I see many sick cats and dogs (mostly dogs) coming through the door at MPN, with owners at a loss as to what to do next. Whilst we see so much disease and every pet is different, there are some set things I always recommend to everyone, that are imperative to your pet’s health. This is to detox their life and GET RID OF THE CHEMICALS. I have heard several sad stories about reactions and disease caused by treatments, mostly neurological damage and death from flea treatments and worming stories where the dog went into fits and endured life long seizures. If we aren’t personally meant to handle these chemicals, then they shouldn’t be going on or in our pet’s bodies. Conventional chemical flea and tick treatments from your vet or over the counter, are highly toxic pesticides that accumulate in the blood, skin and tissue. When you give your dog these chemical treatments, they work systemically (throughout the body). They are absorbed into his/her blood so when a flea or tick feeds on your dog’s blood, they also eat the chemical Isoxazolines, and become paralysed, eventually dying. Both fleas and ticks have to bite and latch on, to suck your dogs blood, before becoming paralysed and dying from the pesticides. It can take hours upon hours before the fleas and ticks die. This allows sufficient time for the fleas to become bothersome and the ticks to spread disease. The problem with these chemicals is to kill the parasites, they have to poison your cat or dog first. These awful chemical treatments can also cause neurological issues and permanent damage in cats and dogs. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a warning on Isoxazoline flea and tick products in September 2018, warning on the potential neurological adverse reactions. The side effects range from, diarrhoea, vomiting, lethargy, seizures, convulsions, skin disorders, ataxia and death. Although this warning has been given, sadly the FDA still states that they work with manufacturers and deem it safe with side effects now listed to make this a known danger? Apparently to note dangers within the labelling and making statements on potential dangers, now makes this a non safety issue. I’m still scratching my head. Any safety data on these products are only tested a few months, so we don’t even know about the long term implications. Those treatments containing Isoxazoline: Bravecto (fluralaner) tablets for dogs Bravecto (fluralaner) topical solution for cats and dogs Credelio (lotilaner) tablets for dogs Nexgard (afoxalaner) tablets for dogs Simparica (sarolaner) tablets for dogs Revolution Plus (selamectin and sarolaner topical solution) for cats and used in the prevention of heartworms Natural Solutions Using a natural preventative is far safer and effective than conventional means. In using chemical treatments, these are designed to kill the parasite once on the host, whereas the natural prevention aims to repel fleas and ticks, so your cat or dog doesn’t even become a host. This is a more effective approach at preventing disease if done appropriately. To protect against fleas, ticks and worms, there are several natural and effective options you can consider so please read on. Flea, tick and worming products Flea products and tick products are incredibly toxic and overload the body when the immune system is already under challenge. Fleas aren’t a great concern although very bothersome and cause discomfort and allergies in your pet, but ticks are a problem. Make sure after every walk you check your dog thoroughly and invest in a tick removal kit if you are in a zone for ticks (there’s a tick key listed down below). They can be dangerous to your dog as they carry disease. There are lots of natural products out there. Rotating them is important as fleas and ticks are adaptable and you need to make sure your pets are not a desirable host. Homemade Itchy Dog Spray of apple cider vinegar mixed spritz potion can be an effective flea and tick deterrent; 1. 250mls of organic Apple cidar vinegar and preferably from the mother (this means Apple cider vinegar that is simply unrefined, unpasteurised. unfiltered and from the mother). Organic AC Vinegar 2. 250mls of distilled water, filtered water, bottled water but definitely not tap water. 3. Fresh chamomile (organic preferably) or a teabag steeped in boiling water for 30 minutes (to be added as part of the 250mls water). 4. 10 drops of Organic lavender aromatherapy oil and/or a few drops of essential oils such as lemon eucalyptus, tea tree, sandalwood, clary sage and patchouli. If you decide to use this on the cat too (avoid the aromatherapy oils due to the phenolics: this can be toxic to cats). 5. Water spray bottle. I prefer brown glass but we don’t have to go fancy here. Just make sure its stored in a cool dry place and if plastic, doesn’t sweat as PCB’s could leak into your lovely potion. Alternatively, you can go for a spray already made up from Greens for healthy pets called Don’t Bug Me! Don’t Bug Me Hedge row hounds offers a wonderful herbal mix called natures bounty, that is easily and safely added to food. Natures Bounty Diatomaceous earth is a good effective option although if your dog has sensitivities, allergies or any breathing problems, tread with caution. Food grade diatomaceous earth is made from teeny, tiny sea creatures, often found in places like the white cliffs of Dover. It dehydrates and suffocates the parasites and their eggs, thus killing them. Please ensure this is a good quality, food grade product as it can have high levels of toxicity. It can be used to sprinkle around the home and dusted through your dog’s coat. Care should be taken not to breath in the powder (caution with your dog too). Diatomaceous Earth Another lovely spray with beautiful essentials, sprayed before you go on a walk and perhaps afterwards, can be helpful in warding off critters. Biospotix do natural spot ons and collars. Biospotix Flea Spray A natural flea collar or
A brilliant guide on how to vaccinate safely, here it is in all it’s glory, everything you need to know about taking care of your pet, not over vaccinating, being responsible and taking care of your pet, based on scientific review. Guidelines from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association are at the core of this article and something many vets ignore or don’t know about. UNDERSTANDING VACCINATIONS, IMMUNISATION, TITER TESTING AND WSAVA GUIDELINES The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) is a global veterinary community that bases their guidelines on evidence based veterinarian medicine. These guidelines are to give vets the current scientific advice on the best vaccination concept. In this blog we will be discussing core vaccinations, the difference between vaccinating and immunising and WSAVA guidelines on vaccination protocol and titer testing. Core vaccinations are “parvovirus, hepatitis and distemper” this is the DHP three in one vaccination currently in the UK. The only vaccinations you can give on its own is parvovirus. What is the difference between vaccinating and immunisation? Just because you have vaccinated your dog does not mean that your dog is immunised, when we give a vaccination, we aim to immunise. When a dog is immunised it means that the vaccination has worked and the dog has immunity to the diseases it has been vaccinated against. If you give the last vaccination when your pup is too young, they will still be covered by the mothers maternal immunity and the vaccination will not work/take. Then once the mothers maternal immunity has wained they can be unprotected against those diseases. If you have a dog that is a non responder, it is impossible to immunise them no matter how often you give a vaccination, these dogs will always be susceptible to those diseases. WSAVA guidelines on puppy vaccinations The recommendations are for initial core vaccinations at 6-8wks of age, then every 2/4wks until 16wks of age, then a booster at 6-12 months or a titer test 4wks after the 16wk vaccination, to check if the puppy is immunised. If the pup is immunised, then the guidelines say there is no need for the 6-12 month booster. The difficulty is knowing at what age it is best to give the first vaccination as most pups with be covered by their mothers maternal immunity (MDA). Maternal immunity is passed to the pup through the colostrum in the mother’s milk. Maternal immunity can begin to wain as little as 8 weeks but can last up to 14-16 weeks and for this reason, the WSAVA states, there is “No single primary vaccination policy will therefore cover all situations”. When getting a pup, it is important to know if the mother is immunised, if so the pup will have some maternal immunity. If you vaccinate early and give three vaccinations, you risk over vaccinating your pup but if you wait till later to vaccinate, there is a risk of your pup getting one of the illnesses. It depends on your pups circumstances and what risk you see as the greater. My advice is to base your decision on this. If the pup is hand reared, the pup will not have any maternal immunity therefore the earlier vaccinations would be more beneficial. Waiting to give the last vaccination at 16 weeks is important as this is when the dog is most capable of responding to the vaccination, as all of the mother’s maternal immunity will have wained. How often should core vaccinations “parvovirus, hepatitis and distemper” be given? Often these vaccinations are given annually, this should not happen as the data sheet that comes with the DHP vaccine states “once every three years”. Once every three years, is in most cases, still too frequent for most dogs as the science has proven by serological testing and by challenge that core vaccinations can last up-to the life time of the pet. This is why it is so important to always titer test before giving core vaccinations. WSAVA guidelines state not to be given more frequently than every three years. This does not mean to give every three years, it means they should not ever be given sooner that three years. Please see WSAVA guidelines below. WSAVA GUILDLINES ❗️VACCINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN NEEDLESSLY❗️ ❗️CORE VACCINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN MORE FREQUENTLY THAN ONCE EVERY THREE YEARS BECAUSE THE DURATION OF IMMUNITY IS MANY YEARS AND MAY BE UP TO THE LIFE TIME OF THE PET❗️ ❗️A DOG THAT HAS RESPONDED TO CORE VACCINATIONS MAINTAINS SOLID IMMUNITY (immunological memory) FOR MANY YEARS IN THE ABSENCE OFANY REPEAT VACCINATIONS❗️ ❗️IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT EVEN THE THREE YEAR LICENCE IS A MINIMUM DURATION OF IMMUNITY AND FOR MOST CORE VACCINATIONS THE TRUE DURATION OF IMMUNITY IS LIKELY TO BE CONSIDERABLY LONGER IF NOT LIFELONG❗️ ❗️AN ADOPED ADULT DOG (OR PUPPY OVER 16WKS OF AGE) OF UNKNOWN VACCINATION HISTORY REQUIRES ONLY A SINGLE DOSE OF CORE VACCINATION TO ENGENDER A PROTECTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSE❗️ WSVSA statement on giving more than one core vaccination to an adult dog (or pup over 16 weeks of age and restarting vaccinations is….. ❗️THIS PRACTICE IS UNJUSTIFIED AND IS SIMPLY CONTRARY TO THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF IMMUNOLOGICAL MEMORY❗️ How does a titer work? To explain titer testing a little more, a titer test is a simple blood test that will look for circulating antibodies in the dogs bloodstream. When you do a titer test, the level of the titer (antibodies) is irrelevant, it doesn’t matter if your dogs titers come back high or low. Any measurable antibodies means the dog has immunity. These titers will go up and down depending what the circumstance is. A high titer doesn’t mean your dog is more immune than a low titer, a high titer can mean one of two things. The dogs immune system has been over stimulated by vaccinations or your dog has just come into contact with a said disease. For example, if there is a parvo outbreak in your area, your dogs
Looking from a holistic perspective, there are many factors as to why a dog may be predisposed to being itchy. This could be genetics, the environment and how effective a dog’s immune and detoxification system is. We live in a highly toxic environment where our pets are often over vaccinated, fed highly processed diets and have those genetic predispositions we just mentioned. Puppies are also all too often weaned off of mother’s milk too early, to allow for a fully acquired immune system. There are a few reasons why your pet could be itchy but either way, it’s a physiological, immunological response that needs to be put back into balance. Whilst detecting the reasons why, addressing the inflammation caused, can sometimes be tricky. Hundreds of cats and dogs have come to us with the complication of knowing what elicits the reaction but even still, can’t get a handle on the scratching. This is where we use a layered approach to looking at all elements of the physical body. The cause of itching in dogs is largely due to allergies. Approximately 1 in 5 dogs have allergies that are often diagnosed as Atopic or Contact Dermatitis. This could be from a number of allergens such as grass, moulds, foods, household items and parasites. Allergies in dogs often manifests in constant scratching, rashes, ear infections, weeping eyes and hotspots and can become a real problem for dogs and their owners. It’s actually one of the most common complaints we see in clinic today. So your cat or dog is probably scratching, licking their paws, backs of legs and belly. They may also be sneezing, have weeping eyes and ear problems. To start to fix a problem, we need to know what is causing it. There are generally 3 main reasons why your dog may be itchy. Understanding the causes can help us in our steps to an itch free dog. 1. Environmental allergies. This is caused by inhaled allergens and this could be to certain pollens, dust, mould, household products and may be all year around or just seasonal. An environmental allergy accounts for the majority of dermatitis in dogs. 2. Food allergies are less common but intolerances and sensitivities are very common. The most common food suspects are corn, maize, chicken, beef, soy and gluten but the list can be endless. 3. Contact allergies.This is often a reaction to parasites such as fleas, or mange, grass or household products such as detergent you’ve used to wash bedding for example.Flea contact dermatitis is probably the most common of all of these. It’s important you get a diagnosis by your vet or a clinic like My Pet Nutritionist, as we need to know what your dog is reacting to. In rare cases itching can be due to more serious disease such as kidney disease or thyroid disease, so make sure you get this checked out by a professional. Many tests for sensitivities and allergens are not very accurate but for foods we currently use Nutriscan. http://www.nutriscan.org Environmental allergy testing is some of the most accurate and we suggest going to your vet for this. Allergies are caused by an overactive immune system that perceives harmless substances as threats and intolerances caused by poor functioning gut health. Once we identify those substances, removing them are important but we still need to consider other steps to get results. Imagine your immune system is a scale. It’s tipped far one way and we need to get it back into balance. Quite often, if the offending allergens, foods etc are removed, your pet can still experience itching. Each positive step you take is one step closer to that scale being completely in balance. Supporting digestive health can be a first step in aiding allergies and intolerances. Nutrition Poor quality food in itself generally depletes the body and immune system. You see, it’s all about the immune system working effectively for an itchy dog. Many commercial diets are lacking in antioxidants and enzymes that are abundant in fresh, raw foods and lightly cooked foods. These elements are essential to well-being but are killed by high heat processing in all of the cooked, packaged dry and tinned foods on the shelves today. Dry food for example contains very high starch content even if your dog food does not contain grain. The starch is required to stick the kibble together and starch equals a high sugar content. Sugar is bad for your cat and dog as the sugar can feed different bacteria, virus, yeast and cancer. Not to mention itching dogs. If you suspect your pet has a food allergy or sensitivities and you haven’t done a test yet or the test is inconclusive, then an elimination diet also known as a ‘feeding trial’ can be a thorough way to detect the offending foods. An elimination diet involves feeding an extremely simplified diet for 12 weeks observing any signs of intolerance such as itching, diarrhoea, weeping eyes and a yeasty smell. After 12 weeks of a simplified and uniform recipe, we start introducing different protein sources and sticking to one per week and observing reactions. It’s always good to start with single proteins your cat or dog has not previously been introduced to such as kangaroo or horse. Don’t feed treats other than the pure meat you are feeding for main meals that week. Treats if possible should be avoided. Clean filtered bottled or even better still, distilled water should be given, not regular tap water. Sometimes we check for allergies and intolerances and there aren’t any. This could be simply because the coat and skin is dry and there’s a lack of omega oils in the diet (this should always be considered first), but sometimes and more often there’s an issue called Histamine Intolerance. Detoxify General lifestyle choices and toxic overload, challenges the immune system and puts it under more pressure every day. To help the itch, we must remove toxicity in your cat and dog’s life. Your
