Most of my patients with chronic skin disease only need infrequent antibiotic therapy as opposed to year-round treatment with potent and expensive medications.
Why?
Simply because the holistic therapies we use to heal the skin usually work very well. First, for pets with chronic skin infections, I always make sure an underlying problem such as allergies, food intolerance, or hypothyroidism is not the cause of the problem Assuming a pet does not have any of these issues, a holistic approach makes sense. Using frequent bathing to cleanse the skin, feeding a natural diet, using various supplements including antioxidants, fatty acids, and various herbs and homeopathics, most pet owners will find that they are able to reduce the pet’s need for antibiotics. While some pets treated with only conventional medications such as antibiotics require lifelong therapy, I have yet to encounter a pet with Staph skin infections that does not respond to a more holistic approach.
The good news is that while not an overnight success, most pets will likely improve with time and the correct treatment. As a worse-case scenario, lifelong antibiotic therapy would be a last resort (and even then, if combined with immune-boosting supplements I bet that lower doses of the antibiotics could be used.)
Dr. Shawn Messonnier is the author of 8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog, The Allergy Solution for Dogs, and the award-winning The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats. Dr. Shawn is the medical consultant for Pet Togethers, a pet supplement company.
http://www.pettogethers.net/healthypet
http://www.petcarenaturally.com
