When it itches

We were actually really stressed about packing and a bit nervous too. Because when Faya was eight months old, we took her to Brussels for the first time to visit our family there. A 7-hour drive is a long time for a young dog.

In addition to all the vacation preparations, Faya started licking her paws all the time. Not knowing what to expect, we paid a quick visit to the vet beforehand. He prescribed us cortisone for the week abroad so that we could enjoy our vacation stress-free. Well, we did the cortisone therapy, drove to Brussels without any problems and had a good time.

Back home, Faya started licking her paws again after the last cortisone tablet was administered - incessantly. It tugged at our nerves, because even at night when we actually wanted to sleep, Faya continued to lick. The constant licking caused the affected areas of skin to become inflamed and we wanted to avoid this at all costs. Faya therefore wore a vet collar most of the time.

Change of vet

Our vet at the time was at a loss and suspected an allergy. We had to feed her an allergy food for eight weeks to rule out the possibility that it was due to the food. It wasn't the food and the eight weeks were long. This was followed by a blood test, which unfortunately didn't show anything either. The vet referred us to a specialist dermatology clinic for animals. Fortunately. Because from the first visit there, we had a small glimmer of hope that we could get the problem under control. But we still had a long way to go.

More or less six month after all had started, we had the big allergy test done with Faya. She was partially sedated and - as with the test for humans - one allergen after another was injected into her skin. Where the skin swells, her body reacts to the allergen - in other words, she is allergic.

General anesthesia is not possible for this test, as her body would otherwise no longer react to the allergens. She had no pain and was fit and alert again immediately after the test. And we finally knew what she was allergic to! The list is long: dandelion, mugwort, some grasses, house dust mites, feathers, mold and yeast. Even the vet was surprised that she reacted to so many things.

After the diagnosis, we were finally able to discuss a suitable treatment. We decided on desensitization. There wasn't much else to do, because you simply can't avoid these allergens. Desensitization for dogs can either be injected by the vet every three months or pumped into the mouth twice a day at home using a pump bottle. As Faya doesn't like injections at all, we have been giving her the desensitization solution directly into her mouth twice a day ever since.

So Faya has been desensitized every day since now two years. The dog is treated with an individually tailored allergen solution so that the immune system slowly gets used to the allergens. And in the best-case scenario, eventually no longer reacts to them at all. Desensitization is the only way to treat the allergy.

An improvement can certainly be seen if you compare it with the time at the very beginning. However, Faya is not completely cured and perhaps never will be. In addition to desensitization, we bathe her paws twice a week with a special shampoo against the yeast that builds up in excess due to her environmental allergy and to which she is also allergic.

We also keep our home as clean as possible so that not too much dust builds up. Our vacuum cleaner is equipped with a HEPA filter. Her bedding and sheets are washed every two weeks at 60 degrees to kill the mites. We treat the carpets with a special anti-mite spray.

Supportive medication

In spring and summer, when everything is in bloom and the pollen is in high season, Faya is also given medication to relieve the itching: Cytopoint or Apoquel. Both are cortisone-free, newer medications that work wonders for us. And of course we have her checked regularly by the vet.

Thanks to all these measures, Faya can now live almost symptom-free, which is a great relief for her and for us too. The road was and is a long one, but if your dog is going through something similar: Don't give up, get professional advice and stay positive!

Faya only wears the vet collar very rarely and if she has to be left alone for a few hours, she wears socks to be on the safe side. She probably wouldn't need them at all, but this way we can be sure and reassured that she won't start licking if we can't stop her.

If you have any other tips or would like to share your experiences, please write them in the comments below.

According to the Swiss Allergy Center, animals have similar cells, antibodies and receptors to humans. This is why they also react to pollen, house dust mites and other substances. Nowadays, one in five dogs is affected by an allergy or intolerance. As with humans, there are different types of allergies and hypersensitivity reactions in animals such as dogs, the causes of which are not yet fully understood. It is assumed that genetic factors and environmental influences play a role. Pollen does not usually trigger allergic rhinitis in dogs, but rather what is known as canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) - an atopic skin inflammation.