What are the dog's allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

What are the dog’s allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

You might have seen dog owners talking about how their dog is allergic to something or sometimes a particular environment. Yet, you wouldn’t know the intensity or severity of this allergy.

Almost 40% of dogs worldwide are environmentally allergic; the same is valid for food. If you notice your dog continuously licking, itching, or scratching his skin or some part of it, he might be allergic.

Dogs’ allergies can worsen if not treated well, and dealing with them might be more complicated than being selected. Yet, the article is going to give you detail regarding this.

What is an allergy?

What are the dog's allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

Both animals and humans have an over-reactive or hypersensitive immune system to certain foreign substances, including plants, proteins, pollens, or even environmental factors known as allergens. These allergies occur when the immune system fights against these foreign agents, worsening the condition.

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What symptoms would your dog exhibit if he developed an allergy?

What are the dog's allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

Your dog exhibits multiple signs, including.

  • Frequent growling
  • Scratching
  • Itching
  • Face rubbing
  • Licking
  • Recurrent ear and skin infection
  • Gastrointestinal ailments
  • Loss of fur

All of these symptoms depend on the allergy’s severity; additionally, the part of the body affected by the allergy plays an equal role.

What are the types of allergies my dog can get?

What are the dog's allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

Allergens cause different allergies. Sometimes, these allergens are present in food, sometimes on other dogs, and most of the time, the surrounding environment gives refuge to these allergens. Depending on the type of allergen, allergies are also variable, and overlapping their symptoms increases the complication. Mainly they are three types.

  • Flea allergy dermatitis
  • Food allergy
  • Environmental allergies

Flea allergy dermatitis:

This allergy is primarily transmitted by fleas. The main signs of this allergy are inflammation, scrubbing, and redness at a particular infected body phighlymost vulnerable part of the body in this regard is the dog’s tail or sometimes its ear. The dog is extremely irritated and has started scratching the affected area. Technically, your dog is not allergic to the flea itself; it is the flea’s saliva that comes into contact with your dog’s skin after it bites it. And to recognize that bite is too tricky as flea does not stay in body part after biting it. But your dog starts licking or biting that part madly.

If you look closely, you may notice dirt on the allergic parts of the flea, such as the tail and sometimes the flea itself.

Environmental allergies:

Environmental or seasonal allergies in dogs are commonly inherited, and the term “atopy” is used to describe this condition. These allergies vary from breed to breed. Some canines are vulnerable to only one kind of plant pollen, but others might be the prey of more than one plant. Seasonal allergies occur due to dust or dirt particles and mainly pollens that release by plants. Your dog may develop an allergy to such allergic pollens after inhaling them. It depends upon the surrounding plants or the plants in your yard.

Allergies in dogs are most commonly caused by plant pollen inhalation, but they can also be caused by dirt contact with the skin, depending on the sensitivity of your dog’s skin.

Food allergies in dogs:

Food allergies are as common in dogs as some humans are allergic to peanuts or shellfish. It is essential to note that if your dog is allergic to a specific food, it does not mean that the food is toxic or something is wrong. It simply means that your dog’s digestive system does not support the proteins or carbohydrates present in it.

Food allergies in dogs are low compared to other allergies. As veterinarians claim, only 10 percent of dog allergies occur due to food, among all other allergies. It is also because food allergies can cause skin itching in addition to digestive reactions. And that is the reason people usually mimic it with environmental allergies.

The protein inside chicken, beef, or other meat is the prime reason for food allergies in dogs.

What are acute allergic reactions?

What are the dog's allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

 

Among all other allergens, acute allergic reactions are pretty serious. And your dog can go into anaphylactic shock if they appear to have such allergens.

In some cases, the reaction causes swelling of the eyes or redness in the ear, which can be dangerous but not fatal.

The allergies due to vaccines are pretty sensitive in this regard, and you have to examine your dog to see if he has been vaccinated recently.

How to deal with the dog’s allergies?

What are the dog's allergies? Symptoms, causes, and types.

The best way to avoid the adverse effects of allergies is to root out the allergens. For example, eliminate all fleas in your environment if your dog is allergic to flea bites. Similarly, if your dog is getting a food allergy, change the diet or remove that food from your dog’s diet.

In case of severe allergy, consult your veterinarian or take your dog to the hospital emergency.

Frequently asked questions.

What foodstuffs should I feed to my dog if he is allergic?

Some limited-ingredient foods like Nom Fresh and Wellness Simple are available.

Veterinarian diets by Royal Canine Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet (Limited Ingredient Food),

Hydrolyzed Protein (Hypoallergenic Food),

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets,

Hydrolyzed Protein (Hypoallergic Food)

What may be added to dog food to treat skin allergies?

Here are some vitamins that veterinarians usually suggest to treat allergic dogs.

Fatty fish as fish oil contains Omega-3 lipids that assist in lowering inflammation and diminishes the severity of the dog.

Coconut oil. Digestive enzymes and yucca present in coconut oil help treat skin allergies in dogs.

How to handle severe dog skin allergies?

Veterinarians usually advise immunomodulatory drugs to remove skin allergies. There are different ways to intake them taking them to your dog as tablets (Apoquel) and giving them as an injection (cutpoint) every 4 to 10 weeks. Besides, there are several antifungal and antibacterial medicines that a dog can intake to get relieve the skin allergy.

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