Article by Jane Dinunzio

PARASITES

Parasites include fleas, mites and ticks which are the most common cause of dog health problems causing continuous licking and the easiest to eliminate. The most common dog health problem, causing continuous licking is fleas, ticks and mites, and also the easiet to cure. If untreated, fleas can also cause anemia and tapeworms.

Today there are many different choices to protect our pets from fleas and ticks, yet veterinarians still see many dogs with health problems caused by fleas, on a daily basis. Spot treatments are the most common and seem to be the most effective way to control fleas, ticks and mites.

Avoid dog health problems, such as fleas and ticks, which cause irritation and continuous licking, by using spot treatments regularly or as directed by the manufacturer or your vet

CANINE ALLERGIES

My Black Lab “Lady” suffered with dog health problems since we rescued her in 1997 from a horrible and painful existence at the age of 6 months.

After careful monitoring for many years, I have learned that allergies can be just as difficult to pinpoint in dogs as they are in humans.

Allergies occur when the body’s immune system is weakened, which can be caused by improper or insufficient nutrition.

Feeding homemade dog food with added nutritional supplements or the top of the line organic dog food, is the simplest way to determine if the allergies are caused by the present foods your dog is eating. Giving a higher nutritional organic diet is what stopped my Lady’s allergies altogether. Her immune system was fortified, and in turn the allergies completely disappeared, along with the continuous licking.

DOG SEASONAL ALLERGENS

If you notice your dog chewing and scratching more in the mornings after he/she comes in from outside, then it’s possible he’s/she’s sensitive to pollen, mold, ragweed or other environmental factors, just as we are. If an improvement is seen after dusting your home and changing the filters on the furnace, then it is possible you dog’s health problem is a sensitivity to dust mites.

Environmental allergens are usually treated with anti-inflammatories and/or shampoos, ointments, sprays and supplements, which can be recommended by your vet.

FOOD ALLERGIES

Foot chewing and incessant licking can indicate food allergies.

Although food allergies are less common in dogs, they can become more severe.

Either feeding an all natural premium dog food made especially for <a href=”http://recipes4gourmetdogs.com/2009/04/reduce-dog-food-allergies/” target=”_blank” dogs with allergies, or using homemade chemical free recipes is the best idea.

Allegy formula food doesn’t have a lot of fillers, cereals, and toxic preservatives and added fats, sugars, dyes, salts or unhealthy chemicals. A food based allergy may disappear altogether after completely and slowly switching over.

Always slowly introduce any new foods over a period of time, and only one at a time and watch your pet for an increase or decrease in the chewing and itching dog health problems.. Keeping a careful watch of what your pet eats makes all the difference in catching an unknown food allergy.

SO HOW TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE?

Switching to either a premium chemical free dog food or making your own homemade dog food should be the first course of action when trying to determine the cause of dog health problems or continuous licking and scratching.

Remember, just because your dog doesn’t do well on lamb doesn’t mean that he won’t do well on a chicken based food. I found that the switching to a chemical free diet eliminated completely my Lady’s incessant problem.

For years we had been dealing with her allergies, with medical treatments of prednisone, antihistamines, and costly vet bills for expensive allergy testing and after all that the diagnosis was inconclusive.

The real key is to observe your dog’s patterns over a period of time to figure out what causes dog health problems related to allergies and continuous licking and itching.

My main website is: Recipes 4 Gourmet Dogs.

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