17 Aug Spring is coming! All you need to know about managing your pet’s itchy skin
We love everything about springtime! Well…almost everything. Unfortunately, it can be an uncomfortable time of year for our furry friends as they experience an increase in irritating skin conditions. Here’s how therapeutic plant-based products for pets can help.
Dogs tend to suffer from itchy skin far more than cats, especially at this time of year, when trees, grasses and weeds start releasing pollen into the air. So, if your dog is starting to itch and scratch more than ever, has a skin rash and is keeping you up with worry… they most likely have a skin condition called atopic dermatitis.
What our in-house veterinarian says about atopic dermatitis
According to our in-house veterinarian, Jen, pollens and grasses, dust and dust mites can make a dog’s immune system respond in an overreactive way and cause all sorts of discomfort.
“Sometimes it’s a contact allergen, which means the pet has had direct physical contact with pollen or dust, but allergens can also be present in the air itself, so they don’t necessarily have to even touch them. This can make it difficult to control exposure. Some animals suffer all year round, others just flare up in springtime,” says Jen.
“The immune response can present as overall itchiness, or sometimes just as sore ears. It can even present as a secondary infection that occurs when your pet scratches or bites at the initial itchiness, opens the skin and introduces bacteria into the wound, which then snowballs into a much bigger problem.”
Four ways to administer PetCann’s therapeutic medicines to your pet
For pet parents who know their dog’s skin tends to flare up in springtime, getting in early to offset severity with preventive therapy is a really good idea. A veterinarian might recommend managing atopic dermatitis from a few different angles, including shampoos, anti-itch creams, injections, dietary changes and CBD-based products.
At PetCann, we have three CBD preparations especially for pets: oils, chews and a topical cream. All are made to order by our qualified pharmacist, in line with the dosage specified by your pet’s veterinarian. The CBD oil for pets and chews are all for oral consumption and available in chicken beef or tuna flavour. If you’re worried about any food allergies, the oil can also be made without flavour added. The topical application is a cream – perfect for applying to any dry, itchy or sore spots to soothe and improve skin complaints. CBD has healing properties and can reduce redness and itchiness. Which treatment pathway your vet recommends and prescribes – an oral formulation that will work from the inside out, or a topical cream for direct relief, or both, will be based on their assessment of your pet’s individual situation.
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And in good news – as reported by our in-house vet, Jen, it’s possible that a prescription of safe CBD medicine for pets will help with other conditions too. When a medical condition exists at the same time as another condition (or conditions), it’s called a ‘comorbidity’. Atopic dermatitis can often lead to anxiety < Once it is live, link to the anxiety blog (#5) or insert a CTA to check out the blog at the bottom as per below.> – another condition that scientists have demonstrated CBD may be able to treat.
Please talk to your veterinarian or reach out to us directly if you’d like to know more about how medicinal cannabis for pets can help to reduce or alleviate your furry friend’s itching and restlessness.
Woof!
Want to keep reading? Check out our blog on anxiety in pets.
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