Q.Annabelle is five years old and we have had her for eight months. She has adjusted well. We have some anxiety issues being treated with “rescue drops”. She has started filling up with mucus and sneezing all over the place when she gets agitated or sometimes just out of the blue. Prednisone stopped her chewing her legs raw and the sneezing for a while but I don’t want her on it again. That’s when I started “rescue” and have tried a program of vomica, hepar and engystol. Again this stopped the itchy skin but not the sneezing. She plugs up so bad at times she breathes with her mouth open. She also throws up white frothy, slimy vomit whenever she gets excited.

 

A.You need to first make sure this is not associated with a condition called autoimmune thyroiditis (many times related to vaccines). Your dog’s thyroglobulin autoantibodies should be tested. If this is the problem and it’s not addressed, it will be substantially more difficult getting her better. At our clinic, we would use Betathyme, the Chinese herbal Kai Yeung (Seven Forest)–which is good for severe itching, Skin-Aid (Professional Health Products), which contains homeopathic histamine and finally allergy formulas containing herbal echinacea and nettles.

Regarding diet, stay away from known allergens such as wheat, beef and yeast and try alternative protein sources such as fish and duck. Your veterinarian could consider doing allergy testing on blood through Spectrum Labs to determine known allergens. If you need relief from the symptoms of the itchy skin, I would recommend natural hydrocortisone over prednisone. As far as the anxiety goes, there are a number of flower essences on the market which are more precise than “rescue remedy”. If you can narrow it down to the specific essences your dog needs (or consult an expert in this field), it can make a real difference to issues surrounding anxiety.