Does Your Dog Have Canine Atopic Dermatitis? It Is Awful For Your Dog And Can Drive You Nuts As Well…
What is it? Atopic dermatitis is inflammation and irritation of the skin due to allergy. It is similar to eczema in humans. But what is your dog allergic to? As with humans it might be just about anything from pollens, dust, skin (from other dogs or even cats), seeds and plants.
Albert is allergic to a common ground cover plant called rhoeo (or Moses in the Cradle). Just a slight contact as he peed on the garden bed led to weeks or horrible scratching and rashes until we figured it out – and removed the plant completely. That was before we knew about PEA.
As with most inflammatory conditions atopic dermatitis is treated with anti-inflammatories including steroids.
This article is just to let you know that if your dog (or cat) has allergies then it is possible that PEA may help reduce the problem.
You likely already know that PEA is effective at reduce inflammation and pain in mammals. PEA is found in the cells of all mammals and is shown to have reduced levels when there is chronic pain or inflammation. And then research shows supplementing with PEA brings the levels back up – and there is a reduction in pain and inflammation levels. I mention this because it can take a couple of weeks to get PEA level back up – so this is not like a magic wand. But it does work.
Details on one study are below. We think that PEA is simply a great supplement for any dog (or any mammal!) that has inflammation or pain, or that is thinking about being in the best possible condition. For us this means any older dog that has any joint pain, health conditions or aches and pains.
PEA is tasteless, odourless, already in our bodies, is in breast milk and has practically no “side effects”. Just sprinkle the powder (a measured tiny spoon or a “decent pinch” on your dog’s good once or twice a day.
Here is the study: “Efficacy of ultra-micronized palmitoylethanolamide in canine atopic dermatitis: an open-label multi-centre study”.
Results
Mean pruritus VAS score decreased from 5.7 ± 0.08 cm (range 3.8–7.9 cm) to 3.63 ± 0.19 cm (range 0.1–9.2 cm) (P < 0.0001). At D56, 58% of dogs showed a greater than 2 cm reduction from baseline and 30% showed an absent-to-very mild pruritus (VAS ≤ 2 cm). Mean total CADLI at D56 decreased significantly (P < 0.0001); in 62% of dogs this score reached a value in the remission range (≤5). Mean total QoL score was significantly decreased (P < 0.0001) with 45% of dogs reaching QoL values described for healthy animals. Tolerability was good-to-excellent with only four dogs reporting treatment associated reversible adverse events.
Conclusions and clinical importance
PEA-um appears to be effective and safe in reducing pruritus and skin lesions, and in improving QoL in dogs with moderate atopic dermatitis and moderate pruritus.
Related posts:
Palmitoylethanolamide in Atopic Dermatitis – Tested On 160 Dogs – Great Results
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) for Non-Flea Hypersensitivity Dermatitis in Cats
PEA (Palmitoylethanolamide) Shown To Reduce Allergic Inflammatory Response Beagle Dogs
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) for Horse Lameness & Joint Disease – Case Study
