Dogs With Allergies: What Can We Do To Help?
Imagine spending years with itchy skin and bloodshot eyes without any way of making it go away. It bothers you during the day when you try to have fun and is relentless at night when you try to sleep. You try to show your master that you’re miserable, but they don’t understand and simply want to play.
When Shadow was almost a year old, we woke up to find him with a swollen eye and red, inflamed skin over different areas of his body. Shadow was rubbing his face on just about anything he could find and scratching at several places to make the itching go away. After a trip to the vet, we found out that Shadow has allergies. Some puppies start demonstrating dog allergy symptoms when they get to be around a year old.
Most of us (humans) take for granted that we can take medicines to make our allergies go away, at least temporarily. However, our canine friends are not so lucky. It is easy to miss dog allergy symptoms and your dog can’t tell you he feels terrible.
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This world is full of potential allergens for dogs. They can be anywhere, causing your dog to suffer for months if not years. These allergens can be environmental like plants, grasses, molds, or dust. They can also be in foods, caused by fleas, or even in the plastic and rubber in your dog’s toys.
The result of these allergens can make your dog miserable! The dog allergies symptoms can be red, irritated hot spots where the dog may scratch almost constantly, to hair loss, skin lesions, infections, anal itching and vomiting.
Allergies In Dogs
When starting to search for these allergens, the symptoms can help point you in the right direction.
Fleas on dogs are a great place to start as they cause swelling and redness near the area where the dog was bitten. The swelling can sometimes last more for than a week. To help you find these spots, look for the fleas and/or flea dirt. Fleas are a common allergen and dog flea treatment can be discussed with your veterinarian.
Inhalant allergens, like grasses, molds, and dust can cause itching in the face, flank, groin, and arm folds. Where appropriate, these allergens should be removed from your dog’s surroundings.
Other allergens could be in your dog’s food. Dog food allergies can cause diarrhea, anal itching, and occasionally vomiting. Has your dog’s food changed recently? If this is the case, you may want to try a dog food for allergies.
Plants can also be the culprit. CyberCanine has a list of plants that are toxic to animals. You should make sure that none of these are in your dog’s living or play areas.
Dog Allergies Treatment
When searching for remedies for dog allergies, here are a few good places to start. One way to provide temporary relief of dog allergy symptoms is to use a dog allergy shampoo. Topical sprays can also be used after the bath for continued relief. I would also recommend washing your dog’s bedding with a scent free soap.
Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid supplement can improve the quality of your dog’s skin and coat and may reduce dog allergy symptoms as well. A friend of mine has used fatty acid supplements with his Dobermans for years and commented on how many people were amazed at how his dog’s coats were so beautiful.
My veterinarian recommended we use an antihistamine with Shadow. This provided some relief. Please make sure you speak with your vet to get the appropriate dosage for the size of your dog.
If none of the items above help, you may want to ask your veterinarian about intradermal testing to determine exactly which allergens your dog is allergic to.
With diligent effort, you can help your dog live a happier, itch-free life.
To learn more about a dog food we tried, see our Chicken Soup Dog Food article.
| allergies in dogs |
I think the most important point is finding out and then avoiding the cause of the allergy, everything else is just treating the symptoms, but not a long term solution, SY
I agree. It is very important to find the cause. I’ll be digging up a plant in my back yard this afternoon. During the research of this article, I found out that it is poisonous to pups. It was planted by the original owner of my house (who didn’t have any pets).
Thanks for stopping by!
Chris
I’ve had only one dog with allergies. Finding the cause can be very difficult so in the meantime it is still important to treat the symptoms as you have outlined.
@Jan
I’m planning to gradually switch Shadow and Abby to a different food (I’m still researching which one) to see if that helps. Its amazing how much “stuff” some of the dog food manufacturers put in their food.
Chris
A DOG WITH ALLERGIES – MY JOURNEY…
About 13 years ago, I adopted my first precious furry baby, “Buttons” a Schnauzer mix breed from North Shore Animal League.Even as a puppy Buttons would itch and scratch terribly from allergies and ho……
Finding the cause of allergy is really important so ask a vet first but if you suspect the allergy comes from food then switching to hypoallergenic food might help your dog.
We switched our dogs to a hypoallergenic food and it helped a lot!
Very helpful post. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid supplementation actually helps a lot of dogs that weren’t responding well to other methods. You should definitely try it. =)
I wrote one too. =)
http://www.ehow.com/how_6032034_effectively-treat-dog-skin-allergies.html
Thanks for the tip on the oatmeal shampoo, I have not tried that. My dog doesn’t itch a lot but I want to make sure she is comfortable.
.-= Video Games´s last blog ..Aliens Vs Predator: You have my Sympathies Achievement Guide =-.
so we have to care about the hygienes of our pet, take a bath them regularly
I agree. We’ve had our dogs on Omegas for a while now and it really helps with their coat.
I had a same thing happen to my dog and still don’t know what happen to him. The vet did an IV on him and some med stop help the swelling go down and now hes fine.
This article on dog allergies is not about humans suffering from their presence of dogs. It is about dogs and the dog allergies that they suffer. They say that pet owners are like their pets.
Aww, that dog is so cute. I used to have a Chocolate Lab of my own.
Labs are wonderful dogs. I had a lab / collie mix for several years and recently got a chocolate lab.
When I saw something like wound or rashes with my dog Apollo (stafforshire bull terrier) I always consult a professional veterinarian to know what should be the best solutions to help my dog. I am not comfortable seeing him scratching his body and fur.
.-= staffordshire terrier´s last blog ..Character of a Staffordshire terrier =-.
Raw, organic, whole meat is naturally hypo-allergenic and what carnivorous canines were designed to eat.
.-= Natural Remedies´s last blog ..Dr. Pitcairn on a Raw Diet for Dogs. =-.
I gave my dogs colostrum if they got sick. I know its expensive but I really love them. Just mix the colostrum in their food.
.-= Stanley´s last blog ..Monkey travels in space =-.
Dog allergies treatment of symptoms should always start with most harmless treatments. There is no need to give your dog substances that can be harmful and with side effects. To provide relief to itchy dog’s skin cool baths can be helpful with or without adding salts, or medicated shampoos. You should use medicated shampoos with caution because some of them contain potentially harmful substances. You should avoid them or use them for short period of time.
Dog allergens are very similar to human allergies and also produce the same symptoms as allergies. There are five types of allergies dog food allergies, flea allergy, allergies, bacteria, contact allergy and atopy. Here are some basic facts about each of these allergies.
Awesome post buddy. it help me a lot to get rid of allergy of my puppy. I take the advantage from this wonderful blog. All the posts are fully informative.
Hot Spots can irritate a dog so much that they will attempt to chew on that spot constantly making the sore even worse.