Guide To Allergy Relief For Pets
Based on research data from 2025, it appears that allergy relief for pets is a huge issue for pet owners. Skin allergies have ranked as the number one pet insurance claim for the past 13 years. There was a 40% rise in flea allergy dermatitis in late summer 2025. The average cost of canine skin allergy care costs up to $841 over a year, according to Trupanion pet insurance company. As a result, it’s important to understand pet allergies & how to get your pet more comfortable, so we’ve prepared this Guide To Pet Allergy Relief.
Guide To Allergy Relief For Pets: What Is An Allergy?
An allergy is an exaggerated immune response to something—an allergen–that’s otherwise generally harmless.
There are many types of allergic reactions. Some pets mount inappropriate immune reactions to insect bites or stings. Others might have an allergic reaction to certain vaccinations. The most severe allergic reactions—anaphylactic reactions—can be life-threatening. These are generally sudden onset reactions that are managed in an urgent or emergency care setting. This guide focuses on chronic, long-term allergies seen in a veterinary primary care setting.
Broadly, we’ll discuss three categories of allergies in dogs and cats:
- Flea Allergies – Flea bites are always a nuisance. But many of our patients experience a delayed inflammatory reaction that results in persistent clinical signs. In those cases, a protein in the flea’s saliva is acting as an allergen.
- Atopy – Some pets (and people) have a genetic predisposition to mount an exaggerated immune response to allergens from the environment, namely pollen, grasses, dust mites, and mold spores. This condition is called atopy.
- Food Allergies – Proteins in the diet also can act as allergens. Most commonly, these allergens are meat proteins, including beef, chicken, dairy, and fish. Food-allergic patients make up only between 10-20 % of all veterinary allergic cases. Atopy and flea allergies are much more common.
Guide To Allergy Relief For Pets: What are the Signs That My Pet Has Allergies?
The answer to this question is: Itchiness, itchiness, and more itchiness. Itchiness, or pruritus, may manifest as scratching, excessive licking, chewing, or rubbing of the face and/or body against furniture or rugs. Skin redness (erythema) and rashes also are common. Hair loss (alopecia) may result from damage to the coat and inflammation of the skin. In some cases, increased thickening and/or pigmentation of the skin may be present. Allergies may may affect the external ear canals, resulting in redness, pain, swelling, and discharge from the ears. All these clinical signs are due to allergy-induced inflammation of the skin, a condition generally termed allergic dermatitis.
Dermatitis weakens the skin’s protective barrier, increasing the risk of secondary bacterial and yeast infections on the skin and in the ear canals. Infections of the skin may cause bad odors, discharge, pustules, crusting, and skin discoloration. Certainly, not all skin and ear infections are secondary to allergies, but many are.
Guide To Allergy Relief For Pets: What are the Treatment Options for Pets With Allergies?
Obviously, for flea allergies, consistent use of effective flea prevention is key. Fleas are an essentially year-round presence in the Southeast, so stopping prevention during the winter is not a good idea for any pet, but it’s especially problematic if they’re flea allergic. See our previous blog post on Flea and Tick Prevention.
The management of environmental and food allergies isn’t as straightforward, however.
Hyposensitization
Most dogs with atopy are reactive to multiple, often many, environmental allergens. A veterinary dermatologist can perform an intradermal allergy test (IDAT) to test your pet’s reaction to multiple known allergens. Often, an atopic pet will react to multiple allergens, so avoidance is not feasible. Instead, hyposensitization therapy is pursued. This type of therapy seeks to essentially “vaccinate” your pet against those allergens which are most problematic as determined by IDAT. Therapy comes either in the form of an injection or as drops given under the tongue (sublingual). This is considered the “gold standard” in the management of atopy.
This type of therapy is effective in about 60 % of dogs and up to 80 % of cats. However, success takes a long time to manifest. It might take up to a year before allergy symptoms significantly improve, and start-up costs, including dermatology consultation, testing, and formulation of your pet’s specific immunotherapy, can be significant.
Hyposensitization is far from the only option for managing atopy! Many of the options available to us as general practitioners can provide more immediate relief from the inflammation and itchiness that plague our pet patients with allergies.
Steroid Therapy
Historically, veterinarians relied heavily on steroid therapy. Steroids like prednisone are powerful anti-inflammatory medications and often are quite effective, and fast, at relieving allergy symptoms. While there are times when their potent effects are needed, steroids generally are considered a poor long-term choice in the management of allergies. Long-term steroid usage increases the risk of endocrine diseases like Cushing’s syndrome and diabetes mellitus, along with other adverse effects.
Modified Cyclosporine
Modified cyclosporine (Atopica) is a medication that alters the immune system’s response to allergens without the side effects associated with steroids. This medication targets an enzyme (calcineurin) in the immune system’s T cells, reducing the production of a pro-inflammatory chemical (cytokine) called IL-2. Modified cyclosporine generally begins working well within 1-2 months of starting medication, which is faster than specific allergen immunotherapy but still far slower than steroid therapy. Some patients experience GI upset on this medication. Long-term use in dogs also is associated with abnormal (but benign) overgrowth of gum tissue (gingival hyperplasia).
Janus Kinase (JAK)-Inhibitors
A newer class of medications works by inhibiting proteins called Janus kinases (JAK). Inhibition of these proteins reduces the pro-inflammatory signals they produce when the immune system is presented with an allergen. Drugs in this class include Apoquel, Zenrelia, and NUMELVI. Generally, these medications work as quickly as steroids, often reducing inflammation and itchiness within hours of the first dose. Overall, these medications are well-tolerated, but some dogs experience GI upset. Alteration of the immune system may increase susceptibility to some infections, decrease response to vaccinations, and, in theory, reduce the body’s ability to protect against tumor development. There are no JAK-inhibitors labeled for use in cats.
Monoclonal Antibody Therapy
Monoclonal antibody therapy is a rapidly expanding field in both human and veterinary medicine. This type of therapy involves the laboratory production of antibodies that target a specific protein. The narrow focus of such treatment helps avoid unwanted side effects that might be seen when the immune system is more broadly altered. Cytopoint(lokivetmab) targets interleukin-31, a chemical signal that leads to itchiness when the immune system is triggered by an allergen. Cytopoint is an injection and is labeled to be given as often as every 4 weeks as needed. Many patients get up to 8 weeks of itch relief from a single injection. This is a great option for owners who have difficulty giving oral medications at home. Cytopoint doesn’t work well for every allergic dog (no one treatment does) and does not provide as much relief from inflammation as a steroid or a JAK inhibitor, and, once again, it is not to be used in cats. A new monoclonal antibody against IL-31, Befrena, is scheduled for release sometime this year.
OTC Antihistamines
Sometimes, over the counter (OTC) medications like Benadryl (diphenhydramine) or Zyrtec (cetirizine) are discussed in allergy management. People often take such OTC products for their own allergies, so it’s natural to think they might work for pets. However, over-the-counter antihistamines generally are not effective for pets. These OTC medications target histamine, a pro-inflammatory chemical. While histamine does play a role in the “hay fever” symptoms people experience, it has little to do with the itchiness dogs and cats experience. Sometimes, antihistamines do cause drowsiness in our pets, and this can be misinterpreted as a reduction in itchiness.
Guide To Allergy Relief For Pets: Food Allergies May Prove To Be The Source Of Pet Allergies
If your pet fails to respond to one of the above treatment options, it may be that a food allergy is a significant contributor to his or her itchiness. There are no good tests for food allergies. Instead, a patient must be fully converted to a specialized prescription diet for 6-8 weeks to determine whether symptoms improve. Such diets’ proteins have been broken down (hydrolyzed) into their component parts (amino acids) to help avoid detection by the immune system. If your pet responds well to a hydrolyzed protein diet, in theory, proteins can be re-introduced one at a time to determine which causes recurrence of itchiness (and thus should be avoided). However, most pet owners continue feeding the prescription diet long-term.
The reality for pet owners is that allergies – from a number of different sources – can cause significant and ongoing discomfort. So, it’s important to watch for the signs that your pet may be experiencing an allergy – and then provide treatments that provide allergy relief for pets.
Think your pet has an allergy? Schedule an appointment with Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital – and we’ll work on getting allergy relief for your pet.