The insidiousness of canine atopy: is there any hope for recovery?

Can dogs have allergies?

Yes, dogs have allergies just like people. In dogs, allergies are often caused by allergens contained in dust, animal dander, plants and insects. But dogs also develop allergies to food and medications. Allergy symptoms: itching, scratching, obsessive grooming, skin rashes, sneezing, epiphora (tearing), paw gnawing and skin inflammation. In some cases, dogs develop a disease called atopic dermatitis , which is associated with or possibly caused by allergies.

Prevention of atopy in dogs

Atopic dermatitis cannot be treated and is a chronic process. To improve your pet’s quality of life, it is important to adhere to the following preventive measures:

1. Monitor the quality of your dog's diet. Use premium and super-premium hypoallergenic food. Please note that you can feed the animal only dry or only natural food. Do not allow out of mixing.
2. Maintain physical activity, which is responsible for developing immunity.
3. Do not forget about timely antiparasitic treatment.
4. Disinfect the premises daily. Wet cleaning reduces the risk of spreading allergens.
5. Visit your veterinarian every 2 months to rule out recurrences.

In case of allergies to sunlight, which are registered in isolated cases, the pet is walked only in the evening and at night.

Atopic dermatitis is a disease that requires mandatory and timely treatment. Delaying therapy provokes aggravation of the disease, shortening the period of remission and increasing the number of relapses.

For your pet’s safety, do not forget about preventive measures and strictly follow the instructions from your doctor. In some cases, the only solution is to move, which involves a change in climatic conditions.

Atopic dermatitis in dogs

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with allergies. In fact, it is the second most common allergic skin disease in dogs. Allergic reactions can be caused in most cases by harmless substances such as grass, mold spores, house dust mites and other environmental allergens.

Typically, the first signs of the disease in dogs appear between the ages of 3 months and 6 years. Although atopic dermatitis is so mild in the first year that it does not appear clinically until three years of age.

Although dogs are more prone to atopic dermatitis than cats, it does occur in cats. If you are interested, then be sure to

Diagnostic techniques

If you know even a little about veterinary medicine, a logical question may arise: “How can atopic dermatitis be identified if it actually “consists” of several other pathologies (acanthosis nigricans, for example)”? In fact, the diagnostic situation is really very difficult.

Of course, the allergy test, which we talked about above, will help identify allergens, but how much benefit is there from this? If you look at it, more than half of the total number of dogs today (like people) suffer from various allergies, and therefore it is impossible to talk about atopic dermatitis on the basis of diagnostic techniques alone.

Symptoms and types

Often, the symptoms of atopic dermatitis gradually worsen over time or they become more severe during certain seasons. Most often affected in dogs are:

• Ears
• Wrists
• Tarsus
• Muzzle
• Armpits
• Groin
• Eye area
• Between the fingers

Photos of Atopic Dermatitis Symptoms in Dogs

• A waxy discharge, redness, and unpleasant odor may appear on the ears. Dogs scratch and rub their ears with their paws or on surrounding objects.
• Reddened skin (hyperemic), possibly with crusts (eschar) and scales, with the smell of a secondary infection (secondary infection). The dog scratches and licks its sides, belly, elbows and groin area.
• Areas of baldness and brown discoloration of areas that the animal constantly licks are observed on the coat. The animal's behavior is characterized by scratching its sides, belly, and redness of its face from rubbing against furniture and carpet.
• A waxy discharge, redness, and odor are observed on the dog's face. The dog may have combed or red ears with scratches at the level of the furniture it rubs against.
• The pet's paws are inflamed, reddened, with an unpleasant odor, the color of the fur is brown, in places where it is periodically licked. The dog licks and bites its paws and pads.

Drug treatment

How to treat atopic dermatitis? Drug therapy for dogs is prescribed depending on the type of pathology, as well as the general condition of the pet. A veterinarian, as a rule, prescribes medications to his four-legged patient such as:

• antihistamines;
• glucocorticosteroids;
• antibiotics;
• antiparasitic;
• local antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory creams and ointments;
• vitamins and restoratives.

When local treatment is carried out, the doctor follows the rule that he recommends moistening the dry and drying the wet. That is, flaky skin irritations must be lubricated with creams and ointments, and open wounds and weeping ulcers must be treated with antimicrobial powders or drying solutions.

During animal therapy, a veterinarian may prescribe polyunsaturated fatty acids. They must be given to the dog once a day in the dosage prescribed by a specialist.

Diagnostics

Your veterinarian will need to obtain a complete medical history. To determine the underlying cause of skin allergies, it is important to include a physical examination of the dog.

A serological test is possible, but it does not always give reliable results. The quality of this type of research often depends on the laboratory that analyzes the results. An intradermal (ID) test, in which a small amount of a test allergen is injected into the skin and a papule (red blister) reaction is measured, which is used to identify the cause of your pet's allergic reaction.

Differential diagnoses of atopic dermatitis in dogs

How to test your dog for allergies

Allergy testing is used by most veterinary dermatologists for the purpose of developing an allergy vaccine rather than for making a diagnosis.

There are several ways to conduct the test:

• Intradermal test (IDT). To perform IDT, pets are sedated (for dogs) or pain relieved (for cats), chest hair is shaved, and about 50 allergens are injected into the skin. A red swelling means the animal may be allergic to the allergen. It is better if the dog does not eat anything before the test. Some medications (prednisone, antihistamines, and topical cortisone) may interfere with the test, but this usually does not occur.
• For atopic dermatitis, veterinarians perform an intradermal test (IDT).
  Percutaneous injection (PPT). Dr. Carnet has developed a testing technique for pets that is the preferred method for human allergy testing, the transdermal test. Instead of injecting allergens into the deeper layer of skin (dermis), pinpoint injections are made using a device that allows a drop of allergen extract to penetrate inside. Similar to IDT, reactions are graded subjectively by size and inflammation compared to positive and negative controls. PPT causes very little discomfort, but the test is done on awake dogs. The disadvantage of the technique is its novelty, and you cannot take antihistamines more than 10 days before the procedure.
• Blood, saliva, fur. Blood (serum) tests performed by different companies on the same samples have been shown to have poor agreement with each other. In independent studies, blood, saliva, and fur allergy tests have reported positive reactions to tap water, cow serum, and fake fur from a stuffed animal. For this reason, such tests are not recommended to be performed regularly.

Treatment

Treatment will depend on what is causing your dog's allergy. If the reaction is caused, for example, by atopy, desensitizing therapy is carried out. In this case, a dog dermatologist will select injections for your pet of allergens to which it is sensitive. It reduces itching in 45-50% percent of dogs. But it may take six months to a year to see improvements.

Medicines such as corticosteroids and antihistamines may also be prescribed to relieve or reduce itching. Cyclosporine is effective in combating itching associated with long-term allergies with skin manifestations. While sprays can be used on large areas of the body to control itching with minimal side effects.

How dogs are exposed to allergens

Many allergens are airborne and found almost everywhere. Some are present year-round (such as house dust, dust mites, and some types of mold), while others are only at high levels for some time during the year (such as pollen).

Important! The skin is an important barrier to allergens. When the skin's barrier function is compromised due to genetics or injury, allergens can penetrate the skin and cause allergies.

Dogs are constantly exposed to allergens that can cause the development of atopic dermatitis.

Antihistamines

In veterinary practice, drugs that are used to get rid of human allergies are often used. However, animal receptors have a slightly different sensitivity. In this regard, they do not experience side effects such as drowsiness and some lethargy. That is why antihistamines that exist in medical practice are prescribed for four-legged pets. As a rule, these are drugs such as Suprastin and Tavegil, Diphenhydramine and Bravegil, Claritin and Benadryl. Some of them can be purchased in various forms (tablets and injection). Subcutaneous or intramuscular administration of the drug is sometimes required in case of a severe and rapidly developing allergic reaction.

Suprastin tablets for dogs are intended in cases of mild forms of pathology. In case of severe manifestations, this drug is administered intramuscularly. In the tablet form of the product, it begins its effect within thirty minutes and maintains the effect for 12 hours. Suprastin injections for dogs are a kind of first aid. They begin to act within 5-10 minutes, but the effect of the drug does not last long at all - only three hours. This is why doctors prefer to inject Suprastin and then continue to administer it in tablet form.

Another popular drug that helps eliminate itching in dogs is Tavegil. Tablets are given to the animal at the rate of 0.02 mg per kilogram of weight. The drug should be taken 2 times a day. Tavegil tablets, like other antihistamines, sometimes cause undesirable effects. That is why you should consult a veterinarian before using them.