I have quite a few canine patients (and one feline) that are presenting with severe skin disease at a very young age. Some even start out before 6 months of age - which to me seems pretty young to develop allergies. Most improve with changing to unprocessed diets but often still have flare ups, especially in spring and fall. I am highly suspicious that leaky gut syndrome has something to do with these cases. I know we have talked about some herbs that can help to address leaky gut syndrome so I am going to start trying some patients with those. I also recommend that they feed fermented food to support healthy gut bacteria. I feel like I can't avoid giving them prednisone when they get really red and inflamed - which I don't love doing as this can also affect the gut microbiome and potentially contribute to dysbiosis. It is often a similar clinical picture for these patients; ears, face, chin, chest, armpits, groin, paws affected- they get inflamed and pruritic first and then often progress to having secondary bacterial or yeast infections. Do you have any other suggestions (herbal/dietary or otherwise) for treating this type of skin issue? I have used L-glutamine, probiotics with very little success. I have started testing for dysbiosis that I hope will give some more insight as well. I have tried a couple of patients on a combination of reishi, ashwaganda, skullcap, gotu kola , oregon grape root and licorice (based on what was on the shelf at work) and I haven't seen any notable improvements. Thank you for any insight you can provide. I don't know if this type of thing happens in people or not but appreciate the advice whether from experience in treating something similar or theoretical. Dana

I think their diet plays a major role, allergens in the food causing leaky gut, systemic inflammation and the skin issues you see. So treat the patient - after changing diet, improve gut flora (fermented dog treats :), heal the gut mucosa - Turmeric, Cats Claw, Gotu Kola, Sarsaparilla, Plantain, Calendula, Myrrh, etc, inhibit hyper immune response - immune amphoterics (Astragalus, Reishi, Cats Claw, Maitake, Licorice, etc) and immune-regulatory herbs (Gotu Kola, Sarsaparilla, unprocessed Rehmannia, Turmeric,Guduchi, Baikal Skullcap, Boswellia, etc), other anti-inflammatories - Amla, Goji Berry, Bromelain, Quercitin). In my experience this type of treatment takes a minimum of 6 -9 months and it may control the issue but often does not cure it. Atopy is genetic and often induced by prenatal exposure to compounds that the mother ingests, breaths in or gets treated with.

Thank you! That is great info. I am using a lot of mushrooms supplements and fermented foods so definitely will continue that. I will keep that list on hand and see what I can do with individual formulas. Dana