It seems that as the years go by, a dogs skin gets more and more sensitive to allergies, dry skin and other uncomfortable things. I have always been sensitive to grasses and pollens…we’re not sure exactly which ones, but the rashes and dark blotchy spots seem to come out in the warmer weather. At first we thought it was because of the flea treatment, but it’s not. We are having a milder winter with no snow, so the grass is always exposed, and the rash is not going away like it usually does in the winter.
At first my owner thought that washing me was the best thing to do to get the allergens off and to clean my skin. We are learning that this is not such a good idea, depending upon what shampoo you use. We thought baby shampoo would be a good idea, but over-washing with many shampoos removes the natural oils from the skin, making me even more itchy and my skin even more scaly in spite of the fact that I smell so good.
We have read that using aloe based shampoo will help, so we are considering this…not shampoo that contains aloe, but is actually aloe based. Another idea my owner has is a rinse with aloe vera juice. Oatmeal and Aloe Shampoo is supposed to help, and we are going to try a Hydrocortisone Spray with Aloe Vera for the extra itchy spots.
What have you done for dry skin for your dog? We are open to suggestions and will let you know how we do in treating my dry skin.
We live in a town that gives free rabies shots for dogs and cats if you happen to be in town when they are giving them. This year my owners were out of town for the weekend, so I had to go get my shot tonight. I hate getting shots, and am glad it’s over-with now. My owner had a flu shot a couple of days ago and is talking about how much his arm hurts as a result…well a rabies shot isn’t any fun either.
Now we wait and see if my rabies vaccination shot site hurts, but hurt or not, it’s something that has to be done or I don’t get my annual dog license, and if they come around and we don’t have our licenses, there is a fine. So not getting your rabies shot can lead from one problem to another, and are a must in our Town.
How about your Town or City, are rabies shots required where you live too?
You don’t have to look at the categories and pages along the right for very long to realize that we like providing answers to dog health questions.
But we aren’t the only blog that likes to help answer your questions about dogs. We have a friend who keeps another blog called “Ask About Dogs” that you’re going to want to take a look at.
The site provides you with dog health and dog care advice of all kinds.
We learned the hard way about impacted anal glands and how to express them. I got sick during our own natural disaster, Hurricane Irene, and my owners were doing their best to keep up with flooding issues and me not feeling well at the same time.
I couldn’t tell them that it wasn’t just the Pancreatitis that I’d had before…but something more. At first it seemed like I was doing better when they started treating me for the Pancreatitis, but then one Saturday I was miserable and in pain. These are the things I did to try to let my owners know what was wrong, and some things that they should have picked up if they weren’t so distracted by the weather, power failure, etc.:
I scooted around dragging my bottom on the floor, they just thought it was itchy, but it was more than that
I licked myself a lot trying to clean my anal area, which made me feel sick..and icky thing to have to do
I didn’t have an appetite.
I skulked around the house with my head down, flopping down wherever I felt like it.
My belly felt bloated and distended, and felt hot, I was feverish
Finally my owner looked online, and through searching for different things about dogs anal glands, she found that they can need what they call “expressing” and if they aren’t cleaned, they can get impacted. She realized I had all the symptoms she was reading about, and tried to find a video on how to express the anal glands. There were a few, but this is one that you can see really well, and of a small dog, so it was most helpful:
BUT, my owner couldn’t do this, and decided to take me to the vet (finally) after the weekend. The vet said that because I had diarrhea, maybe from stress related to the storm, he wanted to hydrate me so gave me fluids under the skin. Also told my owner to continue to treat me for the Pancreatitis, and then he expressed the glands. He said that they were very full and that what they contained was thick, so hard to express.
I came home and now it’s over a week later, and I’m fine…got better almost right away after that, and now my owner will know the signs and symptoms that show the anal glands need to be expressed.
My owner has used Frontline on me to get rid of fleas for years. She just gave me my first “dose” of it for the spring season a couple of weeks ago. I get a terrible rash all over my body with just a couple flea bites, so it’s important to keep me treated.
While we were looking at information about flea repellents, we found that there is actually a natural herbal repellent you can use on dogs, cats and other furry animals as long as their skin is not sensitive to it.
What you do is combine 1 part eucalyptus powder; 1 part pennyroyal, sage or rosemary powder; 1 part fennel powder; 1 part yellow dock powder. Put all in something that has a shaker top…we keep a few emptied spice bottles that have shaker tops around to use for things like this.
Try a bit on your pet to make sure they are not sensitive to it. If all seems okay, sprinkle just enough so that the smell is evident on the fur, brushing hair against the grain as you sprinkle it on.
Do not get it in your pet’s eyes…concentrate on areas like the back and “chest” area of the belly where they won’t lick too much. You don’t want to overdo it, and again, make sure it won’t irritate your pet’s skin.
You can also sprinkle this on carpets to repel fleas in the house, or around the perimeters of the room or outside of the house to keep them away. How often you do this is a matter of trial and error…you shouldn’t have to use it every day on your pet unless they are particularly infested. I’d definitely put some on before going for hikes in the woods or grassy fields.
We have just discovered this, and are thinking of giving it a try. Have any of you ever tried natural herbal flea repellents for your pets? If so, tell us about it in a comment.
