Fighting Back

I've mentioned before that Sebastian is an itchy boy. At one time he was scratching so badly that Dr B prescribed some medicated shampoo for him. It helped get us thru the worst part, but he still spends too much time scratching in my opinion.

He also rolls every chance he gets. He doesn't care if it's on grass, dirt, mud, straw, snow or the carpet. I think it's his way of scratching the hard to reach places.

His eyes have been watery ever since he came to live with us and they are often red. Then, of course, there are the times he rubs his face in the dirt and makes them really red and swollen. I think they itch and he's trying to relieve the itchiness. Taken all together, I'd say that Sebastian has some environmental allergies.

For a long time I've been giving him Benedryl in the morning and when the allergy seems worse, I upgrade to a stronger antihistamine. Still I haven't really addressed the itchy skin and eyes, until now.

As you know Sebastian tried glasses to protect his eyes from dirt, but they didn't work as well as we had hoped.

 I decided to really get tough, so now Sebastian waits at the door and we put a cone on him before he goes outside. He doesn't like it and sulked for a few days, but now he's accepted his fate and even rolls on his back with the cone protecting his eyes. He has tried shoveling dirt with the cone a few times which isn't what I had in mind, but we put a quick stop to that when we see it happening, then wash out the cone so no dirt gets to the eyes.

I have started using eyedrops in both his eyes twice a day. He doesn't like that either and at first tried to hide when he saw the bottle, but after getting some tasty rewards for sitting still and being a good boy, he allows the drops. We use some over the counter drops that Dr B recommended. After two weeks, Sebastian's eyes are no longer red and watery. Yeah!

I also wanted to do something about his itchy skin, so first I increased his fish oil. Then I found an item that looked as if it might help. It's called Allergy Aid and is a soft chew. The active ingredients are Omega3 fatty acids, tumeric root, grape seed extract, quercetin, pumpkin powder, bromelain, EPA and DHA. It's supposed to combat seasonal allergies, maintain proper skin moisture and respiratory health.

Sebastian started taking two of the little square chews each morning and now I see that he isn't scratching much at all. He does still roll when he goes outside, but I think it's mostly habit and just pleasure instead of itchy skin.

If you have an itchy dog who suffers from seasonal allergies and want to try Allergy Aid, you can find it at both Amazon and Chewy.com. It apparently tastes good, is easy to administer, and maybe best of all it's fairly inexpensive, 70 chews are under six dollars.

I've seen a real improvement in Sebastian since we started this daily torture and he must feel better because he isn't objecting to any of it.