Allergies

This book is part of the Servet Clinical Guides collection, in which each volume compiles the most relevant material on the subject matter covered. This volume focuses on dermatology and is centered on the management of allergic patients. This new collection was created with the objective of helping veterinary surgeons during consultations and providing them with useful information to establish a good relationship with clients. The goal is to give answers to owners’ most frequently asked questions in order to guide them in the best possible manner, as well as to help veterinary surgeons ensure owners complete the patients’ prescribed treatments and maintain effective clinical monitoring of all processes. Each of the volumes in this collection will also be very useful to veterinary surgeons to reinforce and expand their knowledge.

Contents

1. Clinic consultation
 What does the owner notice first?
 History to guide diagnosis
 What leads to clinical suspicion of allergy?
  Predisposing factors
  Common and rare clinical signs in cats and dogs
  Pruritus: key sign in the allergic patient
 Protocol for clinical examination
  The importance of an overall health assessment
  Dermatological assessment
  The allergic dog: gross patterns
  The allergic cat: reaction patterns
2. Diagnostic protocols
 How to make presumptive diagnoses Differential diagnosis
 Laboratory tests
  Use of a fine comb or brush
  Adhesive tape
  Impression cytology
  Skin scraping
  Trichography
  Fine-needle sampling and cytology
  Wood’s lamp
  Cultures and antibiotic sensitivity tests
 Diagnostic criteria of allergies
 Search for and confirmation of allergens
3. Communication with clients
 Goal for clients: 100 % comprehension
 How to educate clients
 Management of different owner attitudes
  Characteristics of each kind of owner
 Difficult situations for the owner related to allergic dermatology
4. Treatment protocols
 Management of acute or initial episodes of the disease
  Searching for triggers
  Use of antiseptics
  Shampoo therapy
  Diet
  Control of pruritus
 Maintenance of the controlled patient
5. Immunotherapy
 Recommendations for the owner: follow-up
 The importance of diet
 Shampoo therapy and hydration therapy
 The importance of avoiding skin parasites
 General preventive measures
6. Case studies: experience-based medicine
 Case study 1. Feline hypersensitivity
  History
  Patient signalment
  Important questions to ask the owner when obtaining a history
  Analysis of the questions
  Diagnostic approach
  Differential diagnoses
  Discussion
  Clinical course
 Chronic cases. Refractory atopy
  Information from the history
  Thorough examination
7. Further information
 Most common complications in dogs with allergy
  Cutaneous xerosis
  Most common types of allergic pyoderma
  Otitis
  Important points on otitis
  Malassezia overgrowth
 Most common complications in allergic cats
 Endocrine disorders and advanced age as aggravating factors in allergies

 Alphabetical index
 Bibliography

Gustavo Machicote Goth, Degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Veterinary surgeon with a focus on dermatology at Vilanova Veterinary Clinic (Vilanova de Arousa, Pontevedra, Spain) since 1990. Head of the dermatology referral service DERMAPET, consultant in the Dermatology Service at Clínica Veterinaria Fauna de Pontevedra. Member of the AVEPA (Spanish Small Animal Veterinary Association) Dermatology Group. AVEPA secretary from 2004 to 2009. Full member of the European Society of Veterinary Dermatology (ESVD). Dermatology training from the European School for Advanced Veterinary Studies (ESAVS). He has taught many dermatology training courses and published several articles on dermatology in Spanish journals. Author of the book Dermatología canina y felina (Manuales clínicos por especialidades) (Handbooks of clinical specialties. Canine and feline dermatology) and coauthor of other books. Awarded a prize for the best small animal case study at the 3rd and 5th Encontros Veterinarios Galegos (Galician Veterinary Meetings) and the AVEPA Miguel Luera Scientific Prize in 2005.