Easing The Itchies

[Erny]

This is off topic, but I do wonder how many of our dogs have the itchies because of the baths we give them and how frequently we give them. Not saying you do, nor am I saying that every case would come back to this, but I just wonder.

ETA: And then, if we are stripping oils with their baths, that would (I presume) make their skin more susceptible to allergen reactivity. No expert. Just guessing. And wondering :).

Edited March 4, 2012 by Erny

[Mason_Gibbs]

No idea Erny but I think if we went back to the dark ages many dogs would be allergy free

[Guest Clover]

I was finally able to find Calandula tea but have not tried it yet (touch wood the little fella has been ok atm). I am hoping for positive results :).

[Polgara's Shadow]

I was finally able to find Calandula tea but have not tried it yet (touch wood the little fella has been ok atm). I am hoping for positive results :).

Keep it up for a few days at least and let us all know how you get on with it.

[Andisa]

I jumped on Erny's bandwagon last year when a pug was suffering badly from itchies (and other problems). I won't go in to details in here as to what happened - the pics speak better than words. Several sponge baths daily for a couple of weeks, a raw natural diet and heaps of TLC and you can see the difference in just 3 weeks of treatment. The first bath I gave her was to kill the masses of fleas, after that only goat soap was used instead of shampoo.

3 weeks later.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Andisa

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I must try the calendula tea on my itchy bitchy...

At the moment she gets a rash from commando crawling on the back lawn and local ovals (mostly kikuyu). If we stick to the beach, the rash goes away - so it's not likely diet - cos that stays the same no matter where we go for walks. A recent stay at the RSPCA proved that commando crawling on concrete is also bad for the rash. I'm not very surprised.

I went through a lot of aloe vera cactus - faster than I had it growing - this was pretty good on it, and then nappy rash cream with zinc in it (sudocrem) - seemed to provide a protective preventative coating ie she could crawl on the grass after I had made her belly china white, and the rash would not get worse.

Also used Savlon, and panalog from the RSPCA vet, and some dog antihistamines from my vet, and some zyrtec from me. Not all at once. panalog seemed the least effective but I wasn't very scientific about it.

She's a bit peely at the moment like she's been sunburnt and it's peeling. Doesn't seem to be itchy and isn't red behind the peel so not sure what's going on there. Sunburn is a possiblity, she does like to sunbake in the middle of the day, so I might have to be making more effort with the zinc cream.

I mostly don't bath her unless she finds something very oily and stinky to roll in - like sump oil or that black stuff in the bottom of stagnant creeks. After the beach she gets hosed off with tap water, and she does like to swim in the salty stuff. That's about it for washes at the moment.

[pebbles]

I'm another fan of Erny's Calendula Tea wash. Abby has a contact allergy so she had tummy swabs and her feet soaked in a dish of Tea, sometimes a number of times a day depending on how her itch was. Always got relief from the scratching with this.

[becks]

This is off topic, but I do wonder how many of our dogs have the itchies because of the baths we give them and how frequently we give them. Not saying you do, nor am I saying that every case would come back to this, but I just wonder.

ETA: And then, if we are stripping oils with their baths, that would (I presume) make their skin more susceptible to allergen reactivity. No expert. Just guessing. And wondering :).

These days I really don't think the frequency of properly bathing a dog will have any affect on a healthy dog.

[Erny]

These days I really don't think the frequency of properly bathing a dog will have any affect on a healthy dog.

Some (many) "healthy" dogs might not show up the system reaction swing that might be triggered into place for correcting skin pH level altered through multitudes of shampoos. Or it might be that it doesn't show up for a long time to come, until perhaps the body system can't deal with it as efficiently any more. Then there are other dogs that might be otherwise healthy, but with systems not quite as resilient as others. I don't know .... it's just a thought. I wonder how much breaking down of the system we cause through all of what we apply/do.

Mind you, I wonder that about humans too. But I don't spend so much time studying "human" as I do dogs. Not as interesting :laugh: . (Other than when I can apply it across to dogs :D . )

Edited March 5, 2012 by Erny

[aussielover]

I find bathing my allergy dog just makes her more itchy for the next few days. I've tried different shampoos- natural, oatmeal, medicated, QV wash etc all with the same effect.

She does much better if you don't bath her, she swims everyday in both salt and freshwater and I never bathe her after.

And

She had her first bath in over a year recently because she rolled in something really stinky. She was itchy for the next few days.

[trinabean]

Calendula tea

I'll second this.

After reading Erny's advice in other threads on using Calendular Tea I gave it a try. I had to search a few health food shops before I found it. It's very soothing on itchy skin. I use it as a final rinse after washing my dog and keep a spray bottle of it on hand too. When my dog was chewing his feet until they bled he was prescribed 'Elocon' cream. In Bruno's case, I honestly think that changing his diet and using Calendula tea made more of a difference.

Whoot Toot - fantastic to hear, guys :D.

Trinabean - even try skipping the shampoo bit for the wash and wash through the coat to the skin with the Calendula only (and as per usual, don't rinse). You'd be surprised at how clean and fresh the skin can become and as you have a short/fine coated breed dog, this shouldn't be too hard. It's hard to get out of being used to thinking/feeling that something's not washed unless it is suds up whereas the soapiness in any shampoo can affect the pH balance of a dog's skin. But I am so glad the Calendula works for you.

Thanks Erny, I will try using Calendula only next time. :)

I used some Aloveen shampoo yesterday because it was um.....needed. Silly boy rolled in something disgusting at the park.

Otherwise I don't need to bath him often. His short smooth coat stays amazingly clean.

Calendula tea

I'll second this.

After reading Erny's advice in other threads on using Calendular Tea I gave it a try. I had to search a few health food shops before I found it. It's very soothing on itchy skin. I use it as a final rinse after washing my dog and keep a spray bottle of it on hand too. When my dog was chewing his feet until they bled he was prescribed 'Elocon' cream. In Bruno's case, I honestly think that changing his diet and using Calendula tea made more of a difference.

Did you use it to clear up his feet? Payton is not what I call a itchy dog but his feet are a mess currently and nothing is helping

Yes, Bruno's feet were his main problem. I suspect it was a contact allergy of some sort. 'Elocon' was a greasy corticosteroid cream that I applied to his feet at night. I then used the Calendula tea in a dish to rinse his feet after our morning walk or if he was ferociously chewing his feet. I gently dried them after the rinse. So I was using a combination of things on his feet. Once his feet had settled down I stopped using Elocon and just used the tea rinse as needed. I do think the tea is very soothing, and have also sprayed it onto his tummy/ flanks with good results.

My dog has had other health issues so if there is a less drastic/ invasive remedy I'm always interested. :)

[aussielover]

I haven't noticed "elocon" to be more or less effective than neocort or cortavance?

Did you find it made a significant difference Trinabean?

[Mason_Gibbs]

I haven't noticed "elocon" to be more or less effective than neocort or cortavance?

Did you find it made a significant difference Trinabean?

I use the Elocon but havent tried the others

[trinabean]

I haven't noticed "elocon" to be more or less effective than neocort or cortavance?

Did you find it made a significant difference Trinabean?

I honestly don't know if it made a huge difference Aussielover. I wasn't very scientific in my approach. I suppose I complicated knowing which remedy was working by using Calendula tea at the same time. There was about a week of using the Elocon on its own before I bought the Calendula tea. I was wondering if the Elocon was doing anything to help, as I saw no change in symptoms (perhaps I was impatient and it takes a while?) To be honest I was just desperate to alleviate his symptoms as it was distressing to see him chew his pads until bleeding.

Bruno has never had a corticosteroid prescribed before so I can't compare it to Neocort or Cortavance. Suffice to say that at $70 a tube, the Elocon would want to make a difference!

Edited March 5, 2012 by trinabean

[Erny]

Although my experience is not a "scientifically proven" one, but I can tell you that in the use of Calendula Tea with my boy's skin based issues (includes rashes; hives; interdigital cysts; flaky skin; itchies) I have noticed a difference inside 24 hours. The difference might have been subtle inside this time (although in some cases it was astounding) but definitely an improvement.

If I don't see an improvement with the use of the Calendula Tea in a relatively short period of time, I don't rely on it for the purpose.

Generally speaking.

[jakeyjangels]

I find bathing my allergy dog just makes her more itchy for the next few days. I've tried different shampoos- natural, oatmeal, medicated, QV wash etc all with the same effect.

She does much better if you don't bath her, she swims everyday in both salt and freshwater and I never bathe her after.

And

She had her first bath in over a year recently because she rolled in something really stinky. She was itchy for the next few days.

Exactly the same here. My boys don't get a doggy odour or fleas so I don't bath but they swim often.

[Erny]

... pug was suffering badly from itchies (and other problems). I won't go in to details in here as to what happened - the pics speak better than words.

That's a great improvement, Andisa

[Shazzapug]

Another plug here for Calendula tea after reading one of Erny's recommendations two years ago. Cheers Erny.

Did you use it to clear up his feet? Payton is not what I call a itchy dog but his feet are a mess currently and nothing is helping

Cowanbree, put it this way. It is highly unlikely that you will cause any harm by dipping Payton's feet in a Calendula Tea brew. (With the feet, I like to gently dab with a dry towel in between the toes afterwards.)

The Calendula can 'fix' things, but it depends on what is actually causing the problem. If it is a case of the initial cause no longer being there but the problem relates to the ongoing licking/scratching having become a vicious circle, then yes, Calendula can work to resolve the issue. But if there is an actual cause still lingering (eg. diet; liver dysfunction; contact allergy; etc) the Calendula will sooth and help whilst you work on the actual problem, but won't 'fix' it.

Calendula tea has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities, yet isn't harsh or stringent on the skin. Make sure you get organically grown Calendula tea and that contains no artificial colouring either.

I have organic Calendula Oil (bought for my soapmaking) but I am wondering if I can use it on my pugs legs straight from bottle or diluted? He was all itchy scratchy and his skin all pink...I cut out all raw meat and he is just getting Blackhawk and he has greatly improved.

[Erny]

I have organic Calendula Oil (bought for my soapmaking) but I am wondering if I can use it on my pugs legs straight from bottle or diluted? He was all itchy scratchy and his skin all pink...I cut out all raw meat and he is just getting Blackhawk and he has greatly improved.

I'm sorry, Shazzapug - I'm unfamiliar with the Calendula Oil. I'm not a naturopath so I'm not an expert in knowing what's what in the natural medicine cabinet, but I'd be taking a guess that the Calendula Oil is a blend? IE That it is some sort of oil base with Calendula Tea infused??

Even if it wasn't, the problem with the oil (just musing and visualising) is that it is more likely to attract dirt and potentially clog pores (again ???).

My instincts are to suggest the Calendula Tea would be the better and safer bet. But I am open to being contradicted by someone more in the know as far as that's concerned.

[Shazzapug]

I have organic Calendula Oil (bought for my soapmaking) but I am wondering if I can use it on my pugs legs straight from bottle or diluted? He was all itchy scratchy and his skin all pink...I cut out all raw meat and he is just getting Blackhawk and he has greatly improved.

I'm sorry, Shazzapug - I'm unfamiliar with the Calendula Oil. I'm not a naturopath so I'm not an expert in knowing what's what in the natural medicine cabinet, but I'd be taking a guess that the Calendula Oil is a blend? IE That it is some sort of oil base with Calendula Tea infused??

Even if it wasn't, the problem with the oil (just musing and visualising) is that it is more likely to attract dirt and potentially clog pores (again ???).

My instincts are to suggest the Calendula Tea would be the better and safer bet. But I am open to being contradicted by someone more in the know as far as that's concerned.

Ta Erny...I have no idea what the carrier oil would be...