About five years ago, Gayle Friedman noticed that her Parson Russell Terrier constantly licked his paws and seemed very uncomfortable. Also Read Seasonal changes that affect your pets? Here’s how you can take care of them
“Poor dog. I would put baby socks on my feet so that he would not lick them or bite,” said Friedman with OK Brooke, Illinois. “I constantly changed our socks, a lot of soap. Nothing happened.”
It turned out that her dog companion, Mr. Friedman, had allergies.
This is a common and complex problem in pets – caused by different things such as pollen, dust, mold, chemicals and food – but veterinarians say there are several ways to alleviate their suffering.
What types of allergies do dogs and cats get?
Allergy occurs when the immune system overcomes someone else’s substance. Cats and dogs respond to many things that people do as well as pests like fleas.
There is no ultimate recent statistics on how many pets are allergic, but studies suggest that the problem is increasing.
“I probably see allergic dogs and cats every day, probably several times a day,” said Dr. Karen Vodarch, medical director Thrive Pet Healthcare-Elmhurst in Illinois.
About 90% of allergic pets respond to the environmental triggers, the rod said, and the rest only have food allergies.
Dog breeds, which are especially vulnerable, include different types of terriers, boxers and bulldogs; Cats are Persians, Siamese and Himalayas.
Pets can even be allergic to other animals – dogs, dogs to cats and or another species.
“It is possible for them to be allergic to us, as we are to them,” said Dr. Anthea Elliott Shik of Scotsdail, Arizona, a direct president of the US College of Veterinary Dermatology.
How can you say if your pet is allergic?
Allergic cats and dogs are not as likely as people to sneeze and cough. Most often, they scratch and lick themselves, shake their heads and develop ear infections.
The ward said that her mix of York, Teddy, had classic signs, shrugged and receiving rashes and ear infections, starting with a six-month puppy. At the time, she lived in the south, and he positively allergies for different trees and herbs.
A common sign of allergies in her cat patients is “overdoing care,” said the wadder, which is in the Council of Directors of the Veterinary Medical Association. “Cats should not pull your hair when they look after. So when you start seeing bald spots on your cat, although the skin under it looks normal, it can be an allergy.” Also Read Life with domestic cats or dogs leads to less food allergies among young people: study
Even food allergies, often to chicken, beef, lamb or other sources of protein, are often found on the skin, although pets can also have vomiting or diarrhea.
Rarely pets can develop dangerous anaphylactic reactions, perhaps after their insects have been. But most allergies are just unhappy for animals.
“It breaks my heart because it comes to the point that I have not only the socks about the poor Mr. Friedman – that it degrades it – it sometimes becomes so bad that it should wear a shame cone,” Gale Friedman said. “And it’s not fair because it can’t move to the right, it can’t sleep right. It’s awful.”
How can you help your pet?
The first step is to diagnose a vet. This may include allergies testing, or in the case of food allergies, a “diet for elimination”, which includes feeding limited ingredients that the pet has not eaten before.
If the allergy culprit is environmentally friendly, there are medicines such as anti -inflammatory drugs and new oral and injection medicines to block chemical signals associated with itching. Food allergies can be treated with special diets, such as “hydrolyzed” food in which proteins are chemically broken into tiny pieces.
All this can be more expensive. Friedman estimates that she spent about $ 10,000 on testing, medicines and care for Mr. Friedman and another allergic dog.
But veterinarians say that there are ways to help pets at home, often removing their bedding, wiping the fur with a wet washcloth and giving them baths.
In the open air, “They almost act like small swiffers, get allergens on the skin, and it goes through their skin and actually becomes a problem,” Shik said. “We say that the dog is at least once a week when they are allergic.”
After she tried almost everything, Friedman’s dogs are still allergic. But they are getting better.
“I’m going to continue experimenting until we find it completely stops,” she said. “All you can do is try.”
Note for readers: This article is intended only for information purposes rather than to replace professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of a doctor with any medical issues.
