Oral drops for dog allergies pass another hurdle

William, a mixed breed from Madison, gets a twice-daily dose of immunotherapy during a study directed by Douglas DeBoer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. Photo: Douglas DeBoer A study reported today at the World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology in Vancouver, British Columbia, shows that placing allergy drops under a dog's tongue can be as effective as allergy injections for controlling skin allergies. In dogs, allergies to house dust, pollen, and mold cause atopic dermatitis, an itchy skin inflammation. Dogs, like people, can be desensitized through "immunotherapy" using shots or drops that deliver small doses of the allergen to "train" the immune system to tolerate foreign proteins. Both technologies are now about a century old, but for humans and animals, allergy shots are more commonly used. Chief author of the new study, Douglas DeBoer , a professor of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, sees several benefits emerging from the new study, which treated skin allergies in 217 dogs using allergy drops. About 60 percent of the dogs improved significantly, DeBoer says.