Autumn Allergies May Affect Your Pet Too

The incidence of allergies occurring among all segments of the population, especially children, has increased exponentially over the past several years. The causes are many and uncertain. Maybe it’s just because we are becoming more aware. There are now warnings on candy bar wrappers and other food products that the machinery used to process these items may have come in contact with peanuts. Our fascination with keeping things sterile through the use of latex and the many products derived from it have caused the number of cases of latex allergies to rise. It was reported that one woman was so allergic to latex that the latex molecules released into the air from auto tires during heavy traffic was enough to trigger an attack.

I speak from personal experience that if you are allergic to one thing, chances are that you are allergic to several. When I was a child it seemed, to me at least, that I was allergic to everything. It started out with pollen. I remember that I would go into spasms of coughing and sneezing that only a hit from one of several bottles of the foulest tasting liquid that I had ever experienced could stop. Then it was discovered that I was allergic to down, so all of the pillows and comforters in the house had to be changed. I became allergic to dogs when I got my first, a beautiful collie that looked just like Lassie. She lasted two weeks before we had to get rid of her. Later in life I received a lot of bee and wasp stings working in the garden before the last one sent me to the doctor with an intolerable itching sensation under my skin. Fortunately I never developed any food allergies. Not so with my mother. I took her out several years ago to a lobster restaurant for her birthday only for both of us to discover that she was allergic to shellfish. She told me from the hospital that dinner was a nice gesture, but in the future, a simple birthday card would suffice.