You hear the phrase, chronic inflammation tossed around a lot, but what exactly does it mean, why is it harmful, and what can you do about it? All those questions and more answered in this article.
What is Good Inflammation and Why is Chronic Inflammation Bad?
Inflammation is an important part of your Chihuahua’s healthy immune response. Your dog’s immune system triggers it as a first response to tissue damage, infection or exposure to a toxin.
A healthy immune response is to first shut off blood flow to the affected area. This limits blood flow in case of a wound or open injury.
This is quickly followed by extra blood flow into the affected tissues. The walls of the blood vessels become “leaky” so that fluid and cells from the bloodstream can move into the affected area.
Many immune cells from the bloodstream migrate into the area, these are mostly white blood cells that attack any disease and heals the body. A healthy immune response will:
- Kill infections
- Repair wounds
- Clean up damaged tissues or toxins
When Things Go Wrong and Inflammation Becomes Chronic
When there is a long-term low-grade inflammatory process in localized areas or organs of the body it becomes chronic inflammation. It’s like the off switch in the immune response gets broken.
It can also be more generalized meaning it may affect many areas or organs. The immune system gets confused and starts reacting to and attacking things when it shouldn’t. Examples are arthritis and allergies.
The immune system is on all the time when it should be resting. It begins to attack the body. There are a number of autoimmune diseases that are an example of chronic inflammation. What happens then is:
- Tissue damage
- Pain
- Redness, swelling, itchiness
- Organ damage
- A whole range of symptoms and/or diseases
Diseases that are linked to chronic inflammation in dogs are:
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Cancer
- Kidney failure
- Arthritis
- Heart disease
- Autoimmune disease
- Allergies
- Pancreatitis
What Can Cause Chronic Inflammation in Chihuahuas?
Possible triggers are:
- Infection
- Vaccinations
- Pest Prevention
- Pharmaceutical Drugs
- Poor Diet
- Environmental Toxins
- Stress and Anxiety
How to Fight Chronic Inflammation
The first step is diet:
Avoid inflammatory vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Minimize carbohydrates and allow only small amounts of starchy veggies like pumpkin and sweet potato. Feed antioxidant foods such as blueberries and leafy greens.
The best diet for chronic inflammation in dogs is a fresh human grade diet with real foods that are meant to target the inflammation caused by an over active immune system.
A Canine Nutrition Specialist
Don’t try to make it yourself. Unless you are a canine nutrition specialist or a veterinary nutritionist you could be doing more harm than good. Either one of these, however, can help design a custom diet for your Chihuahua’s individual nutritional needs.
Home Delivery Fresh Diet
Another great option to help with your Chihuahua’s chronic inflammation is a dog food delivery service. Not all, however, are formulated by a veterinary nutritionist. My number one choice is NomNom. Every NomNom meal is made in their own kitchens, not outsourced to someone that might not care about your Chihuahua’s health.
- They only use restaurant-quality proteins and vegetables.
- All of their ingredients come from trusted and reliable U.S. growers and suppliers.
- They gently cook each ingredient individually so that we’re not frying out the nutrition
- NomNom is meticulous about ensuring all vital nutrients stay sealed in, and that their food is highly digestible.
- Their meals are pre-portioned specifically for your Chihuahua’s weight, (whether they need to maintain current weight, gain or lose weight) activity level, gender, and more, by a one-of-a-kind machine (they designed themselves and no one else has) down to the calorie.
- So convenient! All you have to do is open the pack, pour, and serve. No mess, no measuring, no worries of over- or under-serving your pet’s dietary needs.
If you would like to try NomNom click the button to get 50% off your first order! You can cancel anytime (but you won’t want to!).
Gut Health:
A healthy diet is a great first step, but a healthy gut is also super important. Prebiotics and probiotics can help dogs who have gut inflammation issues.
The best prebiotic and probiotic product is also from NomNom:
- Their probiotics help maintain normal digestive and immune functions for a healthy Chi
- Contains 20 billion CFUs & 7 full spectrum probiotic strains per serving
- With prebiotic fiber for added beneficial bacteria development
- Expertly formulated by our veterinary nutrition and microbiology team (no other that I know of are).
Supplements:
Essential fatty acids, vitamins C, E, and A can all help reduce or heal chronic inflammation in dogs. Use only natural vitamins and avoid synthetic products. Synthetic products are not well absorbed by the body and can even be harmful when used long-term.
When it comes to the best natural supplements I turn to Innovet Advanced Multi-vitamin 6 in 1 soft chews. I trust this company and know that their products do exactly what they say they do. They are 100% organic and all-natural, with nothing artificial added.
They are the best you can buy and budget-friendly too! If you subscribe (you don’t have to and can cancel anytime) and get 15% off today!
Extra Help
CBD Oil is one of the best medicines that we have to fight chronic inflammation. Integrative veterinary medicine combining holistic medicine and westernized medicine may be the best approach when dealing with chronic inflammation in diagnoses including chronic arthritis, cancer, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dogs, especially Chihuahuas.
The best by far is HempMyPet. They only use the highest quality, human-grade ingredients for all their pet products, and never formulate with anything that you and I would not consume ourselves. It is 100% organic, full-spectrum, and third-party tested.
True hemp oil is full-spectrum. This means that it has all the necessary ingredients that provide the benefits. Not all hemp oil or hemp seed oils do. Don’t be fooled by the less expensive products that don’t work. I give it to my Pebbles and have for years. It has helped her live a longer life with CDM (cardiomyopathy) and her arthritis. So, I know that it works. Now use code: CHICHIS20 at check out and get 20% off!
