Solving allergies and other skin problems in your dog or cat involves more than just stopping the itching. It also means getting to the root of the problem and using nutrition and supplementation to help heal your skin from within.
It may seem counterintuitive, but skin problems in dogs and cats should be dealt with from the inside, not the outside. While relieving the discomfort of your pet’s itching and inflammation is important, addressing the root cause of the problem is also crucial. Otherwise, the symptoms will only resurface. This article focuses on foods, supplements, and herbal medicines that can be used to help repair, regenerate, and restore healthy skin in dogs and cats.
What are the main objectives?
Helping the animal’s immune system become more resistant to infections and decreasing the amount of inflammatory substances released by immune cells are important treatment goals when it comes to skin problems. The immune system begins in the gut. We cover both the gut microbiome, which includes immune cells, and the skin microbiome (immune cells, beneficial bacteria and yeasts, protective oils and cellular fluids).
Over-treatment with antibiotics will “kill out” the protective microbes in the skin and gut, making the animal more susceptible to yeast and fungal infections. A probiotic can help restore the immune system in the gut, along with prebiotic fiber starches such as kabocha pumpkin, green papaya, etc.
Conventional treatments do not solve the problem
Conventional medicine will help control the symptoms, but unless the underlying conditions are diagnosed and treated, the problems will recur or even get worse.
- Excessive use of antibiotics, as mentioned above, creates resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria and yeasts and makes the animal more susceptible to reinfection. Antibiotics will also cause an imbalance in the digestive system and microbiome, leading to food sensitivities, poor digestion, and diarrhea.
- Additionally, excessive use of harsh chemical and antibiotic shampoos and lotions means that the skin cannot heal properly.
- Medications and steroids suppress the immune system, increasing susceptibility to infections.
- The conventional approach includes few or no treatments that involve nutrition to improve skin health from within.
Start by correcting nutritional deficiencies
Many animals on commercial diets develop underlying zinc, omega-3, vitamin A, collagen, and antioxidant deficiencies. Zinc deficiency comes from a diet rich in calcium and phytates (peas, lentils, legumes); many allergy-prone dogs develop pea protein allergies on “grain-free” diets. Dietary deficiencies in fatty acids (omega-3, linoleic, linolenic, arachidonic) will also induce various forms of skin abnormalities, especially in cats – if the skin is dry, think “deficiency”.
Common symptoms of nutritional deficiency include:
- Dry skin, flaky, lackluster coat (lack of essential oils and amino acids)
- Chronic alopecia (hypothyroidism)
- Skin colder than normal (hypothyroidism)
- Skin that has dry scales with or without pruritus (itching)
- Lichenification
- Hyperkeratosis, acanthosis nigricans, skin darkening (hormonal)
- Dry eyes, dullness, possibly crusty discharge from the eyes
- Dry, hot and crusty nose (chronic inflammation)
- Parasites
A variety of nutritious foods, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, shown in the table below, can help correct these nutritional deficiencies. 
Get to the root of inflammation
Although we want to remove and soothe the itching, chewing, scratching and discomfort of the dog or cat, these symptoms will reappear unless we get to the source of the problem, so it is important to determine what is causing the problem in the first place. An acute and chronic inflammatory process can be triggered by:
- Improper vaccination methods (giving vaccines when the animal is already inflamed and the immune system is “hyper”)
- Foods or ingredients (commercial processed foods, herbicides, heavy metals, pesticides, preservatives)
- Molds, pollens, grasses, fungi
- Parasites (fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, mites)
- Allergens from carpets, furniture, dog beds, fire and mold retardants
- Genetically acquired allergic sensitivities (environment, food, climate) of the mother
- Weather and climate changes (hot/humid, hot/dry, wind)
Many adult dogs develop food allergies, especially when eating commercial pet foods. Feeding puppies processed commercial “puppy food” is one of the main causes of allergies in adult dogs. The immune system becomes “hyper-immune”, causing inflammatory reactions to certain food ingredients including corn, wheat, soy, chicken, rice, tapioca, legumes, fishmeal and by-products of eggs. Anti-inflammatory supplements include omega-3 and omega-6 from flax, evening primrose oil, or borage oil.
Include antioxidants as foods or supplements
Supplementing the diet with antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruits, in addition to skin-specific nutraceutical antioxidants (pill, powders, oils), would be the first and best thing to add to a treatment plan for canine skin problems. and felines. Tables 3 and 4 below describe the ones I use most commonly.
Additional Antioxidants
- Ripe papaya contains vitamin A and large amounts of vitamin C.
- Quercetin is both an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory; it modulates Th1 and Th2 inflammatory responses.
- Melatonin not only helps with sleep, it’s also an antioxidant and improves hair growth, collagen and skin healing.
As you can see, curing a dog or cat’s skin problems isn’t just about giving them itch medication. This involves addressing the root cause of inflammation, whether it’s allergies or another condition, improving one’s gut microbiome, correcting any nutritional deficiencies, and adding antioxidants and other nutrients to their diet through foods or supplements. The process takes time and patience, but because it goes so far below the surface symptoms, the results will be much more satisfying for you and your animal companion.
Treatment plan for most skin problems, especially if they are chronic
- Improve the intestinal microbiota (reduce hyper-immune reactions)
a) Prebiotic fiber foods – broccoli family, kabocha and other squash, celery, beets, steel cut oats (organic), pearl barley, quinoa, green papaya, cabbage
b) Probiotics — from organic dairy products or capsules containing living organisms - Decrease inflammation
a) Omega-3
b) Quercetin
c) Luteolin foods – celery, broccoli family, parsley, basil
d) Chinese herbal formulas – Kochia -13, Coptis Purge Fire, Xanthium-12, Tang Kuei and Arctium, Tang Kuei and Tribilis, and others - Caring for the skin: repairing, regenerating
a) Collagen/bone broth
b) Choline/eggs, liver, meats
c) Astaxanthin (BioAstin)
d) Other vitamin A precursors – yellow/orange vegetables like pumpkin, carrots, squash, sweet potato, as well as cooked tomatoes, spinach, tuna, beef liver
e) Foods containing zinc — nutritional yeast, pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, meats, green beans, mushrooms
