|
Skin Infections |
External Parasites |
Inhaled Allergies (Atopy) |
Food Allergies |
| Description |
In general infectious causes of pruritus include bacterial, yeast and fungal causes. |
The most common external parasites include fleas and sarcoptic mites (mange). |
Atopy, or inhalant allergy, is a hypersensitivity reaction to environmental allergens such as pollens, mold spores, dust and dust mites. |
Pruritic (Itchy), nonseasonal skin related reactions associated with ingestion of 1 or more substances in the pet's food. Approximately 5% of all skin diseases and 10–15% of all allergic skin diseases in dogs and cats are the result of adverse food reactions. |
| Signs |
Signs of infectious pruritus typically consist of crusting and scale of the skin in addition to other typical skin lestions. |
Intense itching especially over the tailhead is common with flea allergies. Scabieslesions tend to occur generally but attention should be paid to regions around the head and ears. |
The most common signs of this allergy are itching of the belly and "arm pits," face rubbing, foot licking, and recurrent ear and skin infections. |
The most common sign of food allergy is year-round itching. Dogs with food allergies often rub their face or ears, lick their feet, and often "scoot" on their behind. As one of my professors termed it..."Ears and Rears Syndrome." For dogs, the most common food allergens are beef, wheat, pork, corn, chicken, dairy products, and eggs. |
| Diagnosis |
Impression smears or Tape tests can be used to identify bacterial or yeast organisms. In additon, your veterinarian may recommend culturing hair to identify ringworm. |
Diagnosis is made by visually identifying fleas or flea dirt or through skin scrapings that allow the visulalization of mites under a microscope. |
Diagnosis is based on the pet's history of skin problems, lack of response to dietary restriction, lack of response to external parasite treatment, and results of allergy testing (skin and blood tests). Allergy testing can help your veterinarian design an immunotherapy program. Allergy testing is done by a blood test or a skin test (intradermal allergy test, or IDAT). |
A period of diet restriction or a food trial is the only way to determine if a pet has a food allergy. The most important (and most difficult) part of a food trial is restricting what the pet eats to the trial diet only. This means eliminating all other treats, snacks, supplements, rawhide, pig ears, flavored chews, bones, and even flavored medications. Some pets improve in 2-3 weeks; some take 2-3 months. A minimum of 8 weeks on a restricted diet is recommended. |
| Treatment |
There are numerous antiinfective agents that can be used to treat skin infections. Most are adminstered orally, but some can be administered topically. |
There are a number of products available to treat flea infestation. Attention must be paid to control on the animal and in the environment. Scabies can be controlled through medications or shampoo therapies. |
Treatments for this life-long condition are medications such as antihistamines, steroids, cyclosporine and topical medications to minimize itching, or immunotherapy. Immunotherapy involves giving a pet injections of allergens in small, but increasing, quantities. The goal is to "retrain" the pet's immune system to be less reactive to those allergens and, therefore, prevent the symptoms of the allergy. Approximately 70% of dogs and 50-60% of cats respond to this treatment. |
Food allergies are a life-long condition; therefore, pets should continue to avoid eating the foods they are found to be allergic to. |