Is your pet constantly itching and scratching? This can be an indication of dog skin allergies. Even home care and nutrition coupled with supplementation of dog vitamins are essential to correct this condition. The typical sign of this common dermatological problem is predominated by itchy condition of your pet hound. Your small animal companion will also manifest sneezing, wheezing and coughing and in some cases will also experience diarrhea and vomiting, and eye and nasal discharge.

Under this hypersensitivity state of your pet canine, the immune system reacts to the presence of foreign matter, normally referred to as antigens or allergens. This event leads to the emergence of this external signs and symptoms that we can usually see in our hounds.

Types of Canine Hypersensitivity

The allergy most commonly seen among pets is the inhalant hypersensitivity or what is normally referred to as atopy. Your pets may have similar reactions to the same types of allergens that affect humans. This means that tree pollens, weed pollens, grass pollens, molds, dust mites and mildew can trigger the sensitive reaction in our pets. Some of these allergens are naturally present in our homes and immediate surroundings while others are present under specific conditions. Under the sensitive condition of our hounds, they will manifest the itchy condition which is generalized. The most common type of sensitivity in most house pets is the atopy type.

The different forms of Staphylococcus are the main causes of bacterial disinclination in our pet mongrels. In general, your pet will not have any problem with Staph bacterial infection if it has healthy skin and normal immune system. However, if your mongrel starts to show a kind of reaction because of Staph infection, it will experience pronounced hair loss problem that is somewhat similar to ringworm. These are circular spots of about half to 2 inches in diameter. These patches or lesions can be treated with specific antibiotics although the infected and recovered animals will have high probability of developing recurrent bacterial disinclination.

Your mongrel may also experience antipathy to specific food types. Food antipathy is the second most seen reaction. It is characterized by a burning sensation within the ear. Oftentimes, mongrels develop this type of antipathy as its way of responding to the food’s protein component. Most of these cases happen before the animal reaches 1 year old and beyond 5 years old. Some examples of the allergen include chicken, turkey, dairy products, beef and pork. This sort of reaction also results to itchiness, respiratory distress and digestive complications.

Your small animal companion will also exhibit hyperactive response to ticks and mites. The normal mutt will only manifest occasional and mild irritation as a result of flea bites. This response is normally not accompanied by itchiness. However, hyperactive response as a result of flea bites will be characterized by severe itchiness. A few bites of the fleas can already produce severe itchiness. This reaction is mainly due to the saliva of the fleas that is left on the dermis of the mongrel. Hounds that suffer from this type of hyperactive response develop scabs and sores which predispose the affected animal to a much harsher infection.