What Causes Dog Skin Allergies?
Few things are more stressful than watching your pet go to town scratching and licking itself. Not knowing what to do for dog skin allergies can leave a loving owner feeling a bit helpless, but that needn’t be the case. First, let’s get a basic understanding of how an allergic reaction happens. • A dog is exposed to something in it’s environment that triggers a response from the immune system. This can be something your pet has eaten, sniffed, or even rubbed up against. • The immune system then sends out histamines in the bloodstream to attack the offending substance. • The histamines have the unfortunate side-effect of causing an irritating reaction in your pet’s skin, resulting in an itchy feeling that your dog seeks to remedy by scratching. • Scratching only intensifies the skin irritation, causing an increase in inflammation, and unleashing a vicious cycle of itching and scratching that can result in a serious infection if not dealt with swiftly.
