We discussed causes symptoms, etc. of environmental allergies in previous posts which can be found here and here.
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So here let’s talk a little bit about different things you can do to help your dog or cat with environmental allergies.
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There are a couple of big clues that your pet has environmental allergies. One would be that it’s seasonal. The other would be that if you give a bath, the itching gets better.
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Think about it.
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Cats and dogs walk a lot lower to the ground than we humans do. They walk around where the pollen is thickest. And they sniff around on the ground. So they stick their face in a mountain of pollen every single day.
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So doesn’t it make sense to at least wash their face daily? If not rinse their feet when they come inside? And to give more frequent baths?
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Because if all you have to do to dramatically reduce their itch is to wash them more often wouldn’t that be a beautiful start?
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Then you can avoid medicine. Because I don’t care how much antihistamine you use, if they go stick their face in 6 inches of heavy duty pollen, the antihistamine isn’t gonna do anything.
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There are a lot of herbals on the Internet. Some have better affect than others. There are an awful lot of so-called allergy products for sale online that have horrible inactive ingredients. Maybe the active ingredients are logical and potentially helpful, but then the company uses mediocre ingredients to make it “taste good” and it destroys the whole health benefit of the supplement.
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Sometimes the indirect way to make environmental allergies better is to look at everything else inflammatory in the pet’s life. So this means make sure you’re feeding real food, minimize toxic chemicals, like heartworm prevention, and flea and tick medication. Really criticize snacks, chews, treats. And make sure that the water is high-quality. If you wouldn’t drink the water, why would you give it to them?
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And then the rest of the things that you need to evaluate in the environment are cleaning products in the house. Laundry detergent. Fabric softener. Floor cleaner. Anything that the animals can somehow come in contact with. Vinegar goes a long way to cleaning our houses. Plain old soap goes a long way towards cleaning our houses. We don’t need to use strong odors because those can cause allergies in pets (humans too). Being wary of plug-ins, incense, and air fresheners is necessary.
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Any of these contribute to your pet’s toxic burden. A toxic animal is going to be itchy, which means their response to environmental allergens is going to be worse.
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Consultations available in Tampa, Clearwater and virtually for pet owners seeking natural wellness solutions.