Allergy Season

Are you sneezing and coughing as pollen fills the air?  Odds are, your little buddy is suffering too. 

Environmental allergies are very common in pets.  You may find your pet is itching and sneezing more so than normal.  There are a few things you can do to help your buddy.

I recommend wiping your pet’s fur with a wipe or damp cloth every time he or she returns from outside.  You also might consider increasing the number of baths during allergy season.  Both will help you to reduce the amount of pollen your furry friend brings into the house, which should reduce sneezing for both of you.

Just as with us humans, limit outdoor exposure whenever pollen counts are high.  Some animals are more sensitive to outdoor allergens than others, so this might be particularly helpful for them. 

In some cases, you may need to visit the vet.  Believe it or not, some allergy treatments are not expensive.  Your vet can help you find the right medicine to help your buddy.

Hang in there!  The pollen levels will eventually stabilize so we can all breathe a little easier.

Rescue Mommy

Allergy Alert

Some parts of the country are still experiencing snow storms on a regular basis.  Here in the South, the grass has started to turn green.  The birds are singing.  The dogwood trees have thick buds ready to burst open.  Daffodils have spring from the earth and are in full bloom. 

Now is the time to pay a little extra attention to your buddy.  A lot of animals who experience the great outdoors have problems with seasonal allergies.  It makes sense if you think about it.  They are low to the ground, so their paws and bellies pick up lots of allergens.  Dogs constantly smell everything, so all that pollen just shoots right up their noses. 

All of this results in itchy skin, watery eyes, and sneezing.  Your pet may dig at the fur, resulting in patchy areas of missing fur.  They are in just as much misery as we humans are!

In most cases, antihistamines offer an effective, affordable solution to the problem.  Consult with your vet first.  Do not give your buddy over-the-counter medicines without his or her direction.  Your vet can tell you the exact product to use along with the proper dose.

Good luck!

Rescue Mommy