Best Food For Dogs

Tag: Watery Eyes

  • Does Your Dog Need Hypoallergenic Dog Food?

    Would you be able to tell if your dog needed hypoallergenic dog food? The main reason to feed hypoallergenic food is when your dog is showing symptoms of allergies. Some of the most common symptoms of allergies caused by foods are loss of appetite, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, upset stomach, irritated skin, breathing problems and gastrointestinal difficulties.  Foods that are the most frequent offenders include dairy products, yeast, wheat, soy, chicken, beef and eggs. Less common but worth mention is lactose intolerance as an allergen.  

    If your dog is showing signs of allergic symptoms such as throwing up, diarrhea or constant scratching and inflamed red skin, it is recommended that you quickly start them on a diet of hypoallergenic dog food.

    How to Isolate the Allergen

    If your dog was showing allergic symptoms and you put them on a hypoallergenic food, did the symptoms improve?  Note: It can take up to 8-12 weeks for symptoms to disappear so be patient and give the hypoallergenic food a good trail period. If the symptoms disappear you can be certain there is an allergy involved and you will need to isolate it in order to avoid it in the future.

    Isolating an allergen is easier said than done. After all, man’s best friend doesn’t talk much and thus, it is hard sometimes to ascertain how they are feeling. However, though it may not be immediate to find the offending allergen, it is not really all that difficult.

    The method most commonly recommended is an “add-back” approach to your pet’s diet.
    After changing your dog’s diet to hypoallergenic food and eliminating all allergic symptoms, one at a time add back one ingredient of the allergy causing food.  For example, add corn, wheat or a specific type of meat. Then you simply wait and see if any allergic symptoms return. If so, you are safe in assuming that the allergen is in the food you returned to the diet.

    Never Ignore Altered Behavior

    Whenever your dog shows new behaviors such as obsessive scratching and licking or digging at their ears, pay attention! This type of behavior change is often indicative that your dog is under some form of stress and is very uncomfortable; commonly the source of the stress is an allergy. Just like people, dogs can “grow into” an allergy by becoming sensitized to an allergen over time. Just because your Goldendoodle puppy does not have an allergy now does not necessarily mean they will live their entire life allergy free. Always be in tune to your dogs behavior so that if it changes, you will notice it sooner rather than later.

    Testing for Allergies

    Your vet can run allergy tests and determine what your dog is allergic to. However, it is an expensive alternative for making the determination, especially when compared to simply changing their food.

    If your dog shows any of the classic symptoms of allergies, hypoallergenic dog food is the most highly recommended method to alleviate the problem.

    John Bolt, his wife and their much loved Goldendoodle, live in Ontario, Canada where John works retail by day and maintains his website by night. When not on the golf course with his golf range finder, he’s doing his dog training to learn how to stop barking dogs including his beloved Daly.

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  • Treating Allergies Without Medication: Natural Herbs for Allergies

    If you suffer from seasonal or year-round allergies, you might be hoping for relief from your symptoms without the pesky side effects that some medications can include. For example, antihistamines can make you drowsy and many decongestants will lead to a dry mouth and a rise in blood pressure.


    The good news is that you can find many natural herbs for allergies that will offer relief from your symptoms the holistic way. Many natural herbs for allergies will actually help to prevent the symptoms rather than treating them once they start. This can be an effective way of managing many of the seasonal allergies that a number of people suffer from.


    Lifestyle Modifications to Reduce Allergens


    Before moving into the natural herbs for allergies, it is a good idea to try some lifestyle modifications that will reduce your exposure to known allergens. These modifications can include keeping windows closed and using air conditioning systems instead, especially at night when allergens tend to run rampant.


    It can also mean staying indoors as much as possible during the times of the year when your allergies appear to be at their worst. If these changes do not have the desired effect in reducing your allergy symptoms, it might be time to learn which natural herbs for allergies tend to work the most effectively.


    Stinging Nettle


    This herb works very well as a natural antihistamine, without the drowsiness that comes from using many of the over-the-counter medicines that are available. This natural herb for allergies reduces the ability of the body to produce histamine. Histamine is the chemical produced by the antibodies in the body to fight off substances that the immune system has mistakenly identified as harmful.


    These substances are called allergens, and the histamines are produced to fight them. Histamines also create the allergy symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes and coughing, so when your body cannot produce as many, your symptoms are reduced as well. Stinging nettle can be purchased in capsule form from many natural food and vitamin stores today.


    There are other natural herbs for allergies that work in a similar way to stinging nettle in reducing the body’s ability to produce histamines. These include butterbur, which is a harder herb to come by in the United States, but nevertheless effective as a natural means of treating allergies.


    Quercetin is another good natural herb for allergies, and has the added benefit of acting as a natural antioxidant that can reduce the risk of some types of cancer. If you are considering a natural herb for your allergies, talk to your doctor before taking anything. Herbs can have side effects just like medications, and they can also have potentially dangerous interactive effects when taken with other medicines.

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  • All About Pet Dogs And Dog Allergy

    The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology or AAAAI estimates that about 10 million pet lovers or pet owners in the United States are allergic to animals’ fur.

    More and more households in the country are adopting or sheltering a pet dog, which is considered man’s best friend even from the time of the ancient civilization.

    Dogs are canines that are perceived as intelligent and trainable among all other animals. We see dogs everywhere, in the movies, in cartoons, in the television (remember Lassie?), and even in high-security areas like malls. In the latter case, dogs are trained to sniff bombs, drugs and other illegal substances in the surroundings.

    The world is a ‘dog eat dog world’ and it can be even found truthful if you are allergic to dogs.

    Dog allergies and cat allergies in similarities and contrast

    However, there are more reported or diagnosed cases of cat allergies than dog allergies all throughout the world because cats are more inclined to spread their danders through their habitual and constant grooming or bathing session by rubbing saliva all throughout their body.

    Dog allergy can be found in people with specific allergies to dog furs and those who have history of asthma. Asthma is another reaction triggered by exposure to allergens or allergy-causing substances.

    Modern science and recent findings indicate that people who were exposed to either cats and dogs while they were infants will unlikely develop cat or dog allergy. It is because their immune system will get accustomed to the two animals’ danders at an early stage.

    Also take notice that people who have developed cat or dog allergy grew up in households where there were no cats or dogs around. Start asking now, or likely, begin by looking at yourself or somebody you know. The assumption is accurate, right?

    Symptoms of dog allergy

    Just like in any other form of allergy, symptoms or manifestation of dog allergy include wheezing, coughing, itchy and/ or teary or watery eyes and constant sneezing.

    Severe dog allergy attacks can be indicated by difficulty in breathing, which is similar to a severe asthma attack. If left untreated, the person’s life could be in danger.

    But remember, treatments for asthma and other allergies, including dog allergy are only treatments or relievers. They are not meant and they can not ensure long term cures.

    Allergies are not curable, they are only treatable. Hence, dog allergy if successfully treated will reoccur if the person or the patient exposes himself again to dog fur or danders.

    Treatment and avoidance

    The best treatment is always prevention. As they say, an ounce of prevention is far better than pounds of cure. So it is in the case of dog allergies.

    To treat dog allergies, the patient will have to be advised that he should avoid getting near or cuddling dogs. Through that, dog allergy can be successfully controlled or curtailed.

    But if that basic prevention measure is ineffective, the patient will have to take either antihistamines, decongestants or corticosteroids. Antihistamines are the common drugs taken during asthma or other allergy attacks.

    Decongestants decongest breathing areas or tubes in the body by reducing swellness of nasal tissues thus relieving breathing.

    Corticosteroids on the other hand, are drugs that reduce or eliminate inflammation of organs or tissues in the body that may have resulted from the onset of the dog allergy.

    Charlene J. Nuble 2006. For answers to All your frequently asked questions about dog allergy, please go to: http://dog-allergy.allergyanswers.net/ or go to: http://allergyanswers.net/

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