allergies, itchy skin, scratchy
| Nena's Story |
| Hi, my name is Nena and if you are on my story page, you probably have a little dog with some pretty bad itches. My mom asked me to tell you how I got my severe allergies under control so that maybe you can help your little dog. My family adopted me in June of 1996. I was two years old then. Right off the bat, my mom and dad noticed that I scratched a lot. The hair on my hind end was matted and the skin was pretty red and there were sores in some places. At times, I would itch so badly, I would pace back and forth underneath the coffee table scratching my back on the bottom of the table top. It was very upsetting to my family - they knew I was miserable and frankly, they were miserable too. There were nights when none of us slept much at all. My family took me to the vet and he gave me a shot of steroids. That made me feel so good - all the itching stopped and I got to rest and so did they - for about a month, then the itching and scratching started all over again. Of course, I couldn't go right back for another shot, so I was miserable again for several months and then back to the vet and another shot of steroid. This went on for four years. Until one day, my mom met a new vet that told her it was very, very bad for me to be getting steroid shots every three months. Evidently, there has been some tentative research that leads people to believe that repeated shots of steroids might be the cause of Cushings disease and organ failure in older dogs. So, my mom started doing research into how to fix this problem for me without ultimately killing me. Here's what she found. In general, the symptoms seen in little dogs, like itching, scratching and chewing holes in our bodies, are most likely caused by a messed up immune system. This can be caused by bad nutrition, neglect or just the fact that many of us live in highly-polluted cities. So, the first step my mom took to get my itching under control is to start building up my immune system so my body could handle those itchy things that get into my nose or on my paws. She started by switching me from that nasty grocery store dog food to an all-natural, high-quality kibble. She chose Precise Sensicare, but there are over 20 brands of extremely high quality food that you can eat - here are the things to look for. First, the food should have no dyes or preservatives. If there are long, chemical-sounding words listed in the ingredients, they're probably not all that good for you. Second, we little fluffy dogs don't really need a lot of grains in our diets. In fact, most of the dog food manufacturers add lots of grains, especially corn, just as filler - we really need lots of protein and veggies - just like you!! In particular, we don't do well with corn, wheat or soy. So avoid those ingredients in the kibble you get your little dog. Finally, we need supplements. As hard as the dog food manufacturers try, they cannot get enough of the supplements we need cooked into food. In fact, many of the supplements we need are spoiled by the cooking process. So, just like you take vitamins every day, we need supplements too. My mom gives me lots of vitamin C and Omega 3 in EACH meal. (I get two yummy meals each day). When I first started, my mom got a special doggie version of Vitamin C from www.belfield.com (it's called Mega C Plus) and gave me three times the recommended dosage. She also got a yummy Omega 3 supplement, The Missing Link, and gave me three times the recommended dose of that also. (Oh, you might get a bit of diarrhea at first with the vitamin C and Missing Link, but it usually goes away in a few days and it's worth a little discomfort to get the itching stopped.) Here's the punch line: within THREE weeks of eating premium kibble AND Vitamin C AND Omega 3, I stopped itching. Almost completely stopped itching. And, in fact, I haven't had a steroid shot since November of 1999. I now have long, shiny hair and feel as soft as a bunny. I'm now on a maintenance dose of both vitamin C and Omega 3 and will be for the rest of my life. She even gives my supplements to my healthy sisters. There are several places to get good supplements - in addition to www.belfield.com, you can get Bertes brand at www.b-naturals.com. Of course, the very best food you could give your little dog is a raw meat and veggie diet.. Check it out at www.bones2go.com. |
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