Terrier's on paw patrol

We have a two-year-old West Highland White Terrier that recently started licking her feet, making them red underneath.

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Q Our vet suspects a hay fever allergy and has begun treatment, which has helped. We were advised further investigations may be necessary. Is this common, and what investigations might we expect?

A Your vet suspects a disease called atopy, or atopic dermatitis, and has adopted a conservative wait and see approach, which is reasonable at this stage. Atopy has many similarities in dogs with hay fever in people. One major difference is that the signs mainly affect the skin in dogs and result from skin contact with pollens and other allergens, rather than being inhaled.

Allergens that cause the problem can be tree, grass and weed pollens, house dust mites, storage mites and some moulds, for example.

Canine atopy usually begins between one and three years of age and is more common in certain breeds, yours for example, although any dog can be affected.