Seasonal Allergies

Hi everyone,
Maddie has a pollen allergy each year that drives her insane at times. I haven't had her officially allergy tested as it is so definitely seasonal, and also related to our locality, and our vet doesn't think it would be useful at this stage to identify exactly which tree or grass pollen it is that causes the problem. When we went to Scotland last year mid itchy season she stopped scratching.
Now for the question - someone suggested giving her a teaspoon of local honey each day to de-sensitize her to the local pollens. Has anyone else tried this, and more importantly - does it work ?
I only ask because if I can reduce the amount of anti-histamines she gets during Spring/Summer and prevent the problem escalating into her needing steroids throughout the season I will be very happy. (she usually gets 2 steroid injections during the worst periods, but if she gets much worse she'll probably have to go on oral steroids over a 4 month period, with their associated risks )

I tried that for myself and it helped a bit. Make sure it's truly local, from a farmer's market and not mixed with different regions.

Great idea for the dogs too, never thought of it.

Jen and Ilsa

ilsamom said:

I tried that for myself and it helped a bit. Make sure it's truly local, from a farmer's market and not mixed with different regions.

Great idea for the dogs too, never thought of it.

Jen and Ilsa

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Did you take it once your allergies had flared p, or did you start earlier in the year before all the pollens are about?

I was told by an allergist to take 2 tablespoons every day weather I have allergies or not - year round. It has a similar desensitizing effect as allergy shots long term. Also not to mix it in tea, as the heat could change the composition. (That was for the humans who may try it.) I'm sure you could mix a bit in room temperature dog food if the dog likes sweet things.

I don't use it anymore as we moved to Europe and I am not suffering as much. I do think it helped, as I couldn't take the side effects of traditional medications and my insurance didn't cover very expensive allergy shots, along with the irritation of twice weekly trips to the doctor!

Hope it helps - let us know

Jen and Ilsa

I belong to another email group for obedience, and one of the people on that is expert on alternative medicine for dogs. For allergies she highly recommends 'Mixed Pollen and Grasses' from Helios pharmacies: www.helios.co.uk Might be worth a try?

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Having been through the mill in the world of a chronically allergic dog I think the thing to remember is that desensitizing does not always work whether it is a proper vaccine schedule or taking something like honey. I have been seeing the best specailist dermatologist here with Harry since he was 6 months old, so 6 years and there has never been any mention of honey ? I guess a more natural prescriber of medicine may advocate this but I prefer a more cutting edge specialist approach personally.

Antihistamines are perfectly safe long term so I wouldn't worry about about that, the steriods I would not want either so I would avoid these where possible although take comfort in the fact that it sounds like a short 3 monthly dose ? which is a lot less harmful than long term use. I also wouldn't go for a steriod injection as this is one dose wam bam you may find by using a tablet alternative as required she only needs like 1/2 a tablet twice a week or some weeks not at all ? Do you give her fish oil ? This will help her skin/coat and inflammation during these times but I personally like all its health benefits so would suggest it year round. I would also research using a drug called cyclosporin or Atopica as an alternative to steriods. It is expensive but works.

Also all the obvious things like avoiding walking or playing in grass at these times, regular bathing around this time with an oatmeal medicated shampoo and then a leave in conditioner rub down ( I use virbac episoothe and resisoothe), and lots of hugs and kisses and kisses and kisses. :flwr:

Hope this helps

Thanks for all the suggestions - this is a great board.
The thing I don't like about the anti-histamines is that the dose needed to stop her scratching makes her so drugged up that she doesn't enjoy life. This is why I wanted to try something a bit more natural.
I'm not anti - medicines, I just like to take a rounded approach including both veterinary meds and natural remedies. She already gets Salmon oil in her food all year round, which has helped a little bit but not as much as I would have hoped.

I haven't tried regular bathing with an oatmeal shampoo. I'll add that to my list of things to try. Does it soothe the skin? I do use a soothe itch cream that has a little bit of tea tree in it. That cools hot spots down nicely.

I had a dog with allergies to grass mites and chlorphyll (hope spelling is correct) and after trying prednisilone for a few summers decided to go to homeopathic vet. Finally after trying different remedies the most successful were mixed grasses (30c) and urtica. The urtica is really good for itching.