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Tag: atopy

  • Don’t do food trials in summer

    food-bowl-281980_640I now try to avoid running food trials in mid-summer. Certainly on first presentation, with no previous history of allergic dermatitis, I tend to treat accordingly and wait to see what happens later in the year as vegetation dies back.

    Food allergic dermatitis does not have a seasonal basis, so if the signs resolve or exacerbate over the course of the year, food allergy is not the primary cause (although some cases can confuse us as they have both an element of food allergy and atopic dermatitis).

    I have also seen cases started on food trials in the summer months that appear to get better as the year progresses, only for the owner to become reluctant to challenge as the dog is “better” – whereas, in reality, the improvement is the result of reduced exposure to an environmental allergen.

    So I usually wait and see if the signs persist to suggest a non-seasonal allergic dermatitis, and THEN do a food trial.

  • Immunotherapy in atopic dogs is a valuable tool

    Canine atopy
    “Canine Atopy” with dermatitis around the eye, caused by rubbing. Via Wikipedia Commons.

    My colleagues and I use immunotherapy on a fair number of dogs to treat atopic dermatitis. Research tells us it can be a valuable tool in some dogs, but at the same time up to a third of dogs respond poorly.

    We are lucky in our practice as anecdotally we find the majority of dogs do well, and we only get 10% to 15% that do not respond. This may be because:

    • We are really hot on parasite control in our practice – we have a large urban fox population and see cases of angiostrongylosis – so we advise Advocate on a regular, monthly basis. So it is unusual for us to see atopic dogs that flare due to concurrent parasite infestation.
    • We strongly advise owners to do and/or preserve with food trials – and some, okay, just one or two, do respond and relapse on challenge.
    • We also try to make sure we keep the perpetuating factors, for example, pyoderma and Malassezia dermatitis, to a minimum with medicated wipes and shampoos.
    • The older the dog when it starts immunotherapy the less likely it is to respond and we advise our owners accordingly.

    Good luck with those frustrating allergy cases – hopefully there are some tips here to help. And cats also do well on immunotherapy.