Coping With Skin Allergies in Dogs And Locating Treatments
Have you started to notice your dog itching and scratching more than normal? Is the itching creating wide open sores and loss of hair on your pet? If so, this is a pretty good indication that your dog may possibly be distressed by dog allergies. Dogs don’t have the normal red eyes and a runny nose similar to what we do when we are dealing with an allergy. Additional indications may include extreme scratching of a given area, or biting of the paws until they bleed.
What Causes Allergies in Dogs?
An allergic reaction occurs when an animal’s immune system overreacts to individual allergens. The body will then create antibodies as a form of defense when the trigger of the canine’s allergy enters the body. The antibodies will next bind to immune cells in the skin and various tissues. As a result, as the allergens increasingly breach tissue surfaces, the antibodies stimulate immune cells to release powerful substances (called histamines) into the nearby tissue. This then causes swelling and dog itching.
There are several points to consider when trying to locate the cause of dog allergies. An allergy that affects a pet’s skin is typically triggered by at least one of these: fleas, airborne particles, and food.
Flea Allergy otherwise referred to as Flea Dermatitis is generally caused by saliva from a flea. That’s the reason it’s extremely significant to relieve your dog of fleas frequently.
The atopic allergy is initiated by the inhaling of airborne particles in the environment, including pollen, dust, tobacco smoke and mold spores, activate atopic allergies. If a dog is allergic to pollen, the dog will manifest signs, even if kept indoors as the allergens will come into the home. Wheezing, sneezing and coughing frequently are symptoms of this variety of allergy.
Food allergy is the next most frequent variety of allergy in dogs. The most probable causes for food allergies in dogs are: corn, chicken, soy, milk, beef, eggs and wheat. Queasiness and diarrhea usually are symptoms of this variety of allergy in dogs.
Contact allergies are the least common variety of pet allergy and is brought about by touching something. Triggers could include grass, plastic and wool. Some pets may develop allergic reactions to certain chemicals in the household, but it is not very common.
Identifying Skin Allergies in Dogs
A veterinarian should be able to detect the cause, however,although it might take a process of elimination to detect the cause of the dog’s allergy and may even refer your dog to a veterinarian dermatologist. In the case where fleas are ruled out, the dog might be put on an elimination diet for a couple of months. Your dog is fed food it has not had before, for instance, duck, lamb, and potatoes, with the old food being introduced slowly until the allergy reemerges.
The allergen is believed to be at least one ingredient if the animals scratching is reduced by at least one half of what it was earlier. When checking for atopic and contact skin allergies, veterinarians use an intradermal allergy test that functions by mildly tranquilizing the dog with minute amounts of probable allergens that are injected into the shaved section of the skin. If your pet is allergic to a particular substance, the skin will become inflamed close to the area of injection.
Treatments for Allergies in Dogs
Keeping your pet away from allergens and taking care of the symptoms of dog allergies are the top approaches to treatment. Treatments such as antihistamines and steroids could be suggested to alleviate consequences of itching and swelling in dogs, but like all drugs they might come with undesirable side effects and the long-term effects are unknown.
Prolonged treatment using steroids is not advocated because these medications operate by restraining the immune system. Continued steroid use may eventually leave your dog defenseless against infections, diabetes and other conditions.
Homeopathic Remedies
Fortunately for pet enthusiasts, there are plenty of nontoxic and all-natural homeopathic and herbal treatments for pets living with skin allergies.
Althaea officinalis root is an outstanding and well known treatment for reinvigorating the skin while Melaleuca alternifolia is frequently put on as a topical to stimulate healthy skin and keeping the animal’s skin clear. Homeopathic treatments including Ledum and Apis have terrific healing attributes and are remarkably beneficial in soothing inflamed and irritated skin, or minor stings and lesions.
