By LAURA UNGAR
About 5 years in the past, Gail Friedman seen her Parson Russell Terrier was consistently licking his paws and appeared tremendous uncomfortable.
“The poor dog. I would put baby socks on his feet so that he wouldn’t lick them or bite at them,” stated Friedman, of Oak Brook, Illinois. “I was constantly changing the socks, washing his feet a lot. Nothing worked.”
It turned out her canine companion, Mr. Friedman, had allergic reactions.
It’s a typical and difficult drawback in pets — brought on by numerous issues reminiscent of pollen, mud, mildew, chemical substances and meals — however veterinarians say there are a number of methods to ease their struggling.
What kinds of allergic reactions do canines and cats get?
Allergic reactions occur when the immune system overreacts to a overseas substance. Cats and canines react to most of the identical issues folks do, in addition to pests like fleas.
There are not any definitive current statistics on what number of pets have allergic reactions, however analysis suggests the issue is rising.
“I probably see allergic dogs and cats every single day, probably multiple times a day,” stated Dr. Karen Woodard, medical director at Thrive Pet Healthcare-Elmhurst in Illinois.
About 90% of allergic pets react to environmental triggers, Woodard stated, and the remainder have meals allergic reactions solely.
Canine breeds which might be particularly weak embody numerous forms of terriers, boxers and bulldogs; in cats, it’s Persians, Siamese and Himalayans.
Pets may even be allergic to different animals — cats to canines, canines to cats and both to a different species.
“It’s possible for them to be allergic to us, just like we are to them,” stated Thrive’s Dr. Anthea Elliott Schick of Scottsdale, Arizona, quick previous president of the American School of Veterinary Dermatology.
How are you going to inform in case your pet has allergic reactions?
Allergic cats and canines aren’t as doubtless as people to sneeze and cough. Extra usually, they scratch and lick themselves, shake their heads and develop ear infections.
Woodard stated her Yorkie combine, Teddy, had the basic indicators — scratching round his shoulders and getting rashes and ear infections beginning as a six-month-old pet. She lived within the South on the time, and he examined constructive for allergic reactions to varied timber and grasses there.
A standard signal of allergic reactions in her feline sufferers is “overdoing their grooming,” stated Woodard, who’s on the Chicago Veterinary Medical Affiliation’s board of administrators. “Cats shouldn’t be pulling their hair out when they groom. So if you start seeing bald patches on your cat, even though the skin underneath it looks normal, that could be a sign of allergies.”
Even meals allergic reactions, usually to hen, beef, lamb or different protein sources, steadily present up on the pores and skin, though pets can have vomiting or diarrhea, too.
Not often, pets can develop life-threatening anaphylactic reactions, maybe after being stung by an insect. However most allergic reactions are merely depressing for the animals.
“It breaks my heart because it gets to a point that not only do I have socks on poor Mr. Friedman — which is humiliating for him — he sometimes gets so bad he has to wear the cone of shame,” Gail Friedman stated. “And that’s not fair because he can’t move around right, he can’t sleep right. It’s terrible.”
How are you going to assist your pet?
Step one is to get a prognosis from the vet. This might contain allergy testing, or within the case of meals allergic reactions, an “elimination diet,” which includes feeding restricted components the pet hasn’t beforehand eaten.
If the allergy wrongdoer is environmental, there are medicines like anti-inflammatory medicine and newer oral and injectable medicines for canines to dam chemical indicators related to itchiness. Meals allergic reactions could also be handled with particular diets reminiscent of “hydrolyzed” meals, through which proteins are chemically damaged down into tiny items.
All this will get costly. Friedman estimates she’s spent about $10,000 on testing, remedy and take care of Mr. Friedman and one other allergic canine.
However vets say there are additionally methods to assist pets at residence by cleansing their bedding steadily, wiping their fur with a moist washcloth and giving them baths.
Outside, “they’re almost acting like little Swiffers, getting allergens on their skin, and it goes through their skin and actually becomes a problem,” Schick stated. “We say bathe your dog, at a minimum, once a week if they’re allergic.”
After she’s tried practically all the pieces, Friedman’s canines are nonetheless vexed by allergic reactions. However they’re doing higher.
“I’m going to keep experimenting until we find what stops it completely,” she stated. “All you can do is try.”
The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Academic Media Group and the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis. The AP is solely answerable for all content material.
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