ALLERGY CARE AND TREATMENT
ALLERGY CARE AND TREATMENT Dogs and cats, just like humans, can have allergies. In fact more than 30% of all skin irritations in our pets can be attributed to allergies. These allergies can come from foods, inhaled allergens like weed, tree, and grass pollens, fungi, even insects and storage mites. Since there is no known “cure” for allergies and the prospect of avoiding all the things your pet reacts to may be unrealistic, we suggest that you turn to hypo-sensitization, or allergy injections and an immune system building diet to help most effectively manage your pet’s allergies. If the allergy is caused by food we can help with hand crafting a whole food diet plan to strengthen your pets immune system helping it fight off any other potential allergens. No one enjoys getting or giving injections but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Suppression therapy like steroids, antihistamines, Cyclosporine can not only be more expensive than treatment but with long term use come with some potentially serious side effects. At best, these methods are
only effective in about 40-50% of the time. Increasing a pet’s tolerance to the allergens they react to through hypo-sensitization and a diet change to a more nutrient rich bio-available food source has proven to be, other than avoidance, the best way to successfully manage allergies and provide lasting relief. It is also safe for long-term use and can provide your pet with much longer-term relief than suppression therapy. Done correctly PNS garner success rates as high as 90%. Pet Nutrition Systems offer allergy testing and treatment for canine and feline allergies through its partnership with Spectrum Labs. More than 30% of all skin irritations in these animals can be attributed to allergies. Allergens cause reactions through skin contact, inhalation or ingestion. Allergic animals contain antibodies to the specific irritating allergen that cause changes in the body to produce allergy symptoms resulting in scratching, feet licking and chewing, face rubbing. If allergies become more severe, the chewing may eventually lead to bacterial skin infections and large open sores.
Food allergies can also cause skin problems, but may also lead to vomiting and diarrhea. Seasonal allergies are very common and result from the increase in allergens you pet is
allergic and exposed to during certain times of the year. Your pet is going to be allergic to pollen for example throughout the entire year, but as spring and summer approach, the pollen count dramatically increases and therefore increases your pets exposure and send them over their limit of what their immune system can handle.
How do you diagnose allergies? After a thorough examination, you and/or your vet will decide if allergy testing is an appropriate option for your pet. Having ruled out all other possible causes, a blood sample will be taken and submitted to Spectrum Labs for diagnostic evaluation. There it will be tested for sensitivity to inhalants such as certain pollens, food types used in commercial dog/cat foods and treats, & potential environmental allergens such as grasses, house dust and smoke.
What is the treatment involved? The best form of treatment for allergies is avoidance of the offending allergen/s. In most cases this is not possible and steroid drugs are often used for SHORT TERM relief of symptoms. Use of steroids does contain side effects so Hypo sensitization (allergy shots) is another alternative. Treatment sets are developed and formulated specifically for your pet based off of the allergy blood testing done earlier. The treatment injections are given in increasing concentrations all in effort to build up your pet’s tolerance to the allergens involved. The goal is to enhance the immune system to the
allergies so your pet can be more comfortable without the worry of side effects.
How effective is treatment? There are some allergies that decrease with time and treatment. Other times a pet may need continued allergy shots to maintain tolerance to the specific allergens. Improvement in most cases is seen within 3-5 months of treatment at which injections are only given monthly. Food allergies need to be carefully scrutinized by the owner since they cannot be hyposensitized by allergy treatment. Spectrum labs will supply a list of food recommended for their specific allergies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlOzQk�b8Es http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN6k�nXCDBk http://www.vetallergy.com/veterinarians/login/
1.800.553.1391 Feel free to call for further assistance.