Testing Your Dog for Allergies

If your dog has allergies, it can be difficult to determine the specific culprit that is causing discomfort for your pup. However, allergy tests are becoming more common for identifying offending allergens. Here’s what you need to know.

Causes and Symptoms

Allergies in dogs are very common and can manifest themselves in many different ways. Allergies can be from food, fleas, or from environmental factors.

• Food – Dogs can be allergic to ingredients in their food or treats which can cause a reaction. This could include itchy skin or GI issues like diarrhea. Food allergies develop over time, so a reaction may not happen the first time your dog tries a certain food. However, if you think your dog is developing a food allergy, be careful as dogs with food allergies are at risk of anaphylaxis.
• Fleas – Many dogs are allergic to flea bits, which can cause itchy skin. Flea bites are most common around the ears, butt, and belly and are easy to diagnose because you will probably be able to see the fleas crawling on your dog.
• Environment – These are allergies that may be caused by seasonal allergens outside or by something in your home. These most commonly include pollen, dust, mold, and smoke.

Symptoms may include:

• Itching
• Rashes
• Swelling of the face, ears, lips, and eyelids
• Inflamed skin
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Sneezing
• Itchy ears
• Ear infections.

Testing

If your dog is experiencing symptoms of allergies, your vet may recommend an allergy test to determine the cause of the problem. These tests help your vet determine the right treatment. The tests will determine if your dog is allergic to pollen, dust, mold, or fleas.

There are some tests available to determine food allergies, however, they are widely regarded as unreliable and most vets will recommend an elimination diet instead. This means you will slowly remove individual ingredients from your dog’s diet while you monitor their symptoms in order to rule out certain foods until you can determine the culprit.

Treatment

There are a few different ways to treat your pet’s allergies depending on what they are allergic to:

• Fleas – If your pet is allergic to fleas, you will want to remove the infestation to make your dog more comfortable and reduce itching. The most common way to prevent a flea infestation is through topical and oral medications. You will also need to thoroughly clean your home where the fleas may have taken up residence.
• Food – If your dog has a food allergy, once you can determine the allergen, the course of treatment is to just avoid the food in the future. However, it can take a long time to find the source of your pet’s discomfort, so in the meantime, your vet may prescribe medications or steroids to control the itching.
• Environment – Environmental allergies are hard to treat because you cannot completely avoid things like dust or pollen from the environment. Instead, your vet may prescribe oral medicines, injectables, or steroids to reduce and manage their symptoms.

Dog allergies can be difficult to pin down, but once you do, there are a lot of options for ways to treat or manage your pet’s discomfort.