Latest news with #veterinarycare
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Dogs and cats can also suffer from allergies, but there are ways to help our furry friends
Dr. Karen Woodard check's Gail Friedman's dog, Ms. Roxie, for signs of allergies in Elmhurst, Ill. on May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld) About five years ago, Gail Friedman noticed her Parson Russell Terrier was constantly licking his paws and seemed super uncomfortable. 'The poor dog. I would put baby socks on his feet so that he wouldn't lick them or bite at them,' said Friedman, of Oak Brook, Illinois. 'I was constantly changing the socks, washing his feet a lot. Nothing worked.' It turned out her canine companion, Mr. Friedman, had allergies. It's a common and tricky problem in pets — caused by various things such as pollen, dust, mold, chemicals and food — but veterinarians say there are several ways to ease their suffering. What sorts of allergies do dogs and cats get? Allergies happen when the immune system overreacts to a foreign substance. Cats and dogs react to many of the same things people do, as well as pests like fleas. There are no definitive recent statistics on how many pets have allergies, but research suggests the problem is growing. 'I probably see allergic dogs and cats every single day, probably multiple times a day,' said Dr. Karen Woodard, medical director at Thrive Pet Healthcare-Elmhurst in Illinois. About 90 per cent of allergic pets react to environmental triggers, Woodard said, and the rest have food allergies only. Dog breeds that are especially vulnerable include various types of terriers, boxers and bulldogs; in cats, it's Persians, Siamese and Himalayans. Pets can even be allergic to other animals — cats to dogs, dogs to cats and either to another species. 'It's possible for them to be allergic to us, just like we are to them,' said Thrive's Dr. Anthea Elliott Schick of Scottsdale, Arizona, immediate past president of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology. How can you tell if your pet has allergies? Allergic cats and dogs aren't as likely as humans to sneeze and cough. More often, they scratch and lick themselves, shake their heads and develop ear infections. Woodard said her Yorkie mix, Teddy, had the classic signs — scratching around his shoulders and getting rashes and ear infections starting as a six-month-old puppy. She lived in the South at the time, and he tested positive for allergies to various trees and grasses there. A common sign of allergies in her feline patients is 'overdoing their grooming,' said Woodard, who's on the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association's board of directors. 'Cats shouldn't be pulling their hair out when they groom. So if you start seeing bald patches on your cat, even though the skin underneath it looks normal, that could be a sign of allergies.' Even food allergies, often to chicken, beef, lamb or other protein sources, frequently show up on the skin, although pets can have vomiting or diarrhea, too. Rarely, pets can develop life-threatening anaphylactic reactions, perhaps after being stung by an insect. But most allergies are simply miserable for the animals. 'It breaks my heart because it gets to a point that not only do I have socks on poor Mr. Friedman — which is humiliating for him — he sometimes gets so bad he has to wear the cone of shame,' Gail Friedman said. 'And that's not fair because he can't move around right, he can't sleep right. It's terrible.' How can you help your pet? The first step is to get a diagnosis from the vet. This could involve allergy testing, or in the case of food allergies, an 'elimination diet,' which involves feeding limited ingredients the pet hasn't previously eaten. If the allergy culprit is environmental, there are medications like anti-inflammatory drugs and newer oral and injectable medications for dogs to block chemical signals associated with itchiness. Food allergies may be treated with special diets such as 'hydrolyzed' food, in which proteins are chemically broken down into tiny pieces. All this can get expensive. Friedman estimates she's spent about US$10,000 on testing, medication and care for Mr. Friedman and another allergic dog. But vets say there are also ways to help pets at home by cleaning their bedding frequently, wiping their fur with a wet washcloth and giving them baths. Outdoors, 'they're almost acting like little Swiffers, getting allergens on their skin, and it goes through their skin and actually becomes a problem,' Schick said. 'We say bathe your dog, at a minimum, once a week if they're allergic.' After she's tried nearly everything, Friedman's dogs are still vexed by allergies. But they're doing better. 'I'm going to keep experimenting until we find what stops it completely,' she said. 'All you can do is try.' The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Laura Ungar, The Associated Press
Entrepreneur
3 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How This Entrepreneur Is Disrupting Pet Health
When Andrew Hamilton set out to launch his vision went far beyond building a convenient online pharmacy. For Hamilton, a seasoned entrepreneur with a passion for improving access to veterinary care, it was personal. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. When Andrew Hamilton set out to launch his vision went far beyond building a convenient online pharmacy. For Hamilton, a seasoned entrepreneur with a passion for improving access to veterinary care, it was personal. His own experiences navigating the complexities of pet health inspired him to create not just a platform — but also a solution. The first solution came in the form of ToltraMax, an oral toltrazuril-based treatment developed by Hamilton and his team to address one of the most persistent yet overlooked challenges in animal health: coccidiosis. Coccidiosis, caused by microscopic parasites called Eimeria, is a common intestinal issue that affects pets, livestock, and companion animals alike. For breeders, veterinarians, and everyday pet owners, managing outbreaks of this parasite can be costly, time-consuming, and stressful. Hamilton saw a clear need for a more practical, widely applicable treatment option — one that was effective, accessible, and simple to administer. That's how ToltraMax was born. Innovating Where It Matters Most Unlike many entrepreneurs who focus solely on platform technology, Hamilton dove into product development. Together with his team, he formulated ToltraMax as a high-concentration (10%) toltrazuril oral solution designed for companion animal use — including dogs, cats, horses and other non foodchain animals. The goal wasn't to compete with pharmaceutical giants on brand recognition. It was to create a tool that addressed real problems in the field, offering animal caretakers a reliable option to support intestinal health related to coccidia. ToltraMax is currently available through and where it has found a strong foothold among pet and equine caretakers. However, its broader applications make it a natural fit for the direct-to-consumer model that Hamilton envisions for plugins and affilate programs. Building the Infrastructure for Accessible Care set to launch later this year, represents Hamilton's larger vision: an integrated platform where pet owners can access trusted medications, telehealth support, and educational resources in one place. "We created ToltraMax because there was a treatment gap in the market," Hamilton explains. "But creating the product is only half the battle. The real challenge is making sure people can actually get it when they need it quickly." That challenge is exactly what is working to address. With additional generic drug applications currently pending, is preparing to expand its offerings and close more of these critical gaps in animal healthcare. Earlier this year, Hamilton secured $21 million in funding from Palehorse Capital to support development and expansion. The investment reflects growing recognition of the need for affordable, accessible veterinary solutions — especially as pet ownership rises and traditional access points remain limited. More Than a Product: A Founder's Mission While ToltraMax serves as flagship offering, Hamilton sees it as the first step in a much larger journey. By controlling both the product development and distribution channels, he aims to eliminate common barriers pet owners face, from high medication costs to lack of availability. won't replace vet visits — a point Hamilton emphasizes often. Instead, it will work hand in hand with licensed veterinarians to provide a trusted pathway for pet owners to access products like ToltraMax, while encouraging responsible use through teleconsultations and professional guidance. "Our focus is on supporting pet owners and veterinarians with better tools," Hamilton says. "ToltraMax reflects that philosophy — it's practical, effective, and designed with real-world challenges in mind." What's Next As the platform prepares for launch, Hamilton remains focused on scaling responsibly, ensuring that both the product and the platform maintain the high standards he set out to establish. Hamilton's approach offers a compelling case study in vertical integration: identify a problem, create a solution, and build the infrastructure to deliver it. In a crowded digital health market, his model of product-plus-platform stands out. For pet owners and veterinary professionals, it's a welcome sign of things to come.
Forbes
4 days ago
- General
- Forbes
Seasonal Allergies Can Affect Dogs: Here's What You Need To Know
A beagle scratches at itchy skin in a grassy yard. getty One spring morning last year, New Mexico writer Zach Hively had a rude awakening. His most recently adopted dog — 'a purebred who knows what?' named Ryzhik — had apparently been so itchy in the night that he'd injured his face from scratching so much. 'He tore it up,' Hively recalls. 'He'd scratched part of his face open. He had been bleeding, and he did tear out some fur. He looked rough — a little bit around his mouth, but it was really around his eyes. He also scratched up inside his ears. It was awful.' Hively immediately took his dog to the veterinarian, who assessed, 'It's that time of year and it's probably allergies.' The team recommended wiping his dog's face after being outside and starting on the prescription medication Apoquel or over-the-counter Benadryl — the latter of which was Hively's choice, since he takes Benadryl for his own allergies. In fact, he figured out Ryzhik's allergies align with his own, which makes it easier to manage. 'I definitely have juniper allergies, and we flare up the exact same day,' he says. 'When mine ease up, his ease up.' The Benadryl dosage plan suggested by the veterinary team for Ryzhik worked, and Hively didn't see any adverse side effects like drowsiness, which he appreciates since 'I'm all about quality of life.' 'This year, we got much more preventative. The day my allergy started and I woke up sneezing, I just started him on Benadryl,' he says. 'That first day he had scratched himself up a little tiny bit, but nothing like last year.' While seasonal allergies can affect cats, it's more common to see dog allergies, according to Christina Lavery, DVM, a veterinarian at the nonprofit Humane Colorado, which operates a large animal shelter in Denver. 'It's very similar to humans — how we experience environmental allergies more commonly in the spring and summer,' she says. 'But animals can experience environmental allergies at any point during the year. It's pretty variable depending on the individual.' Symptoms of seasonal allergies in dogs range from mild to severe. Minor seasonal allergies might lead to a slight runny nose, goopy eyes, and a little bit of redness around the eyes or along the conjunctiva (the tissue in borders around eyeballs), Dr. Lavery says. Dogs with severe seasonal allergies may experience: 'Another one that I see pretty frequently is lichenification, which basically just means roughened and thickened appearance of the skin,' she adds. 'Chronic cases of allergies that have been going on for months to years can develop that really thickened, leathery appearance of the skin. When I see that, it tells me the patient has been dealing with it for a very long time and maybe not had it managed the best for quite a bit of time.' Often when a dog experiences a sudden onset of allergies, veterinarians will treat it with steroids, according to Dr. Lavery. 'Tackling the inflammation is one of the best ways to treat allergies,' she says. 'So putting a stop to the immune system and treating it with steroids is really good for an acute onset, but long-term steroids have a lot of side effects to them, so we really try to avoid using steroids long-term for allergy patients.' Fortunately, there are 'great options' to help manage and treat allergies in patients. 'The veterinary community has made pretty big strides in allergy treatment and prevention over the past few years,' Dr. Lavery says. The injectable monoclonal antibody treatment Cytopoint is one popular option. 'It is targeting and neutralizing what is known as a cytokine. It's basically a protein that our body produces in times of inflammation, so it targets and neutralizes these cytokines and these proteins that cause itch,' she says. 'When we see allergies and we see dogs that are itching and licking and scratching so much, taking away that itch factor prevents the worsening of that inflammation.' Cytopoint lasts 1-3 months, depending on the dog, she notes, and is a good option for people who don't like giving the dog oral medications once or twice a day. Alternatively, the oral tablets Zenrelia or Apoquel also inhibit cytokines that cause itchiness. Depending on the patient's clinical signs, they might be the choice for people who prefer to start with oral medications, according to Dr. Lavery. She feels the antihistamine Benadryl is better for dogs with minor clinical signs, but not for dogs developing ear infections, rashes, and hotspots. Dr. Lavery recommends frequent bathing for dogs with environmental allergies that involve rashes and really red skin. 'Most general practices have a medicated shampoo that they like to give out to clients,' she says. 'What you're doing is basically rinsing off all of those allergens that are sitting on the skin that are potentially causing irritation.' How often you bathe your dog will depend on the severity of symptoms, but typically every 1-2 weeks, she says. Dogs with minor clinical signs might benefit from aloe or oatmeal shampoos, and having their paws and legs wiped off when they come inside. She also suggests frequent ear cleanings with a cleaner provided by a veterinarian for dogs who develop ear infections from allergies. 'Ear infections are almost always due to an underlying allergy,' Dr. Lavery says. 'Owners will bring their patient in and say, 'He's just shaking his head like crazy.' The ears will seem really hot, really inflamed.' Keeping skin as healthy as possible is wise, so she gives fish oil supplements to her rescue dog, Joey. 'It's to keep that healthy skin barrier to prevent those allergens from digging deep and causing that allergic reaction,' she says. Ultimately, the key is working with your veterinarian to tailor a treatment plan to your dog's needs. One of her own dogs, a golden retriever named Tucker, needed Cytopoint injections year-round to avoid developing hotspots and ear infections from allergies. 'But I've known a lot of dogs who only get Cytopoint injections when it starts to bloom – all the flowers and leaves and everything – and they only need it during the spring and summer months,' she says. 'It truly is patient-dependent on how frequently medications are needed and what the patient needs to have the allergies managed.'
Bloomberg
24-05-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Record £1.23bn Paid Out in Pet Insurance Claims in 2024
A record £1.23 billion was paid out in pet insurance claims in 2024, helping households cover the cost of veterinary treatment for unwell and injured animals, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said. Dogs led the pack, making up £933 million in claims, followed by cats at £232 million, and £61 million for other pets.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Record £1.23bn paid out in pet insurance claims in 2024, says ABI
A record £1.23 billion was paid out in pet insurance claims in 2024, helping households cover the cost of veterinary treatment for unwell and injured animals, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said. Dogs led the pack, making up £933 million in claims, followed by cats at £232 million, and £61 million for other pets. The total for 2024 was 4% higher than 2023 and marks the third year in a row that total payouts by ABI members have surpassed £1 billion. The ABI said members received 1.8 million claims last year – equating to around 4,900 claims per day typically. Its data also indicates that a record 4.6 million pet owners took out insurance – a 3% increase since 2023 and a third (33%) higher than before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019. Many people acquired new pets during the coronavirus lockdowns. The average claim cost is £685, the ABI said, but some costs can be much higher. The price of treatment for elbow dysplasia, a common cause of forelimb lameness in young, large and giant breed dogs, can cost over £50,000, the body said. The average cost of care needed when a pet eats something they should not, whether it is food which is poisonous to them or a small household item, is around £4,000, the ABI said. Jonathan Purvis, senior policy adviser, general insurance at the ABI said: 'You can't pull a rabbit out the hat when it comes to paying for veterinary bills, so it's promising to see more people making sensible choices to protect themselves and their pets financially. ' Insurance provides peace of mind that costs will be covered if your pet is ill or injured.'
