Just as with people, dogs and cats itch and scratch for many reason.    Discovering the cause of the itching and scratching can be a difficult and time consuming process.     Careful attention must be paid to history, clinical examination, and laboratory findings.    The most common diseases that can cause itching and scratching include bacterial infections, allergies, food hypersensitivities,  sarcoptic mange mites, demodectic mange mites, fleas, yeast, ringworm infections,   autoimmune diseases, and hormonal and metabolic  disorders. Sometimes it is easy for the veterinarian to diagnose the cause of itching and scratching , for example,  when a pet has fleas crawling all over his or her body    At other times,   as with allergies,  the diagnosis can be much more difficult to arrive at .  Consequently, pet owners should understand that their veterinarian may not always be  able to diagnose and prescribe  the  total treatment for the pet’s itching and scratching on the initial visit.   

 One of the major reasons the  diagnosis of a pet’s itching and scratching can be difficult is because more than one cause of itching and scratching can be present at the same time.      For example,  a dog or cat may have a primary allergy infection  that  allows a secondary bacterial or yeast infection to develop.    Unless both the primary and secondary causes of itching are diagnosed and treated, the scratching may lessen but it will not stop completely.  

To help sort out all the possible causes of a dog or cat’s itchy skin one or more laboratory tests are often needed.   One of the most common tests performed on a pet with itchy skin is a “skin scraping”.   The skin scraping is placed under the microscope and examined for the presence of mites and fungus.    Another test called an “impression smear” is performed by pushing a glass slide firmly against the affected skin, staining it with a dye, and examining it under the microscope for bacteria, white blood cells,  yeast and mites.    A third test called a “trichogram” requires plucking hairs and examining them under the microscope for fungus and mites.    If a fungus is suspected as a cause of the scratching, a ”fungal culture” is performed on hairs harvested from affected areas.   If fungal elements are present they will grow in the culture within 3 weeks.    For the very difficult cases, diagnosis may necessitate surgical removal of a small core of skin so that it can be sent to the pathologist for microscopic exam.   This surgical procedure is known as a “key punch biopsy”.     If a food allergy is suspected as cause of a pet’s scratching,  a “limited ingredient diet” should be fed for several weeks to see if it results in relief from the itching.    If airborne allergens are suspected blood or skin testing should be performed in an attempt to discover  the specific offending allergen.  Unfortunately both airborne and food borne allergies are often  present at the same time.    

To further complicate diagnostic efforts, understand that yeast and bacterial infections may be either a primary or secondary cause of a pet’s scratching, whereas allergies, mites or fleas are usually the primary cause.     The reader should understand that getting rid of the most primary cause will not always stop the itching if the secondary cause is not addressed and eliminated.    Furthermore,    it is not always possible to find a flea on a dog with fleas or a mite on a dog with mites.   If this is the case then “therapeutic testing “is necessary to make the diagnostic connection.   For example, if giving a mite dip or flea medicine stops the pets itching then a diagnosis of fleas or mites is made by association.  However, if the pet with fleas or mites has a secondary bacterial infection the scratching may only be reduced but  not disappear. 

 When treating mites or bacterial infections the veterinarian must always consider the possibility of an underlying immune deficiency predisposing the animal to such infections.     Consequently, a thyroid test should be run to see if a “hypothyroid” condition could be suppressing immunity.     Also, consider that nutritional deficiencies could be producing an immune deficiency, so evaluating the pet’s diet is very mportant. 

Besides the above more common causes of scratching there are a number of less common causes that include hyperadrenalcorticism, hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, liver disease, Mast cell tumors, Cutaneous lymphoma,  Inflammatory Mammary Carcinoma,  and maldigestion. 

Of course the treatment for pruritis (itching) depends on the diagnosis, however improving nutrition and reducing toxins will be beneficial regardless of the diagnosis.   Along this line, feeding food with a minimal amount of grain will reduce the likelihood of the pet developing a leaky gut syndrome.   A leaky gut will allow intestinal toxins and allergens to enter the liver circulation, overwhelm the livers detoxification capabilities and consequently enter systemic circulation.   This will overstimulate the immune system and make allergic response more likely .   

I addition to eliminating dietary grain, food trials that begin by feeding a limited ingredient diet consisting only of a single novel protein and single novel carbohydrate will help greatly in minimizing allergic skin disease.   Feeding a limited ingredient diet will make it  less likely for food allergens to be  present.   Once the allergy symptoms are controlled by this limited diet other food ingredients should be added one by onei n an attempt to identify what foods are allergenic and which are safe.  This approach to treating allergic itching and scratching is know as a “food trial”.  Once the allergenic foods have been identified a healthier diet can be formulated  and  used in place of the limited ingredient diet.   For those not wanting to go through  the above food elimination process  predigested food are commercially available.  By predigesting the food the protein molecules are broken down into much smaller molecules which are then no longer allergenic. 

In order to identify airborne and environmental allergens a sample of the pet’s blood can be sent to a laboratory that performs allergy testing.     In about 2 weeks the laboratory will send back a report on what environmental allergens the pet is sensitive too.   This same company can prepare  a hyposensitizing serum containing all of the identified allergens.    This serum will then be used to perform hyposensitizing therapy on the allergic animal.   Such serums are injected according a predesigned  schedule .     The protocol provides continually higher doses  be given.    At first the injections are given every few days but eventually they may only be given monthly.   Unfortunately hyposensitizing injections are not always the solution and it may take up to 9 months to see if the the therapy is effective.     

Up to this point most of  the recommendations and therapies discussed have been entirely conventional.   I will now discuss more alternative therapies.   To begin with, providing digestive enzymes to a meat based low grain diet will help minimize allergens.  Then providing nutraceuticals to heal any damaged areas of the intestine and  support liver function  will help the pet repair his or he leaky gut.   Systemic enzymes should be given on an empty stomach so that they will be absorbed into the blood stream and circulate in the blood and act as a blood cleanser thereby destroying  circulating immune complexes.  Omega 3 fatty acids are important for overall skin health and to provide anti inflammatory support.  Next anti inflammatory herbs and antioxidants nutrients can be given to further reduce inflammation and minimize itching and scratching.   Natural cleansing shampoos should be given at least weekly to remove airborne allergens on the pet’s skin.   These shampoos should be followed with a cream rinse that contains a local skin anesthetic, colloidal oatmeal, and skin moisturizer.   Skin sprays containing aloe, calendula, tea tree oil, and oil of lavender are very soothing and easy to apply.    Several homotoxicological remedies are helpful with allergic skin problems.   If the pet is terribly itchy and the chewing and scratching is causing self trauma then oral natural hydrocortisone can be given for a limited period of time to reduce inflammation and calm the skin down  until the other approaches kick in.   Natural hydrocortisone is cortisone that has been harvested from the Yam plant and appears to have fewer side effects when compared to laboratory manufactured prednisone or prednisolone.   Furthermore, the herb Yucca has a strong anti inflammatory, anti itch  activity as does the plant sterol betasitosterol. 

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal,  one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine.  Dr.  Simon is the author  of 4 pet care books and he writes a bi -monthly pet care column in the Natural Awakenings.   He is a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and has served on the board of both the Southeastern Veterinary Medical Association and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. 

Woodside Animal Clinic  sees pets from all over the greater Detroit area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson,  Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake,  Rochester,  Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica,   Romeo,  Windsor, and Toledo. 

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If your pet has a recurrent or chronic disease that has not responded to the best efforts of conventional medicine why not give alternative medicine chance to show what it can do.   Recurrent ear infection, skin allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, and osteo arthritis are just a few of the many chronic diseases that have conventionally required continual drug therapy to suppress symptoms which have been reducing the pets quality of life.  These drugs may be temporarily successful at reducing symptoms but their long term use often results in side effects that may make use of these drugs of questionable value.

Because alternative medicine takes a more holistic view point in its quest for healing it may  focus on an organ system that appears to have no relationship to the symptoms that are being addressed.   Since alternative medicine sees  all organ systems as connected  its therapy is often geared to using modalities that affect the organism as a whole rather than a drug geared to treat a symptom or the organ system where the symptoms occur.

 When alternative medicine feels it must directly address symptoms the use of herbs, homeopathic remedies, specific nutrients, and plant produced hormones will accomplish the task with minimal side effects.    Keep in mind that many of our most celebrated drugs were originally isolated from plants but then were concentrated and/or synthesized in laboratories.   The extraction of active ingredient from the plant and the isolation of it from the other synergistic balancing chemicals found in the intact herb is what makes a drug more likely to produce side effects.  Because drug production isolates and concentrates what it  believes to be the “active ingredient” it looses the safety net that is present when using the whole herb with its less concentrated, better balanced mix of chemicals.

 Alternative health care professionals believe that the pet owner should play an integral part in the healing of their pet.  The practitioner believes that a partnership with the pet owner is necessary for the most rapid and successful healing to occur.  In order for the pet owner to serve as an effective member of this healing partnership they must thoroughly understand their pets problem and the plan for healing.   Consequently the holistic practition must schedule longer appointments to allow for client education and to answer all the pet owners questions. 

 Alternative vets believe that inflammation resulting from nutritional and environmental toxicity in combination with nutritional deficiencies is one of the very basic causes for ill health.   Minimizing toxin intake and maximizing toxin excretion is the foundation for health and healing.  

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  Dr. Simon is the owner of the Woodside Animal Clinic in Royal Oak Michigan where he has been treating dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, and iguanas with both alternative and conventional medicine for over 30 years.  Dr. Simon is the author of 4 pet care books and writes a monthly column for the Mirror newspaper.

Woodside services the Oakland  and Wayne County  area including the cities of  Berkley, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Madison Heights, Hazel Park, Southfield, Birmingham, Troy, Warren, Clawson, Sterling Heights and Farmington Hills. 

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