Blossom made quite an entrance into the veterinary hospital today; no, it wasn't her bark "hello" as she stepped into the examination room or the sound of her owner's voice that was so memorable — it was her odor.

Blossom's doctor noticed the hair missing from around Blossom's eyes — giving her a raccoon-like appearance, from around her feet, and hair missing at the base of her tail. She had an oily feel to her skin underneath her neck, a yeasty odor and dry flakes and crust on her feet and the base of her tail. Blossom's ears were red, full of debris and also malodorous. After running some tests and asking questions about her history, Blossom's doctor determined she might have an allergy.

Dealing with an allergic pet can be frustrating and difficult. However, there are some steps that can be taken to limit the occurrence or significance of this problem.

• Breed selectively: Allergies are genetically influenced diseases that affect 10 to 20 percent of pets (these percentages go up considerably for many purebred dogs). Reports suggest if one parent has allergies, there is nearly a 30 percent chance the offspring will be affected. If both parents have allergies, the likelihood of the offspring having allergies increases to nearly 50 percent. Therefore, consider not breeding allergic pets, and if purchasing a puppy, ask the breeder if either of the pup's parents has allergies.

• Start early: The earlier an allergic pet is treated for the allergy, the better the success in controlling the effects of the allergy. By starting earlier, cheaper and simpler therapies will likely work well to improve the pet's disease.

• Treat secondary infections: Allergies cause the integrity of the skin to change and the skin ceases to have a defensive, barrier nature.

This is why more than 80 percent of allergic patients concurrently have secondary bacterial or yeast skin infections. Unfortunately, these infections cause the pet's discomfort and itching to become severe, creating hair loss and inflammation; the pet becomes so uncomfortable they'd rather chew and scratch their skin that sleep or eat. But by dealing with these infections, more than 75 percent of the itching will be reduced. These infections often require oral antibiotics, oral antifungal medications and products to treat ear infections.

• Remove allergens: We may not know all our pets are allergic to, but some of the more common household allergy-producing agents are house dust mites, molds, cigarette smoke and wool. Throw away any foam or stuffed dog bed that is more than 1 year old. Dog beds are the most common source of dust mites. Wash your pet's bedding at least once a week, using hot water and a hypoallergenic laundry detergent. Don't smoke cigarettes in the house. Using a dehumidifier to keep the humidity below 40 percent will help prevent dust mites, molds and fleas.

• Bathe your pet: Allergic pets should be bathed every 3 to 7 days, using lukewarm water and a mild veterinary medicated shampoo. The shampoo's medicating properties will be effective only if it remains on your pet's skin for 10 to 15 minutes. If the weather permits, lather up your pet, put a leash on him or her, and go for a 15-minute walk with the shampoo on the skin. Then rinse the shampoo off using cool water and towel dry. Avoid hair dryers as they can irritate the skin. Medicated, leave-on creme rinses can be worked into the hair following the bath to extend the effectiveness of the bath.

• Control fleas: If your cat is scratching and chewing its skin, there's a 75 percent chance it has a flea allergy. Dogs, too, have significant allergies to fleas, as well as to other biting insects, such as flies. Using flea-control products every month on all pets in your family is imperative.

• Remove food allergens: As many as 15 percent of pets are allergic to something in their food and many pets that are allergic to one thing, such as fleas, are also allergic to other things, such as food. Common food allergens are beef, diary, corn, wheat, eggs and chicken. Feeding foods that do not contain these agents or a "skin-friendly" diet help reduce the itchiness of food allergies.

• Control the symptoms: Antihistamines are an inexpensive, effective therapy for allergies. Within a seven-day trial, antihistamines can reduce the effects of an allergy by 30 percent. Also very helpful are essential fatty acids, vitamins A, D and E, and zinc.

Antihistamines and these nutritional products spare pets from steroids. Steroids such as prednisone and hydrocortisone are extremely effective in controlling allergies; however, there are serious, potentially long-term side effects with these drugs and their use is reserved for "putting out fires."

A new drug, cyclosporine (Atopica), has shown promise in controlling allergies. There are few adverse side effects and it is effective in 75 percent of the allergy cases in which it was used. Its main drawback is it is an expensive drug.

• Test for allergies: Blood tests or allergy skin tests can be used to identify to which allergen your pet is reacting to. This information can then be used to formulate an allergy vaccine to try to desensitize its immune system to those allergens. Allergy testing is a very effective method for controlling allergies; however, it, too, can be expensive and requires either the pet owner or the veterinarian to give periodic injections.

Dr. Dennis Selig is a veterinarian at Northwood Hills Animal Hospital in Gulfport, Miss. Questions for this column are encouraged. Write to South Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association, 20005 Pineville Road, Long Beach MS 39560 and include a self-addressed stamped envelope.