Dealing with Doggie Dermatitis -Apoquel vs. Natural Alternatives

Dear Sister Knowitall,

 I enjoyed your talk last evening. I have a small support dog for my wife, the vet put the dog on Apoquel for dry itching skin, any homeopathic ideas ?

Mercy,  photo credit Cindy Pitts Gilbert

Signed Itchy Puppy Papa

Great question. Itchy Puppy Papa.

So my go to is always start simple. Dermatitis is hard to treat because it is so broad, itchy skin and/or rash, right?   1) Diet allergy,  2) outdoor allergy 3) something in the house or 4)even a plastic dog bowl.   

What I can do is give you some first steps that should help until you figure out what is the root cause of your puppies dermatitis.  

👉 Coconut oil for both external and a bite on a spoon they usually love to eat it.

👉 An oatmeal bath  there are also oatmeal shampoos at Petsmart that I have used.

👉 Diet elimination, start eliminating treats first then foods.

👉You may have to try natural food. Blue, Fresh Pet or Nutrish  even cook chicken breast and rice in a crock pot.

👉 It is going to be trial and error but I really appreciate you wanting to use a natural alternative for your fur baby. 

👉 I do make a salve out of coconut oil Shea butter and beeswax that you could try I use it on my dog and my own skin flare ups.  Good Luck