Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Sneller: Allergic pets often suffer from itchy skin

MARK R. SNELLER

Tucson Citizen

Does your pet scratch, bite, cough, sneeze, lick and chew at his skin? Chances are that he or she has an allergy.

Just about any mammal can get allergies, according to Lisa Troutman, DVM, a veterinarian with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These pets include cats and dogs, hamsters, rabbits and even some birds.

Unlike people with allergies, animals don't usually get stuffy or runny noses or watery eyes. Their primary symptom is itchy skin.

Allergies that plague pets are grouped into four types: fleas, food, respiratory and contact.

Flea allergy results from a protein in flea saliva left in the skin after a flea bite. The veterinarian should be consulted for a nontoxic flea powder.

Food allergies are the second most common type of allergy in cats and the third most common in dogs. Most likely, foods that can cause reactions in cats include fish, milk, beef and eggs. In dogs, the foods include beef, soy, chicken, milk, corn, wheat and eggs.

Inhalant allergies include reactions to mold spores, pollen, dust and tobacco smoke.

James Jeffers, DVM, is a board-certified veterinary dermatologist at the Animal Allergy and Dermatology Clinic in Gaithersburg, Md. He says outdoor allergens that find their way into a home cannot be adequately cleaned by air filters and that itching of the skin can be expected as the most common symptom from indoor allergens.

Contact allergens include grass, wool and plastic. The reaction of pets to chemicals such as cleaning fluids, waxes, carpet cleaners and lawn fertilizers is very rare. However, these products can be toxic and pets should not be in contact with chemicals whenever possible.

Interestingly, veterinarians can prescribe the same antihistamines available for use in humans for use in pets.

The veterinarian can also engage in desensitization of the animal to allergens, once the cause can be pinpointed or suspected.

The most common type of allergens that can be avoided are food allergens. If the pet is being fed certain foods and engages in a bout of scratching afterward, one or more foods can be suspected. Therefore, elimination of that food and subsequent cessation of scratching can be a clue that the food is at fault. Read the ingredients of the pet food that you buy.

Atopic or common inhalant allergens are difficult to ascertain, since a pet may be allergic to grass, as well as to the mold in the grass and the pollen the grass produces.

It will be helpful to the concerned pet owner to maintain a daily log of the pet's behavior and the season of that behavior. If the pet is allergic to pollen and mold, the climate can be a factor, since these allergens are at a very low level during the winter and most common in the spring and fall.

Much of this information was obtained from the Newsletter COPING With Allergies and Asthma, Winter 2005-2006 (Franklin, Tenn.).

Mark R. Sneller, Ph.D., is an indoor air consultant and director of Aero-Allergen Research. Send questions to him at Breathing Easy, P.O. Box 12023, Tucson, AZ 85732-2023.