Every single summer, the exact same story walks through my door. A dog clawing at itself day and night and an owner who has genuinely tried everything.
So one day I started asking a different question: "Has it always been worse in summer?" Almost every owner says yes. Almost none can tell me why.
They blame pollen. They blame grass. But that never explained the part that haunted me why it comes back every summer, a little worse each year.
Here’s the truth I missed for years: with every walk, allergens flood the system and inflammation quietly builds up on the inside long, long before you ever see it on the skin.
I’m a vet. 22 years in practice. And for most of them, I handed over a cream and sent them home. Not once did I stop to ask what was happening in the gut. That still bothers me.