Foods to Support Dogs and Cats with Acral Lick Dermatitis
Acral lick dermatitis is a skin condition that occurs from obsessive licking of the front limbs. It is more common in dogs than cats. You can learn all about it and how to help your pet using Chinese herbs in our previous post on acral lick dermatitis.
In this post, we will cover some foods that you can add to your pet’s diet to help address the underlying energetic imbalances that tend to be present in acral lick dermatitis. You might be amazed at how much you can help your pet’s health simply by feeding them better nutrition to meet their body’s needs.
Preparing Meals for Your Pet
Preparing homemade meals for your pets can seem daunting at first. The truth is, anything you do to improve your pet’s diet beyond feeding them only kibble can help improve their health significantly. Feeding a raw diet is the nutritionally optimum way to feed your pet. But not everyone can afford to do that and not every pet can handle raw foods digestively. So adding some raw foods or lightly cooking food and adding them as a topper to kibble may be something you can and your pet can handle if you cannot feed a strictly raw diet. Even small changes you make can lead to big improvements. So don’t worry if you can’t feed your dog or cat “perfectly”. I will include several additional resources for balanced recipes and healthy dietary information for your pet at the end of this post.
Proteins such as meat, fish, and eggs can be given raw or lightly cooked. Never overcook meat as it degrades the taurine (an important amino acid for heart health). Leafy green and other veggies can be lightly sautéed or steamed to make them easier for your pet to digest. This is fine if you have the time to prepare meals daily for your pet. But for many of us, we haven’t got the time in our schedule to do this consistently. So slow-cooking a week’s worth of food in a slow cooker or Instant Pot is a convenient way to improve your dog’s or cat’s diet. If you have multiple pets, you can make a week’s worth of “topper” in the slow cooker. From a Chinese Medicine perspective, slow-cooking on the low temperature setting results in neutral thermal properties of the cooked food (as opposed to making the food energetically warming, as some other cooking methods can do).
How Do We Know Which Foods are Helpful in Acral Lick?
When we examine acral lick dermatitis in dogs and cats, we realize there are many energetic imbalances at play, according to Chinese Medicine Dermatology. Most of the imbalances that are present when there are skin lesions are considered “excess” - they generate heat and swelling (inflammation). Food alone will not treat infection or this degree of inflammation, so the appropriate medicines should be employed (we suggest our herbal supplement Solution AL: Calm Lick to support skin health in acral lick dermatitis).
The big difference in acral lick dermatitis compared to other skin diseases we see in dogs and cats is that there is an obsessive component to it - the “itch-lick cycle”. According to Chinese Medicine, this OCD is a result of the energetic imbalance known as Shen Disturbance due to Heart Blood and Spleen Qi Deficiency (it is not important for pet owners to understand this, I just wanted to mention it in case your holistic veterinarian uses such terminology with you).
There are certain foods that can offer long-term support for your pet to reduce the obsessive thinking that is an integral component of this condition. In Chinese Medicine, we understand the energetics of foods in a similar way that we understand herbs. So to help with acral lick, we can choose foods that Nourish Blood, foods that Support the energy of the Spleen, and foods that Calm the Shen.
Individual Foods That Are Helpful in Acral Lick
ADD MORE OF THESE FOODS:
PROTEIN SOURCES: bloody meats and rich foods such as beef, beef liver, beef heart, tuna, sardines (excellent and easy topper straight out of the can), eggs, bone marrow, bison. Also chicken heart, pork heart, rabbit, goose, quail, mackerel.
VEGETABLES/FRUIT: beets, carrots, dark leafy greens (kale, spinach, dandelion leaves), kelp, sweet potatoes, fresh chopped parsley, apricots, figs, Goji berries, dates, Hawthorne berries, endive, bamboo leaf
BEANS/LEGUMES: black beans, kidney beans, lima beans
GRAINS: quinoa, brown rice, Job’s tears
SEEDS (ground) / OILS: flax seeds, black sesame seeds, omeg-3 fish oil
HIGH-MINERAL CONTENT: oyster shells, egg shells
(Crab, clams, and scallops are sometimes recommended but shellfish of all kinds should be avoided when the pet has an itchy skin condition because they can make the skin itchier.)
AVOID THESE FOODS:
Shellfish, dairy, highly-processed foods (like kibble), white potato, peas, venison, lamb, goat, kangaroo, veal, chicken, oatmeal, cayenne, cinnamon, garlic. Most of these are foods are too energetically warming for pets that have inflamed skin lesions due to acral lick dermatitis.
Recipes for Dogs with Acral Lick
The following recipes are for long-term support if your dog has tendencies to lick obsessively. They are not specifically anti-inflammatory for skin lesions, so ensure you are also doing something to address the skin itself (herbal supplement Solution AL: Calm Lick and/or treatment from your veterinarian).
Recipe for Dogs with Shen Disturbance due to Heat Blood Deficiency: (from Susan G. Wynn, DVM, DACVN)
Ingredients:
Lean Beef, cooked - 300grams
Beef heart, cooked - 80g
Hard-boiled egg - 1 egg
Sweet potato, baked, peeled - 150g
Spinach, boiled - 80g
Carrots, boiled - 80g
Sunflower oil - 1 teaspoon
Salmon oil - 1 teaspoon
Table salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Balance IT Canine - 7 teaspoons
Preparation instructions: Dice ingredients and mix together. Serve as entire meal or as a topper to kibble or other balanced meal, such as canned food.
Same Recipe (as above) but Large Batch Made in Slow-Cooker:
Ingredients:
Lean Beef - 900grams (approx. 3 x 1lb packages of ground lean beef)
Beef heart - 240g (approx. 8 ounces)
3 Eggs (with shell)
Sweet potato, peeled - 450g (approx. 1lb)
Spinach - 240g (approx. 8 ounces)
Carrots - 240g (approx. 8 ounces)
Sunflower oil - 1 tablespoon
Salmon oil - 1 tablespoon
Table salt - 3/4 teaspoon
Balance IT Canine - 7 tablespoons
Preparation Instructions: Chop or grind up all meat, eggs, veggies. If using food processor, add enough water to make it easier to process (the meat gets sticky in the food processor). Cook meat, eggs, salt, and veggies together in a slow cooker (Crockpot) on LOW for 6 hours. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Allow to cool a bit before adding sunflower oil, salmon oil, and Balance IT Canine supplement. Salt and supplement are not necessary if only using this as a topper on kibble or added to other balanced meals. Store unused portion in refrigerator or freeze for future use. Will last safely for 1 week in refrigerator. Warm refrigerated portions and add a bit of water before serving. This is an excellent way to give your dog any of our CMD Pet Solutions herbal supplements - just mix in supplement before serving to your dog.
Recipes for Cats with Obsessive Grooming
The following recipes are for long-term support if your cat has tendencies to lick obsessively (causing feline psychogenic alopecia, basically the equivalent of acral lick dermatitis). They are not specifically anti-inflammatory for skin lesions, so ensure you are also doing something to address the skin itself (herbal supplement Solution AL: Calm Lick and/or treatment from your veterinarian).
Recipe for Cats with Shen Disturbance due to Heat Blood Deficiency: (from Cathy Alinovi, DVM, MS)
Ingredients:
Grass-fed Beef, raw or gently cooked- 225grams (1 1/8 cup)
Chicken heart, raw or gently cooked - 120g 1/2 cup)
Beef liver, raw - 120g (1/2 cup)
Hard-boiled egg (finely diced) - 2 eggs PLUS eggshell (ground) - 3.6g (3/4 teaspoon)
Spinach, sautéed - 60g (1/4 cup)
Beets, boiled (finely diced) - 60g (1/4 cup)
Dates, dried (finely diced) - 3.5g (3/4 teaspoon)
Wheat germ oil - 7g (2 teaspoons)
Zinc Liver Chelate (Standard Process supplement) - 1 tablet
Vitamin D3 (from Rx Vitamins) - 1 drop
Taurine - 75mg
Preparation instructions: Finely dice ingredients, mix ingredients together. Serve as entire meal or as a topper to kibble or other balanced meal, such as canned food.
Additional Natural Food/Diet Resources:
References:
Fowler, Margaret and Xie, HuiSheng (2020). Integrative and Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine Food Therapy - Small Animal and Equine. Reddick, FL: Chi University Press.
* For best results, combine use of these products with professional care from a licensed veterinarian. These products and statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. The information provided on this website is for educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your veterinarian. Many skin diseases have similar symptoms and can look alike to the untrained eye. Some skin conditions can be serious. Some require pharmaceutical treatment and regular monitoring. If you are not certain what is causing your pet’s skin symptoms, seek professional veterinary care for your pet before trying to solve the problem yourself. Proper diagnosis is vital to choosing the most effective treatment.