Is Your Four Legged Friend Suffering: The Hidden Pet Allergy Crisis

Local TV

As allergy season hits its peak, it is not just humans who are suffering — our pets are at risk too.  Experts are urging owners to spot the subtle signs of allergies that could leave animals scratching in discomfort.

Transcript

00:00Our pets can suffer year-long, but at the peak season where we tend to suffer, those

00:07symptoms can be exacerbated. And for some dogs, yes, it is seasonal, but for others

00:11it's year-long. So very much so. How we recognise allergies and what we refer to as hay fever,

00:19our pets actually suffer, but in a different way. Their symptoms are different to how we

00:24experience and how we demonstrate allergies. While many owners focus on obvious problems

00:27like coughing or sneezing, experts highlight that skin irritation is a far more common allergy

00:32symptom in pets. Watching out for red patches, hair loss or excessive grooming behaviour after

00:39time outdoors can make a real difference in catching allergies early. But the symptoms you

00:43will see in your pet will be that scratching, biting, licking, chewing. And the key thing is

00:49if that continues and that scratching, that can lead into bacteria getting into the skin

00:55infection. So that's what we do want. We want to kind of get on top of it to prevent

00:59it getting worse. And we also want to get on top of it. So we give our pets kind of the

01:04relief they need. Early symptoms actually, ears. If you look at ears, people often see

01:10their dogs scratching their ears. To do it a little bit, it's okay. It's normal. But to be

01:15constantly going back to do that repeatedly, there's something going on there. And actually,

01:20allergies are generally evident in a younger pet, and then they kind of continue to progress.

01:26But as young as two years old, two, three years old, it's quite a common age for these symptoms

01:31to start to kind of peek out there and become more obvious. And the ears are a key part that

01:39tend to flare up. Underneath their armpits, their axilla, their groin as well, if you see

01:43redness of the skin, there's something going on there. So again, that younger pet, make sure

01:49that ear issue isn't something that's a sign of something else there. And again, your vet

01:53will be able to kind of dig into that and figure out what's going on for you. But that's

01:58what I would look out for. And then make sure if you're seeing those symptoms, get to your

02:03vet. And your vet then can actually help you kind of work out the path forward. But with

02:07that education, with that information, you're coming in with a little bit of a clearer mind.

02:12And also, you can go back as well after a consult to kind of just do your own research,

02:18because it's important that you know where to go to. There's a lot of information out

02:21there, but it's difficult to understand what is correct, what's incorrect, where do you

02:27go for something that's reliable?

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