Natural treatment to help a dog with allergies

J

Jason_C

Forums Enthusiast
Katy is now 13 years old!! You might recall that she had a stroke last year, and I truly didn't think she would make it! But she did, and you would never know that she'd had a problem :-)

She's recently dealing with a red and itchy paw that she keeps licking and making worse. There are no apparent cuts or anything, but with a warm snap and weeds coming up in the back yard I'm pretty sure that it's an allergic reaction.

I'm in a rural area, and her regular vet can't see her for 3 weeks :-/ There's an emergency vet an hour away, but this isn't really an emergency.

I give her 1/2 of a Benadryl before bed, and that helps. But can you suggest anything to help relieve her paw during the day?
 
Allergies are a tough one. Benedryl is good. Don't try any ointments or salves on her paw, she'll just lick it off. If you think it's grass related, try and keep her off that as much as you can. There are other oral antihistamines or short course of steriods for dogs that work a bit longer that your vet could give you. Be wary, due to her medical history, of the injection Apoquel that can be given for allergies - it actually suppresses the immune system to achieve the no-itch. I don't mean a short acting steroid, that might be enough to stop the itch cycle.
 
My yard was like 90% weed, and working on the theory that it could be a trigger for all of us I actually wiped it ALL out last year and sowed new seed! But right now I can see weed coming up again; maybe 50% of the yard now, but still :-/

I'm also surrounded by wild woods, so there's plenty of trees and other wild plants around.

In the last month I've noticed Katy hacking more (the vet confirmed that it's not CHF), my girlfriend has headaches and other allergy symptoms, and late at night I've had this unproductive cough. I'm dusting and vacuuming every day and have air filters all over the place, but it persists. I'm really only guessing that it's an allergen in the air, I can't think of anything else that would be affecting all of us!

Thanks for the warning about Apoquel! At this point in her life I don't think I would introduce anything other than tried-and-true natural solutions, anyway.
 
Not for Katy, but for you and GF, look into nasal washing and Bromelain. I use a Neil Med bottle but Ayr nasal wash refill packets. The Ayr are much nicer on sensitive nasal passages. When allergens really kick up, I add a cap of Alcolol to the mix but only once a week. If sinus congestion arises, I add drops of ACV to the mix (without the alcolol) as tolerated. I am allergic to most of the outside, have had chronic sinus issue since a teenager and this regime has helped me far more than prescriptions and surgeries ever did. Check your humidity levels in your house as well and consider running a humidifier in winter.

No help for Katy, other than to say you could read up on honey. Honey has so many positive attributes.... local honey can be used to address allergies.
 
Have you read the Forever Dog book? I have it on my Kindle app and it is a fountain of information! I just preordered The Forever Dog Life book (in hardcover this time…there’s just something about being able to access the information on paper).
There’s so much information and Rodney Habib and Dr Karen Becker have done so much to inform!
I would recommend their books 100%!
 
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