Let the Itching Begin

Yep, it's spring time.  How do I know for sure?  Because nearly have of the patients I see in a day are coming into the office for itching, skin sores and ear infections.  Most of these patients are suffering from canine allergies aka canine atopy.  While dogs (and cats) can suffer from allergies year round, many do not suffer horribly until spring time when the pollens are abundant.

Our pets can be allergic to a plethora of things.  Common allergens include fleas, grass and tree pollens, molds, mites and foods.  Signs of allergies in your pet can include reddened itchy skin, itchy ears, licks at feet, belly and armpits, they can also have sneezing, coughing, vomiting and diarrhea (food allergies).  While seeing and hearing your dog licking and scratching is annoying (especially when you are trying to sleep), just think of how miserable your pet feels.  If you are an allergy sufferer, it should be easy to imagine,

Once the itch-scratch-itch cycle begins it can result in sores (called excoriations) in the skin, hair loss, scabs, crusts, and secondary bacterial skin infection. The skin infection (usually Staph) also results in a more intense itch feeling, which in turn causes more scratching, like adding gasoline to a fire!  Sometimes for some dogs, the only symptom of allergies that may be apparent are ear infections, where the dog scratches it's ears and may flop their ears, causing a ear hematoma.  For dogs that are itchy year round and have suffered with it for years, the skin becomes thick and darkly pigmented. A secondary dry or greasy seborrhea with flaky skin often develops in conjunction with the skin infection.

Now here is the crummy part.  There is no cure for allergies and treating allergies can be frustrating to the pet owner and your pet's veterinarian.  There is no one magic drug that is going to alleviate your dog's misery.  Since it is unlikely your pet is allergic to just one thing (oh how easy that would be!), a visit to your veterinarian is necessary.  Besides allergies, there are many other things that can cause itching in your pet: mites, hypothyroidism, and simple flea allergy are among them.  Your veterinarian will need to rule in and out these other diseases so that a good treatment plan can be prescribed.

In  most cases, pets are allergic to many things, and a multi-level treatment protocol will be needed, such as ridged flea control (I personally love COMFORTIS for my allergy patients), food allergy trial diets, dietary supplements (aka nutriceuticals), topical treatments with shampoos/conditioners/sprays, antihistamines and corticosteroids.  In severe cases, I use ATOPICA, a non-steriodal medication that suppresses the pet's immune response to allergens or recommend intradermal skin testing (to discover specifically what your pet is allergic to) for the purpose of allergy immunotherapy injections. Your pet's allergy problem will need your patience and persistence to keep him comfortable during the allergy season.  Many times your veterinarian may try a variety of different things to help your dog suffer less, this is because no two allergy patients are alike; what works for one, may not work for another.

The best advise I can give you is 1) if your dog itches, give it a bath (you are removing allergens from it's skin and hair coat)  2) use monthly flea control religiously and 3) contact your veterinarian.