Allergies & Cures

When a dog comes in direct contact with a particular substance that is non-poisonous and develops a hypersensitivity to it, an allergy occurs. When the dog’s skin comes in direct contact with indoor or outdoor allergens, a contact allergy will occur. Such allergens can vary from household chemicals to grass. The contact allergy is not a life threatening condition for a dog but it comes with severe irritation and itchiness that cause a great discomfort to the dog.

However, it’s pretty difficult to decide whether your dog is suffering from a contact allergy or not mainly because itchiness can be caused by carpet powder or fleas too. Once your dog develops a particular sensitivity, he will mark some undesirable reactions to some objects his skin comes into contact with thus leading to the occurrence of the so called contact allergies.

There are 4 main types of allergies that can affect a dog and contact allergy is the least common among them. Contact allergies are easily curable mainly because they include the localization of the dog’s skin area that responds to the allergen. For instance, substances such as fragrance deodorants, fabric deodorants, wool, rubber, chrome or nickel, antibiotics or lotions that are applied on the dog’s skin can all lead to a contact allergy.

Your dog may show some unpleasant reactions to carpets, flea collars or beddings that have been used before. Contact allergies to chemicals are likely to be quite rare but you should control your dog from particular areas that have been treated with cleaning fluids, waxes or detergents. Contact allergies commonly affect the dog’s skin areas that are exposed directly and are lightly haired as well. A contact allergy will affect your dog’s skin areas that have been exposed to offensive and unpleasant substances.

Once this happens, you will notice visible redness, blistered lesions, vesicles and even small bumps on your dog’s lips and muzzle. Also, the dog’s paws may become itchy and turn reddish in color as well. Also, the dog may be scratching his abdomen against the floor thus developing blisters. In order to find out whether your dog is suffering from any contact allergy or not, you should observe his lifestyle, habits and routines in order to get a proper recognition and proceed to the exclusion of the possible nuisance. Remember that the elimination of the blamed contact is to be regarded as the best solution when it comes to a contact allergy in dogs.

Also, one of the best ways to handle the contact allergy symptoms in your dog is to give him baths with cool water and shampoos that contain eucalyptus or Aloe Vera. Make sure that you bathe him on a regular basis in order to reduce itching in your dog until his skin cures. Plus, you should make sure that your dog gets plenty of minerals, vitamins and fatty acids from his daily diet in order to stay healthy.