What's an Allergy?
Allergies affect one out of six people; like their owners, dogs can develop allergies too. But while human allergy sufferers commonly sneeze and wheeze, dogs frequently have skin problems as well as runny eyes, noses, and sneezing. Signs of allergies can include chewing, licking, or scratching; shedding; hair loss; ear infections; vomiting; and diarrhea.
An allergy is an abnormal reaction to an ordinarily harmless substance called an allergen. An allergic reaction occurs when the dog's immune system comes in contact with an allergen and overreacts. An allergen is a foreign material that may come from trees, grass, pollens, food, dust, fleas, wool or nylon fabrics, and rubber and plastics.
Allergens enter the body through inhaling, eating, or flea bites. They can also enter through the skin. Once inside the bloodstream, the immune system mounts a response to the substance by producing antibodies. The antibodies cause certain cells to release histamine, which leads to allergy symptoms.
The most common type of allergy is inhalant, or atopy. This is an allergy to something airborne in the environment and may be seasonal, but it may be year-round if the allergen is always present. Molds, mildew, and house dust mites are common causes of nonseasonal allergies.
How old are most dogs when they develop allergies?
It depends on the source of the allergy. Flea allergies can occur at any age, although they are more common in dogs older than six months. Food allergies are highly variable and can occur from four months to fourteen years old, but they begin before one year in up to half of all dogs that develop them. Atopy usually presents between one and a half and three years but is possible as early as four months. As a dog ages, allergies tend to worsen.
Allergy Symptoms
When a dog develops an allergy she may have itchy skin and eruptions and might lick and chew on her feet until they are red and sore. With a white or light-colored dog, the saliva can stain the body coat or feet orange or reddish brown.
If your dog is prone to ear infections, keep the ear clean! By ridding the ear of an abundance of earwax buildup, your dog will have fewer infections. It is imperative to address the food allergy, or the ear infections will recur.
The dog might have a series of ear infections. This is because the glands in the ear responsible for producing wax will overproduce when confronted with an allergen. Bacteria and yeast thrive in the waxy buildup, which leads to infection. In the worst cases the ear can be so severely infected that the anatomy of the ear itself is actually changed. In very extreme cases of chronic ear infections there will be so much swelling in the ear that it will require surgery to correct.
Other signs of allergies include:
Constantly licking front feet
Red, swollen toes
Digestive upsets, including stomach gurgling and gas
Rubbing the face on the carpet or bed
Scratching the side and belly
Dry, crusty, red, or oily skin, depending on the type of coat
Patchy hair loss
Secondary bacterial infections from skin lesions
Irritated anal glands
Allergies can be exacerbated by inappropriate diet, overvaccination, and inappropriate use of steroids, which suppress the symptoms but don't address the cause. Some autoimmune conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease and hypothyroidism, can compound the symptoms of allergies.
Diagnosing Allergies
Allergies don't crop up overnight. Dogs are exposed to an offending allergen over a period of time. This is called sensitization. Allergy symptoms will often flare up within one to three years after exposure to an allergen. It's important to notice whether the symptoms appear to be seasonal or year round, as this can help identify the trigger.
To identify an allergy, the veterinarian evaluates the dog and rules out other problems that may produce similar signs. Then the focus shifts to finding the particular allergen. Your dog may be restricted to a hypoallergenic diet or his outdoor time during pollen season may be limited. Then your veterinarian will add one allergen at a time back into your dog's life to test for recurrence of the symptoms and conclusively identify the allergen.
Holistic veterinarians differ in their opinions on the best way to treat an allergy. Some use conventional drugs and allergy injections to relieve serious inflammation and itching, while others believe that the best approach is to strengthen the immune system and identify and eliminate the trigger of the allergy. An allergy will often resolve itself once the dog's overall health improves, but this depends on the dog's immune system's ability to cope with the problem.
