Pet The World

Scratching is a very common symptom in dogs, and you as an owner should aim to nip it in the bud early before self trauma causes secondary injuries to your dog. However, before wondering whether your dog could have an allergy, you must rule out the common parasitic (fleas and mites), bacterial (hot spots) and fungal (ringworm and yeast) infections. See my article Is your Dog Scratching to explore these in greater detail.

Just as allergies have become more common in children these days compared to several generations ago, veterinarians are seeing far more allergies in pets too. It is difficult to explain this phenomenon, theories range from alterations in the content of pet foods to the use of modern day household cleaning products or simply genetic evolution. One thing is certain, whatever the cause, allergic dogs benefit hugely from avoiding the offending allergen or, if that is impossible, appropriate treatment to minimize the itchiness.

Lets start with the presenting signs of an allergy in dogs. Itchiness can manifest itself not only as obvious scratching at the neck and flanks, but also as face rubbing, foot licking or chewing and over grooming. Foot licking, for example, is often perceived by owners as normal, when in fact the dog is responding to itchy feet in the only way it can, by licking them. The skin between the toes may turn red and sore due to the compulsive licking, and in white dogs such as West Highland White Terriers and Bichon Frises, the fur is stained brown by saliva.

Ear infections are another common sign of an underlying allergy. Though general waxiness, hair in the ear canals, lack of ventilation, bacteria and yeast may trigger the infection, an underlying allergy is often the root cause of the itchiness. If your dog gets recurrent ear infections, by eliminating an underlying allergy you may prevent your dog from going over the itchiness threshold and developing full blown ear infections.

So, what are the common allergies in dogs?

For convenience they are best separated into 4 categories.

1) Flea bite hypersensitivity
2) Adverse food reaction
3) Atopic dermatitis
4) Contact dermatitis

Flea bite hypersensitivity is relatively straight forward to cure. It is a simple case of eliminating every single flea on the dog and, crucially, in his/her environment. The itchiness is caused by an allergic reaction to the flea saliva, and so even a solitary flea can trigger a scratching frenzy. To rule out flea bite hypersensitivity, all animals in the house (dogs and cats) should be treated with a reputable veterinary spot on medication monthly without fail, and the house should be thoroughly sprayed with an insecticidal spray.

Adverse food reactions are more difficult to treat as it can be difficult to isolate the precise ingredient responsible for causing itchiness in your dog. Not only that, treating adverse food reactions requires owners to be exceptionally disciplined and motivated in preventing their pet having even a single treat unless the exact ingredients are known to be safe.

There are two ways of diagnosing an adverse food reaction (also known as a food allergy). For those readers for whom cost is not an issue, a blood test can be done to measure for ingredient specific antibodies in the bloodstream. The blood test is quite costly, and if combined with a blood test for environmental allergens is usually upwards of $400 (?200). The company performing the blood test then provides a list of ingredients (chicken, beef, pork, rice, wheat etc) and a score next to them, suggesting which ingredients are best avoided. The owner then picks a commercial diet which does not include any of these ingredients, or indeed a special home cooked diet. The second way to diagnose an adverse food reaction is to conduct a dietary trial. This involves picking a very bland hypoallergenic diet and feeding your dog exclusively that for at least a month, preferably 6 weeks. The author usually suggests turkey and rice, as less dogs are allergic to turkey than chicken. Of course if your dog happened to be allergic to rice or turkey, which is rare but nevertheless possible, you would be none the wiser as the itchiness would continue and you would assume you had ruled out a food allergy having done the turkey and rice dietary trial. Remember if you are doing one of these trials, then your dog must not be given any treats, especially not pigs ears, chews, boneos, dental sticks or any rawhide products. Literally nothing must be swallowed other than turkey and rice (and water!) for the entire trial period.

If you have ruled out flea bite hypersensitivity and ruled out an adverse food reaction, the next step is to consider an environmental allergy, also known as atopic dermatitis. Symptoms of atopic dermatitis usually begin between 1 and 3 years of age, though any age is possible. The itchiness is often seasonal, which is consistent with a pollen allergy, though some dogs are itchy all year round. There are certain breeds which are predisposed to this condition: Boxers, Bull Terriers, Dalmations, English Bulldogs, German Shepherd Dogs, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Shar Peis, Shih Tzus and West Highland White Terriers being the most commonly affected. Diagnosis is usually made based on the history and ruling out all the other causes of itchiness, and many vets will treat the condition on these presumptions. However, definitive diagnosis can be achieved via a panel of injections into a patch of skin, or blood tests. Neither of these are particularly effective and generally not performed unless the owner is prepared to attempt a desensitization programme. This involves a long term course of injections given by your vet on, say, a monthly basis to desensitize your dog to the offending allergen, and so make the allergic reaction much smaller when he/she does come into contact with it.

Contact dermatitis is a skin reaction caused by your dog coming into contact with a chemical that is an irritant. It therefore only tends to affect the stomach, groin and feet of the dog, and is characterized by reddening and drying of the skin in these areas. It can also be seen when owners shampoo their dogs with a product that is not intended for use in dogs. Contact dermatitis is rare, but easily ruled out by careful use of cleaning products around the household. Just think, did the itchiness coincide with the introduction of a new carpet cleaner, washing powder or fabric softener?

By far the best treatment for any allergy is avoidance of the cause. By careful investigation and following the steps above this is often possible, especially for flea bite hypersensitivity, adverse food reactions and contact dermatitis. If avoidance is impossible though, as is the case for many cases of atopic dermatitis, then seasonal or lifelong treatment may be indicated. Steroids are very effective at stopping itchiness caused by allergies, but long term use can lead to undesirable side effects, such as adrenal gland disease. Long term steroid use should only be used as a last resort, when other medications have been tried and failed. These other medications include antihistamines, essential fatty acids and medicated shampoos.

Share This

Animal lovers have been saying it for years, but animals, especially pets, are people too! While this is usually meant as a joke, there are elements of truth in it. Many people consider their pet to be a member of the family, and especially for children, the companionship of a loved pet can be something they’ll remember and cherish for their whole life.

That is why there are some things that you should think about for your pet. Obviously you will want it to be happy, and you should therefore make sure that you are feeding it well, with nutritious and healthy food. This doesn’t mean going overboard and giving your dog steak every day, but there are plenty of good quality pet food brands on the market and if you choose one of these it should keep your pet happy and healthy.

Another thing you may wish to give consideration to is housing and space. Make sure you have enough space for the pet you choose. While this is a matter of personal choice, it is generally not such a great idea to have a large dog in a small apartment. If you don’t have a garden then make sure you take your dog out for a walk every day and let it get the exercise it needs. Physical exercise is very important to an animal’s well being, both mental and physical.

As far as health goes, you may wish to have you pet visit the vet for health check-ups. At least have necessary injections provided and other treatments that are recommended for the animal you have. This not only benefits the pet’s health but yours and your families also if they are in close contact with the animal. While vet costs can be very expensive, it is now possible to get pet insurance that will cover all the costs that may be incurred by vets. This is very important for your pet as many trips to the vet may not seem vital, but in fact are very important to an animal’s health and if you have insurance to cover the costs, you are far less likely to put the visit off and instead you will go and give your pet the treatment it needs.

Pet insurance is growing rapidly in popularity as people who genuinely care about their animal, but are not in a position to meet the potentially very high costs of treatment realise that they can provide everything their pet needs at an affordable monthly price.

Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the insurance site http://www.insure121.com/ where you will find information, news and links to the leading providers of pet insurance in the UK.

Share This

Has your dog ever had an ear infection? Likely your vet will have prescribed ear medications for treatment or prevention of future ear infections.

The problem with ear medications is that they can be quite uncomfortable for your dog, the medication often needs to be administered in liquid form directly into the ear canal.

Your dog may find this uncomfortable and start avoiding you, or even becoming aggressive towards you.

If your dog becomes aggressive, consult with your vet and seek help from a competent behavioral trainer knowledgeable in desensitisation and counter-conditioning. Avoid anyone who suggests punishing your dog for this behavior.

If the problem is only mild, then you can begin this simple and effective desensitisation procedure yourself.

Have some small, yummy treats ready. Do this exercise before a meal, not after. The exercise involves forming a positive association with the ear medication and having the ear touched by pairing with yummy treats (for more information, Google “Pavlov”).

The first step is to have your dog used to having his ears handled - without medication. Touch the outside of his ear and give a treat, do this a few times. Then touch the inside of the ear and give a treat. Don’t stick your finger into the ear canal, just touch the actual ear and give a treat. Do this a few times, as many times a day as you can. Gently massage your dogs ears if he likes it, tell him how good he is!

When your dog seems to enjoy having his ears touched, show him the medicine bottle and give a treat. You can do this a number of times.

Next, leave the lid on the medicine bottle and touch the inside of his ear with it, then give a treat. This step is probably the most critical, particularly if your dog has already had ear medication and doesn’t like it.

Now we get to the point where we need to administer some medication. I would suggest you administer just a small amount unless your vet insists upon a full dosage all in one go. Feed treats while you administer the medication, and after. Now tell your dog how proud you are while you gently massage the outside of his ears (if he enjoys having his ears massaged, of course, we are building positive associations!)

Remember to keep it positive, don’t move ahead too fast, and give plenty of treats and praise as you go!

Aidan Bindoff is intensely interested in dog behaviour and training and works to remediate fearful, anxious and aggressive dogs in Australia. He also runs the Training Levels list providing a step-by-step program for people training their own dog. For more information visit http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/traininglevels/

Share This