London – Pets can be allergic to humans for the same reasons that we are to them, experts have found.
Like humans, dogs and cats can react to the proteins in dander, the cells that shed from our skin and hair. This can cause allergy symptoms including runny noses, itchiness and sneezing.
Dander is microscopic, and can be transported through the air where it is able to enter the mucus membranes in the lungs, causing allergies to some people and animals.
US researcher Raelynn Farnsworth, of Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, told National Geographic: ‘It’s rare, but dogs can be allergic to cat dander and people dander and vice versa.’
Dogs that are allergic to human dander typically itch and their skin becomes inflamed. They may also sneeze and have a runny nose, she said.
Cats often develop scabs and can lose hair around their head and neck as an allergic reaction, but the symptoms can also show themselves in other ways.
Previous research at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals has found humans can trigger asthma in cats. Human dandruff and dander as well as cigarette smoke and dust, can inflame cats’ airways and trigger an attack, it found.
Asthma is not unusual in cats, with one in 200 thought to be affected. It can manifest in the animal through coughing and wheezing, and more cats are thought to be increasingly susceptible because they are spending more time indoors.
Christine Cain, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, said: ‘It always makes owners sad if their [the pet’s] reaction is to human dander’.
But she explained that humans do not necessarily have to part company from their beloved pet, because it is likely that the dog or cat suffers from other allergies too and may simply need medicines to treat the symptoms, just as humans do.
Similarly to human tests, a small amount of the allergen is placed under the skin so experts can monitor the animal’s reaction.
Dr Farnsworth said that vets first look for relatively common allergens such as human dander, dust mites, feathers, sheep wool and pollen and that rarer conditions are harder to spot.
Daily Mail