Allergic skin disease. 4 Ancilliary Treatments

This data sheet contains a range of management strategies that will help some dogs with allergic skin disease. It is not intended that you read this list and apply them all to your pet, rather we may have recommended some of these to you during your consultation, and this is a reminder of what you can do. Much of the information is touched on briefly in this data sheet, but is covered in more detail elsewhere in this series.

Management strategies that may be appropriate for chronic allergic dermatitis

Flare factors are things that may affect your pet that whilst not the main cause of disease, can make things worse.

• avoid flea flares. As mentioned in sheet 3 use good insect control.
• dietary trial for dogs with non-seasonal allergies. Dietary allergens can cause flares in atopic dogs. Food allergens may develop with time so we may need to repeat a dietary trial if it has been a few years since the last one.
• Implement house dust mite control measures. House dust mites are a common cause of problems in allergic pets. Synthetic, impermeable raised beds can be useful. Also you can try mite proof covers for any bedding. Washing bedding once a week in ‘house dust mite wash’ may also be of benefit ( the latter mentioned products are available from many department stores).

Improving skin and coat hygiene and care

This list covers some things that can generally improve coat condition and increase your pet’s resistance to symptoms of skin disease recurring.

• Bath with a non irritant shampoo. QV wash, and bath oil can be soothing for dogs ( available from pharmacies). The bath oil can be made up in a spray bottle and applied to your dogs skin. Be careful where you do this as it can make the ground very slippery.
• Dietary supplementation. Some essential fatty acids can help the skin. They do this in two ways. Firstly they can improve barrier function (see allergic skin disease 1: causes and diagnosis Figure 2). Secondly they can have a mild anti-inflammatory effect. The doses required are high, and will take at least eight weeks to show any effect. We can discuss which are the best products to use, and in what quantity. For convenience we will often use a liquid form applied to the food.