ALL PET CENTER VILLAGE PET HOTEL & SPA Serving All Your Pet Care Needs In Hot Springs Village, Arkansas

4147 Highway 7 North Hot Springs Village, Arkansas 71909 Telephone: (501) 625-3418 or (501) 984-5045

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Skin Allergies in our Kitty Friends!

Since excessive hair loss in our Village Kitty Friends seems to be on the rise, a review of the possibilities and the preventions would be in order. The Mysterious Feline Immune System. Our feline friends do not have the same physiology as we humans or doggy friends. They seem to have a different response to challenges by their immune system. However, their response to allergens, substances foreign to their bodies, is very simple; they scratch, groom excessively, or lose hair. Remember that allergens are substances foreign to the body. The feline immune system produces antibodies every second of every day to neutralize these allergens. When the immune system is unsuccessful, or more often, too slow to respond, the symptoms mentioned occur in some combination. I generally notice excessive grooming first with the accompanying vomiting of hair balls. (a cautionary note to those of you feeding the new hairball medicine; you are probably masking an allergy in your friend). The more uncommon reasons for allergic dermatitis in your kitty friends are not present on the Village, in my experience; notoedric mange (a mite usually found in alley cats) cheyletiellosis (rabbit mite) notoedric mange (cat mite spreading over the skin), fur mites (Lynxacarus Radovsky from wild animals).

These Are very common: fleas!, fleas!, fleas!, otodectes (ear mites), trombiculosis (chiggers). Please remember that you are in Arkansas and that you cannot isolate your home from fleas or chiggers, if you ever go outside for any reason. Fleas will come into your house looking for a meal. Chiggers will attach to you (somewhere) and drop off in your house looking for your Friend or some bed sheets. Internal parasites: There are no parasite- free kitty friends outside of the laboratory. Although intestinal parasites seem to be a mild source or contributor to itching, they are still a factor. Fungus; The soil fungi are rare here, but do occur. Excessive licking over a long period of time generally opens the skin to infection or infestation by fungi. Atopy/Food Allergy; these terms are interchangeable as one tendency must be present for the other to occur.

Treatment; Reciting my mantra on this:

a)    deworm once or twice annually (won’t hurt them a bit

b)    feed only the highest quality foods (they will eventually eat what you give them!

c)    seek professional help (preferably mine!) to determine the source of the allergy(ies)

d)     Frontline or the other flea control year around

e)    treat your house once monthly May-October minimum

Give your friends a hug for me!

DR. BOB

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