Skin Allergies

Dogs can be allergic to a wide variety of environmental allergens including pollen from trees, weeds, and grasses. This list of allergens includes cat dander.

A valid food elimination trial for the purpose of confirming food hypersensitivity consists of three phases: elimination, challenge, and provocation. In the first (elimination) phase, the dog is fed a diet consisting of a single protein source and a single carbohydrate source. Both of these ingredients should be completely “novel” to the dog – foods he’s never eaten before. (Thirty years ago, lamb and rice was the go-to food elimination diet, because those ingredients were not yet widely available in commercial pet foods. Because the diet was novel, few dogs had developed allergies to those ingredients, and “lamb and rice” gained an unearned reputation as a “hypoallergenic” diet.

Poison ivy can affect our dogs, but luckily most dogs have enough hair that the sap usually does not get down to skin. However, any dogs with condition that leaves them with exposed bare skin are all susceptible to the rash.

Juniper suffered a brush with bloat

A “cyst” is a capsule that usually has fluid in it, although it can have air as well. “Tumor” is a general term, basically a generic swelling or mass.

long soak with a towel infused with an herbal skin rinse.üA juniper decoction is easy to make and very effective for treating a dog whose skin problem is severe

When itching starts, consider what might have caused that reaction. Home remedies for itchy dogs might help, but only if they address the cause of itching.

or anything else.üBonnie's sores healed when her owner noticed her eating fresh cleavers, and started giving the dog supplemental forms of the herb.

Hives, wheals, and welts are a moderate reaction to stings. Just like their human counterparts, dogs who have been stung can break out in unsightly hives. These are usually very itchy and uncomfortable. The first sign often noticed is the dog rubbing along furniture or scratching at the face and eyes. The hives may manifest as bright red streaks or lumps all over the body or be confined to a single place.

Symptoms of a superficial staph infection include hair loss and the presence of pustules. It can worsen into a deep staph infection with fever, pain, and crusting skin.

While some essential oils can benefit dogs, others are extremely dangerous - especially when used in their concentrated form. Tea tree oil demands extra caution around dogs, cats and small children. Although exposure to any essential oil is generally most concentrated when it directly contacts skin, tea tree oil diffusers and liquid potpourri present specific health concerns to dogs. These items release essential oils like tea tree continually into the air, risking exposure by inhalation.

When your dog itches, you know it. That relentless licking, scratching, chewing – anything he can do to relieve the itch. He seems obsessed, and he probably is. Whatever you do, don't ignore this problem (as if you could!). Incessant scratching and chewing may indicate food allergy. He'll constantly tear into any place on his body that he can reach with his teeth or claws. You may see ugly hair loss. Until you find the cause, this problem will go from bad to worse.