Allergy to dogs manifests itself as a runny nose, conjunctivitis, skin lesions and sometimes bronchial asthma. If someone feels bad after visiting a house where a dog lives, the dog is probably the source of the allergy. However, if there is also a cat, it may be the culprit, because many people who are allergic to cat fur are not allergic to dog fur. Sometimes, however, it is not the animal itself that causes allergies, but, for example, mites in cats' ears. Dogs are allergic to exfoliated skin, urine, feces, saliva and even tears.
It is not true that naked dogs do not cause allergies at all, because it is only colloquially said that the animal's hair causes allergies. In fact, the fur is allergically inactive because it sensitizes what settles on it, i.e. exfoliated epidermis and various skin secretions. Naked dogs probably cause less allergies, but it cannot be said that they do not cause allergies at all. Short-haired breeds are most allergic because their epidermis comes to the surface more easily, and large breed dogs because they produce more allergens. Moreover, dogs always show more severe allergy symptoms during the shedding season. It is worth remembering that there is no breed of dog in 100% that is safe for allergy sufferers. The fact that some breeds are called hypoallergenic only means that they are less allergic than others. Some are considered such due to the lack of an undercoat, others due to the complete lack of hair. The breeds that will be easiest for people with allergies are: toy and miniature poodles (they do not shed, but they need to be trimmed regularly), and: shih-tzu, lhasa apso, yorkshire terrier, silky terrier, maltese, bichon frize, bolognese, havanese, coton. de Tuléar (however, these are breeds that require very time-consuming hair care) as well as hairless dogs: Mexican hairless dog, American hairless terrier, naked Chinese crested dog and Peruvian hairless dog "Inca".
Initial allergy symptoms may appear as early as a month after the first contact with the allergen, but in practice it may take up to several years. Allergy is a two-phase disease. The first phase does not cause any symptoms because the body is just learning which substance is the allergen. In the second case, a complete set of symptoms becomes visible. However, it can certainly be said that the more often a child prone to allergies has contact with a dog, the sooner he will get sick. Prevention of the development of the disease takes place in three phases. If a person is not allergic, try not to become allergic to a given thing. The second phase is to prevent the symptoms from occurring, and the third is to try to reduce them so that they are not so bothersome.
According to research, a child who is not allergic to a dog and lives with it increases its immunity to allergies. However, if your child has an allergy, you should not keep the dog, as an allergic person should not be exposed to the allergen. Because if a child has no symptoms, it is difficult to determine whether he or she has an allergy, it is worth doing allergy tests before the dog lives with the child.
If the patient must live with a dog, a good method is to frequently rinse the dog in the shower (without shampoo) or go to a lake where the dog swims. This is because allergens dissolve in water. It would be a good idea to rinse your dog, if not every day, then at least twice a week. Additionally, a dog should not sleep in an allergy sufferer's room. There should also be no dusty equipment or heavy curtains or carpets in the patient's surroundings, as these places retain allergens. This is because the carpet in the room can never be washed thoroughly, while allergens can be removed from smooth floors quite effectively (even with an ordinary proverbial wet rag). If the dog lives outdoors, problems should not arise at all, because the concentration of allergens in the house will not be high enough to cause allergies - provided that the patient avoids direct contact with the dog.
You can try to reduce allergy symptoms with medications and vaccines. Vaccination is a quite effective method that also prevents the development of allergies (the patient receives many injections with increasingly larger doses). Desensitization attempts to force the body to tolerate the allergen, but this does not mean cure, as it only shifts the tolerance threshold - so larger amounts of the allergen may still cause an allergic reaction.
Allergy is a hereditary disease and if the parents did not have allergies, the probability of its occurrence in a child is around 12%. However, when one of the parents has an allergy, the risk of developing an allergy in the child is doubled, and in the case of both parents suffering from allergies, it is up to 70%! However, only the tendency to allergies is inherited, not the type of allergy, so the fact that parents are allergic to dogs does not mean that their child will be allergic to it.
Generally speaking, cats are much more allergic than dogs. Some people are allergic to parrots, others cannot feed their fish daphnia because they are allergic to them. Allergies may also be caused by (although it is difficult to say to what extent) hamsters, mice, rabbits and guinea pigs.
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Approximately 10% of all allergic people are allergic to animals, but looking at the whole, it is probably less than 1%. society. According to research, there are 1/3 more allergy sufferers among children than among adults, and it is really difficult to prove that allergies are outgrown...
Prepared by: Izyda Bach-Żelewska
