Many pets experience itchiness either at certain times of the year or year-round.
Flea infestations used to be the most common cause of itchy skin but, fortunately,
the prescription flea medicines available now are much more effective than the flea
products available 20 years ago. Seasonal allergies can be diagnosed by testing for
40 different allergens including pollens, dust mites, insects & molds. A fairly new
treatment to reduce itchiness from seasonal allergies is an injectable therapy, not
drug, called Cytopoint, which binds the proteins released from allergy cells before
they bind to receptors that cause your pet to be itchy. There are no accurate tests
to determine if your pet has a food allergy. Food allergies can be resolved by
feeding your pet an exclusive diet with hydrolyzed proteins, where all of the proteins
in the diet are reduced to a much smaller molecular weight which prevents the
allergic reaction.
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