Atopic dermatitis was diagnosed in 13.8% of the feline dermatology cases and 0.9% of all cats examined over a 15-year period. No age or sex predilection was found, but Abyssinians, Himalayans, and Persians were over-represented. Clinical signs were nonseasonal in 62.4% of the cats. Cutaneous reaction patterns – in descending order of prevalence – included initially lesionless symmetrical pruritus (especially face, ears, and neck), self-induced hair loss (especially abdomen, back, and legs), miliary dermatitis (especially back and neck), and eosinophilic granuloma complex (especially lips, abdomen, and medial thighs). Multiple cutaneous reaction patterns were present in 36.2% of the cats. Secondary bacterial or yeast infections occurred in 18.6% and 6.6%, respectively, of the cats. Only 4.5% of the cats had concurrent food allergy, and none had flea-bite hypersensitivity. Medical management with systemic glucocorticoids, antihistamines, omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids, allergen-specific immunotherapy, or combinations of these provided satisfactory control of clinical signs for the majority of affected cats.

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A small population of resident T-lymphocytes are present in the healthy epidermis of skin from humans, mice, cattle, sheep, and alpacas. In addition, small numbers of resident T-lymphocytes are present in the dermis of normal skin of humans, cattle, and sheep. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of lymphocytes, CD3+ cells (T-lymphocytes) and Pax5+ (B-lymphocytes) cells in the superficial and deep dermis of normal dog skin. Skin-biopsy specimens from the normal skin of the dorsolateral thorax from 26 dogs were examined histologically and immunohistochemically for the presence of CD3+ and Pax5+ cells in the superficial and deep dermis. All examinations were negative. It appears that lymphocytes rarely occur, or occur in very small numbers, in the superficial and deep dermis of normal dog skin.

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We investigated the complementary effect of oral administration of Lactobacillus paracasei K71 (K71) on canine atopic dermatitis (cAD). Five dogs were diagnosed as having cAD and they were treated with prednisolone, 0.5 mg/kg, every other day. Among them, K71 (K71 group) and cetirizine hydrochloride (positive control group) were prescribed as complementary therapy for 12 weeks for three and two dogs, respectively. The change of disease severity of skin symptoms were evaluated with the following three indexes: canine atopic dermatitis extent and severity index (CADESI) scored by the veterinarian, pruritus scored by the owners, and the amount of steroid required. Improvements of skin symptoms were observed in all five cases at the end of investigation. However, all of the indexes in the K71 group were clearly better than those of the positive control group. These results suggest that oral administration K71 is a useful complementary therapy for cAD.

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