Focus on Allergies

• Itching & scratching:  Many allergies  will cause our pets to have really itchy skin. They might rub against the furniture or bite or chew their skin, especially their feet or tail. Look for signs of skin irritation, like redness and bumps, around the base of their tail, inside their hind legs and on their belly, face, neck, ears & feet.
• Hair loss:  All that scratching, licking, chewing biting can lead to hair loss. This will occur any place they are feeling itchy, which will depend on the type of allergy. Cats especially are known to over-groom when they’re itchy, which may be more obvious that itchy itself.

• Sores:  If your dog or cat is scratching and biting their skin, this can lead to open wounds which can get infected, resulting in weeping red sores.

• Swollen red ears:  Ears are just an extension of  your pet’s skin, so they too can show all the signs of allergies. Unfortunately, it can be hard for an owner to tell this difference between this and an ear infection, but either way, treatment by a vet is needed..

• Respiratory symptoms:  Occasionally, dogs and cats develop “human” hay-fever symptoms, including a runny nose, watery red eyes, coughing and sneezing.

The first step to relieving allergies in your pet is to take them to the vet to get a diagnosis, and rule out any other conditions. Some pet allergies need ongoing preventative management, but in the case of allergies – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!!