Do dogs get hay fever?
Autumn is the perfect time to plant perennials to add colour to your garden
Do dogs get hay fever in your experience? My three-year-old West Highland white female neuter was itchy during the summer, rubbing her eyes and nibbling at her feet. She seems a bit better now so I have not bothered the vet with the problem.
Dogs commonly suffer from a condition called atopic dermatitis, also known as atopy. It was first described in the US in 1940 and since then has been the subject of a huge amount of research, which continues.
Atopic dermatitis has similarities to hay fever in people.
It is an allergic condition with the same allergens often responsible. Tree, grass and weed pollens are triggers, and tend to occur during spring, summer or autumn.
Others, such as house dust mites, cause clinical signs all year round.
Affected dogs tend to be itchy around the eyes and ears, the feet and the ventral abdomen. Just as hay fever in people tends to run in families, atopy in dogs is common in some breeds, including Westies.
The condition usually starts between six months and three years of age.
If pollen is responsible then the signs will be seasonal. If grass pollens are the trigger, I would have expected the itchiness to begin in June and improve by September.
It is worth mentioning to the vet, as these signs would be relatively easy to control if they recur next summer.
Also, your vet may need to develop a treatment strategy if the season extends into autumn and winter.
My four-year-old female neutered cat is eating a special non-allergic diet prescribed by my vet. She likes the food
but some of my friends have said these diets can cause blood disorders. Is this true?
These are hypoallergenic diets and there are two types.
Some contain a solitary protein, which has been broken down (hydrolysed) into small fragments that cannot cause an allergic response. The other type contains a protein source not present in normal cat diets, and so is unlikely to cause an allergic response.
The diets are commonly used for a trial period (up to eight weeks in most cases) in the investigation of alimentary disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, or for allergic skin diseases.
In the last few months there has been a sudden increase in an apparently new condition. Around 500 cats have been diagnosed with a rare bone marrow condition that causes a rapid drop in red and white blood cells and platelets.
This is known as pancytopenia, a condition with a high mortality rate.
One known cause is a virus that is a part of the routine vaccine schedule for cats.
However, a virus does not cause this latest syndrome. A Royal Veterinary College research team is currently investigating the outbreak.
Certain brands of over-the-counter hypoallergenic diets came under initial suspicion and these were withdrawn from the market as a precaution, although subsequently no definitive link has been established. Your vet prescribed a widely used hydrolysed diet, which you can continue without any concerns for as long as advised.
What a lovely time of the year it is to be outdoors. It’s not too hot and the beautiful September light casts a golden glow.
The trees are heavy with fruit, the roses laden with hips, and late-performing plants such as cannas continue to unfurl their luxuriant leaves.
It’s also a busy time with much to do in the garden.
Now is an ideal time to plant herbaceous material as the ground is warm and pliable with at least another month for plants to settle in before lying dormant over the winter.
If trees and shrubs are the big “furniture” pieces of our plots, then herbaceous plants are the soft furnishings – like cushions, throws, candles and pictures – and they unify the scheme and introduce colour, interest, scent and character.
We are so lucky in these islands to be able to grow a vast array of this group of plants that enjoy our often damp climate. By choosing wisely, you can enjoy flowers from spring to autumn, and even a few in winter.
So if your garden has been looking a bit bare this year, think about planting a few hardworking, longflowering robust perennials this autumn.
For spring flowers, try some aquilegia, or columbine. It’s a cottage garden staple, instantly recognisable by its distinctive flower head of petals and long spurs, often in contrasting colours such as Aquilegia canadensis or the
By choosing wisely you can enjoy flowers from spring to the winter
soft blue and white combo of ‘Bluebird’.
Its fresh green foliage emerges in spring and flowers blossom shortly thereafter. Grow it in fertile, moist but well-drained soil in sun or dappled shade.
Alchemilla mollis has pretty apple-green kidney-shaped scalloped leaves and sprays of small yellow flowers. It’s superb for really dry areas – water in until it gets established, then it will find its own way in life.
What I also love about this plant is that you can cut back all the dead foliage and then get brand new leaves and some flowers all over again in late summer. Low to the ground, it edges paths and borders beautifully and when it rains, pearlescent drops of water perch on the leaves.
Salvias are long flowering, and one of the easiest is S. nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ which will produce endless spikes of dreamy blue flowers in summer. It’s very easy to grow in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Keep deadheading it to get the maximum out of this plant.
There are tonnes of other salvias and many of them come with pretty bicoloured flowers. However, many of these are tender so if you want to keep things simple, choose hardy varieties – another excellent one is ‘Mainacht’.
Hardy geraniums are a big family with many different growth habits – sprawling, scrambling, ground cover, neat or bushy varieties – and a good range of petal colours from white to all shades of pink and blue.
‘Rozanne’ is one of the most popular these days and is still flowering her socks off in my garden. Growing to over a foot tall, it’s great for injecting volume into the borders.
For early flowers next year get planting some hellebores and they won’t let you down. Helleborus niger, the Christmas rose, is usually the first of its type to come into bloom.
Its common moniker is confusing as it is neither a member of the rose family and is rarely in bloom at Christmas time, though you can get forced varieties to perform early. Unlike most hellebores, which have shy, nodding flowers that hide their beauty, this species tends to hold its beautiful white, bowl-shaped flowers more upright.
Plant near the house where you will be able to admire them from indoors without having to venture out in the bad weather of late winter/early spring.