Search Results for: blog spring proofing your pet allergies

Developing Cat Allergies in Adulthood

Here’s an even better reason to expose your children to pets at an early age: adults never exposed to them have a higher chance of developing allergies if they get pets. A team from the University Hospital of Verona (in Italy) studied more than 6,000 adults twice in nine years. It found that people who had never lived with cats before, and then adopted them in adulthood, doubled their chances of becoming allergic to the cat. The chances were even higher if the adults had other allergies or asthma. The process of becoming allergic to something when previously you weren’t … Continue reading →

Pets on Steroids

Last week, I took my dog Lally to the vet for help with a major allergy attack. She had been itching her face so badly that the hair around her eyes was gone and the skin was raw. Benadryl alone wasn’t doing enough to relieve the itching, so the vet brought out the big guns: steroids. Steroids are very useful for reducing inflammation, and they’ve really helped Lally with her allergy attack. Almost immediately she stopped scratching at her face and ears! She’s got a ten day course of prednisone, and the vet told me to keep up with the … Continue reading →

Pet Chin Acne

A few years ago, I discovered that Lally had a plastic allergy when I saw pet chin acne. She started breaking out in little red bumps all over her muzzle. After ruling out a food allergy, the vet suggested that she might be allergic to the plastic in her bowl. We switched to a ceramic bowl and she hasn’t had any trouble since! Acne is a relatively common skin problem in cats and dogs. The problem can start at any age, and looks a lot like acne in humans — red bumps, often on the chin and lower lip. The … Continue reading →

Treating Your Home and Yard for Fleas and Ticks

Most of the time, treating your pets for fleas and ticks with a monthly preventative is enough to keep an infestation out of your home and yard. Most of the time. If the critters are out of control, you may have to take action to evict fleas and ticks from your home. This doesn’t mean you should stop the monthly flea and tick preventative for your pets, either! The absolute best way to keep fleas and ticks off your pets (and out of your house) is to use a preventative all year round. In some areas, where winter temperatures drop … Continue reading →

Flea and Tick Prevention Options for Pets with Sensitive Skin

I mentioned recently that Lally seems to be having trouble with a new flea and tick preventative we tried. Hopefully we won’t have any more skin problems if I switch back to Frontline… but I wonder if she’s just getting more allergic as she ages. That got me thinking about alternatives to the insecticide-medication-on-the-skin type of flea and tick prevention. Traditional flea and tick collars. You might remember the narrow white collars that dogs and cats used to wear before medications like Frontline and Sentinel came along? Since the medication doesn’t get soaked into the skin, it might be an … Continue reading →

Pet Reactions to Medication

Around the first of the month, it is time for Moose and Lally to get their heartworm and flea and tick preventatives. The routine is much the same every time: they both love chowing down on the chewy heartworm preventative. Moose tolerates getting the liquid flea and tick medication on his back; Lally hates it. She tries to run away, she grumbles and meeps at me, but in the end, she suffers through it. This month, we tried switching from Frontline to a different flea and tick preventative. As far as I can tell, it works as well. (The vet … Continue reading →

Supersuits for Dogs with Severe Allergies

Look! Out on the sidewalk! It’s a bird… It’s a plane… No, it’s a dog in a spandex bodysuit. This isn’t a Halloween costume in the making — it is an actual treatment to relieve itching in dogs with severe allergies. I recently read about the K9 Top Coat — a spandex suit that might be able to help pets who suffer from severe allergies. Many pets who have severe allergy problems end up on a lifetime of steroids that can stop the itching but in the long term is bad for your pet’s health. The K9 Top Coat is … Continue reading →

Spring Proofing Your Pet: Allergies

Spring brings a lot with it, like warmer weather, blooming flowers, and spring cleaning. But just as people suffer from springtime allergies, so do pets. Below are the most common irritants pets suffer from at this time of year, along with tips for reducing their discomfort. Pollen The attack of itchy eyes and runny noses plague humans allergic to pollen. Pets get the itchies too –in the form of itchy skin that is. There are lots of ways to treat the itchies, such as: • With supplements to ease them (e.g. fatty acids or vitamin A and E oils). • … Continue reading →

Asthma-Proofing Your Home

Often, allergies and asthma go hand in hand. Some of the triggers are the same — allergens can cause an allergy attack OR an asthma attack. Or both! Keeping the triggers under control in your home can help reduce the number of asthma attacks and even help decrease the need for inhalers and other asthma medications. What triggers an asthma attack? Allergens like pollen, mold, or dust Irritants like smoke, perfumes, or room deodorizers Exercise Infections, especially the upper respiratory kind Emotions like anxiety, fear, or anger The best thing you can do to keep your home free of allergens … Continue reading →

It Must Be Fall Allergy Time…

I don’t need to look out the window or test the temperature to know that the seasons are changing. I have two dogs with seasonal allergies! Moose’s allergies are milder. He tends to get itchy all over — I’ll catch him rolling on the floor on his back much more often when the seasons change to spring or fall. That’s when I break out the Benadryl to help ease his symptoms. Lally is my problem child when it comes to allergies. You may remember the large sore she scratched into her neck last year? She’s up to it again, and … Continue reading →