Allergy season 

Dogs are most commonly affected by allergies in late summer and early fall. Please understand that dogs can have difficulty with allergies during any season and some will suffer throughout the entire year. In some areas, 40% of the patients examined by a veterinarian are suffering from allergy-related disorders. 

Just like humans, dogs can and do react to many things in their environment. However, while people exhibit symptoms of a runny nose, watery eyes, skin rash and possible stomach upset our canine companions’ symptoms usually manifest with skin problems. Whether the dog inhaled pollen grains, laid on a synthetic or wool fiber, suffered from a bite of an insect or reacted to some ingredient in his diet, their allergy symptoms are usually seen as some form of skin disease. 

Allergies are a learned response! 

No animal or person has an allergy response the first time they encounter a problem substance. An allergy is a learned phenomenon of the body. The dog must encounter the substance more than once, usually several times, before an allergy develops. Unfortunately, dogs can be allergic to a wide range of substances. The list is endless. They can react to anything that people react to. 

Most dogs don’t even show signs of allergies until one or two years of age. Generally the pets have to be exposed to a substance for two seasons before sensitivity develops. Dogs with allergies will itch and itch and itch. In fact, even if the dog comes into contact with the substance only on the stomach area, the entire body may become inflamed and itch. Pruitis is the veterinarian medical term to describe an itching sensation and is often used to describe a dog with allergy problems. 

Are you ready for a little biology lesson? 

Canine allergies start when the body’s immune system responds to the allergen (substance to which the dog is allergic). When the body encounters an allergen, the dog’s immune system releases protein molecules called IgE. These molecules combine in a chain reaction with mast cells that are found in high numbers within the skin of the dog. This complex reaction causes the release of itch-causing chemicals; the most common one is called histamine. Since the reaction to the allergens occurs within the skin of a dog, allergies are considered a skin disease 

Although histamine and other chemicals are released in large numbers in the skin all over the body, there are specific sites that are affected to a greater degree. Dogs suffering from allergies show consistent patterns. They chew on their feet (the only place dogs have sweat glands and the glands become inflamed by the histamine). Dogs will chew on their sides (these areas are easily accessible plus then also respond quickly to the affects of histamine). They rub their faces on the carpet or grass and have repeated or chronic inflammations and infections of the outer ear canal (a skin structure loaded with numerous wax glands that over-react in the presence of histamine). If your dog is allergic to something it eats, something he inhales, or some substance he comes in contact with, his skin will be paying the price. 

Does this sound like your precious pooch? Call and schedule an exam and consultation at 332-6575.