|
 Boy,
have you been licking, scratching, and biting
lately? I sure have and a LOT! I even got an
infection between my toes. My vet called it a
fungus and yeast infection all attributed to
allergies. Bummer!
All our winter rain and now the beautiful spring
flowers are causing a lot of us ‘popular’ breeds
– Goldens, Labs, and West Highland Terriers to
be more allergic than other breeds. Lucky us!
But, some of our friends like Shar-Peis and Pugs
may also suffer a lot as the pollen gets trapped
in their skin folds.
If you have allergies you may start by licking
or biting your pads which is the first spot
pollens may permeate. From there our scratching
may turn to our belly, chest, neck, muzzle or
just any spot that we can reach. For me it was
my eyes which really bothered me – I got little
‘bumps’ all around the bottom lids. It sure
hurt. You could be bothered so much that you
may reach a point where your skin is scratched
raw resulting in hair loss and scabbing. Skin
inside our ears can also become inflamed and
irritated resulting in ear infections. Ouch!
Mom said she read that humans have an itch scale
of 1 to 10 but we dogs have a scale from 1 to 12
or higher. It’s all genetic with us just like
humans.
If you’re not scratching, itching, or biting too
much, here are some things you can try before
going to your vet. Use medicated shampoos and
spray-on lotions which are available from pet
and discount stores. Have your Mom or Dad try
sprinkling your food with fish oil which will
supply much needed omega-3 fatty acids which
decreases inflammation. They can also help
decrease your response to allergens but you
might not notice any difference for up to four
weeks.
You can consider taking Benadryl but please have
your Mom or Dad check with your vet first.
Dosages differ but for us ‘big’ kids, (50 pounds
or more), you can take 2 tablets (25 mg each)
twice a day, which is more than humans would
need. But, if you’re a small dog, one tablet
might be too much for you so check with your
vet.
Other things to think about include getting Mom
or Dad to wipe your coat several times a day
with a damp cloth/towel to remove as much of the
pollen as possible.
Also have your Mom and Dad use air filters in
the house and change them often as this could
help too. But if all this doesn’t seem to make a
difference and your scratching, digging, biting,
and licking worsens and sores develop, you gotta
go to the vet. And go soon so secondary
infections don’t set in like they did with me.
Rumor has it that things won’t get any better
until the weather warms and the flowers start to
wither. So, hang in there and try not to bite,
scratch, and lick the day away!
Emma |
