12 DogsNaturallyMagazine.com | July-August 2014

CANINE ALLERGIESA HOLISTIC LOOK

By Ronna Kabler DVM

How do dogs get stuck on the allergy merry-go-round? Conventional treatments are ineffective, so what can you do to prevent or minimize allergies in your dog?

13DogsNaturallyMagazine.com | July-August 2014

 It’s spring once more and poor Itchy, a lovely hound mix, is gnawing away at her paws, rubbing her ears on the rug

and digging at herself relentlessly. Her skin is red, crusty and oozing in some places. Her ears are red and "lled with a yeasty smelling discharge. Her concerned owner calls her vet to make an appoint-ment as Itchy scoots across the living room rug.

#e next day, Itchy is examined at the vet’s o$ce and her owner listens as the vet informs her that Itchy has allergies. #en the vet reminds her that Itchy is due for her rabies vaccine. But Itchy had an al-lergic reaction to the vaccines last year, so she’s given a shot of Benadryl as well.

#en Itchy is given prednisone tablets, antibiotics, ear meds and a medicated shampoo—and a special “hypoallergenic” and yummy prescription diet made from cornstarch and hydrolyzed chicken pro-tein. #is will make her symptoms go away for a short time, but Itchy will be back in the vet’s o$ce in due time, and with even worse symptoms.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Unfor-tunately, it probably does because this is a typical visit to the vet’s o$ce.

What Are Allergies And What Causes Them? An allergy is an exaggerated response from the immune system when exposed to normal, everyday substances. Whether they’re food, pollen, dust mites, animal dander, %ea saliva or other substances, they all contain proteins known as anti-gens.

A non-allergic dog doesn’t react to these substances because their immune system knows how to di&erentiate between foreign proteins and those belonging to the body. If a foreign substance happens to enter the body, a branch of the immune system will produce immunoglobulins,

otherwise known as antibodies, to attach to and destroy it.

If the immune system, for whatever rea-son, becomes hypersensitized to speci"c antigens (also known as allergens), a cas-cade of events follows. Special antibodies of a kind called Immunoglobulin E (IgE) bind to the antigen, and this combination binds to mast cells, which release hista-mine and other substances into the blood-stream. #is causes in%ammation and the symptoms we recognize as allergies.

Why Do Certain Dogs De-velop Allergies?#is is a very complicated and controver-sial question for which there is no de"ni-tive answer.

#ere has been a large increase in the incidence of allergies in both humans and companion animals over the past few decades. According to a study released in 2013 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food and skin allergies in children rose signi"cantly between 1997 and 2011.

What is to account for the surge in aller-gies and chronic disease? Factors that have been implicated include genetics (inher-ited susceptibility), infections, vaccination, adulterated food, genetically-modi"ed organisms (GMOs), toxins, suppression of symptoms with medications and even lim-iting our exposure to “germs and worms.”

Let’s look a little deeper.

The Dangers Of VaccinesIt’s been found that individuals allergic to eggs can have an allergic reaction to a vaccine prepared from eggs. But (pardon the pun), which came "rst - the vaccine or the egg?

Peanut allergy used to be extremely rare but has become rampant. It is quite likely that the introduction of peanut oil in

Common Allergy Symptoms

#e most common symptoms of al-lergic responses are:

Allergic dermatitis

Generalized itching and scratching, itching eruptions, ear “infections”

Hives

Large, itching eruptions on the skin

Allergic rhinitis

Hay fever type symptoms like sneez-ing, runny nose and eyes

Asthma-like symptoms

In which the small airways constrict and produce excess mucus

Chronic bronchitis

In%ammation of the airways with coughing

Gastrointestinal disturbances

Vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, food intolerances

Anaphylaxis

Very acute and possibly life-threat-ening reactions with symptoms of severe itching, swelling, shock and swelling of airways

Also related to allergies are auto-immune and immune-mediated diseases, which develop when the immune system responds to the dog’s own body as a foreign invader.

#e types of allergies in dogs most commonly described in conventional vet clinics include atopic dermatitis (allergies to inhaled substances or substances in direct contact with skin), %ea allergies and food allergies.

Relationships between parasites and their hosts can be symbiotic. Parasitic worms seem to be important in establishing a healthy immune system.

In our overzealous attempt to rid our dogs of germs and worms, we may be setting them up for far more insidious illnesses.

14 DogsNaturallyMagazine.com | July-August 2014

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vaccines in the sixties might have a causal relationship to this.

Conventional researchers deny that vac-cination is a factor, and present elaborate epidemiological studies to “prove” that vaccines don’t cause allergies or chronic disease. But could they be wrong?

With the exception of wounds, bites and stings, an antigen is normally introduced into the body through ingestion, inhala-tion or skin contact, and encounters the body’s natural defenses in all ports of entry. But vaccination bypasses all these natural entrypoints; multiple antigens in a cocktail of foreign proteins (from animals and/or plants) and toxic substances con-tained in vaccines (mercury, formaldehyde, aluminum, antibiotics) are injected di-rectly into the body, causing the immune system to react in a disordered fashion to try to cope with the onslaught.

To make matters worse, when the dog is regularly revaccinated, the body is repeat-edly assaulted with these toxic cocktails. #is can disturb the immune system, causing it to react in an extreme manner to what are usually benign substances. For example, a dog may develop an allergy to beef because bovine serum is used to make the vaccine it was injected with. #e confused immune system may even attack the dog’s own tissues, producing auto-immune and immune mediated diseases.

The Conventional Solution Conventional veterinary medicine has limited resources to deal with this over-whelming epidemic of itching, scratching, scooting, vomiting, dysenteric, coughing dogs. Or worse, dogs whose immune sys-tems are in self-destruct mode, destroying their own red blood cells or platelets.

#e conventional solution is to suppress the symptoms with corticosteroids. And

when they fail to work, they move on to the really big guns: chemotherapeutic agents such as cyclosporine (Atopica), which has many harmful side e&ects including lymphoma.

Contributing to the problem are com-mercial dog foods (heated and laden with pesticides, toxins, additives and GMO ingredients), topical pesticides to prevent %eas or ticks, and monthly medications to kill internal parasites.

It’s hard not to conclude that what we do in conventional medicine might have something to do with the unprecedented epidemic of allergies, chronic disease and cancer - the ultimate immune-mediated disease - in which the immune system is unable even to eliminate abnormal cells that eventually develop into cancerous ones?

The Impact Of “Germs And Worms” Treatments Studies show that children exposed to intestinal worms are far less likely to develop allergies.

#is is part of the “hygiene” theory that may account for the increase in allergies in humans in our sterile culture. When chil-dren are not naturally exposed to all those parasitic worms and germs, their immune systems may not develop appropriately.

#e logical explanation for this is that the immunoglobulin produced in the body to "ght worms is IgE, the very same anti-body that causes allergy symptoms. If IgE recognizes worm proteins in other living things, it may target that substance; this would explain allergies as an evolution-

ary by-product of the IgE response to parasites.

It is known that relationships between parasites and their hosts can be symbiotic. Parasitic worms seem to be important in establishing a healthy immune system. In our overzealous attempt to rid our dogs of germs and worms, we may be setting them up for far more insidious illnesses.

I don’t advise against treatment of para-sitic worms in every case, especially since they can be contracted by susceptible humans and life-threatening in weakened puppies. It’s best to consider each indi-vidual case with the advice of your holistic vet, preferably using natural remedies such as homeopathy or herbs if treatment is the option you choose.

Alternative TipsAs the caring guardians of our dogs, we can use common sense to keep our dogs as healthy as possible.

Provide a loving, stimulating home environment

Avoid over-vaccination

Feed a species-appropriate raw diet from organic food sources

Minimize the use of suppressive drugs

Treat animals with homeopathy or other gentle modalities that help them heal themselves, instead of sup-pressing symptoms with conventional drugs

Do these things and your own “Itchy” is much more likely to live a happy, allergy-free life.

Ronna Kabler graduated from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and has completed Dr Pitcairn’s Advanced Course in Veterinary Homeopathy and is currently studying to obtain her certi!cation. Dr Kabler started Waggin’ Tails Veterinary Services in MA.