Fix a Dog Allergy

Fix a Dog Allergy
By Eric Hartwell

Aside from needing their basic needs fulfilled, dogs may also need help regarding some health problems. Dogs are actually susceptible to medical conditions like allergies which the owner should quickly take note of and have cured to prevent the condition from worsening.

Making Your Dog Itch: Allergy Possibilities

Allergies cannot be prevented unless the owner is aware of which allergens his dog is allergic to. Here are some helpful tips and hints to fix this problem just in case they come up.

Inhalant Allergy
Most common of these dog allergies is inhalant allergy. The most common symptoms are scratching of the genital areas, abdomen, armpit or face, and prolonged chewing and licking. Upon close inspection, the dog develops a reddish area caused by too much licking.

If you suspect that your dog has this allergy, then you must bring him to your vet. A veterinarian can diagnose this accurately through allergy testing.

Bacteria allergy
Bacteria can be another cause of dog allergy. Bacteria allergy (specifically Staphylococcus allergy) is not a very common condition. Only a few canines react negatively to this bacteria; most other dogs have become accustomed to it.

If your dog is allergic to bacteria, they can easily develop crusts on his skin or even lose some hair on the spot that he normally scratches. You need to bring your dog to a vet before the patches of exposed skin becomes infected.

Flea allergy
Flea, per se, does not cause the dogs allergic reaction but the fleas saliva is the main culprit. A vet or even the owner can easily figure this out.

If you see your dog scratching himself frequently, then you should check his coat thoroughly to see if he has fleas. If you see fleas, thats a pretty good indication that its causing your dogs discomfort. Since there can be other causes aside from fleas, though, its better to bring your dog to a vet and have him diagnosed and tested for allergies. If its flea allergy after all, then you should ask your vet for his recommended flea shampoo and medication.

Food Allergy
Allergy to food is also possible. Manufactured dog foods are a combination of a variety of ingredients, one or a few of which can be causing your dogs allergies. Your dog may have this type of allergy if he keeps on scratching or sneezes a lot, vomits, loses control of his bowels, etc.

Diagnosis of food allergy can be quite difficult. You need to fix a different meal for a certain period of time to see which is causing the allergy. Thus, in one period, you can give your dog chicken meat. Then, on another the diet can be restricted to pork and so on and so forth. Should the dog develop an allergy at anytime a certain ingredient was used, youll know that its causing the allergy so you should avoid serving your dog this food again.

Contact allergy
This is an allergy caused by an object that the dog is in constant contact with. It could be his food bowl, his collar, or another thing entirely thats causing the allergy. Since this is the least common, you must rule out all other allergy causes. After that is done, start eliminating the things he is in contact with to isolate the main cause.

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