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Allergies:
| Canines, like humans, can suffer from allergies.
Skin conditions such as itching of the skin is the most common symptom of a
dog allergy. The respiratory tract can be affected by allergies, causing
coughing, sneezing, and/or wheezing. At times, the eyes and nose may develop
a mucous discharge. In some cases, the digestive system may be affected
causing vomiting or diarrhea.
About 20% of the canines in the United States report suffering from some
type of allergy and likely even more canines do undiagnosed or treated for
allergies. |
Atopic Dermatitis
An allergic skin disease of canines, known as canine "atopic dermatitis,"
is caused by the dog's immune system developing a hypersensitivity to common
substances in the environment, such as dust mites, pesticides, cleaning
products, molds etc.
The signs of atopic dermatitis usually appear within the first two years of a
dog's life.
| If the dog begins to licking or chewing of
the paws, abdomen, and hind quarters excessively, then it may suffer from
atopic dermatitis. Also, check to see if the ears are reddened and hot to
the touch, this is a good indicator. Another good indicator of atopic
dermatitis, can be found in the armpits, groin, or between the toes of the
paws. Check to see if there is saliva staining. In light colored dogs, it
appears as a red-brown staining. In chronic cases the skin, mostly in the
abdomen, may change color from a pinkish, to angry red, to black mottling.
Flea allergy, food allergy, and parasitic infestations may mimic the
symptoms of atopic dermatitis making it difficult to diagnose. Once fleas,
foods, and parasitic infestations are eliminated as being the offending
culprits, then allergy skin testing for dust mites, pollens, and molds may
be done to determine what causes the dog's allergic reaction. |
Flea Allergy
The most common form of canine allergy is flea allergy dermatitis. The flea
itself is not the culprit in canine flea allergies. It is their saliva that
causes the allergic reaction.
A skin allergy test can be preformed to determine if a dog is allergic to
flea saliva. If it is, then a strict flea control regimen is required to reduce
symptoms. Caution must be used however to make sure the chemicals in the flea
preparations are not harmful to the dog. Some dogs have shown sensitivity to the
chemicals in the flea preparations. So be sure to consult your vet before
attempting to use any anti-flea products on a dog that is allergy prone.
Airborne Allergy
Just like humans, canines can suffer from airborne allergens as well. Examples
of airborne allergens are pollens (tree, grass, and weed), dust
mites, molds, and chemicals.
Although any pure bred or mutt can acquire inhalant allergies, some breeds
are more prone to airbone allergies, such as terriers, golden retrievers,
poodles, dalmatians, German shepherds, Chinese Shar-peis, shih tzus, lhasa apsos,
pugs, Irish setters, and miniature schnauzers.
The symptoms of an airborne allergy include scratching, biting, chewing at
feet and constant licking. The itching may be most severe on feet, flanks,
groin, and armpits. Airborne allergies are often the reason for recurrent ear
infections in your dog.
Food Allergy
Canines may become allergic to a food they have eaten for years which causes
many people to over look the possibility of a food allergy. Food allergies only
account for approx 10% of allergy problems in canines. More often than not this
is a soy related allergy. Canines often can not tolerate soy products, wheat, &
corn, chemical preservatives, or artificial sugars in their food. Less
frequently, the canine may be unable to tolerate, beef, pork, chicken, milk,
whey, eggs, fish,
Determining the food allergen can be time consuming & costly. First,
eliminate all the possible allergens from the diet, by using a home made diet
consisting of a protein and a starch the dog has not eaten before. Gradually add
back, one at a time for a week, the ingredients of the dog food. If symptoms
return, then the offending food allergen should be easily determined. Commercial
dog foods can be found that do not contain the offending allergen.
Symptoms of a food sensitivity in canines, may manifest as itchy skin,
scratching at ears, shaking of the head, licking and biting at the hind quarters
or feet, rubbing faces on carpeting, ear inflammations, coughing, and rarely
vomiting, diarrhea, flatulence, sneezing, asthma like symptoms, in severe
allergic reactions their may be, behavioral changes, seizures, gagging, and
vomiting.
Contact Allergy
Contact allergy is the least common of all the types of canine allergies. Some
of the common contact allergens include topical flea treatments, flea collars,
wood shavings in bedding, grass/hay, plants, and sometimes chemicals. This type
of allergy is usually easy to diagnose and prevent.
Bacterial Allergy
Several species of Staphylococcus (Staph) bacteria live on normal dog skin.
Normally Staph does not cause a problem with its host, but some dogs develop an
allergy to it. With this type of allergy the dog develops areas of hair loss
that look much like ring worm. These areas become infected and need to be
treated with antibiotics. The Staph allergic dog usually has recurrent Staph
infections. This is occasionally misdiagnosed as Demodex, if the case is severe
enough. However a simple skin scraping performed by your vet, can rule out the
demodex mite as the culprit.
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