Your dog can’t stop itching and scratching and you think dog skin allergies may be the issue. You might be right, but the great news is that probiotics for dogs with allergies can help your dog say, “Hello!” to happier, healthier and less itchy skin.<\/b><\/p>\nWhat are common canine skin allergies?<\/h2>\n
Some of the most common dog skin allergies cause inflammation for your dog’s skin. That inflammation is often rooted in a histamine reaction to some sort of trigger or allergen–environmental exposure like mold, pollen or grass is very common.<\/p>\n
Sometimes that comes from bites from insects like fleas or ticks. Sometimes they even have skin reactions from allergies or intolerances to things they eat.<\/p>\n
It’s pretty easy to see the most common sign of a dog allergy–they scratch! Often, they scratch to the point that they can rub skin or paw raw. They may even scratch at and bite at ‘hot spots’ they’ve created.<\/p>\n
Additionally, your dog may show signs similar to those of us humans who have allergic reactions: sneezing, coughing and runny nose.<\/p>\n
Sometimes you’ll see hair\/fur loss and they may look like they have eczema.<\/p>\n
Some dogs even suffer from chronic ear infections or GI problems like vomiting,\u00a0diarrhea<\/a>,\u00a0constipation<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0irritable bowel<\/a>.<\/p>\n More often than not, veterinarians will prescribe some sort of antihistamine, cortisone, hydrocortisone (or a combination of all those and more) to battle the symptoms of dog allergic reactions. No one wants to see Fluffy suffering as she itches and scratches, and stopping the histamine reaction in her body can give some symptom relief.<\/p>\n The issue for dog allergies, though, is deeper. The cause of the allergic reactions in the first place is commonly due to a poorly functioning immune system. Allergic reactions in humans or dogs come from an overactive immune response (and the release of histamine to battle) and so prescribing many of those medicines may stop symptoms, but they won’t get to the root of the problem.<\/p>\n Allergic reactions happen when your dog’s immune system thinks it needs to fight. It recognizes something–mold, grass, a bite, an ingredient in food–as an intruder to your dog’s microbiome and wants to get rid of it, like yesterday.<\/p>\n The immune system conjures up a valiant inflammatory response to purge it, but in the process, your dog may also suffer from coughing, sneezing, gastric issues or crazy itching.<\/p>\n While the actual reasoning behind your dog’s immune system inaccurately recognizing things as invaders is unknown, the science shows that when a dog’s immune system is triggered, his body releases protein antibodies to take the allergen\/invader molecules to the white blood cells (mast). Once that’s happened, huge amounts of histamine are released to help purge the invader, but that also brings on lots of the side effects we see as allergic reactions in dogs.<\/p>\n When your dog’s gut and GI tract are not healthy, this can make things worse because poorly absorbed nutrients, proteins and fuel for your dog’s body mean his immune system won’t be up to fighting as wisely, and he won’t be able to discern between a true viral\/bacterial invader and a common ingredient in a food or blade of grass.<\/p>\nTreatments for canine allergies<\/h2>\n
Why do dogs have skin allergies?<\/h2>\n
Why probiotics for dogs with allergies?<\/h2>\n