Allergies

The Easter Bunny came; he left his Easter eggs in a most bountiful manner. The children enjoyed finding the Easter eggs. What the children didn’t find, the dogs did! The Easter Bunny brought a basketball hoop, and a basketball backboard. It took son and I two days to put together. We finally managed to get that done. My family and I had a nice meal, had a replenishment of our religious background. We managed to get all of our grandchildren together, all five of them. Our oldest daughter, Lesley, Bobby, and his wife all managed to get up here. We missed our Dr. Marge, and her husband they are in Fort Collins, in graduate school. Hopefully we will se them in July, while we are on vacation. So as far as our Easter weekend, everything worked out, we all had a good time. It turned out to be a great day! We hope you and your family had the same.

Now, we’ll get into the itching dog. Since the hurricane, it seams I’ve had more itching animals that we have treated here at the Hospital than usual. I think a lot of it has to do with dust, and maybe spring pollen. Orange blossom, pine pollen, Australian pine pollen, etc. Treatment for pollen allergy (atop) is directed toward blocking the histamine reaction caused by the various allergens. This is achieved with cortisone and antihistamine administration. Medicated shampoos and antihistamine rinses are beneficial. Secondary bacterial infections of the skin can be expected as a complication from allergies causing the skin to become irritated and moist, therefore supporting bacterial and/or yeast growth. This secondary problem must be controlled with antibiotics.

To add insult to injury, fleas are as bad as we have ever seen them. It seems that the hurricane invigorated these demons and they seem to boil out of the soil, shrubbery, lawn, and even the carpets and upholstery in our homes. The mass hatch out is overwhelming our flea control product such as Front line and Revolution that normally do a good job with flea control. The medication applied to the pet is absorbed into the bloodstream. The fleas must get a blood meal containing the medication in order to die. To assist the topical medications used on the pets the environment must also have a flea control. Yard sprays and home insecticide applications, repeated every ten days for at least three treatments will break the adult egg flea cycle, Care must be taken when used in the home to guard against fabric discoloration and damage to the finish on furniture. All insecticides whether used inside or outside the home must be applied according to recommendations of the product to guard against creating a toxic environment for man and beast with special care around cats, tropical fish, ect. With this approach we should survive the spring allergy season.

To compound the allergy problems, food allergies can develop at any time resultingin an itching pustular skin condition. Many times the pet will spend in inordinate amount of time licking and chewing his feet, which may be indigitive to a protine sensitivity. I practiced equine medicine for ten years, then much to my surprise developed an allergy to horse dandurf. Animals say likewise animals that have been on the same food for a long period of time can suddenly develop an allergy to a component of the food formula for example chicken or corn. A new food formulated with a protine the pet has no been exposed to and consequently has not developed a sensitivity, for example duck, venison, white fish, potato, or even kangaroo. In order for the new diet to be effective it must be adhered to strictly. Only the hypoallergenic diet must be given to a pet that means no treats or other additives, even vitamins. This strict inherence will take at least one month before improvement may be seen.

If all else fails a blood sample can be sent to an outside lab to determine the source of the allergies, weather it be pollen, dust or food. This is a fairly expensive test but it can tell us what to avoid and/or a vaccine can be developed to densities the pet. This series of injections requires close to a year to see any improvement.

Have a good month of April and visit us on the web @ www.IRAHINC.com or email us at User32960@aol.com