When a dog inhales an allergen, their skin tends to get itchy. They have a typical pattern of itchy areas. The ears/neck, feet, and belly are the most common itchy spots. Does your dog lick at its feet regularly? If your dog is white or light colored and its feet are a reddish brown color, then he is probably licking his feet a lot as that reddish brown color is probably staining from saliva. Most itching happens at night. Probably because there are not as many distractions and the itchy dogs focus on their itch at this time. You may also note matted hair and salivary staining on the belly from excessive grooming. The skin is weakened from the allergies and then yeast and bacteria normally living on the skin can cause a secondary skin infection and that can itch too.

Ear infections in dogs are very common. I see mild infections in a large percentage of the dogs I examine in the ER. Most of these dogs are not at the ER for infections. Some dogs are really itchy and some could care less. One ear tends to be worse than the other. I have looked at cells from many dogs' ears with infections and even though only one ear looks infected on exam, the other is almost always infected at a cellular level. I do not know why one ear is worse than the other, but it usually is. This does not make sense to me, because if it is an inhalant allergen, then both ears should be equally inflamed in my mind. Not the case, though.

About 75% of dogs with ear infections have underlying allergies. Usually dogs are shaking their heads if they have an infection. The ears tend to have a stinky yeasty smell and reddish brown discharge. Sometimes another animal in the house will lick the affected dogs ears when they are infected. I saw a Basset hound a few years ago because another Basset hound in the house licked the inside of its earflaps raw. The owner told me this happens when the ears are infected. I looked deep in the ears and saw no problems. We took a cell sample and did not find an infection. We treated the licked ears and the dog came back in two days with a raging ear infection that I could find this time. This happened a few times over the years proving that dogs can sense things we can't even comprehend. That Basset's nose was better than modern medicine at detecting ear infections early. It is very humbling working with pets.

Treatment for inhalant allergies is very frustrating. Since we cannot remove the allergens from the environment, we are left with trying to manage symptoms. Antihistamines have the least amount of side effects but do not work very well in my experience. Short acting steroids (not the baseball kind) work very well, but do have some potential side effects - increased drinking and urination, increased panting, increased appetite and in rare cases aggression. I have a dog with seasonal allergies. He itches himself raw at times of the year and almost always has a left ear infection. I treat him with steroids at times and accept the side effects because he is so itchy. He dribbles urine all over the house while he is on a short course of steroids. You can imagine this is not fun for anyone, although he is not itching. If steroids are used chronically (2-3 years of almost daily use), then pets may develop other more severe side effects such as Diabetes. If steroids are used properly and only a few times a year, then your pet should not have any long-term effects and steroid use is considered very safe in this setting. I say this because I see the change in owners' body language when I say "steroids" in the exam room. Most people start shaking their head no. Just be careful with steroids and your pet will be fine.

Are there any other treatments available? Yes. There are other medications that can be used and appear to have minimal side effects. Just so you know, these medications, including steroids, suppress the immune system to stop the allergic response. If your pet is on this type of medication then close monitoring with a veterinarian should be in place. Sometimes blood tests are needed throughout the year.

Veterinary Dermatologists are also available to help pets with allergies. These are the experts. I think there is a lot of benefit from seeing a dermatologist. It is costly initially, but may save you money in the long run. If an acceptable management plan is in place with minimal side effects, then the pets have fewer flare-ups, which mean fewer trips to the vet each year for skin and ear infections over the life of your pet. Allergy testing can be done as well to try and identify the underlying allergens. Desensitization injections (allergy shots) can then be prepared and given to pets to try and prevent the allergic response. I have seen the injections completely resolve the allergies all together and I have seen complete failure. We tried this with our dog with the help of a dermatologist. Unfortunately, it did not work, but I am glad we tried. I saw a German shepherd that was chewing his body apart. After allergy shots, he was symptom free. The injections saved this dog's life.

Allergy testing can be performed in two ways: a blood test or skin testing. Differing opinions exist on which is better. I believe skin testing is more accurate than the blood test. If you are going to try this route for your pet, then make sure you are working with a very experienced veterinarian regarding skin allergies, preferably a board certified Dermatologist. Your veterinarian can point you in the right direction.

Other diseases may be present to cause similar signs to allergies. Parasites, hormonal diseases and food allergies can also cause itchy skin. If your pet is itchy then schedule an appointment with your veterinarian to help find out why. If you catch things early, then less treatment is usually needed. Allergies can show at anytime in your pet's life, whether it is inside or outside. Management of allergies can be frustrating, but many safe things can be tried to improve your pet's quality of life.