Many Pets Are Allergic To Their Owners
By Susan Bisset and Charlotte Edwardes http://www.telegraph.co.uk 5-11-1
Veterinary scientists have come up with a surprising explanation for an increasing incidence of illnesses among pets: many animals are allergic to their owners.
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According to new research, as many as 750,000 domestic cats and dogs suffer from the condition - caused either by a direct physical aversion to human skin or by a reaction to the excreta of dust mites that feed on dead human skin cells.
Pets which are allergic to humans suffer from sneezing fits or skin irritation which can lead to them scratching themselves until they bleed. The findings follow research at the Hospital for Small Animals at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh, which carries out allergy tests on more than 160 cats and dogs a year. Staff estimate that up to five per cent of pets are allergic to humans.
Dr Peter Hill, a veterinary dermatologist working with the team, said: "We have discovered that a small number of dogs and cats are allergic to human skin scale and are therefore directly allergic to their owners.
Neil Fraser, the managing director of Scottish Pet Insurance, confirmed that the link between humans, dust mites and pet allergies was now accepted. He said: "Treatment for allergies can cost up to £2,500 per animal."
Dr Steve Shaw, an allergy specialist at the Animal Health Trust, said that the conditions were often very distressing. "Symptoms include itchiness on the face, feet and hairless areas for the dog. Cats will lick and chew their fur out. The usual treatment involves a variety of drugs including essential fatty acids, antihistamines and steroids to reduce inflammation. Desensitisation injections can be used to modify reaction to the causes of the disease."
Beverly Cuddy, the editor of Dogs Today, said that animal allergies were one of the biggest costs to animal insurance companies. She said: "Skin problems in dogs are increasing and are often very difficult to diagnose." One owner, Valerie Harmsworth, was told that Lewis, her black labrador, was allergic to dust mites after he developed a serious skin condition. She said: "I was heartbroken. He would scratch and bite himself until he bled. I was sleeping on the sitting room floor so that I could respond to him immediately and try to stop him scratching."
Mrs Harmsworth said: "The vets wanted to put him down and he looked so terrible that when I walked him in the street I would get abuse. I knew that indirectly we were causing it and my vet told me that I should put him out of the house, in a kennel in the garden, but Lewis was really attached to me."
In an attempt to rid her home at Kempshot, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, of the mites, she ripped up the carpets, changed Lewis's bedding and bought a new vacuum cleaner. Mrs Harmsworth never considered getting rid of the dog and eventually discovered that aloe vera helped to ease the symptoms of his allergy.
Pet allergies are becoming so common that the British Allergy Association, inundated with calls from distraught pet owners, is setting up a separate Pet Allergy Association. Muriel Simmons, the BAA chief executive, said: "We were getting so many calls that it got to the point where I had to say I can't keep giving advice on pets - I'm employed to give advice on humans."