Welcome to the fascinating world of pet allergies, their causes and treatments. If you are reading this information, then your pet was likely diagnosed as one of the millions of pets scratching and chewing themselves raw!

What Causes Allergies?

Allergens, those nasty little things that cause allergies, can be found everywhere. Pollens, house dust, carpet mites, molds, spores, fleas, food…you name it. If it exists, somebody is allergic to it, and that somebody might just be your pet!

The Result

ITCHING! CHEWING! Rubbing along the carpet, furniture and you! Doing everything and anything to STOP THE ITCH! Scratching becomes your pet’s favorite hobby. This intense obsession goes on and on and over a period of time the constant trauma can cause hair loss, dry and scaly skin, skin irritation, bleeding and infection. Your pet can even wear down its front teeth prematurely by chewing on the skin!

Allergic reactions in our pets can also manifest themselves in ways other than itchy skin. Additional signs to watch for include respiratory, intestinal and stomach upsets and recurring ear infections.

Make it Stop!

Well…as we said earlier, there are many causes for allergies. And, it’s important to stress that ALLERGIES ARE FOREVER. We do not cure them, we control and prevent their devastating effects. Once your pet starts on an Allergy Treatment Program, it is extremely important that you continue. Don’t let your guard down, and don’t wait if an unexpected flare up occurs. Early intervention is vital!

Allergy Testing

Skin testing and a relatively new blood testing program can be used to try to determine what is causing your pet’s allergies. Although not 100% accurate, they can be quite an aid in seeing if something can be eliminated from your pet’s environment to minimize the allergy. In some cases, a series of hyposensitizing injections can be tried to see if your pet’s body can be ‘gotten used to’ the allergen.

In most cases, we will never know all of the allergens that specifically affect your pet, nor will we be able to eliminate them all from your pet's environment, but we can outline the most common causes and discuss what you can do to prevent further problems.

What do you do when your pet has more than one type of allergy?

Everything! Or at least as much as you can. It may be necessary for us to try several approaches or combinations of treatments to tackle your pet’s allergy problems. Once again, the most effective approach is early treatment. Don’t wait until your pet’s allergy becomes severe. At the first sign of problems, bring your pet in for treatment.

Patience and strict compliance as well as your full participation in your pet’s health care is a vital and necessary part of the allergy battle. We are all in this together!