allergies occur when an animal's defense system overreacts to certain components found in the environment or in the food you eat, recognizing them as something harmful to the body and fighting them. This reaction has unintended consequences such as inflammation or itching, for example.
Allergies in dogs are a fairly common problem. To solve it, it is very important to know with which substances this reaction occurs, for which it is necessary to carry out certain tests. So in this article on our site, we'll go over the dog allergy tests that can be done.
Types of allergies in dogs
There are several substances, known as allergens, capable of producing an allergic reaction. We will briefly review the most common types of allergies to better understand the tests that can be performed on dogs and their role:
1. Food Allergy
The number of dogs that have allergies to certain food components is much higher than people think. Symptoms often include itchy skin and digestive disturbances, such as vomiting or a decreased consistency in the animal's feces.
A elimination diet, with a specific feed for dogs with food allergies (hypoallergenic feed), can be used to know if a dog have this type of allergy, as we will see later.
In any case, the allergy tests are recommended to confirm the existence of the process and to know what foods the animal is allergic to.
two. Flea bite allergy
Flea bite allergy, also known by its acronym DAP or DAPP (flea bite allergy dermatitis) is also a relatively common problem.
It occurs when the animal's body reacts to certain components of the saliva of these annoying parasites, and its most representative symptoms are intense itchingand alopecias (lack of hair) in various parts of the dog's body, being more frequent in the posterior part of the animal's back.
Although the diagnosis of these processes can be made based on the symptoms presented by the animal and the response to treatment, the allergy testsare highly recommended.
The treatment is based on flea control on the dog and the environment in which it lives and administering a product that reduces the itch until the above is achieved.
3. Allergy to environmental substances or atopy
Allergy to certain compounds found in the environment, such as pollen, for example, is also very common, especially in certain breeds such as the English bulldog, the French bulldog or the Shar Pei.
The most representative symptom is an intense itching and redness on the dog's skin. Also common are alopecias, which are caused by the animal scratching.
In this case, the allergy tests are even more recommended than in the previous processes, and the treatment is more complex.
In general, the treatment includes all those measures aimed at improving the condition of the skin and avoiding, as far as possible, contact with these allergens. There are also pharmacological products capable of controlling the process and fighting itching, but their effectiveness is highly variable.
Corticosteroids are effective but a very careful dosage must be followed and they cannot be used for a long time since cortisone has significant side effects.
Types of allergy tests for dogs
Before performing tests, the case should be examined by a veterinary, ruling out other processes that may cause digestive symptoms (such as gastroenteritis) or with itching and hair loss (such as bacterial skin infections or certain scabies).
Once this is done, it's good to know that there are various types of tests that can be performed on animals suspected of having allergies, the most common are:
- Elimination diet
- Intradermal tests
- Blood test
We will review these tests and their advantages and disadvantages below.
Elimination diet
As has been pointed out, an elimination diet is a reliable method to determine if a dog has a food allergy.
However, the vast majority of dogs with this problem are not allergic to just one particular food, but to several, and, furthermore, commercial feeds usually include a wide variety of components, with which that with this method it is practically impossible to find out to which specific foods the dog is allergic, this being its main inconvenient
Anyway, its main advantage is that it is a simple test that can be used to find out if the dog has a food allergy or it does not have it (although it is not known to which foods), which allows ruling out the process and starting a treatment.
This is achieved by feeding the animal only a hypoallergenic feed.
In these feeds, the food proteins are hydrolysed, that is, "cut" into smaller fragments, incapable of causing an allergic reaction. Therefore, if by providing this type of feed as the only food the symptoms disappear, we are facing a food allergy.
The treatment is, logically, very simple, feeding the animal only this type of feed throughout its life. Another drawback of this treatment is the relatively high price of this type of feed.
Intradermal tests
Intradermal tests have traditionally been used in animals and people, and are based on injecting under the dog's skin various substances capable of cause allergy, and observe the reaction of the animal's body (basically redness and swelling).
It goes without saying that this should be done by a veterinarian.
Its main advantage is that it is a fairly reliable method, and, as disadvantage, its discomfort, since it is usually necessary to sedate the dog and several injections have to be made under the skin (something not very pleasant for the animal).
In addition, the number of substances that can be studied is quite limited (if you want to investigate other allergens later, you have to repeat the test) and not useful against food allergies.
Blood test
In this case, the veterinarian will draw blood from the animal and send it to a laboratory, where they will detect theantibodies against certain allergens to know which of them the dog is allergic to.
The only drawback is that are not 100% reliable (the previous ones weren't either, and depended a lot on the subjective assessment of the veterinarian who performed them). In any case, its reliability is increasing, especially if the blood is sent to a trusted laboratory, if possible, specialized in allergies.
As advantages, they are much more comfortable and less painful for the dog (a simple blood draw is enough), and they allow the study of many more allergens than the previous ones, including compounds capable of causing food allergies.
