Dogs have allergies too

by Dr. Jim Lovell

Does your dog keep you up all night scratching? Do they lick their paws excessively driving you crazy? If so, your pet may be suffering from an allergy.

What is an allergy?
An allergy is a state of over-reactivity or hypersensitivity of the immune system to a particular substance called an allergen. Allergens, which are normally harmless, cause the dog’s immune system to overreact. This means that the immune response, which normally protects the dog against infection and disease, can actually be harmful to the body.

What are the symptoms of allergies in dogs?
The most common symptom associated with allergies is itching of the skin. Most dogs will scratch all over and lick their paws. Some dogs will have watery eyes with coughing and sneezing. Some allergies even cause the dog to vomit or have diarrhea.

What are the different types of allergies in dogs?
There are three main types of allergies in dogs; flea allergy, food allergy and canine atopy.

What is Flea Allergy?
Flea allergy is the exaggerated inflammatory response to a flea bite or other biting insect. Some dogs are allergic to the saliva from the flea bite. One flea bite can cause a dog to itch for three to four weeks.

Because one flea can be a problem for the allergic dog, strict flea control is essential. This is difficult considering the life-cycle of fleas, but with modern medications and home treatment options, you should be able to provide a flea-bite free environment for your dog.

What is Canine Atopy?
Canine Atopy is the result of inhaled or contact allergens from the environment. The main causative allergens are tree pollens, grass pollens, weed pollens, molds, mildew, and house dust mites. Many of these allergies occur seasonally, such as ragweed, cedar, and grass pollens. However, others such as molds, mildew, and house dust mites are year-round.

Most dogs that have atopy start showing signs between one and three years of age. If the offending allergens can be identified by allergy tests, the dog should be protected from exposure to them as much as possible. But, this is difficult and recurrent bouts are likely. These allergies can be treated, but a permanent cure is not usually possible.

Treatment depends largely on the length of the dog’s allergy season and severity of the allergic response. Anti-inflammatories, such as antihistamines and corticosteroids are often helpful to get the allergy under control. If severe enough, the allergy may need to be treated with drugs such as cyclosporine, or even hyposensitization therapy known as allergy shots.

What is Food Allergy?
Food allergy can develop to almost any protein or carbohydrate component of food. It most commonly develops in response to the protein of the food of a particular food origin; beef, pork, chicken, or turkey are commonly associated with food allergies. Testing for specific food allergies involves a hypoallergenic diet trial. Because it takes at least eight weeks for all other food products to be removed from the body, the dog must eat the special diet exclusively for eight to twelve weeks.

Treatment for dogs with allergies is essential to maintain a good quality of life for the animal. Your veterinarian will be able to diagnose which type of allergies you dog has and develop a plan to provide relief for your pet.