Skin problems

SKIN PROBLEMS: What’s going on -and what you can do to help that itchy animal

 

When all systems in the body are humming along in balance, the skin, eyes, ears, and the digestive system are protected by immune substances produced by the body. Your dog and cat feel good. In a healthy animal (dog, cat, or human) normal inhabitants of the skin coexist in harmony, each doing their jobs and living their lives in a symbiotic relationship.

 

If an animal’s immune system is under more stress than it can manage, this symbiotic relationship is upset. Skin problems – hot spots, rashes, yeast overgrowth, bacterial infections –are often the first symptom seen. Medical interventions include antihistamines, antibiotics, and steroids. All of these medications modify and suppress the immune system. Our goal should be to help the immune system work properly, not to suppress it.

 

Chemical intervention may be needed. However, with good nutrition, bathing when needed, and proper exercise, many animals regain their health and thrive without medication.

 

 “Allergic” Skin Problems

Skin infections are usually caused by the Staphylococcus bacteria that normally inhabit the skin. They are one sign that there’s not enough of the immunoglobin IgA protect the skin. The underlying cause of an IgA deficiency on the skin is often over utilization of IgA in the gut. Because things are not well balanced in animal’s gastrointestinal tract, the IgA is needed more there, and there’s not enough to protect the skin. After this has gone on for a while, production of IgA is disrupted.

 

Yeasts are also natural inhabitants of the skin, but when the proper balance is disturbed, they can multiply rapidly and cause skin and ear problems. You’ll know your dog has yeast by the characteristic corn chip (some think cheese popcorn) smell. Yeast causes intense itching and can grow in localized areas (causing a creamy white accumulation between toes), in the ears, or can affect the whole body. An overgrowth of yeast is a signal that your animal’s immune system is not functioning well.

 

These conditions cause a variety of symptoms. Fur may feel “sticky”, there may be lots of flakes on the skin, or red spots with little white heads, which often have black areas around them. You may see red, inflamed skin covering large areas of the body, and your animal may be “itchy” Your dog might lick her legs, chew her pads, and there may be inflamed spots between toes, in armpits and inner legs.

 

“Hot Spots” are an inappropriate immune response, and in some ways a mystery to medicine. They seem to appear in an instant and can spread at an alarming rate. These oozing sores are extremely painful and can easily become infected.

 

If the immune system is highly reactive, environmental substances (ragweed, grass, pollen, mold) animals pick up just by walking outside can provide enough irritating substances to cause a reaction.

 

Allergic animals aren’t the only ones with skin problems

Elderly animals and those in poor health often exude an unpleasant fragrance. Their bodies are getting rid of toxins that should be removed to help support the detoxification process in the aging system.

 

Keep Skin Clean

If we humans have a rash, scab, infection, or injury to our skin, we don’t have much question about what to do – we keep it clean! The same is true for dogs and cats. Our animals will feel better, smell better, and heal faster if their skin is kept clean. However, in the case of cats, they may not be happier: bathing is not usually on their list of favorite activities.

 

Why don’t we wash our animals more often? Because we have been told not to, or because it’s one more thing to add to our busy lives.  We may have read that we’ll disturb the balance of our animal’s skin if we wash them too much, and their skin will get dried out. Healthy animals may not need frequent bathing: each animal is different. Bathe them when they need it.

 

Animals with skin problems do well with weekly baths. However, at the height of the “allergy” season, many dogs require baths daily or every other day. 

Between baths, rinsing problem areas that are not infected can be extremely soothing. Localized inflamed areas may be washed without washing the whole animal, and this may help to stretch the interval between baths. For example, if your dog has irritated and inflamed feet, you can devise a simple system to immerse one foot at a time in a bowl of soapy water, and then rinse them the same way – in just a few minutes.

 

Tips on choosing shampoos. 

From the wide variety of commercial pet shampoos available, choose as you do for yourself, trying to avoid toxic ingredients.

 

Avoid shampoos that include oatmeal. Oatmeal has a great reputation as a soothing ingredient, but animals that have a problem with grain are likely to have problems with oatmeal shampoos. Grain-based shampoos may also provide a carbohydrate food source for unwanted yeast and bacteria on the skin.

 

“Health” shampoos including essential oils should be used only with extreme caution. Do not use them on cats. Consult with someone knowledgeable about oils if you’re interested in this approach. Always test shampoo first on a very small area!

 

Critical points for successful and pleasant bath time

Wash thoroughly! Use comfortably warm water, not too hot. On very hot days, many dogs enjoy cool water, which can also reduce inflammation and irritation. Wet your dog completely and use highly diluted shampoo to help spread it all over the dog, Dogs with water-repellent coats (Labradors, Portuguese Water Dogs….) are hard to get wet at all: diluted shampoo makes the job easier.

 

Be gentle! Keep soap out of eyes and ears. Irritated skin is delicate and easily injured. Animals will be worried that you are going to cause them pain — do your best to avoid that. Hot spots in particular are exquisitely painful.

 

Rinse, and rinse, and rinse! Soap left on skin is very irritating.

 

Dry the skin completely! This might be difficult, depending on your animal’s coat, but it’s extremely important.  Bacteria love to grow in warm, damp setting.   Breeds with heavy coats may develop bacterial problems just from staying wet. “Hot spots” can develop in damp areas very quickly in a dog prone to them. 

Some coats air-dry very nicely, others require work. Human hair dryers are not appropriate unless used with a “NO HEAT” setting! Allow some distance between the dryer and the animal. Trim back her coat around any affected areas to allow air to get to the skin and to help these areas dry faster.  Stay away from “hot spots” with the dryer!

 

Some animals benefit from a close cut during the summer. This makes keeping an eye on skin much easier!

 

Prevention: do a body scan

Every day when you’re just sitting together, talking about life, look your animal friend over thoroughly. You can see, feel, and smell when it’s time for a bath. Take the time to do it when it’s needed: skin conditions can flare out of control rapidly.

 

Look closely for little black specks in your dog’s coat. This may be “flea dirt”, and though you may see no fleas, there might be some. It takes only one flea to trigger a very nasty skin problem in a sensitive dog.

 

Get veterinary assistance when needed!

 

Feed Real Food

Good nutrition includes whole food antioxidants and ample fresh, non-oxidized essential fatty acids.  These components are critical for healing. Without the support of good nutrition, acute episodes may become chronic and possibly life-threatening conditions.

 

Fresh food provides the best nutrients and helps to proved healthy conditions in the digestive tract, so that the immune system is strong. Without good digestion, an animal cannot be healthy. Good food is the foundation for good health

 

copyright Steve Brown and Beth Taylor

See Spot Live Longer

this article may be reproduced for educational purposes with the above credits included

Add broccoli to your dog’s food to help prevent cancer!

Eating healthy food is the easiest, most natural way to fight free radicals in your body and to prevent damage from oxidation. Antioxidants are a necessity for every diet – including your dogs and cats!

Broccoli is good for humans and dogs, too! Adding broccoli and other green foods to your dog’s diet will help prevent cancer, the leading disease killer of dogs, and help promote optimum antioxidant activity

Dogs and cats need fresh vegetables too!

 

Advertising for dry pet foods shouts at us that we will find everything our animals need inside that attractive bag with the beautiful pictures of meats, vegetables, and fruits labeled “natural”.This would be great, but it’s impossible. No matter how good the ingredients are in a bag of dog or cat food, it is still a highly processed, grain-based food, lacking in live, whole nutrients.

If we follow the conventional advice, “never feed people food or table scraps to your animals”, our dogs and cats will never eat any of those whole foods we know to be critical for fighting cancer and promoting a healthy immune system: vegetables and fruits in their original forms. This advice is out of date – and if we follow it we do direct harm to our dogs and cats. Would we feed our children nothing but dry food in a bag? Dogs and cats are mammals just like us, with the same need for fresh food.

Even the best dry pet foods (those made out of basic ingredients that are of human-edible quality) are made with synthetic vitamins and minerals. These incomplete, unnatural forms of vitamins and minerals do not provide the level of nutrition required to support a long, healthy life. In addition, the main ingredient in dry food, some form of grain, is not good food for dogs or cats. Digestion of this highly processed food puts a burden on the body that can be lightened considerably by the addition of some live, whole foods.

Add a little broccoli for almost no cost.

For almost no cost and little effort, you can improve the odds that your dog will live a long life. For the most micronutrients for your dollar, juice or finely chop  broccoli to break the cell wall of the plant and make the nutrients more available. The stalk has just as much nutrition as the broccoli flower and is often thrown away. It contains many important cancer-fighting nutrients that can help your dog live longer, so use the whole thing!

Broccoli, dark green lettuce outer leaves and asparagus spears are good sources of chlorophyll, like all dark green vegetables. Natural chlorophylls exert protective effects against carcinogen exposure in animals and people. Human studies in China show that chlorophyll may help to delay the onset of symptoms of liver cancer caused by mycotoxin-contaminated grains. It is well documented that mycotoxin-contaminated grains have killed many dogs, and even the low levels common in stored grains cause damage over time

Give your animals bright green vegetables like broccoli several times a week. Juiced or chopped very finely, these green vegetables provide cancer-fighting and immune system-enhancing ingredients that can be found only in fresh foods. In order to keep the proper nutrient balance limit the total amount of green foods you add to dry food to about 15% by volume for dogs. For cats, a little goes a long way. “Cat grass,” available at natural food stores, is a good addition, or a teaspoon of juiced veggies for medium sized cats.

Broccoli is just one example.  There are other good possibilities in the refrigerator of anyone feeds their family a healthy diet that consists mostly of a variety of fresh foods. If there is nothing like that in your refrigerator, could be it’s time for you and the dog to improve your diet!

They’re grazing on grass- is it bad for them?

 

If your dog or cat grazes on grass that has not been sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, or other poisons, consider it food (as long as she doesn’t throw up on your carpet!). Foods like grasses contain cellulose, which may not be completely digested (and you may see the grass unchanged in the dog’s feces), but they are of great value in helping to maintain the bacterial balance in the intestines, helping the “good” occupants of the gut to survive. Fresh grass also provides chlorophyll, vitamin C, and hundreds of other antioxidants and enzymes. Do not let your dog  or cat eat grass that has been exposed to chemicals. If the grass is in the woods, it is probably “clean”. If the grass is part of a farm or suburban “perfect lawn,” try to prevent your dog from eating it (or walking on it).

 copyright Beth Taylor  

Are our animals fat?

Our animals really are fat, but most of us don’t think so!

Six out of every 10 dogs and cats in the US may be overweight, according to a recent study.

That overweight 60% of the pet population will live shorter lives and have much more ill health than the 40% that are lean.

In a study of 1,462 animals, over 60% scored 6 or higher on a 1-9 scale; 4 or 5 is considered ideal. The Purina Body Condition Score System, a tool designed to make it easier see the real condition of animals, was used to evaluate these animals. A body condition score of 6 is the equivalent of being 20-35% over your ideal weight. If your ideal weight is 180, for example, you would weigh 225 with a score of 6.

Veterinarians scored the animals – and so did the owners. The owners of the group of animals considered substantially overweight saw things differently—almost half thought their overweight dogs were at an ideal weight! (1)

This difference in perception costs our animals years of life.

It matters! Here’s why–

A 14-year life span study by Nestle Purina shows us that dogs kept lean live longer and have fewer health problems than those who are overweight. While this study included only dogs, cats show similar problems with obesity, and an even higher incidence of diabetes.  We think the results are also pertinent for cats.

 

The benefits seen by the lifespan study of dogs include:

 

• Lean dogs live longer—up to two years longer

• Lean dogs develop degenerative bone problems much later in life

• Overweight dogs begin to lose muscle mass up to two years earlier than those kept lean

• Immune systems in dogs kept lean had slower age-related declines

• Dogs kept lean had lower blood pressure and pulse rates

 

Lean dogs live better, healthier lives, and live up to two years longer than those even somewhat overweight!

It doesn’t take much “overweight” to begin to cause problems. Fat tissues produce inflammatory chemicals which are related to all sorts of health problems, including:

• Insulin resistance (beginning at body condition score of 6) and diabetes

• Inflammatory diseases of all kinds

• Heart disease

• General aches and pains attributed to “old age”

           

Is your dog or cat fat?

 

Consult the Purina Body Condition System to find out—or ask a friend to help! If you evaluate each other’s dogs and cats, you may come up with different (more objective) answers.  If your animal is overweight, get a checkup to make sure that there is nothing medical contributing to the problem. Usually, it’s simple: a combination of lack of exercise with either the wrong balance of food, or just too much food.

Higher protein diets help to maintain muscle mass

There are many choices in “diet food” at pet food and grocery stores, and it’s a strong indicator of how many fat pets there are. Most “senior” or “lite” foods are higher carbohydrate, lower fat, and higher fiber versions of “adult” dry foods. They are far from the natural diet of dogs and cats. We advise you to reject them.

The natural diet of dogs and cats – high in protein and water, and moderate in fat – is perfect for keeping them in top condition. It’s composed of the meat, bone, and organs of prey animals, and some vegetables and fruits.

The muscles in the body are made up of protein. To maintain that muscle, the body needs protein.

• Muscle burns more calories

• Protein in the diet makes animals feel full faster

• Protein helps to preserve lean body mass

 

Sufficient dietary protein helps the body keep making protein, which helps the immune system to work well, and decreases susceptibility to injury and infection.

In other Nestle Purina weight-loss studies, cats and dogs both lost less muscle mass and more fat on higher protein diets – diets in which the balance is closer to the natural diet we recommend. When we lose weight, we want to lose fat, and not muscle mass. The same is true for our dogs and cats.

You can see the difference in the type of weight loss in the charts below, one for cats and one for dogs. On lower protein diets, animals lost more muscle and less fat; on higher protein diets, animals lost more fat and less muscle (2, 3), which is much healthier.

Effect of Dietary Protein Composition of Weight Loss in Dogs

Composition of weight loss	20% protein diet	30% protein diet	39% protein diet
Muscle (lean)	33.5%	20.8%	13.5%
Fat	65.7%	78%	85%

Effect of Dietary Protein Composition of Weight Loss in Cats

Composition of weight loss	35% protein	45% protein
Muscle (lean)	19%	9%
Fat	81%	90%

The results are clear: higher protein foods allow more fat loss and less loss of muscle in animals on reduced calorie diets. These studies were done with grain-based dry foods. We think that the results would be even more striking if the animals were fed high-protein, fresh food diets.

What about dietary fat?

Fat has about twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrate. A very high fat diet may contribute more calories than you want for an overweight animal. The natural – “prey” — diet of dogs and cats has a moderate fat content (20 – 25% on a dry matter basis).  Feeding a very high fat content diet can make the dog or cat gain weight, and may cause health problems. Even feeding natural meat-based diets, it’s easy to feed too much fat.

Bones, for example, may be good entertainment and exercise for your dog—but they are high fat.

Some frozen diets are very high in fat. The ingredient panel tells us the minimum percentage of fat, not the total amount of fat.  For example, a product may have 15% fat by weight, and the manufacturer can list it as 10% (minimum).  Judge the fat content of the food by its look and feel, not by the guaranteed analysis on the label.

Many overweight animals have trouble digesting fat, and are at risk for pancreatitis, so it’s wise to keep the fat level down. If meat is lightly cooked, it’s easy to drain the fat. If you are making your own raw diet, eliminate at least the visible fat.

Good fats, however, should always be included: sardines, fish oil, omega-3 or DHA eggs—all can provide your animals with essential pieces of a sound nutrition program.

Transform your “he’s just a little overweight” dog or cat in simple steps

Your animal should lose weight slowly:  Veterinary experts recommend aiming for 1% of body weight loss per week, with a maximum of 2%.  If the animal loses more than 2% per week, it’s likely that much of that weight loss will be muscle, not the fat loss that’s our goal.

First, evaluate and upgrade the treats you give your animals.

It’s likely that this step alone may help your animals lose weight.

Most treats (“Biscuits” or “Cookies”) are high in grain, a dietary component we want to minimize or eliminate. For example, one medium-sized biscuit may have 25% of a small dog’s calorie ration for the day. Even if they are expensive, organic products, biscuits are almost all grain.

We like to give our animals treats, and we don’t want you to stop. Use small pieces of meat or vegetables and fruit. There are good commercial choices: Charlee Bear Natural Nutrition Snacks provide both meat and vegetables, and freeze-dried or dehydrated meats are available at all pet food store. All these choices are very popular with pets, which don’t care if they aren’t shaped like little hot dogs.

Consider the treats as part of the diet, not extras. Most dogs are much smaller than we are, but we sometimes lose sight of that in handing out goodies: even the best treats still have calories!

Second, feed a fresh food diet appropriate to your animal’s species.

 

It’s our experience that most dogs and cats lose weight and feel better very quickly on a meat-based, fresh food, diet. However, no matter what you feed your dog or cat, if you feed too much the excess will be stored as fat!

Commercial fresh food diets make feeding a meat-based diet much easier (where they are available). Good canned foods, with no grain, are available in most areas. Canned foods are much closer than dry foods to the natural balance for dogs and cats, since they are higher in protein, fat, and water.

Third, exercise.

For overweight dogs and cats, lifestyle changes may be needed as well as dietary ones. Even a moderate increase in exercise will help improve fitness and energy metabolism.

To learn more about fresh food diets, read See Spot Live Longer.

(1) Purina Nutrition at Work Newsletter, October 2004

(2) Hannah SS, LaFlamme DP. Increased Dietary Protein Spares Lean Body Mass During Weight Loss in Dogs J Vet Int Med. 1998, 12: 224

(3) LaFlamme DP, Hannah SS. Effect of Dietary Protein on Composition of Weight Loss in Cats. Proc. Brit Sm Anim Vet Assoc, April 1998, Birmingham England

 

copyright Steve Brown and Beth Taylor See Spot Live Longer

this article may be reproduced for educational purposes with the above credits included

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