It is surprising that although some people are allergic to pets, some pets are also allergic to other substances. Cats, dogs, guinea pigs, birds and other animals are also prone to allergic reactions to substances that are in their surroundings. So far I haven't heard of any pets that were allergic to humans but there has been recorded several cases of pets being allergic to human perfumes.

What are the causes of allergies in pets?

Causes of pet allergies would be due to a wide variety of reasons, which are analogous to human allergies. In general, there is an allergen (substance that causes the allergies) that is responsible for triggering an immune response, which causes histamine and other chemicals to be released in the system of the pet that causes the symptoms of an allergy.

For the pets the most common cause of allergies are allergens, which are from fleas, ticks and chemicals. Therefore, special care needs to be taken if the pet shows allergic reactions to these insects and substances. In addition, some vaccines and medication could cause allergic reactions in the pets. Certain foods are also responsible for allergies in pets.

Signs of Allergies

The symptoms of allergies that are most noticeable are:

1. Itching

2. Behavioral changes such as fearfulness or excessive aggression.

3. Chronic discharges

4. Loss of fur or changes in the skin

Solutions

The best solutions for managing allergies in pets are to first isolate and identify the allergen, which could be responsible for the allergy. If there have been certain changes in the environment (say like a new plant) after which the pet has shown the symptoms of the allergy, it could possibly be one of the changes, which could be causing the allergy (say due to the pollen grains of the new plant). Identifying and eliminating the allergen is the best method.

In addition, certain vaccines and flea and heat worm prevention measures could cause the allergy. Use chemicals, which are suitable for your pet and have been tested. Food allergies can also be prevented by obtaining food, which is not allergenic for your pet. Ultimately, prevention of allergies is far better for your pets than the cure.

You should be aware that not all allergic reactions will show up immediately and some might be as long as weeks and month in developing. When trying to find the cause of things you will therefore need to not only look at changes over the last couple of days but eventually the last couple of weeks or months.

If this still doesn't help you should contact your vet and have him test your pet to find out what is causing the reaction. It might be easy to find out what the problem is when the test results come in but in many cases it isn't. You might need to prepare yourself (and your pet) on going the multiple tests to figure out exactly what is causing the allergic reactions.

But I suggest that you start out trying to figure it out yourself as it is mostly caused by changes that you have made at home.