Allergies are a damaging immune response by the body to a substance, especially pollen, fur, a particular food, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive. Basically, a body comes into contact with something and deems it harmful and has a strong (some might call aggressive) immune response. Whenever I mention my allergies to anyone I always say, “I am an overachiever, why would my body be any different?” This year, after years of not knowing and trial and error elimination “testing,” I finally got off my butt and went through a series of allergy tests and now I know EXACTLY what has been making me stuffy, itchy and sneezy when it comes to environmental allergens!
One of the series was a type of testing, called Patch Testing where my doctor put a few “more typical” environmental allergens as well as all of my cosmetics, soaps and lotions into little sticker pods and left the stickers on my back for a few days to see what my skin would react to. While some of these tests like chamomile and nickel are relatively straight forward, the items I was most reactive to (soap) was way more confusing. When it comes to something like soap, the ingredient lists are so long and complex that there are a bunch of individual ingredients my body could be reacting to or it could be reacting to a combination of ingredients. I can try to take the ingredient lists for each of the items I reacted to and compare similarities, but I may also never be able to pinpoint triggers.
I know what you are thinking – How does this relate to pets? If you have ever had a pet with allergies, you know that trying to determine pet allergens are almost tougher because your pets can’t always tell you what they are experiencing and when it started. Trying to find the right litter, food, or treats can be a long and expensive process.
Did you know that this is the exact reason why Snack21 was founded? All of Snack21’s pet treats are made from single ingredient, wild caught fish. Treating with a single ingredient treat helps pet owners identify potential allergen triggers for their pets. Wild caught fish feed on whatever they encounter in the wild – they have access to a varied diet and get plenty of exercise. There are no additives or preservatives incorporated in the drying process when making Snack21 treats, this also means that the treats are low calorie. Snack21 pet treats are a unique and healthy choice for your cat or dog regardless of if they have allergies, but they can also help a pet owner struggling with allergies to determine what may or may not be triggering your fluffy best friend.
