By Veselina Dzhingarova
When your dog is suffering with allergies, you need to relieve the symptoms and get to the root of the problem. This is easy to say but much harder to achieve. In this article, we’ll look at the basic steps you can take to eliminate allergens and some natural ways to relieve the symptoms.
Raw Feeding
The cans of pet food and bags of kibble on supermarket shelves are not the best way to feed your dog, especially if he has an allergy.
When you think about it, the ingredients found in many commercial pet foods, wheat, corn, rice, soy, etc., aren’t normal foods for dogs at all, and it’s little wonder that food allergies are so common.
Raw feeding on the other hand, gives your dog all of the nutrients that he needs in a form that his system is equipped to deal with – meaty bones, muscle meat and organ meat. This type of food will also help to restore the healthy gut bacteria which play a big allergy prevention role.
Eliminate Fleas
Fleas are a major cause of hives and dermatitis for thousands of dogs, and they’re tricky little beasts to get rid of. In addition to killing the fleas living and breeding on your dog, you need to destroy the eggs waiting to hatch around your home.
Chemical treatments get the job done quickly but if you want to avoid these potentially problematic products, you’ll need to be persistent because natural flea control methods take longer to work.
You can make a herbal tea rinse to help disinfect and heal flea bites. Use a flea comb to work through your dog’s wet coat, and drop any fleas you find into a glass of soapy water. Daily use of a flea comb on your dog’s dry coat is also essential.
To remove eggs and prevent re-infestation, vacuum floors thoroughly every day and empty the bag or dust container into your outdoor garbage can as soon as you’re done. Mop floors with hot, soapy water containing 20 drops of an insecticidal essential oil like eucalyptus, pine or thyme.
Minimize Exposure to Airborne Allergens
Runny nose, sneezing, swollen eyes and reverse sneezing in dogs can all be caused by exposure to airborne allergens. To lower your dog’s exposure to these allergy triggers:
- Keep your dog indoors when the pollen count is high.
- Use an air filter.
- Wipe surfaces in your home with a damp rag to control dust.
- Use HEPA filters in your vacuum.
Use an Herbal Antihistamine
Quercetin, a plant flavonoid, acts as an antihistamine and an anti-inflammatory. Blocking the production of histamine prevents allergy symptoms, and if symptoms are already present, quercetin will halt the allergic reaction and calm itching and respiratory symptoms.
Following these basic steps will ensure that you’ve dealt with the most common causes of allergies in dogs and relieved symptoms in a safe and natural manner. If your dog is still suffering, despite your best efforts, you should get advice from your vet.
Guest Author Bio:
Veselina Dzhingarova is a traveler by soul and a pet lover. She is trying to live a better life using only natural products and eating healthy food and in her believes this should be followed both for human beings and pets world.
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Cutting out kibble works almost every time. I work at a holistic vet clinic and the first step is always to get them off kibble. It’s garbage and it causes allergies!
I’m beginning to suspect food allergies for my baby. He throws up way too often but that’s the only symptom he has. I’ve been to the vet twice but they don’t seem to know whats up. That leaves me with the internet. I’m so thankful for pet sites like yours!
I found raw to be too messy and difficult but I used cooked meat, veggies & fruit with great success! You don’t have to use raw meat to fix allergies just real food.
Blip became a whole new dog after we started giving her a raw diet. Nothing else worked for her allergies even natural or from the vet. She scratched and her eyes were weepy and she threw up a lot and her hair fell out! Raw food had her feeling better in a couple of weeks and within a couple of months she was a whole new dog! That just goes to show you what’s in the pet food in stores!