Spring is upon us, which means layers of yellow pollen will soon be upon our cars. If you’re like me, that means red eyes and runny nose from allergies. If you’re like my dog, that means incredibly itchy skin and ears. Like me, my dog has allergies to pine pollen. So why does he get itchy when we don’t? The answer is in the biology of pets’ skin versus ours. Unlike us, dogs and cats lack sweat glands over their bodies except for the bottoms of their feet. Instead, they have large oil glands that feed skin oil onto the surface and fur. When pollen lands on us, it floats on the microscopic sweat layer and stays there. In pets, the pollen and other particles (mold, dust mite bits…) are wicked under the surface where they create a reaction. That reaction then sends a chemical signal to the nerves that tells the brain to start scratching that spot.
In humans, skin rashes and ear infections are usually “caught”: we pick up a pathogen that either infects a wound or spreads to our ears to create a painful inner ear infection. While dogs can get infections this way as well, it is actually pretty rare when compared to the infections caused by allergic reactions. Dogs are always covered in germs, both bacteria and yeast. If you think about it, so are we by the end of the day. From the moment we step out of the shower, we start picking up germs from surfaces and the air. When it spreads across healthy skin, this effective barrier keeps it from infecting the deeper layers. The same is the case for dog, However, when dogs start scratching their skin, this traumatizes the sufaces and allows the germs into the living tissue and create an infection. This is the same for their ears when they start shaking their heads. Their outer ear canals are 6 times longer than ours and, while our infections tend to be inside of the ear drum, dogs infections are almost always in the skin of these long canals.
Skin and ear infections were one of the worst and most frustrating problems facing veterinarians. New treatments are targeted at the bodies chemical signals for scratching. For the short term allegies, we now have a pill that will stop scratching withn 1-3 hours with virtually no side effects. The pills last 12-24 hours per dose and don’t require any weaning like steroids. For longer allergy seasons or dogs that just don’t like taking pills, we also have an injection that lasts 1-3 months. With both of these treatments, clients can now mark their calendars for their dogs’ allergy season and call the clinic for the preventive the moment they notice scratching or shaking. We have some clients that literally used to spend thousands of dollars a year on skin and ear infections that we have not seen once for these problems in the last two years.