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Meet the dog that’s allergic to humans

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It's unusual, but dogs can be allergic to humans.
It's unusual, but dogs can be allergic to humans.

A dog owner was dumbfounded when she discovered her pet pooch was allergic to humans.

Sabrina Sieck couldn’t work out why Cruella was repeatedly getting ill after cuddles, so she took the rescue dog to a vet in her native Florida in the Unites States.

Heartbreaking, vicious cycle

“I adopted Cruella, a border collie lab mix, in 2014 and soon after realised something wasn’t right,” Sabrina says.

“It started with a mild skin irritation, progressed to constant itching and culminated in a nearly hairless puppy. It was a heartbreaking, vicious cycle.

“According to the vets she was healthy. I tried different diets and baths and tried to keep her somewhat comfortable. She even wore a Lycra body suit.”

Sabrina arranged an allergy test for her pup – and discovered humans were the problem!

“Allergy testing then revealed Cruella’s surprising diagnosis was humans. Well, human dander,” Sabrina explains. Dander is made up of tiny cells shed from hair, fur and feathers.

Numerous allergies

“Just like you may be allergic to cats or dogs, cats and dogs can be allergic to you. I didn’t believe it at first.

“On top of human dander, Cruella is allergic to ragweed, thistle, melaleuca and pine trees, rye, ants and roaches.”

Cruella is now on medication to help control her symptoms – which means she can enjoy hugs from her owner.

"The next step was immunotherapy,” Sabrina says. “All Cruella’s allergens were whipped up into a customised serum designed to desensitise her allergies.

“The immunotherapy used proteins of the allergens themselves to slowly teach her immune system to tolerate people.”

According to experts pets can suffer from many of the same allergens as humans. That means they can be allergic to human dander, although it happens very rarely.

Image credit: CATERS/WWW.MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA

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