Is your pet constantly scratching and licking? Here's a multi-pronged approach to address skin issues in furry friend

All that scratching and licking your pet is doing can be pretty annoying, but think about how your pet must feel! Skin diseases in pets are no fun for anyone, and your furry friend could be suffering from one of many different issues. The skin, being the largest organ in the body, often shows signs of problems like itchiness, sores, and inflammation. These skin issues are one of the main reasons pets are taken to the vet. Skin issues can be a chronic condition in certain dogs and cats – itchy skin, hot spots, alopecia, licking of the paws, recurring ear gunk and infections. (Also read: Heat stroke horrors: 6 warning signs your pet is dangerously overheated and what to do about it )

Pet Nutritionist Anjali Kalachand shared with HT Lifestyle a multi-pronged approach to resolve these problems, ensuring your furry friend gets the relief they need.

What causes allergies in our pets?

There is no simple answer to this, and there will be a lot of trial and error until one figures out the root cause of the issue.

Tips to support your pet's skin health

1. Elimination diet – move to a limited ingredient novel protein diet, and slowly build on that, introduce items and see what the reaction is. The slow introduction of foods allows us to pinpoint what the pet's reaction is and eliminate things that are not suiting or aggravating the issue.

2. Environment – many allergens and toxins are present in our environment. A lot of chemicals and disinfectants are used to wash surfaces – we should look into all of that and use pet-friendly products around the house. However, whilst on their walks, we can make them wear a light shirt for those who are extremely allergic. For others, we can simply wipe them with a wet cloth post walks to remove any allergens they may have come into contact with whilst on walks.

3. Add natural supplements that help with skin support – omega-3 fatty acids, zinc and vitamin E, to name a few

4. Add ingredients that have natural anti-histamine properties

5. Give your dog a job to do. Often, we don't exercise them enough due to this urban lifestyle, while exercise is key, you can also engage them mentally at home (puzzle games, sniffing, etc.)

6. Look at healing the gut – often, pets who are on commercial foods, have had lots of antibiotics, and suffer from stress will have a condition called leaky gut. It is difficult to diagnose leaky gut, but one of the symptoms is recurring skin and/or digestive issues.

Therefore, we recommend a protocol to repair the gut lining for them – this will include a good quality pre and pro-biotic to nourish the good gut bacteria and the inclusion of digestive enzymes to help their bodies assimilate and absorb the nutrition from their food better.

Does the sound of your pet licking its paws at night drive you bonkers?

Here's a pro tip to help with this – make a paw soak – Recipe: ½ a jug of water, 1 cap betadine solution and 1 cap apple cider vinegar. Soak their paws for 5-10 seconds each, and towel dry or dry with a hair dryer if you have a long-haired pet. This should help alleviate redness and itchiness.