moisten the skin and reduce the inflammatory cascade, add in quercetin, bromelain and vitamin C for reduction in mast cell activation of histamine, probiotics and healing the gut wall to modulate immune response alongside an immune balancing herb or superfood such as reishi to help reduce the reactions.
Steroids, Cytopoint and Apoquel only switch off the immune system that have long term detrimental effects on the body. Everything has its place and sometimes drugs are required to give respite. Please consider going natural, it’s the kindest thing for your pet and not a condition that is life threatening without drugs. Please bare in mind excessive itching and that awful creep under the skin is enough to send anyone demented.
For complex cases, please contact us to find out more.
Thanks for reading and we hope you can resolve the itch!
MPN Team x
