The latest ways to help dogs and cats cope with common allergies

Andrews McMeel Syndication

Is your dog or cat itching and scratching uncontrollably? It’s frustrating and sometimes even disturbing to see them so uncomfortable as they lick and chew at their feet and flanks, or frantically rub their faces on the carpet.

Itchy skin is a common problem in pets. Pollen, mold, grass, trees, weeds, dust, flea bites and some food ingredients can all cause itchiness and other allergic reactions.

Determining what’s behind the itchiness is a process of elimination. Your veterinarian may look for flea dirt on your pet’s body and recommend a preventive product if your dog or cat isn’t already on one; perform skin scrapings to check for infections caused by bacteria or yeast, which commonly accompany allergies; or suggest an elimination diet to rule out food allergies.

Pets who get itchy only at certain times of the year or who aren’t helped by flea-control products or a change in diet are likely suffering from an inhalant allergy caused by pollen, mold or dust. Food allergies, which are more common in cats than in dogs, usually involve sensitivity to common animal or plant proteins, such as beef, chicken or soy.

Can allergies be eliminated? There’s no magic bullet to resolve them, and many pets need a combination of therapies for best results. A cure is unlikely, but better treatments are available -- or in the pipeline -- to help quell the itching, runny eyes, ear infections and snoring that often accompany allergies in pets.

Drugs called kinase inhibitors work by changing cellular function to fight itchiness. An example is a drug called Apoquel (oclacitinib).

“Results in head-to-head studies against either prednisolone or cyclosporine show the drug to be equally effective in control of itch and inflammation and to have a very rapid onset of action, with relief sometimes apparent within hours of oral administration,” said board-certified veterinary dermatologist Dr. Douglas J. DeBoer of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in the proceedings of the 2016 North American Veterinary Community Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Other biologics with promise are called monoclonal antibodies. They are a type of immunotherapy that can be directed against key molecules that cause itchiness. A monthly injectable treatment is available for dogs.

Some dogs respond to old-school immunotherapy: allergy shots. Testing determines the substances to which the dog is allergic -- cats, for instance, or Bermuda grass. Then a veterinary dermatologist creates an allergy shot to hyposensitize the dog to specific allergens. Up to 75 percent of dogs get relief from allergy shots, although some may need additional therapies at certain times of year, depending on the type of allergy.

A more conservative treatment that is a good adjunct to medications is a high level of supplementation with essential fatty acids, or EFAs. They can have anti-inflammatory effects and may help to improve the skin’s barrier function -- its ability to control colonization by bacteria that cause itchy skin infections. It usually takes a month or two before effects are noticeable. Topical treatments such as shampoos and moisturizers can also help to enhance barrier function.

For pets who may have food allergies, an elimination trial -- feeding a food that contains ingredients a pet has never eaten before -- can help to identify the dietary culprit.

It’s a painstaking process. Simply switching from one brand or protein to another isn’t enough, because most commercial pet foods contain trace amounts of allergens that may not be listed on the label. That’s why trial diets usually comprise odd combinations such as kangaroo and oats or fish and potatoes. If the pet improves after eight to 12 weeks of eating only the hypoallergenic diet (no treats or table foods), ingredients are added back into meals one by one until it’s clear which one is causing the problem.

Q&A

Vitamin D

for dogs?

Q: If vitamin D supplementation is beneficial for humans, can it benefit dogs, too? -- via Facebook

A: That’s a great question! Researchers at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine published a study in the January/February 2014 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine suggesting that vitamin D deficiency could be a risk factor in congestive heart failure (CHF) in dogs.

They analyzed 31 dogs with CHF related to chronic valvular disease or to dilated cardiomyopathy, with 51 dogs unaffected by heart disease serving as controls. All the dogs were patients at Cornell University Hospital for Animals, which meant that blood samples could be taken simultaneously for evaluation of vitamin D levels.

The dogs with CHF had significantly lower levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream than the control dogs. A planned second phase of the study would supplement dogs being treated for CHF with vitamin D in addition to their regular medication.

Does this mean that owners whose dogs have heart disease should be giving their pets vitamin D? No. Excess doses of vitamin D can cause a condition called hypercalcemia. Depending on the severity of it, signs can range from lethargy and decreased appetite to kidney failure and even death. Without more information, supplementation isn’t recommended.

In this study, the dogs’ diet was not controlled, and the food they ate was not analyzed for vitamin D levels, so the amount of vitamin D they received through their diet was an estimate. Also, vitamin D can be stored in body fat. That could reduce the levels of vitamin D found in circulating blood. Joseph Wakshlag, a Cornell veterinary nutritionist, suggests that the lower levels of vitamin D found in dogs with CHF may mean that some element of the disease causes a lower concentration of vitamin D in circulating blood. -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Dog bites rise

for postal workers

-- It’s no joke when dogs bite postal employees. The number of postal workers attacked by dogs rose by more than 200 last year, for a total of 6,755. Los Angeles ranks highest among the 40 cities where postal workers are most likely to be bitten. The other cities in the top 10 are Houston, Cleveland, San Diego, Detroit, Denver, Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky. To prevent your dog from biting a delivery person, put him in a separate room and close the door before accepting a delivery. Teach children not to take mail directly from letter carriers if the dog is nearby.

-- How do a cat’s whiskers work? Technically termed "vibrissae," the specialized, highly sensitive hairs located on either side of the muzzle, above the eyes and elsewhere on the body, have multiple uses. Cats use them to detect small changes in air currents, alerting them to the approach of obstacles or other animals that might pose a danger. Whiskers also help cats to measure the width of an opening, determining if they will fit through it. Finally, whiskers are a telltale signal of a cat’s mood. When forward, the cat is friendly or curious. But back? Watch out!

-- Their soft, thick fur, large ears and long lifespan -- 10 to 15 years or more -- can make chinchillas attractive as pets, but they have some special needs. It’s important to handle them calmly to prevent them from losing large patches of fur at once. The crepuscular animals are active at dawn and dusk, so don’t count on them being entertaining during the day. They are sensitive to heat and need to live in an air-conditioned environment. A good diet for chinchillas includes commercial pelleted foods, plus high-quality hay and small amounts of treats, such as apples, unsalted sunflower seeds and dry oatmeal. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. They are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and are the authors of many best-selling pet-care books. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.

Extreme traits can contribute to poor health in a dog

Andrews McMeel Syndication

If you live with a bulldog, French bulldog, pug or other brachycephalic breed, you’re probably familiar with large veterinary bills related to breathing difficulties, eye injuries and nasty skin-fold infections. But you might be surprised to learn that those dogs are also more prone to common conditions that affect all dogs.

That was the finding of a research team at Nationwide after analyzing its database of 1.27 million dogs from 2007 to 2015. They looked at 184,748 dogs of 24 breeds identified as brachycephalic -- meaning they had large heads, short snouts and protruding eyes -- to determine whether those dogs were less healthy, as healthy or more healthy than dogs without those features.

When accidents, infectious diseases and conditions related to brachycephalic anatomy, such as elongated soft palate and a smaller-than-normal trachea, were removed from consideration, brachycephalic dogs were less healthy across the board. Ear infections, allergies, bladder infections and pneumonia were all found at higher rates in dogs with shortened faces.

“The relative disease rates for pneumonia are particularly noteworthy,” the report states. The prevalence of pneumonia was twice as high in brachycephalic dogs -- 1.6 percent compared to 0.77 percent in other dogs.

Brachycephalic dogs also had greater rates of digestive issues (including their infamous flatulence), tooth extractions, hyperthermia (overheating), valvular heart disease, bacterial skin infections, anal gland problems, patellar luxation, intervertebral disc disease, corneal ulcers and conjunctivitis.

Which breeds fall into the brachycephalic category? The breeds mentioned above are no surprise, but the list also includes the affenpinscher, Boston terrier, boxer, Brussels griffon, cavalier King Charles spaniel, dogue de Bordeaux, Japanese chin, Lhasa apso, mastiff, bull mastiff, Neapolitan mastiff, Pyrenean mastiff, Tibetan mastiff, Spanish mastiff, Pekingese and Shih Tzu.

Even before this information was announced at the 2017 North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, Florida, veterinarians have been concerned about the health of brachycephalic dogs.

In a presentation at NAVC in 2016, veterinarian Philip A. Moses addressed the health-related welfare of flat-faced dogs. A study by Niels C. Pedersen published last July in the journal Canine Genetics and Epidemiology reported that loss of genetic diversity in the bulldog was pronounced in the region of the genome that contains many of the genes that regulate normal immune responses. And at an Aug. 6 session at the 2016 American Veterinary Medical Association conference in San Antonio, Dr. Gail Golab, AVMA’s chief advocacy and public policy officer, noted that breeding dogs for extreme physical characteristics such as brachycephaly and wrinkled skin had led to a multitude of health issues.

What can be done?

Dr. Moses says that beyond treating individual dogs surgically to relieve their breathing difficulties, it’s important for kennel clubs, breeders, owners and veterinarians to recognize and learn about the health problems in these dogs and how they can be improved through better breeding. He regularly speaks to breed clubs about the issues associated with their breeds, especially those with a genetic basis.

In the 2016 NAVC proceedings, he says: “For example, hemivertebrae is highly heritable and could be virtually removed from most of these breeds if radiographic screening was compulsory. I advise that all dogs should have good-quality spinal radiographs taken at 6 months of age, and any dog with any vertebral body abnormalities should be neutered.”

He urges breeders to educate new puppy owners about the problems associated with their breeds. Buyers, too, need to do their homework and reject puppies who come with contracts that don’t cover conditions considered “normal” in brachycephalic breeds, such as stenotic nares (narrow nostrils), tracheal hypoplasia (narrowed trachea) and elongated soft palate. While these problems are common in brachycephalic dogs, they are not normal and should not be accepted as such.

Q&A

Will cat attack?

Owner is concerned

Q: My cat is aggressive to people who come into our home, whether it’s workers or guests. She crouches, flicks her tail back and forth and hisses. I’m afraid she’ll attack someone. Why does she do this, and what can we do? -- via email

A: Cats who behave aggressively may be warning strangers off their territory or expressing fear of a new person. Whether cats are territorial or fearful, they start with body language and vocalizations to try to drive off the person or animal who’s invading their home or scaring them. It’s an impressive display, and you are right to be concerned that an actual attack could occur.

While it might be nice for some people to know an attack cat has your back, most of us want people in our home to feel welcome and not at risk. A cat’s teeth and claws are formidable weapons that can cause real harm.

If this problem has begun suddenly, take your cat in for a veterinary exam to rule out health problems that could be causing the behavior. Conditions that can cause cats to be irritable include hyperthyroidism, arthritis and cancer.

For a cat with a clean bill of health, manage the problem by putting her in a safe place before you let people into your home. A “safe room” might be a bathroom, a guest bedroom or an outdoor “catio.” Whatever area you choose should contain all your cat’s needs: food, water, toys and a litter box.

Keep your cat there until guests or workers leave. If your cat will be in an area where she can see and be seen, ask guests to ignore her -- no talking to her, trying to pet her or even looking at her. Consult a behavior expert about ways to desensitize and counter-condition your cat to visitors. -- Mikkel Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Take time to

learn pet first aid

-- April is Pet First Aid Awareness Month. It’s a good time to sign up for a class on pet first aid skills. Even if you have taken such a course before, a refresher is always a good idea. Basic skills that can save your pet’s life or relieve pain until you can get to the veterinarian include knowing how to stop bleeding, check vital signs such as heart and respiratory rate, clean and bandage a cut or scrape, recognize and care for an animal in shock, and how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on a pet who is choking.

-- Feline social media stars? We have some cats for you. Summer the Somali at Sparklecat.com makes therapy visits, parties in Palm Springs at cat shows, strolls hotels on a leash and is a Cat Writers Association certificate of excellence winner. On Instagram, Yana, the cat with a split-color face (half black and half orange), has nearly 47,000 followers. Hamilton the Hipster Cat, with a milk meowstache you won’t believe, has more than 120,000 likes on Facebook. But they both have a way to go to catch up with @Sockington on Twitter, who has 1.41 million followers. Now that’s social petworking!

-- If your dog is a fetching fool, he has the brain of a rocket scientist, able to plot trajectory and predict the landing point of a flying object. While dogs have probably always chased and brought back moving objects, training dogs to retrieve downed game and return it undamaged to the hunter dates only to the mid-19th century, a mere blink of an eye in the history of dogs. Some dogs retrieve on land, some from water and others excel at both. Well-known retrieving breeds include Labrador, golden, Chesapeake Bay, flat-coated, curlycoated and Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. They are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and are the authors of many best-selling pet-care books. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.

Cats bring solace, happiness and relaxation with visits to nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

When their patient received a terminal cancer diagnosis, the staff at the Oregon nursing and rehabilitation facility where he was cared for offered him anything he wanted: cupcakes and ice cream for every meal, a pile of puppies to play with or anything else he could name.

“All I want is to have a cat on my lap again,” he said.

Basil to the rescue. The orange-and-white tabby, one of only 100 or so therapy cats recognized by therapy animal organization Pet Partners, made regular visits to the man for the last four weeks of his life.

“That was really special to me,” says Tina Parkhurst of Beaverton, Oregon, who fostered and then adopted Basil and her brother, Mac, after they were found in a field when they were about two weeks old.

Though not as numerous as therapy dogs, therapy cats throughout the country provide people of all ages and health conditions with unconditional love and comfort. Their visits can help improve patients’ mobility, memory, communication, pain management and self-esteem, or simply make them smile and laugh. Often, people reminisce about previous cats in their lives.

Parkhurst was familiar with the concept of therapy cats when she began fostering Basil and Mac. She recognized special qualities in their personalities that made her wonder if they would be suitable for the work. They connected easily with people and had calm natures. Basil seemed a little more fearless than Mac, so Parkhurst began training her first, teaching her to wear a harness and leash and taking her on visits to a big box pet supply store. Eventually, they went through the Pet Partners training program, earning a perfect score in the evaluation.

Now Basil and Parkhurst make visits to facilities two or three times a week. Basil gets a bath before every visit, and she’s trained to sit on a towel that is placed on a bed or someone’s lap. To entertain residents, she sits up on her hind legs and gives a high-five. But her best “trick” is her ability to help people relax. Parkhurst recalls one woman suffering from dementia whose daughter had invited them to visit.

Because of her dementia, the woman had become increasingly aggressive and agitated, unable to sleep despite heavy doses of medication. When Basil came to visit, the woman was sitting in a recliner, her daughter at her side.

“We started to talk, and I asked if she would like to have Basil on her lap,” Parkhurst says. “She said, ‘That would be nice.’ I put Basil’s blanket on her lap, put Basil down and in three minutes this woman who would not sleep unless she was heavily medicated was crashed out like a light. Basil was out like a light, too. Her daughter sat there and quietly cried. She said, ‘My mom hasn’t slept like this in weeks and weeks.’”

Because they are people-friendly in a variety of settings, many active or retired show cats make therapy visits, but any cat with a friendly, calm nature can become a therapy cat with the right training. Appropriate handling and socialization in kittenhood, with exposure to many different people, places, sounds and experiences, can help cats develop a therapeutic personality.

Taking Basil to visit people brings special rewards, Parkhurst says. One woman told her, “I wake up smiling on Sundays now because I know I’m going to get to see Basil.”

Parkhurst adds, “To see their faces light up and the love in their eyes when they say something like that, it touches your heart and changes the way you walk through the world.”

Q&A

Do dewclaws

have a purpose?

Q: Why do dogs have dewclaws? I’m talking to a breeder about a puppy, and she says the dewclaws will be removed. Is it better to remove them or keep them? -- via email

A: Dewclaws are small thumb-like appendages that, if a dog has them, are found high on the inside of each paw (on the carpal, or wrist, of the front leg). Certain breeds are distinctive for having double dewclaws on each hind leg. They include the Beauceron, briard, great Pyrenees and Icelandic sheepdog.

The dewclaws are often referred to as vestigial appendages, meaning they no longer serve a purpose, but many dog owners would beg to differ on that subject. Dogs haven’t taken to texting yet (give them time), but they use their dewclaws to grasp and manipulate items such as bones and toys, grip ice or other surfaces to pull themselves out of water, and gently scratch an itchy eye. Dogs doing agility may grasp the sides of the teeter with their dewclaws to steady themselves. And canine speedsters such as whippets and border collies use their dewclaws to corner like race cars.

Now some breeders remove the dewclaws because they don’t see any use for them, and because it can be a painful, bloody mess if your dog tears his dewclaw. Dewclaws that stick out, instead of being tight to the paw, can get caught in carpeting or brush or when dogs go after prey such as lizards in rock piles. Usually the dewclaws are removed when puppies are only a few days old. While painful, it’s not an especially traumatic event, as it would be later in life.

For dogs that do the dew, it’s important to trim the claws regularly to help prevent tearing and the possibility of the dewclaw growing into the footpad. -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Doberman pinscher wins

Beverly Hills dog show

-- A Doberman pinscher named Rip tore away with the Best in Show award at the Kennel Club of Beverly Hills Show, beating out more than 1,200 dogs of 166 breeds and varieties. Formally known as GCHP CH Fidelis Ripcord, Rip also won Best of Breed at Westminster last year, has multiple other Best in Show wins and ranks third among all working group breeds. If you missed the televised show on April 16, look for a repeat April 17 on the USA network and April 23 on NBC.

-- The kooikerhondje is the latest breed to gain recognition by the American Kennel Club, making him eligible to compete in AKC dog shows starting in January. The small red-and-white Dutch dogs, which will be in the sporting group, number about 2,000 to 3,000 throughout the world. People who know them appreciate their fun-loving personality, active nature and quick mind. A fringe of black hairs on the tips of the ears -- known as earrings -- and a plumed white tail are among the kooiker’s standout physical characteristics. Kooikers were originally used to lure ducks for hunters, but these days they excel at more peaceful activities, such as agility, flyball, freestyle, nose work and other dog sports.

-- Some people see dollar signs when they look at their dogs, but not for the same reason as Kathleen Wortham of Costa Mesa, California. Her Newfoundland, Xander, nabbed a stash of cash off her kitchen counter while she was away from home one day. Search as she might, the only evidence was a torn $20 bill in her yard. It happened not once, but twice. Wortham recovered the loot when she was vacuuming the bedroom, where Xander kept his toys near his bedding. A closer look turned up hundreds of dollars in 20s. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. They are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and are the authors of many best-selling pet-care books. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.