Horses that test positive to multiple foods could be dealing with a condition called Leaky Gut Syndrome. Leaky Gut Syndrome is a breakdown of the protective intestinal tract lining, coupled with an imbalance in the horse’s natural intestinal flora. This imbalance interferes with the horse’s ability to completely digest their food. The breakdown of the intestinal lining allows the larger proteins from improperly digested food to be absorbed in the bloodstream. These larger proteins are interpreted as foreign invaders and trigger an immune response, resulting in a food sensitivity or true food allergy.

If your horse’s allergy test results indicate they are sensitive to certain foods, reduce the sensitivity by removing these foods from your horse’s diet.

Insect bite hypersensitivity (bug bite allergy or IBH) is a common summer problem. Susceptible horses are actually allergic to the insect’s saliva. Horses can have allergic reactions to any biting insect, but the most common are Culicoides (also known as gnats, midges, sand flies, and punkies), black flies, stable flies, horse flies, and mosquitoes.

Equine Asthma | Inflamatory Airway Disease (IAD) | Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO)

Equine Asthma, a term that encompasses various syndromes including Inflammatory airway disease (IAD) and Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO).

Does your patient suffer from localized or generalized itching? Do they exhibit nasal discharge or watery eyes? Are they coughing, sneezing, or wheezing?

Does pollen season bring in more and more allergy patients each year? Based on a new study from The Lancet Public Health, this could be true.

Although itching may be the most common allergy symptom in dogs, reactions are typically complex and are often manifested in a variety of ways.

Allergies caused by different environmental and barn conditions are becoming increasingly prevalent in horses. Most horses no longer roam the fields and graze on fresh grass; they now spend most of their day in a stable, where there is often poor air circulation. Additionally, the growing use of manufactured diets, instead of freshly-grown grasses, can lead to the development of allergies. Allergies in horses are often cumulative, meaning the symptoms — including hives, coughing, intense itching, and nasal discharge — are the result of a reaction with several different allergens, not one specific allergen.

Itching is a common allergy symptom in cats and often manifests into other symptoms initiated by a variety of environmental, household, and food triggers. Environmental allergies are caused by allergens such as pollen due to seasonal and climate changes. These factors not only worsen the allergy, they also cause the allergens to fester in cases such as flea bites. Symptoms include sneezing, vomiting, red or scaly skin, hair loss, itchy or runny eyes, snoring caused by an inflamed throat, swollen paws, and constant licking.

Sublingual immunotherapy also works in allergic cats!

Dear Colleagues,