Protecting Your Pet: Allergies

Three-year-old Chai suffers from a skin problem that he just can't shake.

"He's been scratching a lot, and very itchy and sometimes scratches so much he bleeds," Chai's owner, Dorris Parker, said.

So Dorris brought her sharpei mix to the vet to find out the root of the redness.

"Dogs and cats tend to have skin and ear problems because of their allergies. They tend to lick, chew, scratch and also have ear infections," veterinary dermatologist, Dr. Kathy Tater, of the Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston said.

Just like in people, allergies in pets are triggered by their food or their environment.  For Chai, changing his diet didn't help, so the next step is a skin test.

"We're going to inject some allergens into the skin, and look at the reactions on the skin. That will help us determine what Chai is allergic to in the environment like pollens, or mold, or house dust mites," Dr. Tater said.

Under mild sedation Chai gets a shot for each possible allergy. Thirty minutes later the results are ready.

"He's reacted to a lot of the different things we've injected into his skin. For example you can see here Chai has had a very big reaction, and that's house dust mite which is a very common allergen," Dr. Tater said.

To help treat Chai, over the next year he will receive allergy shots. If they're successful Chai will continue them for the rest of his life.

"So that over time your pet can become less allergic to those things in the environment that are triggering it's allergies," Dr. Tater said.

"I hope we can make his itching a whole lot better and give him a better quality of life," Dorris said.

To find out if your pets allergies are caused by their food vets recommend changing to a prescription diet and waiting to see if the symptoms go away. If they don't, make an appointment with your veterinarian.

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