One of the most common problems presented to all veternarians is the itchy pet, and as a holistic practitioner, the same holds true. Most often the source of itch is allergies. With conventional medicine, the treatment is often suppression and in difficult cases this can mean endless rounds of antibiotics and steroids. As clients and veterinarians become frustrated, they often begin to look for alternatives.

Lets begin by looking at the different causes of allergies and discuss the ways in which these can be diagnosed. General treatment recommendations will be given when possible, but given the difficult nature of these conditions, treatments often need to be individual patient based to be effective.

Allergies can be to fleas, food or the environment. All of these conditions can look very similar to each other as well to other disease processes that affect the skin. A veterinarian should be consulted to be sure that your pet does not have mites, an infection, or other diagnosable problem before concluding that allergies are the culprit. Keep in mind that even for a proficient veterinarian, diagnosis can sometimes be harder than you would imagine. These conditions are not mutually exclusive, and often a bacterial infection is actually caused by an underlying problem such as allergies.

This is not to say the skin problems can not be adequately diagnosed. There are often differences in the history or in the pattern of itch that is suggestive of one cause of disease or another, and with a good history and exam your veterinarian will be well on the way to determining the cause of your pet’s discomfort. For example, inhalant allergies in dogs (allergies caused by pollens, trees, molds or grasses) tend to be seasonal and often include itchy feet and ear infections as part of the history. Cats do not seem to suffer as much from inhalant allergies as do their canine counterparts. Flea allergies tend to concentrate around the tail base and stomach in dogs and often cats as well. Finally, with food allergies, you see year round problems which may show signs predominantly around the mouth, ears and anus.

I do encourage clients to work up the cause of the allergy. If an allergen can be identified, a change in environment or husbandry can improve the situation and certainly changing the diet is far simpler and better for your pet than forever fighting an allergy to the chicken you feed each day. Different allergies will need to be diagnosed in different ways. For example inhalant allergies can be readily diagnosed by a blood test while food allergies require a diet trial. Common food allergens in animals include protein sources such as meat and dairy as well as corn and wheat to name a few. A hypoallergenic food trial which lasts two to three months may be needed to determine whether a diet change may result in improvement in the skin condition. This diet needs to contain ingredients that the animal has not eaten before and thus has not had a chance to develop and allergy to. This food is most likely going to need to be homemade or purchased as a prescription food as most “lamb and rice” type formulas that you find in the pet store will have other ingredients in them which could invalidate your diet trial. Please note that food allergies can not be accurately diagnosed by blood tests. Many of these tests are available but are of little to no diagnostic value.

One last note regarding food. There are many animals whose conditions improve dramatically when taken off of processed food and are put on homemade. These changes may take a while to notice or may be almost immediate. I regularly see patients with frustrating skin problems who show such improvement.

Flea allergies are usually diagnosed by history, observation of the pattern of itch and finding evidence of fleas. Often this is seen as “flea dirt” which is actually flea excrement. This excrement does in fact resemble dirt. If you are unsure, you can be differentiate flea dirt from garden dirt by placing a small amount on a white cloth or towel and then wetting the dirt and towel. Flea dirt well run red onto the towel as it is actually digested blood.

There are numerous ways to combat fleas naturally. See post on Fighting fleas naturally. These methods do, however, tend to be more labor intensive and may prove insufficient to eradicate a stubborn flea problem. Of the pharmaceutical products out there, I find advantage to be the safest and most effective. This product is designed to kill fleas on the animal and, when the treated pet sheds skin cells it will kill younger life stages in the house as well.

NOTE:Finding evidence of fleas can be especially difficult on cats. They tend to be fastidious groomers and can also have severe, body wide, reactions to even one flea.

Inhalant allergies can be readily diagnosed by a simple blood test. The difficulty comes after diagnosis. Some of my clients choose to try allergy injections which can work effectively in about 60% to 65% of animals in my experience. In other animals, treatment involves detoxification, improving the quality of the animal’s diet, boosting the immune system with acupuncture and supplements, and using Chinese herbs to both control the symptoms and help the animal become less reactive to the allergen. This is a long term process. These problems have often been ongoing for years and have been driven deeper still into the body by masking signs with the “anti” system of repeated doses of anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories. Animals treated naturally, will see their allergy reactions becoming less severe year after year as they work toward “health”.

A daily diet should consist of four parts protein to one- two parts carbohydrates

This diet can be fed raw or lightly cooked depending on your cat and situation. Be sure never to feed any animal cooked bones. Always chop finely or blenderize raw vegetables to break down cell walls and make them digestible for your feline friend.

One part of protein is equal to

2 oz meat or fish

1 medium egg

1/2 cup yogurt- note that 1/2 cup of yogurt counts as 1 unit of carbohydrate as well

1/3 cup cottage cheese- note that 1/3 cup of cottage cheese counts as 1 unit of carbohydrate as well

2 oz organ meat-you can feed up to one unit of organ meat several times a week if desired.

Carbohydrates

You will need to feed 1 to 2 units of carbohydrates per day

One part of carbohydrate is equal to

1 cup vegetables such as-broccoli, brussel sprouts, greenbeans, peas, cabbage, spinich, squashes

1/2 cup fruits such as-melons, berries, bananas, tomatoes, apples. Also carrots at 1/2 cup.

1/4 cup cooked beans, lentils or chick peas

1/3 cup of grains such as-oatmeal or barley can be added if you wish. These are the best of the grain type carbohydrates for a cat but note that grains in general are the least favorable type of carbohydrate. Try to limit or avoid these carbohydrates if your cat allows . Whole wheat pasta or brown rice are other options although not preferred.

Supplements

1/2 teaspoon bone meal

multivitamin for cats- whole food source is preferred.  Your cat should be supplemented with 50-100 mg of taurine per day depending on the size of cat.  Meat loses much of its taurine content when cooked. Check your multi to see if it is supplied or if you need an additional supplement.

500-1000 mg fish oil

antioxidant as directed for felines

Please note that this diet will not be adequate or appropriate for all cats. Be sure to check with your veterinarian before begining this or any other new diet for your cat.

One of the most important things that we can do for pets is to feed them properly, and while it is not that difficult to achieve a balanced diet, it is a bit more complex when we use food to help achieve optimal health. In Traditional Chinese medicine, foods are looked at much like herbs. Foods can heal. Foods can balance or unbalance the body. All foods have energetic properties, and the foods you feed your pet will affect their constitution, their affect, and can help to alleviate or exasperate personality traits, disease symptoms, and behaviors. Hot natured pets will tend to do better with cooling or neutral foods as cold natured pets will do better with neutral to warming foods. Thus the question of what foods are best to feed my pet is not a “one size fits all” answer. The first thing you need to do is to determine whether your pet is hot or cold natured.

The yin and yang of pets

Some characteristics of a hot natured, yang, animal ….

These animals are often nervous and on edge. They may have a red tongue, pant excessivly and seek cool floors on which to lie. Often you will note that these animals have very poor energy in summer heat, and show signs of excessive thirst. They will avoid warm beds, couches or carpets. These animals tend to get more acute, sudden illnesses with intense symptoms which go as quickly as they came.

Some characteristics of a cold natured, yin, animal ……

These animals will be cool, calm and collected. They may have a pale tongue which is often wet. They may prefer warm places to sleep, or wish to be covered or cuddled for warmth. These animals generally do not like to be out in the winter but will bake themselves in the sun or in front of the fire place until you fear they may combust. Cold natured animals tend to be more slow moving and sleepy and may catch colds frequently.

The temperature of foods

Food also has tendencies toward yin or yang. The temperature or thermal nature of foods does not refer to the temperature at which the food is served, but the way the food makes the body feel once consumed. Cooling foods can cool both the body and the psyche. Conversely warming or hot foods will affect the entire body as well. Foods, like bodies, all have BOTH yin and yang properties, but some have more of one and some more of the other.

Warming foods are often used to aid digestion. They can also improve circulation and may help ease the pain of arthritis if it is worse in cold weather.

Cooling foods will calm the mind and cool the body. They can also be useful when inflammation is a problem.

Neutral foods are the harmonizers of the diet and are often added to balance or temper the more extreme qualities of other foods.

EXAMPLES OF WARMING FOODS

tuna, turkey, salmon, lamb, venison, chicken, chicken liver, shrimp, trout, oats, cabbage, squash, kale, quinoa, dried ginger

EXAMPLES OF COOLING FOODS

clams, duck, egg, tofu, prok, millet, barley, wheat, whole wheat bread, lettuce, celery, broccoli, spinach, tomato, kelp, banana

EXAMPLES OF NEUTRAL FOODS

beef, beef liver, chicken gizzards, rabbit, sardine, string beans, aduki beans, kidney beans, yam, polenta, rice, corn, rye, potato, beet, turnip, carrot, eggs, cod, brown rice

In addition to their thermal properties, foods can moisten or dry, clear excesses or stimulate in cases of deficiency.

FOODS THAT MOISTEN

potato, sardines, tofu, wheat, pork, mussel, citrus, barley, , string beans, dairy

FOODS THAT DRY

lettuce, turnip, asparagus, amaranth, rye, mackerel, celery, garlic

This is only the tip of the iceburg so far as the true qualities of foods go. Before choosing or changing a diet for your pet always consult with your veterinarian for recommendations and understand that each body is different. The simple question…what is the best diet for my pet???…. may not have a simple answer.