Have you started to see your dog scratching and itching excessively? Is the scratching causing open wounds and disappearance of hair on your pet? If so, this is a possible indication that your canine friend may well be suffering from dog allergies. Dogs do not have the usual red eyes and a watery nose the way we do when we are suffering with an allergy. Additional signs could involve extreme licking of a certain area, or chewing of the paws to the point of bleeding.

What Are The Causes of Skin Allergies in Dogs?

An allergic reaction occurs when an animal’s immune system overreacts to individual substances. The body creates antibodies as a type of protection when the cause of the animal’s allergy passes into the body. These antibodies will subsequently stick to immune cells in the skin and different body tissues. As a result, while the allergens slowly penetrate tissue surfaces, the antibodies cause immune cells to exude powerful substances (referred to as histamines) into the nearby tissue. This will then lead to irritation and itching in the dog.

There are a number of factors to think about when locating the trigger of dog allergies. An allergy that affects a canine’s skin is commonly caused by one (or several) of these: food, airborne particles, and fleas.

Flea Dermatitis otherwise referred to as Flea Allergy is normally triggered by the saliva of the flea. That is why it’s extremely significant to liberate your pet of fleas regularly. Some dog breeds seem to be more sucseptible to this type of allergy than others. Skin allergies in westies are often caused by flea allergies.

An atopic allergy is triggered by the inhalation of airborne particles in the environment, consisting of mold spores, dust, cigarette smoke and pollen, activate atopic allergies. If a dog has pollen allergies, it will show symptoms, even if you keep it in the house as the particles will come into the home. Sneezing, coughing and wheezing often accompany this sort of allergy.

Food allergies are the next most frequent sort of dog allergy. The most likely reasons for food allergies in dogs consist of: soy, milk, corn, chicken, wheat, beef and eggs. Nausea and diarrhea usually accompany this sort of allergy.

Contact allergies are the least diagnosed sort of allergy in pets and is brought about by contacting something. Triggers could include wool, plastic and grass. Some pets can have allergic reactions to specific chemicals in the home, but this isn’t very common.

How to Diagnose Dog Allergies

A veterinarian should be able to detect the problem, however,although it may call for a process of elimination to identify the root of the dog’s skin allergy and may possibly refer your pet to a veterinarian dermatologist. In the event where fleas are ruled out, the dog could be put on an elimination diet for ten weeks. The animal is fed food it has not eaten before, for instance, duck, lamb, and potatoes, with the past food being reintroduced gradually until the allergy resurfaces.

The allergen is considered to be one or more ingredients if the dogs scratching decreases by about 50% of what it was before. To check for atopic and contact skin allergies, veterinarians utilize an intradermal allergy examination that works by mildly sedating the animal with small amounts of probable allergens that are injected into the skin on the shaved area. If your dog is allergic to a certain substance, the skin near the area of the injection will become inflamed.

Treating Skin Allergies in Dogs

Keeping the dog away from allergens and treating the symptoms of skin allergies in dogs are the soundest treatment procedures. Medications such as antihistamines and steroids could be advocated to relieve symptoms of scratching and swelling in dogs, although like all medicines they may be associated with undesirable side effects and the lasting effects are not known.

Prolonged treatment using steroids is not advocated for these medications operate by suppressing the immune system. Continued steroid use might eventually leave your dog vulnerable to diabetes, infections and further illnesses.

Herbal Treatments

Fortunately for dog owners, there are plenty of safe and all natural herbal and homeopathic remedies for animals afflicted with skin problems.

Melaleuca alternifolia is often used as a topical to stimulate healthy skin and keeping your pet’s skin clean while Althaea officinalis root is an outstanding and commonly accepted treatment for repairing the skin. Homeopathic treatments such as Ledum and Apis have outstanding soothing properties and are remarkably beneficial in soothing sore and chafed skin, or minor bites and sores.

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