Dog Skin Allergies Symptoms

Itch alone is not a symptom, but when it comes together with skin irritations, vesicles or redness, it may signal we are dealing with an allergy. Being a contact allergy, this condition is more prone to appear on the areas of the dog’s skin which have less or no hair such as lips, paws, muzzle or belly. However, you should be aware that the same symptoms may occur in case of a simple irritant contact dermatitis caused by getting in contact with a harmful substance, not by a response of the immune system of the dog’s body. Here’s a very interesting article about allergies in dogs and cats and the pruritic threshold. This theory claims that each pet has a pruritic threshold, meaning that if a disease is generating an itch, the dog won’t scratch himself unless this threshold is passed. This means that a dog with a skin allergy causing an itch below the pruritic threshold won’t scratch himself. Add a flea allergy that causes itching, and if the sum of the two is beyond the pruritic threshold, only then the dog would start scratching, therefore letting you know something is wrong.

I think this is an interesting theory. What’s your take on that?

What About Humans Allergic to Dogs?

When comes to allergy, all dog breeds may equally develop such a condition. Conversely, if we consider the human allergy to dogs, then there are certain breeds which are safer for people with allergies. among these breeds there are Bedlington Terrier, Bichon Frise, Portuguese Water Dog (which has been chosen by Barrack Omaba as their family dog, because one of the president’s kids is allergic to dogs), Irish Water Spaniel, Schnauzers, Poodles, Maltese, or Kerry Blue Terrier.

If you don’t know how to deal with dog food allergies, this is an idea of a possible procedure to keep your dog in good health and away from the nasty allergic reactions to food:

• First of all, at the appearance of allergy symptoms (your dog scratches himself almost permanently, the fur is falling down in big chunks, or you notice teary eyes, running nose, or any skin rash), check to see if your dog has any fleas. It is known that flea allergy can cause sucvh symptoms. Fleas can be spotted easier on dogs with light colored fur, because fleas leave small dirt traces between the furs.
• If your dog is flea-free, take it to a vet. Tell him that you suspect an allergy, and he’ll have your dog tested.
• If you cannot take the dog to a vet, but you still want to do something, try to eliminate one food at a time from its diet, and observe the reactions during a couple of weeks. If during one of these elimination periods your dog gets well and the allergy symptoms disappear, then the solution is simple: never give that food again to your dog, and you’ll have an allergy-free pet.

It is very important to keep in mind that repeated exposure to the food that gives your dog the allergy would worsen the symptoms in time, and your dog might eventually die because a strong allergic reaction. This is a very serious health issue and it should be treated as such.

When living with an allergic dog, you need to take care of one golden rule: prevent your dog from getting in contact with the allergen that triggers the allergic response and you’ll be safe for the rest of your life, or at least for the rest of your dog’s life. This is the only condition for keeping the dog symptom-free, because his body behaves absolutely normally when not exposed to the irritating factor.

When you suspect your dog might suffer from an allergic reaction, don’t take decisions by yourself on how to treat the dog. Schedule an appointment to your vet and tell him the story with as many details as you can. By no means should you give antihistaminic medication to a dog. You’re not doing him any favor, because it wasn’t been scientifically demonstrated that dog allergy is triggered by the same mechanism as in humans, therefore antihistamines aren’t efficient at all.

The most common allergy in dog is food allergy. This is good, because you can easily avoid it by not feeding your dog that allergenic food anymore. In case of airborne allergies it would be much more difficult for you, if not impossible, to keep your dog from getting in contact with the allergens unless you move into another area where that substance is not present in the air.