Allergy Awareness in your dog and cats this Spring
Food triggers, environmental allergens and parasites and irritants - here is my advice as a plant powered vet with all of these triggers and supporting your allergic, uncomfortable dog or cat.
What are allergies?
Allergies are primarily caused by an overreaction or failure of the body to process specific proteins or environmental factors. An intolerance occurs when the body cannot properly digest or absorb a specific ingredient and an immune response sets up resulting in painful digestive issues or itching.
The causes of these reactions typically fall into three main categories:
Food Triggers
Most food allergies are caused by animal proteins that your dog or cat has been exposed to for a long time. Common allergens for dogs are usually beef, dairy, chicken, wheat, and soya. In cats it is primarily beef, fish, chicken, and dairy products.
Adult dogs and cats are also lactose intolerant as they lose the enzyme (lactase) needed to break down the sugars in cow's milk, leading to digestive upset and itchy ears in dogs (Read about how Matilda the Retrievers' ears smelt like cheesy wotsits!)
Your dog or cat with food allergies may exhibit symptoms such as itching, skin redness, gastrointestinal upset, and even chronic ear infections. (Read about Tudor with chronic ear infections)
Identifying food allergies in your dog or cat often requires a process of elimination through trying our plant-based foods or allergy testing. (Read what is an elimination diet here that exposes what is truly in veterinary prescription hydrolysed diets).
Once diagnosed and working with your vet, managing food allergies typically involves transitioning your dog from meat-based to any of our range of soothing hypoallergenic grain and soya-free complete foods.
Environmental Allergens
These are reactions to substances inhaled or absorbed through the skin, similar to "hay fever" in humans. Triggers can include pollen and grasses at this time of the year that often cause itchy skin or paws.
I heard on the news yesterday, that 2026 is having a particularly bad pollen season as climate change has prolonged the blossoming of all the fruit trees this year!
House dust mites found in bedding and carpets can also be a trigger along with mould spores common in damp environments or specific seasons. Allergone spray is a harmless spray that forms a film around the mites to reduce the allergenicity and highly advised in the home if your dog has a house dust mite allergy.
Even storage mites found in the dust of ALL dry dog foods in highly sensitive dogs can trigger this reaction which is why we stock and sell Solo Vegetal that is packaged in foil to reduce storage mite allergy concerns.
This is also where plant-based dog food is so much better for these highly sensitive dogs than insect-based foods as dogs that react to the chitin in house dust mites with environmental allergies, also react to the chitin found in insect protein! (Read more about insect-based proteins fed to dogs are a potential allergy risk here)
Parasites and Irritants
Coming into contact with fleas and ticks can also trigger a severe reaction in your dog or cat as can contact with certain irritants such as wool bedding, plastic food bowls or certain shampoos.
Helping them feel better during allergy season starts with minimising their exposure to allergens and supporting their skin and immune health.
After outdoor walks or playtime, wiping down your dog’s paws and coat with CLX wipes can go a long way in reducing allergens. Cut each wipe into 4 pieces and store in an airtight container to make these CLX wipes last longer.
Bathing your dog weekly with a gentle, anti-itch shampoo especially one with soothing ingredients like oatmeal or aloe vera can also relieve irritation and wash away allergens trapped in their fur.
Flea prevention is another essential step. Spring is high season for fleas and ticks, and flea allergy dermatitis is one of the most common causes of severe itching in pets. A give away is your dog madly biting at their tail or back as that is where the fleas tend to run to!
Another tip to find out if your dog or cat has fleas, is to stand them over a white sheet and comb their fur with a fine comb. Flea dirt will fall onto the white surface which looks like a black dot and it turns red as soon as a drop of water is placed on it (as made up of your dog or cat's blood!)
It is very difficult to find even one flea and just that one flea is needed to cause a severe scratching cycle in very sensitive dogs and overgrooming in highly sensitive cats.
Be sure your dog and cat is given a flea and tick preventative at this time of the year.
As a vegan vet, I find it very hard to advise here as I have witnessed the harm caused by ticks and fleas.....but every one of the chewable antiparasitic tablets sold at vet practices contains animal products (which can affect your dogs with animal protein sensitivities and goes against what we want to ethically feed our companion animals).
I also see such great harm in using flea collars or flea drops that contain the highly neurotoxic substance Imidoclodaprid that can kill a billion bees in just 1 teaspoon! What a disaster for our natural environment having your dog or cat outdoors with this around their neck or dropped onto their fur!!
I have been advising The Pack natural flea drops as a natural repellant for dogs, but I am fully aware that it may not be effective in killing ticks and fleas. (Please let me know how you get on if you do use it on your dog).
Supplements can also play a powerful role in managing allergies. Omega 3 fatty acids, found in our pure Omega 3 Daily Algae oil, helps to improve skin health and reduce inflammation, making them a great addition to your dog or cat’s daily routine.
Allergy support ingredients like quercetin (found in apples, kale, berries and broccoli) may also help reduce histamine responses and provide relief from itching and it is safe to give over the counter anti-histamine tablets to very itchy dogs or cats and please see dose rates to give here.
Don’t forget about probiotics, either—supporting your dog or cat’s gut health can strengthen their immune system and make them less reactive to allergens overall.
ALL our plant-based foods support your dog and cat's gut naturally, and we even have fermentation protein foods and treats that have been shown to support digestive health and enhance the gut microbiome.
The study that was peer reviewed prior to being published; shows that not only was this fermentation protein very digestible; but it also showed potential gut health benefits in dogs which benefits their overall health! (Longshaw et al 2025)
If wanting to treat your dog with extra probiotics, we even stock Probiotic Gummies that can be given daily (to you and your dog - they are delicious!)
At home, creating a clean, allergy-safe environment can make a huge difference. Using an air purifier with a HEPA filter can reduce the number of airborne allergens in your dog or cat’s living space.
Washing their bedding, blankets, and toys regularly—and vacuuming often—will help keep dust and pollen from building up indoors. On high-pollen days, it’s a good idea to keep windows closed and limit time spent in grassy or wooded areas.
In severe cases of allergies always consult your own vet for further medication if the advice given above is not helping your dog or cat.
As a UK-based, RCVS registered vet providing a full range of ethical and effective complete foods, treats, supplements, please visit our online store.
