Erny Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 (edited) I have NEVER had a bad reaction to it. I don't use the Calendula Cream. Only purely the Calendula Tea wash, as that's all I've needed and it's been sufficient to cleanse and dry up the skin irritation and outbreaks. I can only relate to my own experiences with it, but on what you've said regarding smell, I can't help but suggest there's something going on that's coming from within and for that the first port of call would be to investigate diet, immune system (including thyroid) and a general blood screen work-up. Can't remember without going all the way through this thread what you might have said in relation to that. When my boy first broke-out in symptomatic skin eruptions (early days) they were really quite extreme. I used the Calendula Tea wash frequently through the day (spot-washes on affected areas after the first all-over bathe). The colour and temperature of the skin would ease and it would flare. The rashes were usually high inside the inner-thighs, sometimes his arm-pits. They shimmered (as though sweaty) but that was the skin weeping and threatening secondary skin infection. I bathed it each time it flared. Each time, the soothing elements of the Calendula Tea were always pretty immediately evident. I kept this up until the skin settled WHILST I investigated and worked on finding out possible contributing causes (in his case, meat protein sources he was sensitive to). Edited August 17, 2014 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 I re-read all the info relating to thyroid and my girl doesn't seem to have a lot of the things that might point to it being a problem but getting a test done by the person in America suggested is definitely something I will keep in mind. Because of her breed I have always been really careful with her diet and it has never really changed in the almost two years she has lived here but that doesn't mean she hasn't developed an allergy to some element of it or they could've changed a component in the kibble for all I really know. Thank you for the feedback on your calendula experiences. I just want to keep my mind open to what might be effecting her and what is helping her and at the moment I'm confused. I hate seeing her in discomfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Just a quick update since I last posted. The day after I posted this I was tidying up on our covered back area and saw Tempeh drinking from a large pot plant that is inside a big sealed pot. It gets water trapped in there and all the dogs like to drink from it. It contains a happy plant and a big bromeliad. But with all the dry weather the brom had drooped and fallen over the front of the pot so Tempeh's neck was rubbing on it when she drank. I removed the brom immediately and knew in my gut that was it! By Wed morn we no longer had any itching and by Wed night not even any redness. As of today, Friday her skin is a lovely pale colour again and any scratching is just normal stuff that she might usually do. No wounds or even redness. YAY! I was so worried we were going to have an ongoing battle trying to address it for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Great detectvie work, LG. Eliminate sources always matters. How lucky you found out and Tempeh is well on the way to recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Great work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Great detectvie work, LG. Eliminate sources always matters. How lucky you found out and Tempeh is well on the way to recovery. I've been trying to find the trigger for about 4 weeks now and her diet had been pulled right back and the yard gone over with a magnifying glass. I was even checking my washing powder and only letting her lie on things washed pre the rash starting to see if that made a difference. We had a vet visit planned to get a referral to an allergist and put her on a special diet. Never would've thought it was that brom until I saw it with my own eyes. Once she scratched the itchy neck covered in brom fibres she has just used her toenails to spread it elsewhere on her body I reckon. And who knows if whether something in the brom reacted badly with something in the calendula? I will of course be giving her the rinses again as I am confident things are back to normal. It was the only brom in my whole yard because it came with the happy plant. I don't like prickly plants much myself (except for roses). Mum and dad have a yard full of them so I am going to have to watch her like a hawk there and give her an immediate wash down after any visits. We've been very lucky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 (edited) We are back to square one and a body covered in raw skin now. Her skin has just been flaring and settling in a really random way over the past three weeks. I've been through the yard and nothing. Changed all her linens and even tried to distract from the scratching and chewing in case some of it is habitual. Waiting to see the vet again this arvo. And the saddest part is the calendula rinse and cream (which my vet makes up) exacerbate it. I will still be able to use it on the other dogs but it was such a great option for Tempeh that I'm bummed she is now reacting badly to it. She had such a bad reaction to her rinse last week that she was scratching the top of her head, side of her face and ears - all places that have not been affected by the allergy. Prior to that I'd gone back to Maleseb and she was fine but wanted to check and make sure I wasn't just imagining the calendula reactions. I've used the cream on her since she was a pup and it certainly wasn't always like this. And I will be talking to my vet about potential thyroid issues as maybe it started out as one thing that was really masking something else? All a bit sad as I hate seeing her so uncomfortable. Erny - in a previous post you also suggested getting a hair DNA test done. What would be the purpose of that in relation to an allergy? What would it be looking for? I don't really understand how these tests work is all. Thank you! Edited October 7, 2014 by Little Gifts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Erny - in a previous post you also suggested getting a hair DNA test done. What would be the purpose of that in relation to an allergy? What would it be looking for? I don't really understand how these tests work is all. Thank you! Sorry to hear you having bad luck, and surprised at the reaction to the Calendula Tea!! But in answer to your question regarding the hair-DNA. It shows things that are out of balance in the dog's system. This could be the liver being a bit sluggish (for example), or kidneys, or whatever something else. When the function of the body organs is out of whack, it makes it harder for the body to use the usual organs (e.g. liver) to cleanse the body from toxins, and so it looks for an alternate and commonly that is via the skin. What we see are the symptoms of those toxins and often becoming secondary skin infections. When the areas needing help are identified, the relevant supplements are recommended. These help restore balance and hence improved function. The key is to having some sort of guide to indicate what areas of the body require help. And that's where I have found the hair-DNA testing useful and helpful. Hope that answers, LG. I will ask, just to cover bases, where did you source the Calendula Tea and are there any additives or is it unadulterated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Thanks for the response Erny! It came from Mudbrick Cottage Herb Farm which is not far from me. I was planning on buying from Steve but we happened to see the farm while driving home from somewhere else, stopped off to buy herb plants for my sister's little garden and I grabbed a bag of the dried while I was there. I think they have been growers for many years and are organic. I also think it is weird because I was washing her in it before with no problems but even the cream my vet made up specifically for wounds caused a bad reaction and we have been using her creams here since Temp was a puppy. I'm personally very disappointed but we still have two other dogs we will be using it on. The vet feels it is a contact allergy and actually identified areas of rash on her feet. I'd say she scratches with the feet that have touched what she is allergic too and she spreads it that way to other areas of her body. She is back on antibiotics and cortisone and it has all reduced immediately. I've been working my way around the yard struggling to find what might be causing it, just cutting away anything that droops now (ground covers were already removed). I fear it might just be grass. I can't picture me being able to get her to wear booties whenever she is outside so it does worry me a little. And I talked to the vet about DNA and thyroid testing and he felt the contact allergy was fairly evident and to pursue that at this point. I will of course keep pursuing the cause because I can't stand to see her so uncomfortable. She's been a totally different dog again since her itchies have eased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Sometimes they can develop an allergy to something which has been used and if her contact allergy is about plants its entirely possible that the dog has now developed an allergy to more plants including the Calendula Im in a rush now but will come back with some suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) O.K. L.G. Ill rise to the challenge - send me your address via PM and Ill send you a sample of a formulation to try. Edited October 9, 2014 by Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) O.K. L.G. Ill rise to the challenge - send me your address via PM and Ill send you a sample of a formulation to try. O.k. Ive sent you off two samples but they are custom blends based on what you have said about your dog Ive used all natural ingredients but steered away from flower parts - stuck with roots and bark instructions on how to use included. Good luck and let me know how it goes. Edited October 16, 2014 by Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightstar123 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Hi, just a quick question about applying the tea/rinse. I'm really struggling to get enough penetrating our dog's dense labrador coat to reach the skin. To pour it on and properly saturate the dog all over I think I'd need gallons of the stuff :laugh: How many litres does everyone use for a large dog? I made up a couple of litres but a lot runs off the coat and it didn't seem to be enough. I tried back-combing the coat and misting/dribbling it on but it was pretty patchy. I also found it hard to fully saturate the feet, belly and throat. Any advice for densely coated dogs? Sorry if it's been covered, there's a lot of pages to read through! On the plus side, I added some organic chamomile flowers to the calendula and it's given my yellow lab a nice fragrance and lovely shiny golden highlights lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarasMum Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Try using an old sauce bottle to get into the feet, this might also help to push into the coat a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 (edited) I have a husky so we are talking major coat density with water shedding guard hairs :D I normally use between 500m and 1 litre to fully do my dog. But yeah, I found out the same thing on the first few occasions, I was using half a bucket to saturate him and even then it was patchy LOL. You can also use a spray bottle and hold the nozzle against the skin to squirt. A bike water bottle also works if you can't find a sauce bottle. A dab of superglue on the push/pull mouth piece stops it from collapsing when you press it to the fur and skin. I put a lady with a greyhound who I regularly meet up with at the park with. She was mentioning that she regularly takes her boy down to the beach and afterwards he always needed a bath due to itchiness - water rinsing doesn't seem to cut it. I spoke to her a couple of days ago and was so thrilled with how the tea worked! She is now recommending it to heaps of people for all sorts of contact itchiness etc. So another very happy convert there who is also adding it to food and using as an eye rinse when needed Edited October 18, 2014 by Yonjuro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I am going to recommend the tea to someone whose dog has itchy red feet...but it's so long since I used it, I have forgotten what strength to make it. How much leaf/tea per litre :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I am going to recommend the tea to someone whose dog has itchy red feet...but it's so long since I used it, I have forgotten what strength to make it. How much leaf/tea per litre :) I normally do around a teaspoon per 250ml so somewhere around 4 tsp per litre will be fine. I don't think you need to be too precise with the tea strength. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranga Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Couldn't you saturate the coat with plain water first, then apply the tea rinse? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 We have a husky/shep cross and I just use a heavily saturated sponge and the stocking with the soggy flowers and sort of squeeze them onto her coat until she is wet. We have one of those rectangular tubs you would use as your camp washing up bucket. It is usually half filled and just a handful off the dried flowers does 2 medium (short coats) and 1 long haired dog. We do the long haired last and pour any leftovers onto her. Steve, Tempeh and I will be very excited to try the new brew and report back on how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Julie I got several similar sized packages in the mail today. Tempeh thinks it is her job to sniff test/inspect all our mail so I held the packages out and she was turning them over with her nose then got near yours and pulled an hilarious face so I immediately knew it must be from you! Will absorb the intructions, apply and let you know the outcome. Thank you so much for going to the effort! I can't bear Temp being an itchy girl and we have just finished her last lot of meds (yard has been gone through again and shrubs have now been trimmed up high) so I am waiting to see if the allergy reappears. Here is an odd question for you. Is it possible, for whatever reason, that she has gone from a dog with no allergies to one who has developed an allergy to a certain genus of plant or just flowering plants? I only ask because I am pretty confident she had a bad response to some cal cream from my vet (who makes it from scratch) as her first real allergic response going back earlier in the year and I just thought maybe the cream had expired. Since then she has clearly gotten uncomfortable if I've used the cream or the tea rinse and she has developed and had ongoing contact allergy problems with what we assume is something or multiple things in the back yard. If I can track down what type of plant or the part of a plant (if it is multiples) then it might be easier to keep her allergy free, including with any external products I use on her. Right now our whole garden looks massacred and I haven't walked her outside the yard anywhere but on bitumen or concrete for months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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