As we demonstrate below, complementary holistic treatments fill most of these requirements whereas conventional medications do not and are rarely suitable as the long term treatment for most allergic dogs.
Along with the criteria for a perfect treatment, keep in mind that no type of treatment, conventional or complementary, should be administered on a long-term basis without a proper diagnosis.
Steroids Are NOT the Answer
The most prescribed conventional treatment for allergies is corticosteroids (steroids). The second most common is antihistamines. While these medications can be effective in controlling itching in allergic patients, they do nothing to correct or cure the underlying disorder. All too often they are prescribed for chronic, long-term control of allergies without searching safer alternatives.
As a result, many pets suffer unnecessary side effects from these treatments and never seem to stop. In the end, expect ongoing visits to the Vet and a lifetime payment plan to your Vet's personal 401(k) fund.
Conventional treatments can be used safely and effectively when needed to provide short-term relief from the itchiness that bothers so many allergic dogs.
Remember that atopic dermatitis is an inflammatory, uncomfortable condition. As a result, any approach you select should help minimize the inflammation and discomfort that causes your dog to scratch. Thinking holistically, you must also consider the overall health of the dog.
Conventional treatments are harmful to the pet when used as a long-term therapy for treating allergies. Sadly, doctors are all too willing to choose long-term therapy with corticosteroids for pets with atopic dermatitis. Corticosteroids will relieve inflammation and itching, but they do nothing in helping the immune system counteract the allergies. And it is well accepted that there are long-term side effects associated with corticosteroids.
Steroid treatment is too risky unless absolutely necessary. Although the dog will feel better for a while, the treatment is actually making his health worse.
Understanding Inflammation & Allergies
Inflammation is caused by damage to the tissues and cells of the affected body part. When a tissue is inflamed, it exhibits redness, pain, tenderness, swelling, and loss of function.
CORTICOSTEROIDS
Steroids are used in the treatment of allergic dogs because they deliver immediately results, which is what owners want. They want the problem to go away. For most pets, the scratching, redness of the skin and inflammation are relieved within 24 hours of taking steroids.
Steroids can be used safely and intelligently in a holistic approach to help allergic pets. When a diagnosis suggests a disease that is most correctly treated with corticosteroids, they are actually wonderful; drugs that often can be lifesaving. But they are becoming one of the most frequently used drugs in veterinary practice. It’s too easy for doctors to prescribe a steroid shot, send home a happy customer, who will soon become a repeat customer, than to actually treat symptoms, without diagnosing and treating the disease. In the end, the pet pays the price in the long run and the owner too!
Steroids must be used correctly at the right dose, the right length of time, and in treating the appropriate symptoms.
As far as allergies are concerned, the evidence is clear that steroids are an ineffective and harmful solution due to their numerous short-term and long term side effects, except in the rarest of pets where no other treatment gives the animal relief. However, short term rare use of corticosteroids as a jumpstart in an integrative treatment program (to quickly relieve inflammation and itching) can be part of holistic regimen.
DURATION OF COMMONLY USED CORTICOSTEROIDS
The actual duration of a corticosteroid, meaning how long a dose exerts its effects in the body, defends upon a number of factors, including the specific formulation of the medication.
Short acting: Duration 8-12 hours
Intermediate acting: Duration 12-36
- Prednisone
- Prednisolone
- Methylprednisolone
- Triamcinolone
Long acting: Duration longer than 36 hours
- Betamethasone
- Dexamethasone (Azium)
Due to the side effects, pets life expectancy is significantly reduced if put on long term corticosteroid therapy.
This is why this is a subject near and dear to my heart. Solutions to treat allergies exist and there is no reason for pets to suffer. If only owners would take the time to consider simpler approaches and vets would act more ethically!
Sadly, vets and owners choose the easy path and give steroids any time a pet itches. Long term therapy with corticosteroids for the allergic pet only if all other safer approaches have failed after a year of trying.
When it comes to treating allergic skin disease, there are definitely better choices than settling for corticosteroids. If steroids must be used, or on a short term basis, it is also then advisable to use a lower dose of steroids along with other natural therapies.
Anthihistamines
Histamine is a chemical released by a pet’s body in response to contact with allergens, foreign substances such as mold, ragweed, grass protein, etc.
Histamine locks onto histamine receptors located on various cells throughout the body. When histamine locks onto the receptor, the cell undergoes biochemical changes and produces the clinical signs associated with allergies, such as itching and runny eyes and nose.
Antihistamines work by blocking the histamine receptors. The antihistamine physically prevents histamine from connecting with its receptor, preventing the reactions listed above.
Antihistamines are not as effective in allergic pets as corticosteroids. This is because antihistamines function by blocking the histamine receptors on cell in the body.
Histamine is only one of many chemicals released by allergy cells. So even if the antihistamine is effective, it may or may not lead to an alleviation of symptoms in the pet's allergies. All the other chemicals released upon contact with the allergen remain free to cause itching.
Antihistamines are the second most popular conventional treatment. For long term use, antihistamines are preferable to corticosteroids because they have fewer side effects. First generation antihistamines (hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine, and chlorpheniramine) enter nervous system and brain easily and cause sedation.
Second generation antihistamines (loratidine terfenadine) do not enter the central nervous system as easily and are therefore less likely to cause sedation. However, terfenadine has been reported to cause serious heart arrhythmias in people.
Hyposensitization / Allergy Shots
For those pets that do not respond to other conventional therapies, hyposensitization may be necessary. Hyposensitization involves weekly injections of antigens (foreign proteins to which the dog has exhibited allergies), which are commonly referred to as allergy shots. After skin testing to determine the exact protein that affects the dog, the doctor compounds a solution containing that allergen. The idea is that the dog’s body will be sensitized to the protein and experience fewer allergic signs upon the next exposure to the allergen.
If this reminds you of the homeopathic approach, you are right in thinking that.
Just as homeopathy stimulates the body's immune system to strengthen itself and defeat a very weak opponent, similarly with allergy shots, diluted amounts of foreign proteins (allergens) are used to get the body to respond in a non allergic manner. Homeopathy does not however utilize shots to deliver the doses.
That said, it is best to avoid hyposensitization if at all possible. First, it is rarely necessary as most pets respond to the various complementary therapies.
Second, there are potential side effects of allergy shots , including allergic reactions to the injected antigens. Third, antigen injections are expensive, although by no means cost prohibitive for most owners. Fourth, it takes at least 12 months to determine if the pet is responding to the injections.
This is an unnecessarily lengthy treatment and while it is better than steroid treatments, pet owners are strongly advised to consider alternative holistic treatments before going down this route.
About 2 in 3 dogs treated are still horribly allergic at the end of the trial year of allergy shots.
Use Allergy shots if you have tried everything possible, but the dog has not improved and requires very high doses of corticosteroids to even survive with its allergic disorder. The second circumstance is when the owner wants to pursue that therapy. Some owners do not want to invest the time and money of trying alternative therapies for their pets and are fed up of dealing with pets that itch and smell.
If you elect to try allergy shots for your dog, be sure that he is properly diagnosed and that the antigen therapy is based on accurate skin testing. You also should at the very least improve you pet’s diet and begin nutritional supplements.
