We’ve got a question from one of our readers:

My dog is allergic to peanut butter. Do you know any remedies for this kind of dog allergy?

As dog allergy is a very important and delicate issue, we felt like writing this short article containing the answer.

Allergy, be it in humans or dogs, or any other pet, is incurable. Repeated exposure to the substance that causes the allergic reaction only makes it worse, and aggravates the symptoms. The only cure is to stay away from the incriminated allergen. In your case, you should keep your dog away from peanut butter. There are many foods dog eat, so it shouldn’t be a problem to take the peanut butter out of his diet. This also goes for humans a well. Although for humans there are drugs which alleviate allergy symptoms (antihistamine medication), those drugs only work on the symptoms and not on the condition which causes those symptoms. Allergy cannot be cured. There is a possibility of getting a vaccine for desensitization, but the process takes several years and it doesn’t grant the same resutls for each patient. Besides, those shots are quite painful and they have to be administered several times a week.

This is why, in case of food allergy, the best thing is to stay away from the food which causes you the allergic reactions and you’ll be well. The same principle applies to dog allergy.

Categories: Allergy Tips, Pets Allergy
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Perennial allergic rhinitis is a condition which resembles a lot to hay fever, showing the same range of symptoms and the same mechanism of action: there is always an allergen involved. When exposed to this allergen, an inflammation of the nasal and ocular mucosa occurs, leading to blockage of the airway passages. Unlike the seasonal allergic rhinitis which occurs only in spring and autumn, with the occasion of some pollens getting airborne, perennial allergic rhinitis is an all year round affection, which makes it tough to be supported without severe decreasing of the quality of life. If we think that the main symptoms of perennial allergic rhinitis are a permanent cold (at least the cold symptoms, not the cold itself), sore throat, headaches, or even a severe decrease of concentration, or heavy fatigue (due to the lack of sleep caused by the stuffed nose) there’s no wonder that people are very concerned about this illness which cannot be cured.

There was this study which showed the correlation between perennial allergic rhinitis and alcohol consumption in women:

There is a link between alcohol consumption and increased risk of perennial allergic rhinitis, according to a recent Danish study of 5,870 young adult women. The study, published in the July issue of Clinical and Experimental Allergy, found that the risk increased 3% for every additional alcoholic drink per week.

Source: Medical News Today (the link leads to the study details)

Categories: Nasal Allergy
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This is a question we’ve got from one of our readers: can dog allergy cause death?

The answer is that any allergy can cause death. It all depends on how violent the allergic response to the allergent exposure is. To make it more clear, one can have a mild allergy to mold, let’s say, and experience only slight symptoms of irritation, itching or sneezing. The same person can have an extremely severe allergy to wasp venom, without even knowing it. In the moment he gets stung by a wasp and his body gets in contact with the venom, a raging allergic reaction is triggered, with major implications for all vital systems functions, like breathing or blood circulation. The immune system wrongly assumes that the body is in major danger, and it starts a real war against the enemy, with the purpose of neutralizing it as soon as possible. This is called anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock, and it is a major affection which needs emergency treatment with epinephrine. There’s very little time from the occurrence time until death installs: only a few minutes, so in case this happens to somebody near you, don’t wait: call the paramedics. If you’re lucky, they’d save the person’s life.

Usually, people who were diagnosed with severe, life threatening allergies, must carry with them an epinephrine pen, and administer themselves the drug immediately after they’ve been exposed to the allergen.

If you know that you or one of your family members is allergic, you’d better test yourself and tell the other members of your family to get tested too, so you minimize the risk of suffering an anaphylaxis.

Even though you know that you only have a mild allergy to some substance, like dog dander, you still have to be careful. First, you shouldn’t have a dog at all, but if you do, you must watch yourself and call an ambulance at the slightest signs that your allergy worsens. Repeated exposure to the allergy-triggering factor leads in time to the aggravation of the symptoms, up to a severe or even lethal level.

So, allergy is not at all a joke and it should be treated seriously. Never ignore it, or you’ll pay a price with many times can be too high, for a disease which can be kept under control for a lifetime.

Categories: Dog Allergy
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Allergies are abnormal reactions of the immune system against harmless substances which enter in contact with the body. Due to a malfunction, the body detects and identifies those substances (which can be foods, latex, pollens, dust mites) as harmful for the health and integrity of the allergic person.

Likewise humans, pets can also suffer from allergies. Pet food allergies can be identified when seeing the animal scratching itself a lot. If you see your dog scratching and chewing himself a lot, make a visual check to see if it’s not the case of a flea allergy. After you’ve elliminated this possibility, you can think of another kind of dog allergy, namely the food allergy.

Food allergies in pets are a challenge, because the only cure is to remove the allergen foods from the animal’s diet. For this, you have to find out which are those allergens, and this can be done via a diet of ellimination: remove foods one at atime and see if the pet still has allergy symptoms. When symptoms are gone, you should stick to the diet which was good for him for the rest of his life, if you want to have a healthy pet.

Categories: Pets Allergy
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