First let's start with what an allergy is.  An allergy is an over-reaction of the immune system to a "trigger."  In order to become allergic to something your pet needs to be exposed to it repeatedly.  There are two basic treatments for allergic reactions:  avoid the allergen, or desensitize the immune system.

A lot of pets have allergies.  The symptoms include itchy feet, ears and skin.  If bad enough, the skin becomes flaky, and scaly and becomes a breeding ground for a secondary bacterial infection.  Pets may display behavioral "problems" like rubbing their faces on your furniture.  Vomiting and diarrhea are also common symptoms.

There are two basic types, food allergies and environmental allergies.  Food allergies are ingredients in food.  Food allergies can not be overcome so the ingredients must be avoided.  Remember back to the late 1980's and early 1990's when "Lamb and Rice" dog foods came on the market?  This was a meat and a grain source that was uncommon in other foods.  Every dog that seemed a little itchy was put on Lamb and Rice.  These are now two fairly common food allergens.

Environmental allergens include trees, weeds and grasses, as well as insects, and dust.  Pretty much all the things that are common allergens to people can be pet allergens.  Again, dogs are more likely to show skin irritations instead of the sneezing and watering eyes that people show.  Cats can show respiratory problems, which are often dismissed as the cat trying to deal with a hairball.

So you go to your veterinarian with your itchy dog and you both agree that it's likely an allergy.  Now what?  You can try one food after another until you get it right.  This is called a "food trial."  In the past this was the only option.  In the past it was pretty effective.  However go look at a dog food label these days.  A variety of factors -- including consumer demand -- have caused the food makers to put in a multitude of ingredients.  Some make the food more affordable, others make it more marketable.  They use everything from the dregs of beer making (brewer's yeast) to ground up chicken bones and parts (poultry meal), to ground up fish waste (fish meal) for healthy skin and coats, to fruits and vegetables, to herbal junk.  All to make a feed that you think is the "best" value to you when you are making your choice in what to feed your pet.  Each ingredient is one more chance to be the wrong one.

I mean brewer's yeast sounds so nice and healthy.  I think it is for most dogs, but keep in mind it is the goop from the bottom of the vat at the Pabst Blue Ribbon factory.  Some food advertise they have like 37 vegetables in them.  What if your dog is allergic to celery?

Here are the ingredients for "Beneful" which is advertised with images of ears of corn, peas still in the pod, cubes of raw fish, soybeans in the pod, sprigs of barley, cubes of chicken or pork, sprigs of wheat, cubes of fresh beef, and carrots with the greens still attached.  Please note, there is no meat in the food that would actually look like the meat in the pictures, and there is more potassium salt than any of the dried veggies.

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, salt, phosphoric acid, animal digest, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, copper sulfate, biotin, garlic oil, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.

Here's the new "Naturally Wild" feed from Iams-Eukanuba.  You will notice that if you are looking for a feed that has a novel protean source, this will NOT do.  They add the cheap chicken bits.  Potato is a great food for dogs allergic to a lot of the grains, but you have just about every grain available here (probably to get Venison and Potato to the top of the list).

Venison, Potato, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Brewers Rice, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken Meal, Fish Meal, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Potassium Chloride, Chicken Flavor, Brewers Dried Yeast, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Salt, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), DL-Methionine, Calcium Carbonate, Rosemary Extract

Time to climb off my soap box before it collapses.  Don't get me wrong, we LIKE regular dog food for 95% of dogs.  I'm just saying that for the other 5% it's HARD to find a feed that has few enough ingredients.  We feed Ukanuba and Iams here most of the time.

Finding the environmental allergen is also very difficult.  Probably impossible.  So if trying one food after the next (while continuing to treat allergy symptoms) is going to cost you a pile of money, AND if you are unlikely to find the problem in the yard or at home...  What the heck are you to do?

There is a simple blood test.  It's so simple it isn't even funny.  Your veterinarian draws blood and sends it to a lab.  The test costs hundreds of dollars, but most folks find it's worth it.

What you get is a book that tells you exactly what your dog is allergic to and exactly what you can feed.  I mean exactly.  I have seen this book for my Mother-in-Law's dog.  She's allergic to almost everything (even the cat).  One thing that Dr. Amanda has noticed is almost every report includes at least one fairly common (but usually "premium") dog food.  This means you can often avoid very expensive prescription dog food.  The savings on using that feed should pay for the test in a year.  Plus, there's no guessing.

As for environmental allergens, if you can't avoid them, they can make a cocktail that your veterinarian injects to build up a resistance.  But just knowing that your dog is allergic to dogwood blooms and not allergic to ragweed, can help you decide when to administer an antihistamine or avoid grandma's when her trees are in bloom.

Anyway, if you are struggling with allergies, or they are just cropping up, please see your vet.  I think it's cheaper in the long run to just run the test than to go by trial and error.  Click here for the site for the company Amanda's office uses.

Keep in mind that yes, your pet might die from having blood drawn.  The risk is minimal, but I'm sure at least one cat in Europe had seizures after being allergy tested.