[ad_1]
There is a high probability that you know at least one person who suffers from a cat or dog allergy, as approximately 10-20% of people worldwide show some type of allergy symptoms towards these common household pets.
Allergies to dogs and cats
Given how common allergies to other types of animals and ducks are, you might wonder: could the opposite be true? Is it possible that cats or dogs have an allergic reaction towards their owner or towards humans in general?
Douglas DeBore, a dermatologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Veterinary Medicine, in the United States, says: “Perhaps, there has been some research and experiments that indicate the possibility that pets are sensitive to humans, but none of them provides conclusive evidence. If there are cats or dogs with this allergy, it is extremely rare. Anything is possible, but it seems clear that it is not a very common thing, and that is if it exists in the first place. “
Human sensitivity towards cats and dogs
Dr. Debor, whose studies focus on skin diseases and allergic reactions in pets, adds that reactions to dogs or cats generally occur when someone has an allergy to animal dander, as the scales dead skin cells fall from the body. Therefore, in the event that pets develop allergic reactions to humans, these reactions stem from exposure to human dander. Allergy testing was done on household pets in the past, but most of these tests were negative and a very small number of tests – about less than 2% – showed a reaction to human dander.
Human sensitivity towards cats and dogs
However, Dr. Debor says that allergy tests are not perfect and have a relatively high rate of false positives. Whereas, people who have suffered from allergies to food and food elimination systems can predict what may happen to them in the future. To confirm that a domestic pet is allergic to humans, we will need to isolate them from people and find evidence that can prove that their conditions improve after that, then the pet must be returned to an environment where they live with humans to ensure that this his condition worsened, which is very difficult.
Allergies to dogs and cats
However, although the presence of human allergies in cats and dogs is debated, there is evidence to suggest that domestic pets may also be sensitive to each other. Although not common, there have been some cases in which cats, which are the animals most at risk of developing allergic asthma symptoms, have shown allergies to dogs.
As Dr. Tate Wugno says, the cats in this case develop an allergy similar to the human allergy to pets, an area that scientists have little knowledge of so far, unfortunately. He hopes that more research will reveal how allergies appear in pets.
He added: “I think this is an area of ongoing research that will be very important because we will learn how to best treat this sensitivity.”
Renaissance News_ private translation
