I was happy to see your post. I have so little data to back my statement, that perhaps it didn’t belong in GQ. In the real world, I am surrounded by relatively healthy service dogs. The net is full of pets and show dogs and people seeking solutions to health problems. Those with healthy dogs may be under represented on the net. I see very little on the net about working dogs, or even hunting dogs.
There seems to be no doubt about domestic animals having allergies. I would like to see more on animals in the wild.
Has anbody/ vets observed a rise in allergies among animals, corresponding to the rise in humans?
One of the factors assumed is that two mildly allergic parents having one severely allergic child; that would affect animals, too, unless deliberate breeding cancelled that out.
labdude - I’d be interested to learn more about allergies and other illnesses in wild populations…the wolves and moose of Isle Royale have been studied extensively and written about by David Mech…there’s a huge body of work on wild animals but I don’t recall allergies being mentioned specifically.
<pause for phone call> I just talked to a friend who was a federally licensed wildlife rehabber for years…she says that she’s seen what she considers pretty clear evidence of flea allergies in raccoons and foxes. Anecdotal so FWIW.
constanze…I’ve been around animals for several decades and 20-30 years ago most people didn’t think about allergies (except flea allergies maybe) in animals. More awareness + more reporting and communication + marketing of foods and supplements has made owners more hip to allergies, (and also more likely to call normal reactions and intolerances “allergies.”)
That said, over the years I have had two dogs with flea allergies - as in severe and awful reactions to a single bite - one dog (also had flea allergies) with atopic/seasonal allergies, and one cat with flea allergies, see above.
Careful and ethical breeders of animals - especially animals bred for a purpose beyond pet and show- are, in my experience, likely to curtail breeding of any animal with allergies, a weak immune system or any other chronic health issue. Since most companion animals and livestock are not very carefully or ethically bred, and modern veterinary practices keep an “unworthy-of-breeding” animal going for years longer than in decades past, it makes sense that allergies could be on the rise in animals as well as people.
This is all very interesting. Thanks, everyone.