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The House of Two Bows 雙寶之屋

~ a basenji, a shiba, and their human companions

The House of Two Bows 雙寶之屋

Tag Archives: holistic veterinary care

Holistic treatments for pet allergies

09 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by M.C. in Bowdu the shiba inu, Food, drugs & other ingestibles, Health, Signs of the Beast Bay

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

allergies, bovine colostrum, digestive enzymes, essential fatty acids, holistic veterinary care, nettle, skin and coat supplements, supplements, vitamin C

8 April 2012: Sooo many weeds!

Last year during April, we initiated some preemptive measures to stave off the onset of spring and summer allergies. March showers bring a profusion of April floral activity here in the Bay Area. Even I have been sniffling more than usual, indicating that something is already in the air. So last year around this time, we started giving Bowdu a Benadryl tablet every other day to block those histamine receptors before things really had a chance to go nuts. During the peak of summer, he was still getting Benadryl just about every day, though he was on no prescription meds. We got through last summer rather smoothly, but as a complex and chronic concern, I’m always looking to find out more about allergy treatment options.

A preliminary disclosure: I’m no expert; I’m just presenting the notes I collected from a talk I attended. I think I maintain reasonable skepticism of veterinary practices in general, though my own background and experiences have made me far more sympathetic to holistic care. I grew up with two scientist parents who have been employed for decades by a major pharmaceuticals company (mom works in their animal health department — there are many clinical trial reports floating about the internal document library that were edited by said employee’s teenaged daughter). Yet our entire family has frequently turned to traditional Chinese medicine than manufactured drugs to alleviate our own chronic ailments.

Which just goes to say that I don’t necessarily advocate any one “school” or type of medicine over another. As long as one is willing to counterbalance the information they receive from professionals with their own research, I think there is merit in exploring new ideas.

Dr. Anne Reed addresses the crowd at her allergy talk.

At the end of last month, I attended a talk on “Holistic treatments for pet allergies” hosted by a local pet boutique and headed by a well-respected local holistic veterinarian, Dr. Anne Reed. You can check her website for her credentials, as I did before I signed up for the event. The talk was booked to capacity, and the crowd consisted primarily of women, age 30 and older. Many attendees were already familiar with Dr. Reed’s services. I was not. Despite rave reviews and a decent network of resources in our area, we have not yet made the costly plunge into holistic veterinary care (for example, Dr. Reed’s current rates are $210 for a first intake, or $265 for a first house call). The $10 entrance fee to this event seemed a mere pittance in comparison.

Dr. Reed began by laying out the differences between Western medicine and holistic medicine (a term which she used interchangeably with “Chinese medicine”). As she explained it, the default position with Western medicine regards the allergen — the pollen, dander, food in rare cases of true food allergies as opposed to intolerances, etc. — as the problem. Treatment options are thus focused on eliminating the offending allergen by figuring out what to avoid (hence, the costly tests that still often register false positives), or eliminating the body’s response to allergens through specialized diets of “food-like substances” (hydrolyzed protein prescription diets), immune suppressing drugs (Prednisone and prednisolone, antihistamines, cyclosporin), or complex immunotherapy (which remains prohibitively costly and time consuming for most pet owners).

The problem is that the immune system, when suppressed for such long periods of time, relishes the opportunity to get back to “work,” so allergic reactions frequently tend to get worse over time. When your pet is taken off those drugs, the immune system kicks back in overdrive mode, so future allergic responses tend to get more extreme, or last longer, or branch out to new allergens that were never a problem before. Dr. Reed confessed to dreading the patients who come to her as a last resort because the drugs that have been prescribed to them for years no longer work; it takes a significantly longer time to undo the damage than the temporary relief of prescription drugs, and for this reason, she recommends that pet owners do everything in their power to stay away from these drugs in the first place.

Holistic medicine, on the other hand, is not concerned with identifying specific allergens, because it takes the body as the foundation for all improvements, not external factors. If the body is healthy and balanced and everything is working properly, it should be well equipped to handle the stressors of living and functioning as natural beings in a normal environment. Not so much to expect our bodies to behave, right? Well, as dog people know, ideal behaviors come through consistent and steady training, and our bodies can be conditioned in a similar way.

As a holistic practitioner, she doesn’t really look at or consider allergy tests. In her experience, the results frequently have a demoralizing effect — how is it fair, after all, that a household pet can or should be allergic to human dander or grass? The best that the tests can do, in her experience, is buy some time as she works to strengthen the body’s immune response through holistic means.

18 February 2012: Fish on fish

To that end, food is her essential starting block. She briefly debunked the idea rehashed by many pet owners that some common proteins are inherently evil (chicken, beef, and lamb are oft-named culprits) or that any specific breed typically does not do well with any particular protein. If certain breeds seem predisposed to reject specific types of proteins, she’s more likely to ascribe the problems to genetic factors and how the pets were bred, not necessarily what breed they are. She did not spend much time on this point, but she did allude to grave concerns that generations of kibble-fed dogs have resulted in generations of modern dogs that are ill-equipped to adapt as nature intended.

At the same time, Dr. Reed was very pragmatic about acknowledging that a fully home-cooked or raw diet is not possible for many homes. To that end, we can only do the best that we can, but there is nothing like a good diet of fresh and balanced food to start your pet off on the right foot. She spent some time talking about the differences between home cooking and raw food. One note that I jotted down which resonated with past knowledge is that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners actually don’t advocate a diet of exclusively raw meat, because too much “cold” food (and “cold” means more than temperature here) can be damaging to the spleen and other vital organs. If your pet tends to be energetically “hot,” and allergies are symptomatic of such a state, then a raw diet can certainly help. However, bodies and metabolism do not remain stable over a lifetime, so you should be prepared to adjust as necessary. If nothing else, TCM reminds us that natural systems are constantly in flux. We may strive for perfect balance, though we cannot assume permanence!

There is much more to be said on the intricacies of traditional Chinese medicine, but rather than stray too far from her main topic, Dr. Reed recommended that interested parties do their own research. She recommended Four Paws, Five Directions: A Guide to Chinese Medicine for Cats and Dogs by Cheryl Schwartz as a good starting point for pet owners. Personally, I’ve had a look at this title in the past and found it problematic in many ways, but that’s a post for another time. Dr. Reed praises the book for giving a broad, if someone dizzying overview of TCM in current practice.

Next, she turned to specific allergy treatments that pet owners can work with. I’ve tried to organize and represent the information based on notes to the best of my ability. If I have made any transcription or factual errors, I will follow up and correct the information.

  • Omega-3s.
    Functions: to decrease inflammation, build cell membranes, help joints, etc. Omega-3s and Essential Fatty Acids are widely touted, so you can look up the benefits with little problem.
    Use: Look for a DHA/EPA number between 50 ~ 100 mg/kg, a capsule of about 1000 mg / day is a good maintenance dose.
    Issues: In the past, vets could solve lots of problems fairly efficiently by giving pets just Omega-3s, but this no longer seems to be as effective because commercial pet foods are now supplementing with their own essential fatty acids. Consequently, pets need more Omega-3s in order to counterbalance the Omega-6s in commercial diets. Also, just because everyone sings the praises of fish oils and because this is a “holistic” approach doesn’t mean that there are no side effects. Too much Omega-3, for example, has been associated with increased clotting time (so animals may bleed easier and keep bleeding) — a concern if your pet is going in for surgery. Clean and sustainable sourcing of fish oils is an ongoing concern as well, so make sure to monitor the quality of your product.
  • Digestive enzymes.
    Functions: to help “rest” the digestive tract and allow associated organs some relief while promoting nutritional absorption and decreasing intestinal inflammation
    Use: Pick a simple, plant-based enzyme (she likes Standard Process Multizyme and Prozyme), typically added at about 1/4 teaspoon per cup of food.
    Issues: Digestive and skin health are closely related in holistic medicine. You want your pet’s skin looking and feeling as healthy as possible. Paw pads shouldn’t be crusty, but rather, feel “like a pair of fine driving gloves,” even though they meet concrete and ground every single day. The best way to improve skin is through digestion, and if your pet’s skin and coat are looking good, everything else is probably reasonably in balance.
  • Vitamin C
    Functions: to serve as a natural antihistamine, to strengthen cellular bonds, to serve as a “cooling” agent
    Use: about 500 ~ 1000 mg per day, once a day, for a 50 pound dog
    Issues: I didn’t get a chance to ask whether this was a temporary measure or a more permanent supplement, as I’d read conflicting information about whether or not this is necessary, or potentially harmful for pets. If i get a chance to follow up, I will update here.
  • Bovine colostrum
    Functions: to promote digestive health by “sealing up” the cellular walls of the intestinal tract, aiding in better digestion, among other functions
    Use: look for it in powdered form, follow recommended dosing information
    Issues: She didn’t get much time to talk about this one, so I may be missing some details. This is a “quick” and more short-term fix that she seemed enthusiastic to endorse, though she doesn’t use it over the long run.
  • Freeze-dried nettle
    Function: as a homeopathic remedy particularly useful for inhaled allergies
    Use: about 1/4 tsp per 50 pounds of dog
    Issues: It may cause several days to a week of itchiness or irritation until you see improvement. However, she has found this particularly effective to ward off seasonal allergies just as they are appearing. She did not say how long one should keep feeding the nettles (over a whole season?). This is also meant to be a short term remedy.

At this point, Dr. Reed started running out of time, so she blitzed through the potential uses of apple cider vinegar (messing with pH is controversial, but she recommends 1 Tbsp/50 pounds of dog in certain situations), green tripe (a “miracle food” loaded with enzymes), and green leafy vegetables (good for the liver). On Vitamin E, she has not found it absolutely necessary to add this in combination with fish oil, as some years she has recommended it, and some years she has not, yet has seen no difference either way. She thinks that pets are compensating for the supposed depletion of Vitamin E in other ways, particularly if they get a good mix of organs in their balanced meal.

IN CONCLUSION: patience and perseverance, and staying away from prescription allergy meds, puts your pet on the right track to long-term health. You may not see immediate results with the approaches that she outlined, but in the best cases, you will be able to look back after some time and account for significant differences. I know that has certainly been the case for us here at the House of Two Bows.

14 February 2012: Bring on the pollen

REVIEW: Honest Kitchen Sparkle, an herbal skin and coat supplement

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by M.C. in Digging in the Libraries, Food, drugs & other ingestibles, Health, Reviews

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

allergies, burdock root, dandelion, dr. pitcairn, herbal remedies, herbs for pets, holistic veterinary care, honest kitchen, nettle, rose hips, skin care, sparkle, supplements, tilford & wulff, yeast

Honest Kitchen Sparkle

Product: Honest Kitchen Sparkle herbal supplement
Quantity: 3.4 oz
Price Paid: $11 [via the HK online store]
Ingredients: Dandelion leaf, rosehips, burdock root, nettle leaf, yeast flakes
Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude protein: min 18.00%
Crude fat: min 0.50%
Crude fiber: max 10.26%
Moisture: max 11.00%
Potassium: 2.24 ~ 2.49%
Magnesium: 0.29 ~ 0.34%
Iron: 140 ~ 170 mg/kg
Manganese: 59 ~ 74 mg/kg
Zinc: 46 ~ 54 mg/kg

Country of manufacture: Not clear, though the company claims that all of its ingredients are 100% human grade, a claim that has been cleared by the FDA
Company information: The Honest Kitchen; 145, 14th Street; San Diego, CA 92101; tel: 1-866-437-9729 / (619) 544-0018
Web presence: TheHonestKitchen.com, on Facebook, etc.

When Bowdu’s system was thrown out of whack owing to his hypothyroidism, one of the most obvious physical signs was his recurrent skin issues and out-of-control allergies. Last year’s summer of suffering has inspired me to explore alternative dermal health remedies, especially options geared towards long-term and holistic maintenance.

The Honest Kitchen was also founded on a philosophy of good health through optimum diet and natural care. For a number of reasons, including their high standards of quality, accountability, size of the company and apparent transparency, HK is probably one of my favorite pet-related companies out there. When I saw that they offer a skin supplement, Sparkle, I was happy to give it a go.

Here’s the product description from the website:

Proper pet nutrition is the first step to improving your dog or cat’s skin and coat health. For additional nutritive support, we offer Sparkle. After using this natural herbal supplement, all your friends will be in awe of your pet’s healthy, shiny coat!

Sparkle is an herbal nutritional supplement made with a selection of natural herbs, designed to support healthy skin and a shiny coat for both dogs and cats.

I was unable to find more specific information about the ingredients on the company site, so I consulted Gregory L. Tilford and Mary L. Wulff’s Herbs for Pets: the Natural Way to Enhance Your Pet’s Life (Second Edition, Irvine: Bowtie Press, 2009). I claim no expertise or special knowledge in herbal nutrition, and certainly not because I happen to have a couple relevant books in my personal library. This is just one ready reference that I like having on hand (though they could use an updated list of references, even if they are one of the pioneers in this subfield).

Anyway, here are some relevant passages from Tilford & Wulff related to the selection of herbs in this blend:

Dandelion leaf:

Dandelion is a “classic” and extremely common herbal remedy with a large range of benefits, including boosting the liver and optimizing waste elimination (aside from regularizing digestion, it can act as a diuretic). With long-term use, the whole plant is reputed to offer medicinal effects without taxing the body with harsh or excess chemicals and minerals. As far as its immediate benefits, I thought this was interesting:

In addition to providing your animal with many of the nutrients she needs, the leaves have what the herbalists call a bitter tonic effect: the body’s metabolism is ‘warmed up’ before the digestive system is forced to go to work. When a small amount of a bitter herb is taken into the mouth, the recipient immediately experiences a sudden increase in salivation. As the bitter herb reaches the stomach, bile and other digestive agents are then triggered into production. The result is more efficient digestion, reduced indigestion, better absorption of nutrients, and increased appetite.

Tilford and Wulff, pp. 95-6
In other words, dandelion leaf works primarily by maximizing the effects of an already-healthy meal; as with any dietary supplement, you have to start on a solid foundation. Dandelion is not an immediate choice for improving dermal health, but it would be a first resort if the aim, as described by the Honest Kitchen, is to detox and offer “nutritive support.”

Rose hips:

rosehips
Rose hips, the heart of the bloom

This is another common herbal remedy known for being rich in Vitamin C and ascorbic acid (ibid., p. 172). All the better when it’s sourced from such a cute little fruit. This is hardly an obscure vitamin so I’ll trust that we all understand its many functions, and move on…

Burdock root:

Burdock root is a specific treatment for chronic acute psoriasis or eczema; it has a strong affinity toward the treatment of flaky, oily, or inflammatory skin disorders that can be traced back to liver deficiencies or a general overload of toxic substances in the body (usually the result of a poor diet). It is also useful in the holistic treatment of arthritis, rheumatoid disorders, inflammatory kidney and bladder diseases, and virtually any other type of metabolic disorder that may be the result of poor waste elimination. Adding to all of this is a diuretic action that helps in the elimination of waste materials from the body. In simple terms, burdock helps clean the body from the inside out.

ibid. p. 68
By this description, this herb is the most explicitly indicated for dermal care. Many of its functions overlap with that of dandelion, so again, it’s aiding in overall gastrointestinal health.

Nettle root:

Although the theories behind the medicinal actions of nettle are varried, we believe that part of the basis for nettle’s antiallergenic usefulness may lie in the plant’s histamine content, which may work in a like-versus-like manner similar to the concepts of homeopathy. What we mean is that by introducing a substance into the body that acts mildly as an allergenic antagonist, the body is triggered into protecting itself from what it believes to be an inevitable, all-out attack of allergens. In short, nettle may prompt the body into preparing itself. For animals with predictable seasonal occurrences of allergies, dietary supplementation with dried nettle leaf may help.

ibid., p. 154
This same principle applies to allergy shots and immunotherapy, but instead of injecting the body with a number of specific, targeted allergens, just nettle is used to increase the body’s tolerance to potential environmental irritants.

Nutritional yeast (yeast flakes):

Tilford and Wulff provide no information on this ingredient. However, nutritional yeast is the primary ingredient in Dr. Pitcairn’s “Healthy Powder” mix which is an essential component of the recipes in his book [cf. Richard & Susan Pitcairn, Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books, 2005) p. 53]. In this blend, I think these flakes add mere traces of additional vitamins and minerals.

Honest Kitchen Sparkle
1/2 tsp of Sparkle (that’s a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon, and 1/4 tsp pile below)

For 11 ~ 30 pound pets, the recommended daily dose is 1/2 a teaspoon twice daily (roughly consistent with recommended doses in Tilford & Wulff), mixed or sprinkled onto the food. That seemed like enough to significantly alter the taste of the food, which usually backfires when it comes to Bowpi. I ended up giving less than recommended — about three pinches per meal for Bowdu and two pinches for Bowpi, which amounted to about half of the suggested daily intake. It seemed reasonable to lean on the lower side of the spectrum, since too much of a couple of these herbs might trigger too much of a diuretic effect or overly loose stools, at worst. When the pups got raw meals, I would either sprinkle this into a side dish of pumpkin or mushed up sweet potato (preferred) or coat the meat as if preparing an herbal dry rub.

At this rate, the container lasted us about two months, a fair stretch of time.

What I like about Sparkle is that the ingredients give me a different set of dietary “tools” to work with by improving the skin in an indirect fashion. Sparkle works through the internal organs by improving modes of circulation (waste processing, nutrient delivery and absorption), instead of building the epidermal layer on a cellular level. Since we’re talking about a cumulative effect, I expected the results to be a little more subtle, prompting me to look a little harder.

Now the thing is both Bows already have fairly nice coats, so I can’t really proclaim any drastic changes. For Bowpi, who came to us with some dandruff and dry patches, improvements were especially dramatic when we started boosting her Essential Fatty Acid intake with fish oil (and Vitamin E) supplements at dinnertime and olive oil drizzles with breakfast. If you’re looking for a quick and observable improvement, load up those EFAs and you’ll definitely know there’s been a before and after.

IMG_3157

IMG_3174
4 October 2011

We crossed that threshold with Bowpi’s coat some time ago. Though she’s already pretty soft and glossy, I guess she does seem even plushier these days. Her skin is clean and supple. The rash that had broken out on her upper arms, already slowly on its way to improvement once we took her off the suspected culprit food, completely cleared up after we started using Sparkle. Most significantly, her injured eye has been less watery, an improvement I was not anticipating.

As all these observations have coincided with our continuous use of Sparkle, I will be generous in my assessment and say that it could be due to this supplement’s benefits — though it could also be due to other factors like seasonal and environmental changes.

IMG_3170

IMG_3161

With Bowdu, the only noticeable recent change has been in the scent of his skin and coat. He generally doesn’t have much of an odor anyway, but lately he’s been even more nuzzleable than ever.

Again, this could be due to seasonal changes, and my own desire to huff Shiba fur as the weather gets chillier.

Here at the House of Two Bows, where academic habits inevitably bleed into blogging, we typically stamp reviewed products with an A ~ F letter grade. Given all that I’ve written above though, it doesn’t seem fair to assign a letter grade. I know I’d like to give Sparkle an A grade based on how much I respect the company and how much I want to trust in the efficacy of a holistic approach. But honestly, I can’t say that even my own observations justify the high marks.

Would I purchase and use this supplement again? Sure! I think if we started the daily supplementation at least a month in advance of allergy season, that would be a more serious test.

Is Sparkle a required part of the daily diet for the Two Bows? Here, I’d have to say no. And since it’s not part of the core menu here, maybe it’s better to grade it on a pass/fail basis. Thumbs up or thumbs down.

To summarize —

PROS:

  • high quality ingredients from a trustworthy company
  • offers a natural, holistic alternative or complement to EFA supplementation
  • attractive and handy packaging
  • fair price for amount of product (especially if used conservatively)
  • good for dogs AND cats!

CONS:

  • results may not be immediate, demands consistency and patience over long-term use
  • some animals may not enjoy the taste
  • best when mixed into moist food, which not every dog gets all the time
  • calling this a “skin and coat” supplement is somewhat misleading when the operating premise actually seems to be gastrointestinal management which ultimately results in healthier appearanaces

FINAL GRADE: PASS / SATISFACTORY

[Edit 9 April 2012: Related post, “Holistic treatments for pet allergies“

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