Dogs get allergies. Not just from food but from outside!!!
How can this be? We mere humans can develop a cough or sneeze if the wind blows the wrong direction. But a dog?
They run nose-first through their world and everything they encounter. Fearlessly they head into what’s before them. With that kind of attitude and natural draw of curiosity there wouldn’t seem to be any room in their lives for such maladies.
And yet, as I found out, one of my best friends has developed allergies. This was a real surprise. Let me explain.
Recently my wife and I moved to a new home not far from where we had lived for over 30 years. Our bodies said it was time to ditch the stairs.
During the time it took to relocate my pointer mix, Spring was also telling me something about her body. Her message was as strong and obvious as mine but I didn’t know what she meant. She had developed the ugliest sounding cough I had ever heard come out of any animal. It started soon after I started moving boxes to the new house and my pups began exploring their new backyard paradise.
At first it was a dry cough. Nothing alarming since she has had that before and it went away. But in a few weeks time that dry interruption became a roar. Whether she was walking around in her new backyard investigating sites and sounds and smells or simply laying on her couch napping, that roar became worse and worse. It was time to see our veterinarian Dr. T.
He gave her a thorough exam. With his stethoscope in one hand and his other hand tapping Springs’ big chest he listened to her breathing and lungs. All clear.
Dr. T has an interesting expression on his face when he is engrossed in an exam. It’s a poker face. Clinical. No emotion. I’m worried I may have waited too long to get my girl in for an exam. Dr. T. Pokerface.
Poke. Prod. Flap his hands against Spring’s rib cage. Stethoscope moves from one spot to another across her deep chest. Still no sign of a possible diagnosis on the Doc’s face. Spring likes all of the attention. She tries to lick Dr. T’s face and nose whenever he gets close enough. She coughs politely. No roar. Just a delicate, ladylike cough. I want the roar. I need to validate my description of what I’ve been hearing and what’s been happening with her activities.
Upon completion of his extensive exam Dr. T stands up and shrugs his shoulders. He seems to like to do that before he provides his diagnosis.
“Well Doc what do you think?”
“Tell me more about the cough?” he asks. “When does she do it?”
Again I rundown the cough and how it comes on randomly. I have not found a reliable triggering event. She could be eating her dinner. Napping. She could be out in the backyard working on her tan or walking around listening for any new sounds. Then I start to describe the vegetation in our new backyard.
There is so much more than we had at our old home. New plants and bushes. New trees. Things we had not planted. We have massive pine trees. Oregon grape bushes. Creeping Jenny ivy everywhere. Two different types of edible grapes on vines all across the back fence. Regular kentucky bluegrass and an assortment of other bushes and plants I have yet to identify.
Dr. T scratches his nose. “I think Spring has allergies.” No emotion in his voice. No declaration. Pokerface.
“Hold on,” I say. “I have allergies that come around every spring. But I’m not sneezing and coughing at the house or in the yard. How can a dog get allergies? They stick their noses everywhere.” Dr. T, “oh dogs can develop allergies too. It’s not that uncommon.”
There you go. It’s not uncommon. I had no idea. My other dog Viva, the german shorthair pointer shows no signs or symptoms of allergies. She’s my little tank. She merrily runs headlong into bushes and plants too.
Treatment. Zytrex and another pill to help with congestion. Dr. T also recommended using a nasal saline solution. He said to put a few drops just inside of Spring’s nostrils. He said that since dogs do not naturally blow their noses like we do to clear mucus that these drops will induce her to sneeze.
This is a baffling discovery for me. I take my dogs everywhere with me. We jump into the truck to run errands. We head to the next trail for a hike. We drive through snow to get to our backcountry ski location. No coughing. No sneezing. Only big smiles on my pups faces.
Local honey can help your dog reduce the symptoms of outdoor allergens much as it can for us.
Most common environmental allergies come from pollen, mold, dust mites, and grass. Often these are only seasonal symptoms. Two good online resources I recommend to all of my pet friends are AKC.org and PetMed.com. There is a plethora of information and links to help discover so much more about our pets.
Spring was diagnosed with bronchitis last fall. Has that made her more susceptible to certain allergens and thus respiratory allergies and her severe cough.
On a side note, Spring was diagnosed with bronchitis last fall. Has that made her more susceptible to certain allergens and thus respiratory allergies and her severe cough.
Dr. T said there is a test available to identify allergens. He says it is expensive and may take over one month to get back the results. I think I’m going to dig deeper into some of the plant research first. I would like to unearth the possible pollen that makes my big girl uncomfortable. Meanwhile drugs and more love for my old Spring.
Dog Hikes 