The onset of warmer spring weather is when we humans experience allergies in the form of hay fever. During this period, our pets can also experience a flare-up in sensitivities and allergies to the environment. Different types of allergies can all look the same, and some patients can simultaneously have more than one type of allergy. Many breeds of dogs are prone to showing signs of allergies or hypersensitivity to environmental allergens. Symptoms that your dog or cat (or other family pet) could suffer from allergies include sneezing, shaking their head, rubbing their face on the ground, watery eyes, scratching, licking or chewing areas. These signs are often noticed at night when the family is settled or sleeping, and the pet keeps you awake. Some skin signs that may be present with allergies include raised red bumps, small scabby lesions, wet or colour-stained fur, hair loss, and thickened, darker skin compared to surrounding areas.
Pets can react to environmental allergens, including dust mites, pollens, dander, insect particles and moulds. The warmer weather often signals an increase in insects – fleas, mosquitoes, flies, moths and cockroaches which can all cause irritations and allergies in our pets. While it can be challenging to control the exposure of most insects to our pets, you can reduce the risk of flea and tick infestations on your pet with a few simple products.
Flea preventatives for cats are mostly topical spot-on products due to the difficulty of treating cats orally. Flea and tick prevention is available as a topical spot-on treatment or as a palatable dog chew. These products help kill fleas from the larval stage to their adult stage of life. Both on your pet and in the environment, via your pet, shedding its fur with the product on it. Flea and tick collars are also available for dogs. Dog products are not always safe for cats as they may contain toxic ingredients for our feline friends.
Our pets can also have sensitivities to a variety of grasses – including blades of grass themselves, the cut surface after mowing that releases liquid from the leaves or the flower heads, seasonal weeds, pollen from flowers as well as the sap and prickly surfaces of some plants, especially the new tender growth. Some fruits and seeds from plants can also cause issues.
Many pets with itchy skin are often presented to the clinic as owners are frustrated that they cannot get rid of the smell from the dog no matter how often bathing takes place. Pets with itchy skin often cause trauma to their skin, which, combined with existing inflammation of the skin, provides an environment for secondary infection to become established. This secondary condition is likely to cause your pet to itch more. These infections are more often the reason your pet is smelly.
To identify the presence of secondary infection, our veterinary team will undertake a simple test in the clinic known as cytology. Cytology involves the collection of a sample from your pet’s skin lesions, either fluid from within blister-like lesions, an impression on a slide or a swab wiped under the crusting edge of a skin lesion or scrapes of the skin surface. The sample, placed on a microscope slide, is stained with a special series of stains and viewed on our microscope to identify the presence of any mites, lice or parasites and, most importantly, bacteria, yeast and the cells associated with inflammation of the skin. Cytology is a handy tool for managing your pet’s itchy skin – it allows us to diagnose the issue and monitor response to treatment. Your vet will often repeat these skin tests to monitor your pet’s treatment response and ensure we manage it effectively. If there is an ongoing issue, we can modify our treatment or conduct more in-depth testing to understand why we are not achieving the resolution of your pet’s disease.
Our vets may recommend referral to a dermatology specialist to assist in the diagnosis and management of your pet’s condition. There are some cases where desensitisation therapy may be appropriate. In other cases, treatment may require the use of medications not used routinely in general practice cases.
Once the vets have identified why your pet is itching, they can recommend a treatment to reduce their irritation. Previously, we were limited to using cortisone to modify the immune response initially and then transition to cyclosporin. Long-term use of high doses of cortisone can lead to adverse side effects and other issues for your pet. Many medications are available to help manage your pet’s itchy skin. There has been a lot of research and development of modern medications with reduced systemic side effects that target the small trigger proteins that cause your dog to itch. If your pet is being treated with cortisone but would like more information about other treatment options, give us a call and speak to one of our friendly team.
Once the itch is controlled, your pet is still at risk of underlying secondary infections, and the exposure to the causative agent still needs to be addressed. Your veterinarian may recommend an ongoing bathing regime with the application of topical lotions. The infection will require constant monitoring at each follow-up consultation to ensure we manage your pet’s irritation. Long-term, reducing secondary microbial infection may result in reduced medication doses or increased time between doses of your medications.
One underlying skin fault that contributes to your pet developing allergies is the failure of the skin’s oil layer. The veterinarians at Bicton Veterinary Clinic will often recommend supplements or food to assist in skin support. If your veterinarian recommends a diet change, it is not always because we think food is the cause of your pet’s itch. Repairing and replenishing the ceramides and lipids that make up the protective layer of your pet’s skin will prevent the allergens from reaching the layers under the skin’s surface. Enabling the immune system under the skin’s surface is ready to react while strengthening the healthy surface microbiome.
A recommended supplement or food may help to reduce reliance on oral or injectable medications to keep your pet comfortable. A combination of shampoos, leave-on lotions, flea prevention, topical omega oil & essential oils, oral omega oil supplements and quality prescription food designed to strengthen the skin barrier and reduce pathological microbes will benefit almost all of our pets with chronic itchy skin.
Regular check-ins with our veterinarians will help to ensure we improve the quality of your pet’s life and your own. We are always happy to assess your pet’s skin to see if we can help manage their itch.