Does Your Golden Retriever Have Allergies
From the time you got your Golden Retriever, you have loved the golden hair of your dog. But you don’t love it falling all over your car, furniture, foods or clothes, right? And having to ask the veterinarian about the persistent itching and biting problem is not a very uncommon problem for Golden Retriever owners. There may be a wide variety of reasons including infection, parasitical intervention and allergies. Primarily there are four major forms of Golden Retriever allergies. These are flea allergies, atopy, food allergies and contact allergies.
Flea allergies, also referred to as skin inflammation, occurs due to an allergic reaction to flea saliva. If this happens to your dog, the first thing you will notice on his body is a small red papule, which is gradually changed into a crust. The commonly affected areas are lower back, back legs, hind legs, upper thighs and belly areas. Flea allergies is one of the most common forms of skin allergies and when you find your dog is excessively scratching and itching, you can consider this as the primary symptom of Golden Retriever allergies.
When flea allergies occur, the affected areas become hairless. In addition, the areas change color and the skin becomes thickened. As few a couple of bites or less can make a dog react if the skin is sensitive to flea biting. If you can control the flea population, then you can possibly offer effective treatment measures to your dog. Additionally, you have to control flea population in the external environment. There are few advanced methodologies and products that are beneficial in controlling flea infection.
When a dog becomes sensitive to any particular substance in the environment, atopy occurs. The harmful substances are either inhaled or soaked up by the skin of the dog. This is one of the major forms of Golden Retriever allergies, which may affect different body parts including groin, feet, underarm and face. Atopy also affects areas close to ear. Cat dander, fungal spores, weeds, pollen and grasses are the most common factors of atopy. Common interventions may involve antihistamines, antibiotics, cortisone administered either by shampooing or spraying.
Food allergies are another common form of Golden Retriever allergies. The symptoms are quite similar to atopy however the root cause differs significantly. Food allergies occur due to adverse reactions to specific foods like beef, dairy, wheat, soy and few poultry products.
In order to diagnose whether your dog has food allergies or not, you need to change the diet completely. Feed the dog with an alternative diet that contains sufficient among of nutrients. It needs to be continued for at least eight weeks without interruption. Meanwhile you need to observe whether there is any significant reduction in allergic symptoms.
On the other hand, contact allergies are mostly prevalent among Golden Retrievers having other forms of allergies like fleabites or atopy. In such cases, some of the areas become hairless, and the dog attracts a contact allergy.
Paw, underarms and the belly are mostly affected by contact allergy. Different chemicals used in carpet cleaning, grasses, polishes, waxes, and pollens are the common contributors of contact allergy.
